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in  2011  witii  funding  from 

Princeton  Tiieoiogicai  Seminary  Library 


http://www.arcliive.org/details/proceedingsofgenOOpres 


^Vv<:  . 


PROCEEDINGS 

7  .sj 


OF   THE 


GENERAL  ASSEMBLIES 


OLD   AND  NEW  SCHOOL 


PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCHES, 


CONVENED  IN  ST.  LOUIS,  MAY  17,  1866. 


ST.    LOUlSt 

MISSOURI  t>EMOCRAT  BOOK   AKD  JOB   PRINTING!   noUSfi , 

Ctiiucr  Fourth  and  Pine  streets, 

1866. 


THE  CHURCH  CONVENTIONS. 


PRESBYTERIAN  NATIONAL  ASSEMM.IES. 


THE   OFENINO  EXERCISES, 


GENEEAL   ASSEMBLY    OF   THE   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH   (OLD 
SCHOOL)   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


SERMON   BY   Rev.  Dr.   LOWRY. 


AN  ABLE  DISCOURSE  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  PURITr  OF  THE  CHURCH: 
ELECTION  OF  OFFICERS— REMARKS  OF  THE  MODERATOR. 


FIRST  DAY— THURSDAY",  MAY  17,  1866. 


The  General  Assembly  of  the  Old  School  Preshy- 
terian  Church  met  at  eleven  o'clock  yesterday  in 
the  Church  of  Kev.  Dr.  Niccolh?,  corner  of  Fifth 
and  Walnut  streets.  There  was  a  lull  atteudance  of 
delegates  and  others.  After  the  introductory  devo- 
tional seivices,  Kev.  Dr.  Lowry,  the  Moderuior, 
delivf red  the  openlDg  sermon  as  follows : 

SERMON   BYDK.  LOWRY. 

Acts  I.  8. — "But  ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you;  and  je  shall  be 
witnesses  unto  nie,  both  m  Jerusalem,  and  m  ail 
Judea,  and  ni  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part 
of  the  earth . ' ' 

We  are  accustomed  to  regard  tlie  lirst  age  of  the 
church  as  the  best.  The  piety  and  the  evangelical 
labors  of  the  Apostles  and  lirst  Christians,  are  con- 
sidered an  example  to  the  follosf  ers  of  Christ  in  all 
subsequent  ages;  but  in  so  far  as  the  essential 
things — the  things  essential  to  the  piety  and  the  use- 
fulness or  the  Church— are  concerned,  its  members 
now  and  its  members  in  the  days  of  Ihe  Apostles 
stand  on  the  same  footing.  Th-  ir  circumstances 
and  ours  differ  in  some  respects,  but  both  tHey  and 
we  have  life  and  ever  live  by  fdith  in  Jesus  Christ; 
are  moved  by  the  same  spirit;  are  called  to  the 
same  work,  and  look  for  the  same  reward.  If,  then, 
the  piety  and  the  works  of  modern  Christians  are 
not  Apostolic,  what  shall  we  say?  How  shall  we 
account  for  our  falling  so  far  short  of  their  exam- 
ple? And  how  sliali  we  be  enabled  to  reach  their 
noble  ytandavd? 

The  text  will  help  us  to  answer  such  questioning 
thoughts  as  these,  while  it  sets  before  us  the  power 
and  the  work  of  the  followers  of  Christ  in  all  ages 
to  the  end  of  time. 

^This  verse  lorms  a  part  of  our  Lord's  words  to  his 
disciples  just  before  his  ascension.  He  had  cor- 
rected their  error  in  looking  for  an  earth'y,  Jewish 
kingdom,  and  he  declared  to  them  that  they  were  to 
receive  a  divine  power  and  to  do  a  divine  work ;  and 
then, '  'when  he  had  spoken  these  things' ' — these  very 
words  of  the  text — * '  while  they  beheld  he  was  taken 


up;  and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  smht." 
They  stood,  "gazing  up  into  Heaven,"  trying  to 
look  through  the  cloud  to  see  their  friend  and  Savior 
as  he  passed  above  the  skies .  And  for  them  his  words 
would  ever  have  the  deepest  personal  interest.  But 
these  words  have  also  a  general  bearing,  applicable 
to  all  the  disciples  of  Christ.  They  were  spokf  n  ar 
the  end  of  one  dispensation  and  the  beginuiug  of 
anothei .  The  Hebrew  timeswere  now  to  cease;  tlie 
world-wide  system  of  the  Gosijel  was  now  to  be  set 
up.  These  words  declared  the  speedy  manifestation 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  this  manifestation  was  to  be 
the  power  of  the  disciples,  even  '  'tue  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  coming  upon  them,"  and  then  should 
they  go  forth  to  their  great  work  for  life  and  lo 
enter  upon  thiir  high  destiny,  as  witnesses  unto 
Christ,  "both  in  Jerusalem,  and  iu  all  .Judea  and 
in  Samaria  and  unto  the  uttermost  parrs  of  the 
earth."  The  circiunstaaces  under  which  these 
words  were  spoken,  therefore,  their  deep  import, 
and  their  vast  range,  commend  them  to  our  earnest 
study.  I  trust,  my  brethren,  wc  shall  tind  theiato 
be  words  to  quicken  and  comfort  us  iu  our  Christian 
course,  and  words  appropriate  to  our  meeting  s<.t 
present  as  ministers,  elders  and  members  ot  the 
Church  of  Christ,  and  particularly  as  oilice-bearers 
in  the  House  of  Goa  convened  iu  this  General  As- 
sembly, 

I.  The  first  part  of  the  text  directs  our  attentiou 
to  God,  tlie  Holy  Ghost,  and  tne  power  which  He 
would  give  to  the  disciples.  On  this  we  shall 
dwell  but  briefly.  No  formal  statement  of  the  faitli 
of  the  Church  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost  need  here 
be  made.  I  need  but  remind  you  of  His  character  as 
God,  equal  with  the  Fatner  and  the  Son,  and  of  Ilia 
office  in  the  work  of  salvation — that  of  aiiplymgunto 
men  the  benefits  of  redemption.  He  is  tne  pfison 
of  the  Triuiry  through  whose  agency  God  puts  forth 
His  gracious  power  on  the  he,trts"of  men ;  we  are 
not  authorized  to  expect  any  saving  blessing  from 
God.  except  through  His  intervention;  that  the  in- 
fluences of  the  Spirit  of  all  Gi'ace  were  obtained  lor 
ua  by  and  through  Jesus  Christ;  that  the  Spirit 
takes  of  the  things  of  Christ,  and  shows  them  unto 


us;  that  in  all  His  work  the  Spirst  glorifles  Christ, 
should  increase  our  sense  of  obligation  to  our 
blessed  Savior,  but  bhall  uot  diminish  our  sense  of 
our  indobte<lHe#s  to  tlie  IIolv  Spirit. 

It  is  the  power  of  the.  Holy  Ghost  as  given  to  the 
disciples  for  a  particular  puipose— tliat  of  their  be- 
ins  witnesses  unto  Christ,  that  must  here  chiefly 
f'.neage  our  attention.  Tliree  things  maybe  speci- 
fied as  included  in  the  exercise  of  this  power  and 
imparted  to  ttie  disciples.  Tne  first  is  the  power  of 
working  miracles  and  of  speaking  witli  unknown 
tongues.  The  second  is  the  gracious  ]jor/ercftde 
Spirit  in  their  own  souls.  And  thethiid  is  tbe 
agency  of  the  Spirit  in  the  conversion  of  the  souls 
of  men  in  connection  withe  the  preaching  of  the 
Compel.  By  the  first,  the  disciples  were  accredited 
divinely  attended  in  tneir  work.  By  the  second, 
they  were  qualified  for  it.  And  by  tiie  third,  they 
were  made  successful  in  it.  We  shall  here  pass 
these  points  over,  and  proceed  lo  the  second  part  of 
the  text — which  sets  before  us  the  work  to  be  done 
by  the  disciples;  tney  were  to  be  witnesses  unto 
Christ,  at  home  and  abroad. 

n.  A  witness  is  one  who  is  able  to  speak  from 
personal  Knowledge,  and  not  from  hearsay;  and  he 
is  one  who  must  speak  the  truth  with  fidelity.  If 
either  personal  kno%vledge  or  truth  is  wanting,  his 
testimony  would  have  no  value.  Keepinc  these 
two  things  in  view,  we  remark  that  the  disciples 
must  bear  witness :  1.  To  the  person  and  character 
of  Christ.  2.  To  his  doctrines,  or  the  truth  reveal- 
ed by  him.  And  3.  To  hi^s  truth  as  the  means  em- 
ployed by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  conversion  >of  the 
world,  or  to  his  truth  as  the  gosoel. 

I  When  the  Jews  asked  our  Savior  the  question, 
Who  art  thou?  they  asked  a  question  of  the  greatest 
moment  to  themselves  and  to  all  men.  To  know  the 
Lord  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man- 
as God  over  all  blessed  forever,  and  as  a  man  hav- 
ing a  fellow  feeling  with  our  infirmities;  this  is  won- 
derful knowledge!  This  is  to  know  the  only  person 
in  the  uuiverse  so  consituted;  this  is  to  know  the 
only  person  who  can  stand  between  a  holy  Gud  and 
a  race  of  sinners,  and  act  as  a  mediator  between 
them;  the  only  one  whose  exalted  dignity,  and  yet 
whose  place  under  the  law  render  it  possible  tor 
him  to  be  tne  surety  of  his  people  iu  the  covenant  of 
grace,  to  tadsfy  all  the  claims  of  justice  in  their  ac- 
count by  his  own  obedie.nc-'.,  sufferings  and  death 
on  ttie  cross. 

The  first  disciples  were  literally  eye-witnesses  of 
the  life  and  character  of  Christ.  Some  of  them  were 
cuosen  to  he  Apostles  for  the  distinctive  reason, 
that  they  bad  seen  the  Lord  Jesus :  and  as  only  those 
who  had  actually  seen  hun  could  be  apostles,  they 
can  have  no  6Ucces.-:ovs  in  that  high  office.  But  all 
the  disciples,  then  cind  ever  since,  could  be  wit- 
nesses unto  Cbrist  in  the  sense  of  their  experimental 
knowledge  ot  his  grace.  They  can  speak  from  their 
heartfelt  conviction  of  their  own  sinful,  guilty, 
helpless  aud  perishing  situation,  until  Chri-.t  was 
revealed  unto  them  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  Lamb 
of  God  that  tiilseth  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  and 
they  were  enabled  to  receive  him  in  bis  person  ai>d 
his  offices  as  their  Redeemer.  On  this  point,  we 
shall  dwell  no  hmger  here — hut  proceed  to  remark 
concerning  the  disciples— 2.  ThatUiey  are  witnesses. 

II.  They  are  ULto  the  truth  as  revealed  by  Christ. 
All  that  he  trught  and  left  on  record  in  the  Scrip- 
tures tney  receive  as  of  the  highest  aulhority,  as 
binding  on  the  conscience,  and  to  be  always  main- 
tained by  them.  There  are  things  hard  to  be  un- 
dei  stood  in  the  Bible,  and  there  are  things  of  deep 
mystery  fy.r  exceeding  the  limits  of  hum.in  reason, 
Which  the  disciples  ao  not  proiess  to  comprehend; 
yet  to  the  truth  of  these  tilings  mey  can  bear  tisti- 
mony,  because  contained  in  a  book  divinely  atte.--t- 
td,  because  profound  mysteries  to  our  teeble  iniel- 
lect  may  all  be  plain  and  clear  to  the  infinite  mind 
ot  God,  and  btcause  these  deep  truths  tind  their 
f^cho  in  their  inmost  consciences  oftentimes.  They 
can  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  the  wnole  inspired 
record,  even  if  they  do  not  understand  some  parts 
of  it,  just  as  many  a  witness  in  a  court  of  justice 
gives  his  testimonV  to  fac  s  of  which  he  is  sure, 
thoiiiih  he  may  not" understand  their  bearing  on  the 
subject,  nor  see  how  they  are  to  afl'ecc  the  cause  un- 
der trial. 

Besides  giving  their  testimony   as    individuals, 


each  in  his  place  and  lot,  according  to  his  gifts  and 
grace,  the  discii-les  of  Christ  must  bear  witness 
Unto  his  truth  when  associated  together  as  members 
of  the  Church.  The  Old  Testament  preserves  the 
truth  concerninK  the  one  living  and  tnie  God  in  the 
mid.st  ot  a  world  given  to  idolatry.  The  New  Testa- 
nnnt  Church  has  this  also  as  one  of  its  main  de- 
signs; it  is  to  be  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth; 
it  is  to  be  a  witness  for  all  the  truth  that  God  has 
revealed,  no  matter  how  it  may  be  opposed  or  per- 
verted. The  creeds  and  confessions  of  the  Church 
Lave  the  maintaining  and  preserving  of  the  truth  as 
one  of  their  main  purposes. 

Subscription  and  assent  to  the  doctrinal  standards 
of  our  Church  is  one  way  for  us,  my  brethren,  of 
upholding  the  truth.  The  venerable  Confession  of 
Faith  in  which  we  glory  is  chiefly  prized  by  us  for 
its  clear  and  admirable  statement  of  the  iruih  as 
contained  in  Holj'  Sciipture.  God  will  honor  the 
Church  that  puts  honor  on  its  truth.  I  doubt  not 
that  one  ot  tne  two  great  reasons  ot  the  wonderlul 
prosperiiy  of  our  Church  iu  the  last  thirty  jears  is 
to  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  as  a  Church  we  were 
faithful  to  God's  truih;  and  in  whatever  is  done,  or 
not  done,  looking  in  the  direction  of  orijanic  union 
with  other  bodies  of  Christians,  the  truth  and  our 
profession  ot  it  must  be  held  sacred  by  ns,  and  not 
be  in  the  least  degree  compromised,"  if  we  would 
continue  to  enjoy  the  blessing  of  the  God  of  Truth. 

Our  testimony  should  have  reference  to  the  clear- 
ness with  which  divine  truths  are  revealed  rather 
than  to  any  difi^reuce  that  may  exist  in  the  impor- 
tance of  these  truths.  It  requires  an  architect  to 
tell  wiiat  is  essential  to  a  giaod  edifice  and  what  is 
not  cscential;  so  we  are  poor  judges  of  the  relative 
importance  of  the  truths  of  revelation.  We  shall 
find  it  to  be  a  safe  and  good  rule,  while  we  main- 
taiu  all  the  truths  ot  the  Bible,  to  give  to  each  that 
place  which  it  seems  to  occupy  on  the  sacred  page. 
It'is  not  enough  to  dwell  on  a  few  leading  truths .  The 
Bible  is  our  text  book,  and  the  world  our  congrega- 
ti(m;  to  all  men.  of  every  nation,  class^  and 
condition,  to  all  subjects  that  have  a  right 
or  a  wrong  side  in  a  religious  or  moral  aspect,  the 
testimony  of  the  discioles  must  have  due  reverence. 
We  can  admit  no  theory  of  the  pro\ince  of  the  pul- 
jtit,  or  of  the  sphere  of  a  Christian  man's  duty, 
which  would  deprive  this  testimony  of  its  power 
as  against  what  is  morally  wrong.  If  what  is 
wrong  seeks  to  entrench  itself  behind  public  legis- 
lation, as  in  the  case  of  Sabbath  mails  or  lotteries, 
wr  behind  party  political  action,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  oppression  of  a  weaker  race,  or  behind  popular 
movements  ending  in  a  riot  or  rebellion  against  the 
powers  that  be,  as  in  the  case  of  our  late  coLflict, 
the  wrong  must  not  be  let  alone.  The  witnessing 
of  the  cnurch  should  be  on  the  side  of  truth  in 
these  and  all  other  cases,  and  equally  against 
what  is  wrong.  We  have  reason  to  tear  that 
the  withholding  of  this  testimony,  in  too  many  in- 
stances, results  in  the  profaning  of  God's  holy 
name  and  day,  the  denial  of  justice  to  the  colored 
races  of  this  country — the  Indian,  the  negro,  and  ot 
late  the  Chinese— and  the  overthrow  otlthose  ideas  of 
reverence  for  law  and  subjection  to  authority,  which 
are  essential  to  the  welfare  both  ot  the  Chiu'ch  and 
the  State,  especially  on  one  theory  of  public  afl'airs. 
For  with  us  the  law  is  maintained  more  by  the 
jiower  of  conscience  than  by  standing  military  force, 
and  to  the  right  exercise  of  conscience  nothing  is 
more  needful  than  Christian  witnessing  unto  the 
truth,  or  at  any  rate  '.nothing  but  the  truth  itself. 
Let  us  dwell  on  this  point  a  lew  moments  longer: 

We  x)lead,  then,stor  no  political  acti«n  ;,by  the 
Church,  or  by  her  courts,  or  her  ministers;  we  plead 
for  no  improper  meddling  with  the  things  of  C:esar 
liy  the  subjects  of  Christ's  kingdom — for  no  depav- 
tiire  from  the  themes  of  the  Bible,  for  no  violation 
of  the  proprieties  of  the  house  of  God,  for  no  forsak- 
ing ot  the  concerns  of  eternity.  Our  Church  courts 
are  very  properly  debarred  by  our  standards — ch. 
XXXI — from  taking  any  part  in  the  administration  of 
the  att'airs  of  the  State,  except  as  requested;  and  this 
is  so  ordered  for  the  obvious  reason  that  in  this 
country  the  Church  and  the  State  are  not  united, and 
Churcu  courts  have  here  no  civil  duties  such  as  de- 
volve on  the  spiritual  peers  of  the  British  House  of 
Lordf  and  such  as  ambitious  prelates  iu  Scotland 
would  gladly  have  taken  upon  them  in  the  age  when 


ciir  confession  of  faith  was  reconstructed  from  the 
articles  or  faith  -whicti  cam'>  down  fiom  the  days  of 
tne  Apostles.  Thanliful,  indeed,  are  we  tor  the  sep- 
aration of  the  Church  oi  this  land  from  the  State 
thereof;  but  let  us  guard  against  the  great  misralje 
of  thinking  that  the  Church  has,  therel'oie,  no  duty 
to  perlonn  of  giving  her  lesriniony  against  iniquity 
because  it  may  be  prevalent  in  higti  places. 

We  are  persuadeathat  in  our  country  our  greatest 
danger  is  not  that  of  too  muth  interference  with 
public  affairs,  in  the  way  of  testifying  against  what 
is  wrong,  by  the  church  and  by  Christian  people.  It 
is  only  f(.>o  easy  to  let  what  is  wrong  alone.  It  ac- 
cords too  readily  with  our  readiness  to  avoid  the 
cross;  and  so  the  voice  of  our  testimonies  is  kept 
back,  or  luwered  down  to  an  insensible  whisper. 
Our  trreatest  danger  in  this  land  consists  in  our  not 
holding  forth  those  revealed  truths  which  best  reg- 
ulate both  Governors  and  people,  which  assert  the 
supreme  auiboritv  of  God,  the  sacredness  of  an 
oath,  the  duty  of  doing  that  which  is  just  and  equal 
to  all  men,  the  need  ot  consideration  for  their  lets 
favored  fellow  men  by  the  rich,  and  ot  contentment 
and  patience  on  the  part  of  the  poor,  and,  indeed, 
of  both  rich  and  poof , and  tbe  solemn  interests  ot.'the 
judgment  to  come  and  the  retributions  of  eternity; 
and  all  these  inspired  teachings  we  are  to  testily 
not  merely  in  the  abstract,  but  in  their  ajiplication 
to  all  such  moral  wrongs  as  from  time  to  time  seek 
public  acknowledgment.  Our  testimony  should 
certainly  be  impersonal — never  sing]in'.r  out  par- 
ticular persons  in  acongregation  for  public  rebuke, 
and  it  thouid  ako  be  kept  free  as  far  as  jjossible 
from  connection  witli  any  political  parly  move- 
ments, so  that  all  men  should  see  that  it  i3i)rompted 
by  fidelity  to  the  truth  as  contained  in  ihe  Holy 
Scriptures.  The  witnesses  unto  Christ  should  ex- 
ercise their  best  judgment  as  to  the  time  and  man- 
ner of  giving  their  testimony  against  what  is  evil.  It 
may  even  be  necessary  for  them  to  be  silent  some- 
times, as  onr  blessed  Lord  was  before  bis  unjust 
judges,  but  like  him  his  humble  disciples  will 
never  be  unliiithful  to  their  testimony;  and 
when  called  t)  do  so  by  Providence,  they  will  de- 
clare the  whole  counsel  of  God.  This  must  be  done 
mthe  spirit  of  Christ,  which  was  emmeutly  loving 
aud  meek.  He  severely  censured  toe  hypocrisy  of 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  sijeaking  as  he  only  could 
by  authority  as  the  Omniscient  Judge, but  yet  it  was 
iu  deep  comviassion  even  to  them.  Towards  his  pro- 
fessed followers,  when  in  en  or  or  even  in  grave 
faults,  he  was  always  considerate  and  forbearing — 
not  sparing  rebuke,  yet  not  putting  the  worst  con- 
Btrnction  on  theirmisconduct,  but  always  the  best 
andmoft  charitable;  and  iu  this  we  should  foUow 
hi^  example. 

We  must  not  pass  from  this  part  of  the  subject 
wiihout  considering  that  there  are  times  when  the 
testimony  of  the  disciples,  touching  matters  of  pub- 
lic interest  and  yet  having' a  relit:  ious  siile,  becomes 
specially  important — such  times  particularly  ot  per- 
plexity, distress  and  shaking  among  men  as  we  have 
lately  seen  in  this  country — such  as,  I  fear,  may  still 
be  seen  in  two  many  parts  of  the  land.  In  giving 
our  testimony  throui^h  these  dreadful  years  to  the 
duty  of  rendering  obedience  to  the  );owers  that  be — 
tbe  powers  that  were  over  us,  whatever  political 
opinions  we  may  entertain  of  their  character — we 
fulfill  a  sacred  duty.  A  right  understanding  ot  this 
duty  would  prevent  all  civil  war  in  Christian  coun- 
tries. Indeed  we  cannot  but  deeply  feel  that  if  the 
people  of  God  in  this  land  had  but  understood  the 
full  meaning  of  this  duty — which  has  respect  to  the 
powers  that  be  in  actual  existence,  whatever  may 
be  the  theory  of  their  existence,  no  more  counten- 
ance would  have  been  given  to  any  efforts  to  over- 
throw the  Government,  so  long  in  the  exercise  of 
authority  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  than  would  be 
given  by  our  missionaries  to  a  rebellion  against  the 
Emperor  ot  l^hina  or  the  King  of  Siam. 

SA  e  view  thi^  Vi'hole  matter.  now,;aud  in  this  au- 
dience, in  the  light  of  testimony  asainst  what  is 
wrong,  and  in  pre.'-enting  these  views,  we  but  fol- 
low the  highest  examples.  We  oidy  tbke  such  law- 
ful action  as  was  taken  by  the  noble  men  who  set- 
tled our  church  standards,  such  men  as  .John  With" 
erspoon,  Samuel  Davies,  and  many  others;  and 
what  is  far  more,  we  but  follow  tne  example  of  our 
blessed  Lord  and  the  Apostles.    How  often  do  our 


Savior's  instructions  refer  directly  to  public  mat- 
ters as  viewed  in  their  religious  or  moral  aspects, 
or  when  in  the  face  of  the  rulers  of  the  .Jews  he  vin- 
dicated the  law  of  marriage,  placea  the  law  of  di- 
vorces on  its  true  ground,  asserted  the  just  liberty 
of  his  Disciples  concerning  works  of  necessity  on 
the  Sabbath,  taught  tlie  duty  ot  obedience  even  to 
an  o  jipressive  Government  by  the  payment  of  taxes 
— all  of  which  were  not  merely  matters  of  religion, 
but  were  also  matters  of  party  conflicts  or 
of  public  law.  And  si  of  the  Apos- 
tles—take the  Apostle  Paul's  noble  declar- 
ation, that  he  would  know  nothing  among  tbe 
Corinthians  but  Canst  and  him  crucified,  au'i  then 
take  up  his  two  Epistles  to  the  Church  of  Corinth, 
make  out  a  table  of  their  topics,  and  you  will  see 
how  many  matters  of  public  interest  are  di-cnss^d 
by  bis  eloquent  pen,  how  many  sided  were  his 
lessons,  how  tie  referred  to  matters  that  had  secular 
bearings,  that  were  subjects  of  partisan  di;;cussion, 
and  even  to  such  as  were  ponnected  witli  civil  juris- 
diction. In  all,  bis  great  and  fole  object  was  to 
glorify  Christ;  and,  my  brethren,  let  this  be  our 
eole  aim  whenever  we  feel  called  to  teach  or  to 
speak  of  matters  that  are  connected  with  the  Gov- 
ernmeijt,  or  with  part*,'  movements,  or  with  secular 
interests,  when,  as  witnesses  unto  Christ,  we  may 
hope  that  our  testimony  will  accomplish  its  ijroper 
end  and  pnmose. 

3.  In  still  another  respect;  were  tbe  disciples  to  be 
witnesses  unto  Christ— in  their  making  his  gospel 
known  unto  all  men.  The  missionary  aspect  of 
their  testimony  is  the  one  chieHy  jireseuted  to  us  in 
the  text.  The  same  view  is  presented  in  Luke, 
(xxiv,  47  I  48,)  and  it  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  last 
clause  of  the  verse  before  us,  so  that  we  may  regard 
this  verse  as  a  restatement  of  the  duty  of  going  into 
all  tbe  world  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature, 
but  doing  this  with  the  personal  knowledge  and 
tidelity  of  witnesses.  Hence,  in  the  passage  just 
cited  in  the  gospel  of  Luke, our  Lord  said  to  his  dis- 
ciples, "And  ye  a'e  witnesses  of  these  things;" 
that  is,  of  the  character  oi  Christ,  and  of  repentance 
for  remission  of  sins  to  be  preached  in  his  name 
aiBOng  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem.  Their 
testimony  was  to  be  evangelistic.  Evidenil.y  the 
first  disciples  understood  the  matter  just  in  this 
seu.se  as  soon  as  their  uiinds  were  enlightetied  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  And  ttjey  went  Jorth  inaking  known 
this  blessed  testiuiouy— the  message  of  love  and 
mercy  to  lost  men. 

It  was  indeed  a  joyful  testimony.  Its  prlmaiy 
meaning  was  iineloubiedly  glad  tidings  to  all  people. 
It  was  not  meant  to  be  chiefly  a  testimony  a  a.gainst 
a  sinlul  world.  The  verse  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew, 
(chap.  24,  14,)  which  speaks  of  the  gospel  being 
preached  "for  a  witness"  to  the  nations,  does  not 
mean  a  witness  against  them  any  more  than  the  same 
word  "witness"  in  Isaiah  (.'J')-4,)  when  applied  to 
our  blessed  Lord,  is  to  be  understood  as  a  title  of 
Severity:  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  title  given  to  our 
Lord  in  one  of  the  richest  exhibitions  of  the  gospel 
that  is  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  evangelical 
prophet. 

If  the  gospel  is  rejected  by  men,  it  does  in- 
deed become  a  witness  against  them,  greatly  in- 
creasing their  guilt  and  misery;  but  we  must  "keep 
always  in  view  its  primary  and  chief  design  as  the  . 
expression  of  the  inflnitc  love  and  mercy  of  God  to 
our  lost  world.  Here  is  pardon  for  the  guilty ;  here 
is  peace  with  Gcd;  here  is  everlasting  life;  here  is 
all  that  is  oeeded  for  the  complete  salvation  of  every 
lost  sinner  through  the  atoning  death  and  tini>hed 
righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ.  Here  are  all  these 
blessings  offered  to  sinful  man  in  every  land  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  offered  on  the  simplest  terms 
possible — without  money  and  without  price.  This 
is  the  good  news  which  the  disciples  were  to  tesiify 
unto  every  creature,  speaking  from  their  own  per- 
sonal experience  of  this  precious  gospel,  and  with 
ail  fidelity  as  witr  esses  to  its  unspeakable  impoit- 
ance. 

And  so  the  diciples  went  forth.  They  went  forth, 
no  doubt,  in  faith  and  hope,  expecting  great  re- 
suUs  to  follow  their  testimony.  They  were  at  first 
but  a  mere  handful,  but  a  little  flock,  and  their 
course  in  their  course  in  the  world  was  to  be  marked 
by  tribulation  and  persecution.  Our  Lord  taught 
them   to   expect  this,   but   he  also  taught  them  to 


expert  a  time  of  triumnh  for  the  gospel.  Its  prin- 
civiU>s  would  prevail.  Under  their  preaching,  made 
elVicif'Tit  to  salvati(>n  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  darkness  would  jfive  way,  the  idols  be  over- 
thrown, the  Kinsdom  of  Christ  he  established,  and 
the  world  for  a  ihou.saud  years  be  as  the  ganien  of 
the  Lord.  The  di,-^ciijles  went  forth  to  a  sacred  duty, 
not  US  a  tast,  nor  as  sent  to  condemn  their  lellow 
man.  bnt  cheered  by  the  hope  of  the  greatest  suc- 
cess-. They  mi.ifht  liot  live  to  see  it,  but  It  would 
surely  come,  iin'l  faithlul  labors  would  speed  its 
coming. 

1  Know  that  some  good  men  do  not  accent  these 
viewe — do  not  expfct  this  result.  They  even  ven- 
ture to  teach  that  it  is  but  an  amiable  delusion  to 
expect  the  conversion  of  the  world  by  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel;  that  it  was  never  intended  to  accom- 
plish any  such  jiurpose,  but  that  the  Churcli  is  al- 
ways to  be  small  and  imperfect  until  the  personal 
coming  of  cur  blessed  Lord;  and  then,  but  not 
till  then,  we  shall  see  the  world  converted.  The 
whole  New  Testament  record  has  been  appealed  to 
m  order  to  prove  that  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in 
the  present  dispensation,  as  they  term  it,  will  not 
couver  t  the  worl  d . 

There  are  weighty,  and  it  seems  to  me  conclusive, 
objections  and  arKum>  iits  against  this  theory,  buc 
they  cannot  be  fully  considered  in  a  short  sermon. 
It  IS  a  theory  based,  as  I  must  think,  on  erroneous 
interpretations  of  the  Scriptures,  in  certain  re- 
spects. These  must  here  be  passed  over.  It  is  a 
theory,  moreover,  which  does  not  consist  with 
other  t)arts  of  Scripture  which  we  may  briefly  no- 
tice, and  which  teach  a  very  dilferent  doctrine. 

Such  is  Ihi'  declaration  of  God's  unspeakable  love 
to  the  world.  (.John  3,  IG— for  I  will  comiue  my  ci- 
tations to  the  Kew  Testament.) 

This  declaration  is  so  comprehensive  that  we  can- 
not see  how  the  embracing  ot  Christ  by^a  small 
fraction  of  the  human  family  cm  at  all  corre-pond 
with  its  fullness  and  ireenes^s.  Such  also  is  our 
Lord's  last  commandment  (Malt.  28,  19-20).  We 
cannot  believe  that  this  comuiandmeut  contempla- 
ted preaching  the  gospel  as  a  witness  against  men ; 
it  was  to  be  good  news,  the  best  news  to  every  lost 
sinner  that  he  can  ever  heg,r;  nor  c^n  we  believe 
that  our  blessed  Lord,  clothed  as  he  is  witli  all 
power  in  heaven  and  in  eartti,  would  go  forth  every- 
where with  his  disciples  who  obey  this  command- 
ment only  to  see  their  labors  ending  all  in  vain, 
and  bimselt  almost  universally  rejected.  All  this 
seems  to  us  entirely  inconsistent  wit ti  the  great  pur- 
pose of  commandineut.  iMoreover  we  see  the  aged 
Simon  (Luke  2,  30 — 32,)  rejaicing  in  the  predicted 
and  now  fulfilled  salvation,  "prepared  before  the 
face  of  all  people,  a  lizht  to  lighten  the  Gentiles." 
We  see  John  the  Baptist  proclaiming  the  fulfillment 
of  a  similar  prediction— (Luke  3,  4,  6.)  We  listen 
with  mingled  feelings  of  sorrow,  love  and  hone  to 
our  blessed  Savior's  words,  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  wJil  draw  all  men  unto  me." — (Johnl2,  32  )  We 
see  the  same  ppecious  truth  iu  its  easier  process  of 
fulflllment  embodied  in  the  par.ibles  of  the  grain  of 
mustard  seed  and  the  leavea  hid  in  the  meal,  (Matt. 
13,  31— 33  )  We  learn  the  mere  truth  in  its  mani- 
fested and  regal  glory  m  the  numerous  texts,  which 
speak  of  the  gracious  cGects  of  the  gospel,  triumph- 
ing as  a  religion  in  its  present  administration,  under 
the  idea  of  a  kingdom,  for  whofe  coming  we  are 
taught  to  pray.  (Matt.  6,  10.)  We  are  taught  the 
same  view  by  some  of  the  wonderlul  things  in  the 
book  of  Revelation — especially  the  binding  of  Satan 
lor  a  thousand  years.  If  we  measure  these  by  a 
common  prophetic  standard,  we  may  look  forward 
to  a  period  of  three  hundred  a»d  sixty  thousand 
years,  during  which  our  Lord's  reii^n  of  righteous- 
ness in  the  hearts  of  men  shall  make  this  world  a 
paradise,  and  nobly  vindicate  the  power  of  the 
gospel  as  now  preaeued  among  men,  as  the  wisdom 
of  God  and  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

These  are  New  Testament  teachings,  ^^hichsho(v 
hat  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  is  no  fruitless 
means  of  tiie  conversioa  of  the  vvorld;  but  if  ttie 
New  Testament  were  silent  on  the  subject,  as  it  is 
nearly  so  on  some  other  commonly  received  parts 
of  Christian  faith,  we  should  still  ilnd  ample  war- 
rant for;  our  hopes  of  the  conversion  of  the  world 
in  the  numerous  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament. 
One  such   prophecy  out   of  scores  thut  might   be 


cited,  '•  The  earth  shall  be  fall  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord,  even  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea, " 
(Isaiah  xi  9,)  ought  to  be  deemed  conclusive. 

There  are,  however,  two  other  (considerations 
which  are  even  more  conclusive — one  positive,  the 
other  negative,  and  both  clearly  revealed.  Posi- 
tively, the  work  of  C!>nversion,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  is  the  worK  of  God,  the  Holy  Ghost.  We 
are  living  under  the  dispensation  of  ttie  Spirit.  Our 
Lord  bimselt  repeatedly  referred  to  Uis  agency  in 
the  work  of  conversion.  We  have  unlimited  pi'omi- 
ses  of  His  intervention  in  answer  to  prayer.  I  need 
not  pursue  this  consideration.  Let  the  Church  but 
honor  the  Spirit  as  the  Father  and  the  Son  are 
honored,  let  the  people  of  God  believe  in  Him, 
seek  His  power,  expect  His  presence,  and  who 
shall  sav  that  the  greatest  results  shall  not  be  speed- 
ily achieved?  And  let  every  humble  disciple  beware 
of  any  theory  of  unfullllled  Scripture  that  would 
even  seem  to  lessen  or  disparage  the  agency  of  tbe 
Spirit  in  the  couver-ion  of  the  world. 

The  negative  cnnsideration  is  not  less  decisive. 
The  personal  coming  of  our  blessed  Lord  is  not  re- 
vealed to  us  m  Scripture  as  a  means  of  conversion 
of  men.  We  humbly  trust  that  our  blessed  Savior's 
visible  and  personal  appearing  will  be  a  joyful 
event  to  us,  whenever  he  shall  come;  but  as  we 
read  the  Scriptures  they  furnish  no  proofs  at  all 
that  he  is  ever  to  take  the  work  of  conversion  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Our  Lord's  coming 
is  spoken  of  in  three" senses,  quite  distinct,  but  all 
worthy  of  himself  (1)  by  his  Providence,  as  when 
be  came  to  destroy  Jerusalem,  (Matt.  24,34;)  and 
so  he  comes  in  the  wonderful  course  of  his  provi- 
dence to  raise  up  and  cast  down  king- 
doms ^nd  nations,  and  to  be  ever  with 
his  own  people,  so  that  they  often  be.ar  his  voice 
saying,  "Fear  not,  it  is  I;"  and  in  the  hour  of  their 
depaiture  from  this  life  they  lind  him  present  with 
Lhem  to  give  them  all  need ''d "grace  and  an  abundant 
entrance  into  his  everlasting  kingdom.  (3.)  He 
comes  by  bis  si^irit  into  the  worshiping  assemblies 
of  his  people;  e>eu  though  but  two  or  three  of  them 
meet  togethet  in  his  name,  he  will  make  the  third  or 
fourth,  (Matt.  18,20);  and  so  he  comes  whenever 
the  spirit  of  grace  is  carrying  on  his  ijeculiar 
and  saving  work  among  men.  And  (3)  he 
will  come"  visibly  and  personally — his  second 
appearing  in  visible  and  personal  form,  but  it  will 
be  when  lie  comes  as  a  judge  (Matt.  2"),  31—4(5) .  Our 
snorter  Catechism  well  expresses  the  sense  of  the 
Scri,itures  on  this  point,  when  it  teaches  that  Christ 
will  come  "to  judge  the  world  at  the  last  day." 
We  look  for  no  other  coming  of  our  blessed  Lord 
than  these. 

I  will  not  further  dwell  on  this  part  of  the  witness- 
ing of  the  disciples  unto  Christ.  Ic  is  an  evangeli- 
zing testimony, to  be  brought  to  the  mind  and  heart 
of  every  creature  and  to  tie  crowned  at  last  wi>h 
blessed  and  glorious  results  in  the  conversion  of  the 
world  unto  God. 

All  this  will  serve  to  correct  our  thoughts  with  the 
remaining  words  of  the  text — which  show  that  the 
witnessing  of  the  disciples  unto  Christ  was  to  be 
everywhere — "in  Jerusaiam,  anrl  in  all  Judea,  and 
io  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
eaarth . " 

The  Savior  does  not  seem  to  recognize  our  mod- 
ern distinction  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions. 
Thtre  is  a  certain  order  marked,  however:  the  wit- 
nesses were  to  begin  among  those  who  were  near- 
est to  them,  going  from  them  to  the  next  nearest, 
and  proceeding  onward  still  to  those  who  dwell  iu 
"theregions  beyond."  This  was  in  fact  the  course 
of  the  Apostles.  It  is  evidently  proper'to  begin 
with  our  own  people  iu  witnessing  unto  Christ,  but 
we  must  beware  of  restricting  our  eflorts  to  them. 
The  Gospel  is  for  all  men.  The  Apostles  and  first 
Christians  so  understood  the  matter;  and  when  at 
first  the  (teciples  were  staying  too  long  in  Jerusa- 
lem, perhaps  consulting  tno  much  their  love  of  home 
andofihe  temple,  a  persecution  was  allowed  to 
arise,  so  that  they  were  scattered  abroad,  and  went 
everywhere  preaching  the  word — even  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  their  native  country,  though  its  in- 
habitants had  by  no  means  all  become  Ctiristians. 
So  it  was  at  Antioch,  when  the  gospel  obtained  a 
foothold  there,  and  a  church  was  formed.  Some  of 
its  leading  members  and   ministers  were  soon  sent 


forth  as  missionaries,  by  divine  direction  and  by 
the  earnesc  co-operation  of  the  Church,  though  the 
ppople  of  Autioch  und  of  the  province  were  not  then 
»)1  convprted.  We  reed  noc  multiply  examples  to 
show  how  the  first  disciples  understood  the  exteut 
to  which  their  testimony  showld  l)e  made  known. 
They  took  t^eir  lives  m  their  hand,  and  went  forth 
in  to' whatever  part  of  the  world  they  culd  reucli. 
AVe  read  of  their  labors  In  Africa,  m  Europe,  in 
WestciT)  Asia,  and  even  in  the  Eastern  parts  oi  A&ia 
traces  of  their  jjreserce  are  icund. 

We  feel  sure  from  the  lana;ua2;e  of  the  text  and 
from  tiie  example  ot  the  disciples  in  ttie  apostolic 
Hj?e  that  no  Christian  Ciiurch,  no  member  of  the 
Church,  much  less  any  office  bearer  in  it,  can  claim 
to  have  fulfilled  his  duty  to  Christ  in  witnessins 
unto  him,  who  does  not  keep  earnestly  before  his 
mind  and  on  his  heart  this  vast  range  of  his  calling. 
There  stands  the  commandment  of  our  Lord: 
'  -Preach  the  gos^iel  to  every  creature. ' '  How  can 
any  disciple  of  Christ  neglect  this  duty?  There  lies 
the  world  perishing  iu  sin.  How  can  any  disciple  of 
Him  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save  sinners  be  indif- 
ferent to  the  misery  of  these  fellow  men?  Woe  be  to 
any  Church  that  disregards  this  duty  !  The  presence 
of  Christ  will  hegranted  only  to  the  Church  that  is 
seeking  to  bear  witness  unto  Him  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth.  That  blessing  has  rested 
signally  on  our  beloved  Church,  since  ihe  time  when 
we  entered  as  a  Church  on  the  work  of  sending  the 
gospel  abroad.  Our  foreigu  missions  have  been 
gieatly  prospered.  Churches  and  Presliyteries  are 
now  planted  in  Africa.  Asia,  South  America,  and 
among  some  of  our  Indian  tribes.  Nauvecommu- 
nii'auts,  native  elders,  native  ministers,  in  many 
foreign  parts,  row  worship  God  with  us  in  our  sim- 
ple and  beautiful  order.  The  work  is  going  on;  it 
is  calling  for  enlargement;  il,  must  be  extended. 

And  tlien  as  we  turn  and  survey  our  Church  here 
at  home,  we  see  no  signs  of  its  being  impoverished 
or  weakened  by  its  witnessing  work  abroad.  We 
do  see  thinas  that  awaken  our  solicitude— dangers 
of  divided  "opinions,  and  especially  tlie  danger  of 
being  carried  away  by  tides  of  wordliness ;  but  God 
has  iiept  us  and  blest  us  hitherto.  All  Through  the 
terrible  events  of  the  last  few  years  we  have  had 
grace  given  to  u^  and  the  blessings  of  Providence, 
so  that  we  have  not  fallen  av.-ay  fmra  our  noble  mis- 
sionary work  abroad;  that  work  lias  been,  like  the 
liow  of  promise,  spanning  the  dark  .skv,  and  point- 
ins:  to  brighter  days,  when  peace  .should  return  to 
bless  the  land  in  oroer  that  the  Church  might  go  ou 
to  bless  the  world. 

Whatever  may  have  been  our  past  dangers,  what- 
ever present  difliculties,  they  would  have  been  lar 
greater,  perhaps  even  fatal  to  our  churches,  if  God 
had  not  given  us  grace  to  bear  our  evangelistic  tes- 
timony to  the  Chippewas,  the  Bengas,  the  Hindoos, 
the  Siamese,  the  Chinese  and  others,  thereby  se- 
curing the  fullillment  of  our  Savior's  promi=e  to  us, 
and  thereby  enabliug  many  of  our  Christian  people 
to  feel  more  deeply  the  preciousness  ot  the  gospel  to 
themselves.  As'  we  continue  our^liome  survey,  we 
see  signs  of  widely  spread  prosperity  in  the  home 
ioterests  of  our  church— in  our  greatly  enlarged 
number  of  ministers  and  members  since  the  year 
1832,  when  the  foreigu  missions  of  our  body  were 
commenced.  But,  on  these  and  other  thiugs  we 
cannot  enter.  , 

We  bless  the  Lord  for  what  he  halh  done  for  us. 
We  eratefuUy  ascribe  all  our  prosperity,  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  all  our  success  to  the  presence  of 
our  blessed  Lord  with  us,  as  we  have  endeavored 
to  be  witnesses  unto  him  both  in  our  own  country 
and  in  foreign  lands — even  unto  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth.  We  see  iu  this  the  second  cause  of  oiu- 
prosperity. 

Here  then  we  rest  in  our  exposition  of  the  text, 
aid  conclude  with  two  oiher  inlert-nces  : 

1.  We  see  that  the  duty  of  Christian  witnessing  is 
from  Gcd.  It  is  unto  Christ,  by  his  last  instruc- 
tions and  by  his  last  commandment-  It  is  in- 
spired and  made  efficacious  hy  the  Holy  Ghost. 
In  bearing  their  tettimony,  the  disciples  have  a 
divine  warrant — they  were  not  unsent;  and  they 
may  feel  assured,  thereforp,  that  their  witnessing 
shall  not  be  in  vain.  Whether  many  or  few  accept 
their  testimony,  they  shall  receive  a  divine  re- 
ward.   Let  them  seek  to  be  found  faithlul  witnesses, 


never  shunningto  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God, 
ever  sitting  the  Lord  Tfimself  before  them,  giving 
their  testimony  from  love  to  him,  cherishing  a 
sense  of  their  dependence  ou  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
then  they  shall  be  blessed  themselves  and  a  bless- 
ing to  the  world. 

2.  We  see  the  mam  elements  of  success  in 
.Apostolic  evange  ization.  Its  agents  were  men 
impelled  by  love  to  Christ  and  empowered  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Their  minds  were  enlightenect;  their 
liearts  filled  witli  holy  affections ;  their  labors  abund- 
ant beyond  measure — ail  because  tney  were  under 
Divine  influence.  Their  views  of  their  work  were 
clear  and  well  defined;  they  knew  precisely 
what  they  were  to  do  and  how  to 
do  it;  tiiey  engaged  in  it  at  no  uncer- 
tainty. A  noble  purpose  of  consecration  to  God 
g(jverned  their  whole  course.  As  we  fix  our  atten- 
tion on  the  lite  ot  one  of  those  early  disciples,  and 
it  matters  little  which  of  them,  as  we  consider  his 
faith  in  Christ,  his  selt- renunciation,  his  un- 
worldly spirit,  his  willingness  to  endure 
hardship  and  to  practice  self-denial,  his  devottd- 
ness  to  the  great  object  of  saving  lost  souls,  and 
ihei-eby  glorifying  God.  his  perseverai.ee  in  seeking 
this  object  m  the  face  of  reproach,  opposition,  per- 
secution, violence  and  death,  even  death  in  the  most 
terrible  form,  we  are  filled  with  admiration  of  his 
holy  liie  and  his  blessed  labors.  With  sucli  a  con- 
secration of  heart  and  life,  and  with  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  at  once  its  cause  and  its  blessing, 
we  do  not  wonder  to  see  Stephen  martyred,  and  ttie 
cause  advanced  which  his  death  was  intended  to  de- 
stroy. 

We  do  not  wonder  to  see  the  brilliant  course  of 
Paul,  his  abundaut  labors,  his  unceasing  prayers, 
his  unwearied  zeal  flaming  to  the  last.  These  wei"e 
the  missionaries,  tfiese  were  the  ministers  of  the 
primitive  Church.  We  readily  seethe  secret  ot  their 
wonderful  success.  They  walked  with  God,  and 
God  was  with  them,  and  therefore  the  gospel  won 
triumphs  in  the  woild  such  as  no  subsequent  a;i:e  has 
witnessed.  Yes,  my  brethren,  and  we  may  say  such 
as  the  world  will  not  witness  again  until  our  hiiuis- 
ters  and  missionaries  become  men  of  Apostolic 
piety. 

3.  And  this  leads  to  oui*last  remark.  We  see 
what  is  most  needed  by  us  as  a  Church — as  a.  body 
of  Christian  people   ministers,  elders,  deacons  and 

I  members.  It  is  not  purer  doctrines;  our  faith  is  of 
God.  It  is  not  a  better  order;  our  churcli  is  at 
once  Scriptural,  catholic,  beautiful  in  its  worship, 
and  admirable  in  its  government.  It  Is  not,  per- 
haps, better  plans  of  promoting  the  work  of  evan- 
gelization; though  these  probably  migt^t  be 
reduced  in  number,  enlarged  in  scope 
iu         some  instances,  and  simialilied 

in  their  arrangements;  still,  it  is  well  to  be  stow  to 
make  changes,  and  it  is  well  to  remember  that  our 
plans  have  worked  better  than  we  coitld  have  ex- 
pected; that  whatever  plans  are  adopted,  we  may 
expect  imperfections,  and  that  we  must  look  beyond 
our  methods  of  benevolent  action  to  their  slnni- 
mating  principle,  and  herein  it  is  that  we  chi^fly 
come  short.  But  it  is  not  in  any  of  these  things 
that  we  feel  our  greatest  need;  it  is  in  thewant  of 
Apostolic  piety;  His  in  the  want  of  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

Men  of  the  world  depend  on  talent,  learning, 
wealth,  station;  we  undervalue  noneof  these  gifts; 
Gou  has  ever  used  them  all.  But  he  also  used  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty. 
Thirty  years  ago  a  venerable  minister  said  to  me, 
'*JViy  young  brother,  we  seem  to  be  living  in  an  age 
of  .great  events  and  little  men."  He  said  this  in  a 
tone  of  discouragement,  and  in  his  unafiected  hu- 
mility he,  nodoubt,  included  himself  in  his  remark, 
though  no  minister  stood  higher  than  he  in  our 
Church;  but  his  words  embodied  a  great  truth  and 
one  that  should  give  us  great  encouragement. 
God  will  so  o'der  events  that  the  glory  of  the 
world's  salviijion  shall  be  seen  to  be  of  himself 
and  not  of  uiea.  He  will  employ  great  gifts,  but  be 
will  also  employ  humble  gifts.  And  if  God  the  Holy 
Gostbewith  "little  men,"  they  will  work  won- 
ders. Thegift  most  important,  moit  to  be  desired 
b'v  us  all,  is  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Let 
hts  influtnces  so  abound  in  us,  so  govern  our  lives, 
so  animate  our  prayers,  as  to  make  us  Christ-like. 


Let  his  gracious  power  so  control  us  as  to  consume 
our  worldly  aims,  our  unworthy  desires  of  comfort, 
our  undue  regard  for  the  praise  ot  men,  and  at  the, 
same  time  to  raise  our  conceptions  of  divine  and 
eternal  things,  filling  our  hearts  with  the  love  of 
God,  and  ^living  us  ileep  impressions  of  the  power  of 
the  world  to  come;  and  then  shall  our  course  be  in 
some  measure  like  that  of  the  first  Christians. 
The  title  company  thac  saw  our  Lord  ascend  into 
Heaven,  were  soon  clothed  with  power,  and  theu  went 
forth  and  made  their  influence  felt  tlU'Mighout;  the 
world.  We  Sfrvethe  same  Savior.  We"  have  the 
unlimited  promise  of  the  same  Ahuighty  Spirit. 
The  same  work  is  set  before  us  as  before  them,  the 
Worid  stanris  open  to-day,  asit  did  l,StiO  years  ago, 
still  waiting  lor  missionaries.  Oh,  let  the  Spirit  of 
God  baptise  our  ministers,  elders  and  communi- 
cants, and  how  soon  would  our  Church  shake  this 
land  and  shake  the  world!  Oh,  that  the  great 
ascension  gift  of  our  blessed  Lord  may  so'm  be 
poured  out  upon  us  from  on  high!  Then  would  our 
Church  go  forth  like  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  or  the 
Church  of  Antioch,  and  bless  the  world. 

I  do  not  forget,  my  brethren,  that  such  witness- 
ing unto  Christ  as  we  have  been  consid'-ring  is  no 
easy  matter.  Nay,  I  know  that  involves  often- 
times great  and  painful  sacrifices — of  time,  proo- 
erty,  and  life  itself  in  some  cases,  so  thac  ihe  word 
ruitvesses,  in  the  original  language  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, is  the  same  word  that  denotes  the  marti/rs  ot 
the  early  church.  Stephen  was  a  witness  unto 
Christ,  and  he  Avas  the  first  martyr.  Most  of  the 
Apostles,  it  19  believed,  tuflered  dtaih  by 
marivrdom.  So  did  many  of  the  prim- 
itive Christians,  and  many  of  the  penple 
of  God  in  all  ages — in  the  VValdensian  Valley, 
on  the  hills  of  Scotland,  in  England,  and  iu  our 
own  day  in  the  Island  of  Madagascar.  It  we  are 
now  exempted  irom  this  extreme  saeriSce  as  the 
witnesses  of  Christ,  yet  are  we  not  sometimes  called 
to  sacrifice  hardly  less  severe  in  the  fulfillment  of 
our  duty? 

I  think  the  modern  missionary  woik  of  the 
Church  presents  examples  of  this — when  parents 
are  called  to  give  uo  a  beloved  son  or  daughter,  or 
when  an  yfl'ectiouate  sou  or  daughter  is  called  from 
home  and  friends,  to-go  far  hence  to  the  Gentiles. 
At  6uch  sacrifices,  many  tears  flow,  many  hearts  are 
bowed  down  in  detp  distress — it  often  seems 
almost  martyrdom.  Yet  it  is  for  Christ.  His  grace 
is  sulUcient.  His  presence  is  witli  his  servants, 
and  they  are  enabled  to  go  Jorth  with  a  willing  heart 
to  bear  glad  testimony  unto  Christ  amouii  the  hea= 
then.  There  they  are  happy  and  blessed  in  their 
work,  they  who  lemain,  feeling  almost  bereaved, 
are  comforted. 

The  Church  is  but  the  self-denying  lives  and  ex- 
amples other  children,  and  they  are  blessed  re- 
unions in  luaven.  There  shall  they  and  all  the 
faithiul  witnesses  uuto  Christ  rejoice  with  him 
forever. 

"  And  one  of  tlie  Elders  answered,  saying  nnto 
me,  'Which  are  these  which  are  arrayed  in  white 
robes,  and  whence  came  they?' " 

"And  I  said  unto  him,  'Sir,  thou  knowf  st. '  And 
he  said  to  me,  'These  are  they  that  came  out  of 
great  tribulition,  and  have  waslied  their  robes,  and 
made  them  white,  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb?'  " 

'Wherefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God, 
and  serve  Him  day  and  night  in  His  ttmple;  and  he 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among  tnem. '' 

'•  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  tuirst  any- 
more; neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any 
heat  " 

"For  the  Lamb  Which  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne  shall  feed  them,  and  ehall  lead  them  unto 
living  fountains  of  waters;  and  God  shall  wipe 
away  all  tejrs  from  their  ejes." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  sermon,  and  after  the 
benediction,  the  assembly  was  called  to  order.  Rev. 
Mr.  Lowry,  the  Moderator,  in  the  chair. 

Hev.  Mr.  Schenck,  the  Sicretary,  then  read  a  list 
of  delegates. 

[The  list  not  being  entirely  complete,  we  omit  its 
publication  until  our  next  issue  ] 

The  names  of  several  delegates  were  read  whose 


papers  had  not  been  properly  made  out,  and,  on 
motion,  tbey  were  referred  to  a  committee  of  three, 
of  whhichDr.  Patterson  was  chairman. 

The  Assembly,  after  prayer,  adjourned  until  four 
o'clock. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  L.  Breckinridge. 

Rev.  Dr.  Patterson,  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Commissions,  reported  a  list  of  names  whose  cre- 
dentials were  not  properly  made  out.  -The  report 
recommended  their  admission,  and  it  was  adopted. 

Nominations  lor  Moderator  of  the  Assembly  for 
the  ensuing  year  being  in  order, 

Mr.  Allen  of  Illinois  nominated  Dr.  P.  D.  Gur- 
ley,  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

Dr.  Krebs  nominated  Dr.  Robert  L.  Stanton,  of 
Chillicothe. 

Rfcv.  Dr.  Brookes  of  St.  Louis  nominated  Dr. 
Samuel  R.  Wilson,  of  Louisville. 

Dr.  Breckinridae  moved  that  in  the  election  for 
Moderator  and  Clerk  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast 
be  necessary  lor  a  choice. 

Dr.  Humphries  moved  to  amend  by  providing 
that  iu  all  elections  of  the  Assembly  this  rule  shall 
prevail . 

Amendment  accepted  and  motion  agreed  to . 

Dr.  Carter,  of  Baltimore,  nominated  Rev.  Mr. 
Loomis,  of  California. 

Rev.  Mr.  Lofeuiis  asked  leave  to  decline,  which 
was  granted. 

The  vote  was  then  tiken,  and  resulted  as  follows: 

Dr.  P.   D,  Guriey 75 

Dr.  B.  L.  Sianton 158 

Dr.  S.   R.  Wilson 18 

Dr.  Stanton  having  been  declared  duly  tlected 
Moderator,  the  retiring  Moderator,  Dr.  Lowry,  ap- 
pointed Dr.  Krebs  a  committee  to  inform  Dr.  Stan- 
ton of  his'electiou,  and  conduct  him  to  the  Chair. 

Dr.  Lowry  welcomed  Dr.  Stauton  by  saying:  It 
gives  me  pleasure  to  introduce  Dr.  Stanron  as  M.od- 
erator,  and  may  God's  t/lessin.g  be  with  you  and 
guide  and  direct  you  in  the  i  erformance  "of  your 
d-.ities.  You  will  find  in  these  minutes  the  rules  for 
the  government  of  ihe  A  ssembly,  and  the  prayer  of 
the  retiring  Moderator  is  that  the  Divine  blessing 
may  rest  on  you  and  on  this  assembly. 

Dr.  Stanron  then  said:  Fathers  and  Brethren: 
I  need  scarcely  say  that  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the 
honor  conferred  upon  me  by  being  called  to  preside 
over  your  deliberations.  This  honor,  I  am  well 
aware,  brings  with  it  responsibilities  ancl  labors  of 
no  ordinary  character.  While  I  return  you  my  sin- 
cere thanks  for  this  murk  of  your  contidtnce,  I 
(■hall  endeavor  to  bring  to  the  diocharge  of  the  du- 
ties of  the  chair  an  honest  eflurt,  at  lease,  to  advance 
the  wishes  of  those  whose  servant  only  I  am.  A 
consciousness  of  my  inability  lully  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  position  \ou  have  given  me  prompts 
me  to  throw  myself  upon  your  generous  indulgence 
and  to  ask  your  assi-tauce  in  every  proper  way ; 
while,  in  order  that  the  business  of  the  Assembly 
may  Vie  properly  conducled,  it  is  essential  that  we 
should  unitedly  seek  tue  guidaiice  ot  that  wisdom 
which  is  from  above. 

It  has  many  tunes  been  said  by  members  of  this 
body  and  by  ottiers,  as  well  as  by  the  reliaious  jour- 
nals, that  this  would  be  one  of  the  most  important 
General  Assemblies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
which  has  ever  convened.  While  we  ousht  not  un- 
duly to  magnify  our  office  as  a  Church  Court,  there 
may  be  some  truth  in  the  estimate  thus  put  upon 
what  may  prove  to  betheresult  of  our  deliberations. 
Vital  questions  aflectiog  the  integrity  of  this  As- 
sembly, and  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church  at 
large,  will  claim  from  you  a  prompt  and  decisive 
solution.  That  rebellious  defiance  of  lawful  au- 
thority which  has  racked  this  Nation  to  its  foimda- 


tions  during  four  years  of  war,  still  rages  within 
the  precincts  where  it  was  born,  the  Church  of  God! 
It  is  rheofl'sprius:  of  heresy,  corruption,  and  all  uii- 
rigtiteoustiess.  Toraeet  it  pi-omptly,  courageously  in 
the  fear  of  God,  and  with  the  aid  or  His  erace,  is  your 
inimfest  duty,  as  well  as  dirt  ctly  to  deal  witli  tiiose 
who  openly  deride  your  mo^t  solemn  injunctions. 
To  settle  all  these  questions  upm  principles  so 
cloai  ly  right  that  they  shall  command  the  conlideuce 
ot'the"Church  and  give  it  rest,  while  they  shall  ad- 
vance the  Savior's  glory  and  becurej  his  favor, 
sliould  be  the  aim  of  the  prayers  and  the  labors  of 
every  niHmber.  Then,  tlmse  who  have  gone  out 
from  us  upon  vain  and  wicked  pretexts  may  be  left 
to  their  own  chosen  way,  and  it  any  still  remain  to 
revile  they  may  know  the  cost  of  setting  at  deliauce 
the  authority  which  Christ  has  given  to  his  Church. 

The  bare  mention  of  these  things — to  name  no 
others  which  will  claim  your  attention — shows  how 
greatly  we  need  a  wisdom  which  13  above  that  of 
man.  Let  us,  then,  one  and  all,  seek  for  our  guid- 
ance that  wisdom  and  grace  Which  God  hath 
prr'mi-ed;  and  may  he  give  success  to   the  right! 

Nominations  for  Secretary  being  in  order,  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen  were  put  for  nomination ; 

Eev.  Dr.  Hickock,  Rev.  Mi'.  Loomi^i,  of  the  Pres- 
bj  tery  of  Caliioruia,  Kev.  J.  P.  Davis,  01  the  2d 
Presbytery  of  Philaf!el]ihla,  Kev.  J.  G.  Rosser,  of 
Leafenworth,  Rev.  E.  Kemphall,  of  the  Presbytery 
ot  Elizabethtown,  and  Rev."l\Ir.  Waller. 

Rev.  Mr.  Loomis,  Rev.  Mr.  Rosser  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Waller  severally  declined. 

The  vote  resulted : 

Rev.  Mr.  Hickock 14.i 

Rev.  Mr. Kemiihall <Jl 

Rev.   Mr.  Davi:? 4 

Rev.  Mr.  Hickock  was  declared  duly  elected. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowry,  from  the  committee  appointed 
at  the  last  session,  reported  that  it  would  be  inex- 
pedient to  make  any  change  in  regard  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  services  ot  the  several  Boards  shall  be 
conducted. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

The  following  order  of  proceedings  was  agreed 
upon  :  Friday  to  receive  reports  of  the  Boards  of 
the  Theological  Seminaries  hnd  reler  to  the  appro- 
Xiriate  committees;  for  Saturday,  to  hear  the  report 
of  the  standing  committee  on  tlie  Board  ot  Church 
Extension;  for  Monday  next,  to  hear  the  report  of 
the  Board  of  Publication;  for  Tuesday,  tlie  report 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions;  for  Wennesday, 
to  hear  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions; tor  Thursday,  the  report  of  the  Board  of 
Education;  for  Friday,  to  hear  the  report  in  regard 
to  the  disabled  ministers'  fund;  for  Saturday,  to 
hear  the  report  of  ihe  Freedmeu's  ('ommittee. 

Rev.  Dr.  McLe^in  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tion :  ' 

Whereas,  Ic  isiinders  rod  that  the  Presbytery 
of  Louisville  has  openly  dtfled  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  refuses  to  snomit  to  its  orders,  in  a 
pamphlet  adopted  by  it  of  which  the  loilowiug  is  a 
specimen,  to- wit: 

"We  will  not  sustain  or  execute,  or  in  any  man- 
ner assist  in  the  execution  of  the  orders  passed  by 
the  last  assemblies  on  the  subjict  of  shivery  and 
loyalty,  andwiih  relerence  to  the  conduciiug  of 
missions  in  the  Southern  States,  and  with  regard  to 
the  ministers,  members  and  churches  in  the  seceded 
and  border  States. ' ' 

And  whereas,  Said  Presbytery  has  commissioned 
and  sent  to  this  Assembly  at  least  one  commissioner 
who,  if  the  order  of  tlie  last  assemblv  had 
liteii  faithfully  executed  by  saia  Presbytery, 
there  is  the  strongest  ground  for  believing  would 
have  been  suspended  from  the  lunciions  of  the 
gospel  ministry;  tiierefore, 

Resolved,  That  until  the  Assembly  shall  have  ex- 
amined and  decided  on  the  conduct  of  said  Presby- 
tery, the  commissioners  therefrom  shall  not  be  en- 
titled to  seats  in  this  body. 

Rev.  Win.  Breckinridge  moved  that  the  resolu- 
tion be  laid  on  the  table. 

The  ayes  and  noes  were  demanded. 

Rev.  Mr.  Waller  raised  a  point  of  order.  In 
order  that  the  question  might  be  understood,  here- 
quested  the  Moderator  to  state  to  the  Assembly  the 
effect  of  this  motion;   if  it  should   be  carried  in  the 


affirmative,  whether  it  carries  this  whole  subject  on 
the  table. 

The  Moderator.  I  understand  that  if  this  motion 
is  carried  to  lay  this  paper  on  the  table,  it  lays  that 
paper  on  theitableand  nothing  more.  What  that 
paper  embraces  ;i  cannot  distictly  call  to  miud,  be- 
cause I  heard  it  bat  imperfectly. 

Mr.  Galloway.  I  move  that  the  Assembly  adjourn 
until  to-morrow  morniug  at  9  o'clock. 

A  member  raised  a  point  of  order,  whether  it 
was  in  order  to  make  a  motion  to  adjourn  wlien  the 
ayes  and  noes  were  called  for. 

The  Moderator.  Yes,  sir.  The  motion  is  in  or- 
der, as  we  have  not  begun  to  take  the  vote. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs.  Allow  me  to  mate  a  request — 
not  to  adjourn  until  we  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
getting  a  vote. 

Tlie  Moderator.  That  is  rather  in  the  nature  of 
debate. 

Dr.  Krebs.  It  has  nothing  to  ao  with  this  busi- 
ness; but  for  the  conveuenience  of  the  Assembly  I 
hope  they  will  adjourn. 

A  Member.  The  Meutleman  is  making  an  argu- 
ment against  adjournment. 

The  Moderator.  So  I  suagested,  but  the  gentle- 
man is  a  good  parliamentarian  and  lie  says  not.  The 
vote  must  be  taken. 

The  vote  was  then  taken,  and  the  motion  to  ad- 
journ was  lost. 

The  Moderator.  The  question  is  en  calling  the 
ayes  and  noes  on  laying  this  paper  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Lean's on  the  table. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs  desired  to  know,  If  this  motion 
to  lay  on  the  table  was  carried,  whether  the  resolu- 
tion could  be  taken  up  at  any  future  time,  and  if  it 
was  not  laid  on  the  table,  wneiher  it  would  be  com- 
petent for  the  House  to  immediately  refer  it  to  an 
appropriate  committee  Instead  of  proceeding  to  the 
discussion  of  the  matter. 

The  Moderator.  Unquestionably,  the  House  has 
a  Tight  to  make  any  disposition  of  it  they  choose. 

Rev.  Mr.  Francis.  Permit,  me  to  make  an  In- 
quiiy.  If  it  is  laid  on  the  table,  would  it  not  re- 
quire a  vote  of  two-thirds  to  take  it  up  at  any 
time. 

The  Moderator.  I  think  it  requires  three-fourths. 
The  Stated  Clerii  .suggests  urereiy  a  majority.  Ttint 
matter,  however,  is  decided  hy  law,  I  believe. 

Rev.  Mr.  Francis.  I  amaware  thatparlia'sientary 
l)ractice requires  two-thirds  invariably. 

Rev.  Wm.  Breckinridge  If  iii^ order  I  move  that 
hereafter  when  the  Assembly,  by  vote,  lays  a  paper 
on  the  table,  it  shall  have  the  power  to"  take  it  up 
by  a  majority  at  its  pleasure.  I  think  by  referring 
to  the  action  of  former  Assemblies  on  thi>  subject, 
it  will  be  found  almost  without  exception,  if  not 
absolutely,  tliat  has  oeeii  the  usual  course. 

The  Moderator.  I  do  not  think  that  motion 
is  in  oraor  at  the  present  time.  It  is  equivalent  to 
adding  a  rule  to  the  standing  rules,  and  muy  be 
aciedupon  hereafter." 

Uev.  Mr.  Breckinridge.  I  make  it  as  an  interpre- 
tation of  the  rule. 

Rev.  Mr.  Carter,  of  Baltimore,  desired  to  know 
if  the  taking  of  a  paper  oft'  the  tiible  was  not  in  the 
nature  of  a  reconsideration. 

The  Moderator  decided  it  was  not. 

Rev.  Dr.  P.atterson  thought  the  nineteenth  rule 
decided  the  question,  inasmuch  as  it  declared  that  a 
question,  after  it  has  once  been  disposed  of,  shall 
not  be  again  called  up  or  reconsidered  at  the  same 
session  at  which  it  is  decided,  unless  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

The  Moderator  understood  that  to  reter  to  a  mo- 
tion that  had  been  considered  and  decided,  the 
laying  of  a  paper  on  the  table  under  these  circum- 
stances was  no  decision ;  therefore,  he  would  not 
regard  this  as  coming  under  the  19th  rule. 

Rev.  Mr.  Frazier.  We  discussed  that  matter  not 
less  than  a  day  and  a  half  in  the  Assembly  in  ISlil, 
and  a  resolution  laid  on  the  table  was  taken  ui)  by 
a  mere  majority.  Dr.  Hodge  and  others  opposed 
it,  out  it  was  tauen  up  and  a  new  resolution  offered 
by  Dr.  Spring. 

Rev.  Mr.  Clark.  A  motion  has  been  made  and 
another  motion  made  to  lay  that  motion  on  the  ta- 
ble. The  House  has  directed  the  vote  sball  be 
taken  by  ayes  and  noes.  The  motionj  to  lay  on 
the  .table  is  not  debatalile.     I  insist  that  no  debate 


can  be  liad  in  the  form  ot  questions  put  tbeModera- 
tor  to  decide. 

A  member.  Is  not  the  memher  putting  a  question 
now? 

lieY.  Mr.  Clark,  No.  I  am  making  a  point  ot 
order  that  this  whole  discussion  is  out  of  order. 

The  Moderator.  I  am  quite  wtll  aware  that  the 
motion  to  lay  on  the  tal)le  is  not  debarahle,  but  I 
have  understood  these  questions  to  have  reterenceto 
matters  of  order.  It  appears  to  me  there  is, no  spe- 
cilic  rule  on  the  subject.  My  opinion  i9^  that  a  bt>.re 
niiijority  may  lay  on  the  table,  and  a  bare  majority 
take  fro'm  the  table.  As  to  what  the  practice  has 
heretofore  been,  I  cannot  distinctly  call  to  mind. 

The  roll  was  then  called. 

During  the  calling  ot  the  roll,  Rev.  Mr.  West  de- 
sired to  know  whether  it  was  in  order  for  any  of 
the  parties  to  whom  the  reeolution  referred  to  vote. 

Eev.  Mr.  Anderson  of  St.  Louis  said:  Then  all 
they  had  to  do  to  put  the  power  of  this  Assemt)ly  in 
the'hands  of  six  men  was  to  cbarge  all  the  rest  of 
the  body  with  something  of  this  S'trt.  By  this 
means  they  could  put  the  power  of  this  Assembly 
in  the  hantts  of  six  men. 

Rev.  Dr.  Wilson.  Brother  West  has  stated  that 
the  Assembly  ha.s  made  a  certain  decision.  >Ve 
would  like  to  hear  the  decision  read  that  refers  to 
this  case. 

Rev.  5Ir.  West  stated  that  he  could  not  point  to 
the  decision  just  at  present. 

Mr.  Wilson.  I  only  asked  for  the  decision.  Tlie 
Doctor  is  learned  iu  ecclesiastical  law.  He  says 
there  is  a  decision  that  refers  to  this  case.  Aa  a 
party  interested  iu  this  case  I  ask  for  tfie  decision. 

Rev.  Mr.  West.  I  do  not  remember  the  decision 
sutliciently  to  give  it  in  detalt,  but  I  would  like  to 
have  time  to  looK  it  up.  I  will  ask  through  you,  Mr. 
Moderator,  if  Brother  Wilson  denies  the  existence 
of  such  a  decision? 

Rev.  Mr.  Wilson.  I  suppose  it  is  enough  f.ir  mc  to 
call  for  the  decision.  As  the  brother  has  said  there 
is  a  decision,  I  presume  he  has  it. 

The  Moderator.  If  it  cannot  be  produced  the  clerk 
will  proceijd. 

Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  wheu  his  name  was  called, 
said,  I  shall  not  vote  on  ihis  question,  but  not  yield- 
ing my  riglit  to  vote.  I  simply  sit  silent.  I  do  not 
yield  my  right  to  vote.    I  suppose  I  can  do  that. 

The  Moderator.  Certainly. 

Mr.  Wycklifle,  vrhen  his  name  was  called.  I 
shall  not  vote,  understanding  the  language  of  that 
resoluiion,  but  i  do  not  yield  my  right  to  vote. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs  hoped  that  the  announcement  of 
the  vote  would  be  made  without  reading  over  the 
names. 

Rev.  Mr.  Patterson  moved  that  the  paper  be  refer- 
red to  a  committee. 

The  Moderator  said  it  was  usual,  after  taking  a 
vote,  to  read  over  the  nau\es,  but  as  Dr.  Krebs  had 
made  a  point  that  it  was  manifest  the  vote  had  been 
decided  in  the  negative,  they  need  not  wait  for  the 
usual  course. 

The  reading  of  the  names  was  dispensed  with. 

The  vote  was  then  announced  as  follows:  Nays.. 
212;  ayes,  31. 


Kev.  Mr.  McLuin  asked  leave  to  say  a  few  words. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs  raised  a  pnmt  or  order  that  alter 
a  matter  of  this  kind  had  been  submitted  to  the 
house  it  should  be  referred  to  a  committee.,  say  of 
bills  and  overtures,  which  was  instituted  for  this 
very  purpose  of  considering  whether  it  was  a  pro- 
per question  to  come  betoi  e  the  house,  and  what 
lime  It  shall  come,  and  iu  what  form.  He  might  be 
mistaken,  and  would  not  urtie  this  proposition  with 
pertinacity;  but  as  it  AV  as  within  five  minutes  of 
the  hour  of  adjournment,  lie  would  suggest  that  the 
Whole  matter  be  referred  to  a  committee. 

Rev.  Mr.  McLain.  I  had  no  idea  I  was  giving 
way  for  a  discussion. 

The  Moderator.  Dr.  Krebs  wished  to  raise  a 
point  of  order. 

Dr.  McLain .    What  is  it? 

Dr.  Krebs.    I  cannot  state  it  ar.y  more  plainly. 

The  Moderator.  With  regartl  to  ihe  point  ot  or- 
der, I  consi<ier  Dr.  McLain  in  order;  but  whether 
Jt  is  ))olicy  to  detain  the  house  at  this  late  hour,  1 
will  leave  it  to  Dr.  McLain  to  determine. 

Dr.  McLain.  When  I  offered  this  paper  I  pur- 
posely retrained  from  saying  a  word,  because  I  de- 
sired to  make  the  motion  on  my  own  resuonsibiliiy, 
and  after  consultation  with  but  few  of  the  brethren 
inthehou^e.  I  could  say  a  great  deal  on  it,  sir, 
but  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  what  might  appear  to 
be  personalities,  I  chose  rather  to  sit  down.  I  had 
a  right  to  go  on  in  all  conscience  and  by  narliament- 
ary  rule  when  the  motion  was  seconded.  I  had  a 
right  to  speak,  but  I  sat  down.  Now  an  attempt  is 
made  to  lay  ttie  whole  subject  on  the  table, 
and  that  attempt  failed  by  a  large  majority — and 
surely  the  mover  has  a  right  to  say  something  if  he 
sees  proper;  but  as  the  house  is  impatient,  ana  the 
hour  of  adjournment  has  arrived,  1  will  yield  now 
and  claim  ihe  floor  for  lo-moirow  morning. 

Rev.  Mr.  Monfort  desired  to  offer  a  resolution  iu 
regard  to  the  hour  of  meeting  each  day. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brown  desireu  to  move  to  refer  this 
whole  subject  (in  regard  to  the  Kentucky  delega- 
tion) to  the  Committee  ou  Elections. 

Several  motions  were  made  to  adjourn. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs  stated  that  he  desired  to  make  an 
announcement  before  the  adjournment.  The  com- 
mutee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting,  in  regard  to  a 
new  selection  of  psalms  and  hymns,  had  completed 
their  work,  and  were  prepared  to  report.  He  re- 
quested that  the  report  should  be  received  in  regu- 
lar order  for  to-day. 

The  Moderator.  With  all  due  respect  to  Dr. 
Krebs,  who  is  one  of  the  best  parliamentarians,  I 
think  this  is  not  in  the  nature  of  those  notices  tliat 
are  usually  otfered  when  a  motion  of  adjournfnent 
has  been  made. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs.  I  am  obliged  to  go  away  early 
next  week,  anil  hope  the  house  will  indulge  me  by 
allowing  me  to  lay  befote  it  the  work  which  has 
been  done. 

The  Moderator.  I  presume  it  can  be  done;  but  we 
mu-;t  now  take  the  vote  on  adjournment. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  and  the  motion  to  ad- 
journ was  carried. 


SECOND    DAY— FRIDAY,    MAY    10,    180G. 


MOKXING  SESSION. 

Half  flu  hour  was  spent  in  devotional  exercises. 
After  wbicli  the  ruinutcs  of  yesterday  were  read. 
During  the  readins;  ot  the  minutes,  Dr.  Wilson  de- 
aired  that  it  should  be  entered  on  the  records  that 
he  declioed  voting  yesterday  on  the  resolution  in 
regard  to  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  but  at  the  same 
time  reserved  his  right  to  vote.  This  was  done  by 
common  consent  on  yesterday . 

The  Moderator.  The  gentleman  made  the  request 
on  yesterday  and  so  did  Governor  W.vckUfl\i. 

Dr.  Krebs.  It  occurs  to  me  there  is  no  neeii  of  a 
motion.  Our  rule  says  members  ought  to  vote,  and 
our  custom  in  the  interpretation  is  that  any  gentle- 
man for  any  reason  declining  to  vote  is  permitted 
so  to  do.  When  the  ayes  and  nays  are  recorded  it 
is  recorded  that  such  and  such  "gentlemen  do  not 
vote.  It  is  not  neceesary,  1  presume,  to  put  on  the 
reason  why.  This  house  can  always  admit  that  fact; 
and  1  presume  these  gentlemen  have  a  right  to 
liave  their  names  recorded  as  not  voting. 

A  member  stated  that  Dr.  Itobinson  made  the 
same  suggestion. 

Another  member  said,  we  are  now  correcting  the 
record  of  our  proceedings .  is  it  not  a  question  of 
fact  that  these  gentlemen  declined  to  vote?  And  if 
so,  are  they  not  entitled  to  have  that  fact  recorded, 
and  will  eur  record  be  correct  unless  we  do  state 
the  fact  that  they  declined  to  vote? 

The  Moderator.  If  there  is  no  objection  tlie  Clerk 
will  enter  that  they  declined  to  vote. 

Dr.  Schenck,  (the  permanent  Clerk.)  I  have 
wrritten  that  Dr.  Wilson,  Dr.  Eobmson  and  Dr. 
Wycklifle  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lonisvillejdecline  to 
vote.  We  cannot  say  in  general  terms  tliat  the 
Presbytery  deciine  to  vote,  because  one  or  two 
voted. 

A  member.  Dr.  Robinson  did  not  answer  to  his 
name. 

Another  member.  That  is  most  emphatically  de- 
clining to  vote. 

Moderator.  I  believe  the  rule  and  practice  has 
l>een  heretofore  that  silent  uiembers,  unless  excused 
from  voting, must  be  considered  as  acquiescing  with 
the  majority. 

Dr.  Wilson.  We  certainly  do  not  wish  to  be 
considered  as  acquiescing  with  themajority.  That, 
of  itself,  ought  to  be  a  weighty  reason. 

Dr.  Krebs.  1  move  that  those  gentlemen  who 
decline  voting  have  liberty  to  be  so  recor  ed. 

Dr.  Schenck.  F  suggest  th&t  the  following  should 
be  added  to  the  roll  of  ayes  and  nays ; 

"Dr.  Wilson,  and  Dr.  Robinson,  ministers,  and 
Governor  Wycklifl'e,  elder,   decline  to  vote." 

Dr.  McLean  moved  to  amend  by  declaring  that 
the  names  of  Messrs.  Wycklifl'e,"  Robinson  and 
Wilson  be  recorded  as  nori  Zif/KcJ,  as  Dr.  Robinson 
was  not  in  the  house  ac  the  time  the  vote  was  taken 
for  all  they  knew.    He  made  no  response. 

A  Member.  I  think  I  heard  him  decline  to  vote. 
He  was  bitting  behind  me  and  I  heard  him  decline 
to  vote. 

Dr.  McLean.  I  beg  pardon.  It  was  go  low  I 
could  not  hear  it  on  this  side  of  the  house. 

AJr.  Harding.  If  my  ears  did  not  deceive  me,  a 
gentleman  back  there  objected  to  the  members  from 
the  Louisville  Presbytery  voting,  saying  they  had 
no  right  to  vote.  Some  gentleman  made  that  objec- 
tion. Gov.  Wyckliffe  when  he  got  up  and  declined 
to  vote  reserved  his  right  to  vote. 

Rev.  Mr.  Bracken.  It  occurs  to  me  it  is  a  very 
easy  matter,  or  ought  to  be,  to  make  a  record  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  facts  in  the  caee.  What  were  the 
facts  in  the  case?  Objection  had  been  made  against 
tiiese  brethren  voting,  &nd  they  stated  before  the 
Assembly  that  they  declined  li»  vote,  though  they 
did  not  surrender  their  right.    Such  are  the  facts. 

The  Moderator.  That  was  the  statement  made 
by  Gov.  Wyckliffe  and Drs.  Robinson  and  Wilson. 

A  Member.  Is  it  not  universally  our  custom. 
when  a  vote  is  taken  by  ayes  and  noes,  that  the  roll 
is  required  to    show    tbst   sneh   aaraM    w*v«i    av« 


and  such  names  nay,  and  if  any  do  not  vote,  are 
they  are  not  recorded  as  non  liquet.  Usually  It 
does  not  state  on  the  minutes  what  is  the  reason 
thev  did  not  vote,  unless  there  is  something  special, 
and  I  think  there  is  nothing  in  this  case  so  very 
special  as  to  demand  particular  reference  to  them 
out  of  the  ordinary  way. 

The  Moderator."  My  opinion  is,  they  are  recorded 
as  voting  non  liquet  unless  they  answer. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brown.  The  case  stands  sotaething 
like  this:  When  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  was 
called,  objection  was  made  to  those  members  vot- 
ing, and  pending  the  decision  of  that  question,  ci-r- 
taiu  gentlemen  declined  to  vote;  bat  they  wni?ed 
their  right  to  vote,  and  that  question  is  not  yet  set- 
tled. As  the  minutes  stand,  they  do  not  express 
the  fact  in  the  case.  I  move  to  aiu.!nd  so  as  to  pre- 
sent that  fact. 

The  Moderator.  That  is  the  amendment  that  Dr. 
SchencK  offers  to  Dr.  Krebs's  motion.  Now  Dr. 
Browne  offers  an  amendment  to  the  amendment. 

Dr.  Brown.  This  amendment  does  not  cover  th<* 
ground  or  state  the  fact*.  The  amendment  that  I 
offer  is  this :  That  when  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville was  called  objection  was  made  to  its  voting  be- 
cause it  was  interested  in  tne  case.  Pending  the  de- 
cision of  that  question  Dr.  Wilson,  Dr.  Stuart  Rob- 
inson and  Gov.  Wycklille  deciined  to  vote,  but  said 
thatBthey  would  waive  their  right  to  vote.  That 
should  be  stated. 

Dr.  Wilson.  The  only  objection  to  that  ameod- 
ment  is  that  there  wasnodeciuon  at  all.  A  single 
member  ot  this  House  arose  and  said  that  our  right 
to  vote  had  been  decided  by  the  Assembly,  and  thac 
we  had  no  right  to  vote.  I  a-sked  for  lue'uuthority, 
but  no  authority  was  given,  and  the  Moderator,  as 
1  understood,  at-cided  when  I  gave  my  vote  that  we 
had  a  right  to  vote.  So  tliere  was  no  decipion  pend- 
ing before  the  House,  and  we  did  not  decliue  to  vote 
with  that  understanding. 

The  Moderator.  The  gentleman  misunderstood 
me  if  he  supposed  that  I  decided  he  had  a  right  to 
vote,  I  decided  that  the  demand  to  re%d  the  law 
was  a  just  demand. 

Dr.  Wilson.  There  was  no  question  before  the 
house  as  to  our  right  to  ■vote — no  fjue.stion  of  order 
at  all.  And,  therefore,  this  motion  Wiuiid  not  be 
in  accordance  with  the  fact,  fhe  oiijectioa  I  have 
to  It  is,  it  geemt<  tluit  our  decluuuurc  turned  upon 
this  objection,  and  that,  this  uijecfion  was  still 
pending  before  the  house,  Avheii  tne  house  had  not 
entertained  the  objection.  That  is  the  state  of  the 
case,  and  it  is  iniportunf,  I  think,  that  we  stiouid 
make  that  clear  distincrion.  The  liouse  had  not 
entertained  t!ie  objection.  It  was  theretore  simply 
the  objection  ot  a  solitary  ineinber,  and  has  no 
place  on  your  minutes  whatever.  The  re.'ison  why 
I  included  in  my  declining  to  vose  the  reservation  of 
my  right  to  vute,  was  because  it  was  essential  to 
do  it.  It  may  be  in  the  future,  if  this  business  goes 
on. 

I  suppose  the  brother  knows  what  non  liquet 
nieans?  And  that  was  not  my  vole,  i  decliued  to 
vote  and  reserved  my  rights.  Governor  Wjckiiffe 
did  the  saiie  thing. 

Rev.  Mr.  West.  I  sujipose  the  General  Assembly 
is  competent  to  under.- taud  the  significaucy  of  my 
demand. 

I  still  maintain  the  proposition  that  I  assarted, 
that  in  a  judicial  case  or  quasi  judicial  case  the 
ruling  of  the  General  Assembly  is  that  persons  in- 
volved shall  not  have  the  risht  to  vote.  There  are 
vested  rights  involved  in  this  pai>er  before  ns,  fciid 
that  is  the  ground  of  my  objection. 

Mr.  Kenipshall.  It  seems  tome  that  we  are  ac- 
cumulating amendments  to  the  oiiguial  motion 
which  are  leading  the  AsBembly  to  some  ouncUision, 
and  evidently  tending  to  a  widening  of  the  debute. 
1  think  tlie  original  uiotion  will  meet  with  tiie  aji  ■ 
probation  of  the  larger  portion  of  the  As.^embly.  J 
therefore  move  the  pveviouu  iiuautiou  in  ordur  that 
we  may  kave  a  vot«. 


10 


A  member.    What  is  the  main  question? 

The  Moderator.  The  main  question  is,  shall  these 
frentlemen  who  decliuG  to  vote  have  that  fact 
recorded. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  on  the  pre\  ious  quesHon , 
and  it  was  agreed  to.  The  moiiou  of  I)r.  Kries 
was  then  ae;reed  to. 

The  reading  of  the  minutes  was  then  concluded. 

Dr.  Humphreys.  I  move  that  m  the  record  of 
ayes  and  nays  the  title  of  D.  D.  be  omitted  on  the 
roll.  I  see  no  reason  why  a  colleffiate  tirJe  snould 
be  recognized  here  any  more  than  the  title  of  a 
physician.  There  are  physicians  on  this  floor,  and 
gentlemen  who  have  held  the  office  of  Governor  of  a 
commonwealrh,  and,  I  suppose,  gentlemen  who 
have  held  military  titles.  I  see  no  reason  why  they 
should  not  be  recognized  if  the  others  are.  The 
motion  was  agreed  to,  and  the  minutes  were  then 
approved. 

Toe  Moderator  then  stated  that  he  would  announce 
the  committe'e's.  He  sai*"!,  before  announcing  the 
committees,  I  wish  to  state  that  the  roll  from  which 
.1  made  up  the  committees  came  into  my  hand  at  a 
very  late  hour  last  evening,  but  I  am  able  to  an- 
noimce  this  morninir  all  the  committees  wpich  are  of 
chiet  importance,  reservini?  those  iipon  Synod ical 
Becord  and  otiaers  to  be  reported  at  a  future  time. 

The  Moderator  announced  the  following  standing 
committees : 

BILLS    AND   OVERTURES. 

Ministers— J.  C.  Lowi-i",  D.D.,  K.  West,  D.  D., 
J.  G.  Monfort,  D.  1),  W.  L.  Breokmridge,  D.  D., 
James  Alison,  T.  W  Hynes,  Alex.  Scott,  E.  C. 
Sickles. 

Elders— Je-Be  L  Williams,  Ramuel  Galloway, 
Hovev  K.  Clarke,  Barton  H,  Jenks,  Wm.  M.  Fran- 
cis, Rober  J.  McCreary. 

The  Moderator  then  said:  Before  reading  the 
names  ot  the  Judicial  Committee,  I'wish  to  remark 
ic  is  known  to  some  members  of  the  As- 
sembly, and  I  wish  it  known  to  all,  that 
I  am  one  of  the  appellants  on  an  impor- 
tant judicial  case  that  comes  before  the  Assembly 
from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  Dr.  Breckinridge  and 
some  twenty  other  gentlemen  are  appellants  in  an 
important  case,  and  that  being  my  reldtion  to  the 
case.  It  may  be  deemed,  perhaps,  improper  that  I 
stioulrl  select  the  Judicinl  Committee — although  I 
regard  this  committee  as  diiecting  the  Assembly  in 
regard  to  the  way  in  which  the  ousiness  shall  be 
taken  up.  Of  course,  when  we  reach  the  point  of 
trying  that  case,  if  lh»  Judicial  Commiitee  report  in 
favor  of  a  trial,  then,  being  one  oi"  the  appellants,  I 
f.haU  vacate  the  ch=tii-,  and  some  r>ne  else  will 
occupy  it.  I  hope  the  General  Assembly  will  ap- 
poiu'.  Its  Judicial  Committee  in  some  way. 

Kev.  Dr.  Krebs.  I  move  that  the  Moderator  pro- 
ceed to  appoint  the  committee. 

Kev.  Dr.  McGill— the  Stated  Clerk— then  put  the 
metion,  and  it  was  ageeed  to. 

The  remaining  committees  were  then  announced 
as  follows : 

JUDICIAl-    COMMITTTEE. 

^finisters—P .  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  John  M.  Krebs, 
D.  D.,  G.  D.  Archibald,  D.  D  ,  RogerOwen,  John 
P.  Carter,  Joseph  Maie.er,  John  Li.  Bratt,  J.  G. 
Eeasor. 

£/ders— Robert  "iVIcKnight,  Lincoln  Clarke,  Isaac 
D.  Jones,  S. D.  Sharon. 

THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARIES. 

Ministers— D .  J.Waller,  W.  T.  Fiodley,  J.  D. 
Mason,  John  Crozier,  T.  M.  Cunningham,  E,  1*. 
Kattensperger,  II.  Irwiii,  Jr. 

Elders— \.  E.  Chamberlain,  James  M.  Ray,  Wm. 
Thomas,  W.  P.  Van  Reunaalaer,  Regers  Bu-aic. 

DOMESTIC    MISSIONS. 

Ministers— Thom^a  E.  Thomas,  D.  D.,  C.  C. 
Rlfcg>,D.  D.,  IT.  R.  Morton,  C.  A.  Muou.  R.  G. 
Thompsoo,  Cnarles  J.  Jones. 

Elders — aamuel  Rea,  James  Rankin,  J.  G.  Max- 
well, W  m.  N.  Belvjner,  A.  G.  Brown. 

rOKEIGN  MISSIONS. 

Ministers— A  ■  W.  Loomia,  D.D.,  J.  E.  SpiDman, 
S.  K.  House,  M.  D.,  D.  A.  Wilson,  6.  T.  Wilson, 
Jab.  R».iiur.gton. 


E/ders— Lucien  B .  Wells,  Glass  Marshall,  John 
Way,  Jr.,  John  Dickson. 

BOARD  OF   EDUCATION. 

Atinjs/crs— Joseph  T.  Smith,  D  D.,  E.  P.  Hum- 
jihrey,  D.  n.,  Wm.  Bishop,  C.  W.  Finley. 

Elders— Wm.  Mason,  Robert  S.  Clarke,  Ormond 
Beatty. 

BO.\RD   OF  PUBLICATION. 

Ministers— J.  P.  Safford,  D.   D.,  E.  D.  Tcomaus, 
D.  D.,  F.  J.  Collier.  W.  K.  Rrice. 
Elders -W.  L.  Orr,  John   OgUen,  Jas.  K.  Ralph. 

CHURCH  EXTENSION. 

Ministers-~X).Y.  McLean,  D.  D.,?  J.  W.  Wight- 
man,  Jamps  Gardner,  Charles  L.  Thompson. 

Elders— J eimes  Baj'lis,  H.  T.  Walker,  James  Sny- 
der. 

ON   FREEDMEN. 

Ministers— RnhextR.  Walker,  D.  D.,  V.  D.  Reed, 
D.  D.,  J.  r.  Bliss,  J.  B.  Llndsley,  D.  D.,  B.  F. 
Patterson,  Luther  Littell. 

JE/ders— Thomas  Buc'jenan,  Valentine  C.  Glenn, 
G.  S.  Ormsby,  Wm.  S.  Caldwell. 

SYSTEMATIC  BENEFICENCE. 

Ministers— J.  T.   Backus,   D.  D..  W.T.Adams, 
David  Lyoti,  E.  Kemphall. 
Elders— John  Stewart,  Reuben  Van  Pett. 

NARRATIVE. 

Ministers— F.  T.  Brown,  D.  D.,W.  A.  Hornblow- 
er,  D.D.,  S.  G.  Law. 
Aiders— Chas.  W.  Smith,  RobertLyle. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

Ministers —11.  A.  Boardman,   D.  D.,  A.  O.  Pat- 
terson, D    D..  P.  Bixby,  J.  F.  MagiU. 
£/(Jers— David  Wills,  S.  M.  Archer. 

FINANCE 

i3Mers— James  Blftke,  Thomas  McGeehin,  Henry 
Day. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowrie  presented  overtures  Irom  the 
Synod  of  N  )rthern  Indiaan,  which  were  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  IToreign  Missions. 

Dr.  Lowrie  then  said,  after  some  consultation 
with  members  of  the  house:  I  have  to  make  a  mo- 
tion which,  if  it  meets  with  any  objection,  I  will 
withdraw. 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean  insisted  oa  the  regular  order  of 
butiness.  He  said:  It  is  exceedingly  embarrassing 
to  entertain  these  different  prepositions  while  you 
have  a  matter  before  the  house. 

The  Moderator.  This  does  not  require  any  dis- 
cussion. 

Dr.  McLean.  Wc  are  continually  consuming  the 
time  of  the  Assembly  with  these  outside  matters. 
Adherence  to  the  order  of  business  is  the  life  of  suc- 
cess in  all  proceedings.  There  are  a  half  dozen 
others  waiting  here  around  me  to  do  the  same  thinfjr. 

Th  J,  Moderator.  It  is  perhaps  courteous  to  hear 
what  Dr.  Lowrie  has  to  offt- r  in  the  w.ay  of  business. 

Dr.  McLean.  Here  ie  one  and  there  is  one,  and 
you  will  take  up  the  whole  raoinicg. 

Rev.  Dr.  Pauerson.  I  wish  to  rix  the  hour  of 
adjournment  for  the  accommodation  of  families  in 
he  city. 

The  Moderator.  Will  Dr.  McLean  waive  hisob- 
jectiOD? 

Dr.  McLean.  With  great  pleasure;  but  I  Insist 
upon  it  that  no  more  matter  shall  come  in. 

Rev.  Dr.  Patterson  then  offered  a  proposition 
fixing  the  hours  of  meeting  and  adjournment  as 
loilovvs  :  Meet  at  9  a.  m.  :  adjourn  at  32:30  p.  m. 
Meet  at  3:30  p.  m.;  and  adjourn  ac  5:39  p.  m,  and 
occupy  a  half  hour  at  the  close  of  each  session  in 
devotional  exerci-e. 

Dr.  Lowrie.  I  propose  an  amendment.  In  order 
to  give  time  to  the  staiidiog  committees  of  this 
body  to  mature  the  business  entrusted  to  them,  the 
Assembly  viill  hold  bUL  one  oessiou  on  Friday, 
Saturday  and  Monday  next,  ensuing. 

Dr.  Patterson.    I  accept  the  amendment. 

Rev.  Mr.  F  erguson.  I  think  it  woulo  be  very 
improoer  to  nave  devotional  exercise  at  the  close  of 
each  afternoon  session.  A  great  many  at  that  time 
desire  to  retire.  I  hope  we  will  give  the  Lord  the 
ffrst  hiUf  hoar  of  our  exercisea  when  our  minds  are 


11 


fresh,  end  cot  under  excitement.    I  mate  a  motion 
tothat  eflect. 

The  motion  ■was  agreed  to. 

A  member,  I  have  one  objection  to  the  amend- 
ment, and  that  is,  that  the  family  With  which  I  stay 
dine  at  half-past  twelve  o'clock. 

Rev.  Mr.  Thomas.  I  desire,  with  the  permission 
of  Dr.  McLean  who  has  given  way  for  this  pur- 
pose, t<^  mal:e  a  motion.  I  suppose  it  will  not  give 
rineto  discuseion,  and  wiilpass  immediately. 

Re^^olved,  T.iat  a  committee  of  five— three  minis- 
ters and  two  e'ders — be  appointed  to  confer  wiih  a 
like  cotnmiittce  of  the  Assemoly  meetintr  at  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  this  city,  with  reference  to 
joicing  ia  devotional  exercises  aaring  the  current 
session  of  the  Geueral  Assemoly. 

The  Moderator.  I  may  be  wrong,  but  I  have 
great  doubts  whether  the  member  who  occupies  the 
floor  has  tne  rignt  to  give  way  to  introduce  entireiy 
new  bueinoss.    It  is  rather  a  new  question. 

Dr.  McLean.  You  will  bear  me  witues'?,  Mode- 
rator, that  I  have  vii^ided  very  reluctantly  to  anyone, 
but  on  the  important  suguestion  of  my  friesd,  I 
was  willing  Co  yield  my  right  to  the  floor.  I  do  not 
propose  to  er.ter  into  a  discussion  of  ttie  merits  of 
the  paper  offf^red  to  this  body  yesterday  afternoon, 
and  I  shall  occupy  but  a  very  few  moments  of 
the  time  oi  ttiis  boay,  only  to  explaio  very  briefly, 
as  I  hope  to  do,  that  the  members  may  distinctly 
understand  what  the  question  is  before  them;  and 
then,  sir,  I  propo-e  to  read  toycu  a  brief  resolution 
Which  will  put  'his  matter  in  a  shape  for  the  ac'ion 
of  this  body.  I  will  read  the  original  resolution. 
(The  resolution  has  already  been  pubiisbed.) 

I  do  not  pr.'pose,  as  I  have  already  remaiKed,  to 
touch  on  the  merits  of  this  case.  That  every  delib- 
erative body  has  a  right  to  judge  of  thequalihcations 
01  its  own  members  is,  to  me,  a  i^ell-e\;dent  propo- 
sition. To  deny  that  would  render  powerless  for 
good,  and  utterly  useless,  and  utterly  demoralize 
any  public  deliberative  body;  that  a  public  body 
have  &  riRht,  where  they  have  beir'n  elected, 
to  go  back  and  consider  ithe  qualifications  of 
tiie  electors  is,  to  me,  equally  as  plain  as  the  other 
proposition,  if  the  individual  who  fdls  a  jjlace  in 
a  deliberative  body  is  disqualilied  by  reason  oi  mat- 
ters connected  with  himselt,  even  though  the  elect- 
ors be  entirt-ly  competent  to  elect  a  delegate,  tue 
(jody  may  reject  the  individual  proposing  to  become 
a  memoer  of  tiieir  body.  If  auy  defect  exists  iu  the 
character  of  the  elector,  and  if  there  be  no  lault 
attached  to  the  indivianal  sent  as  a  member,  still 
the  body  has  a  right  to  rej  ct  the  member,  in  cou- 
Bcquence  ol  the  inlormality  and  delect  in  regard  to 
the  elector. 

I  think  these  are  principles  that  cannot  be  ob- 
viated. Now,  in  the  present  case,  the  paper  as- 
sumes that  there  are  rumors  and  public  lame  in 
reeard  to  the  electors,  and  one  person,  at  least, 
elected,  and  that  ought  to  be  disqualiUed.  In  this 
incipient  state  of  trie  matter,  I  have  ai  paner  de- 
signed, pei'haps,  to  decide  this  matter,  or  to  prepare 
a  way  towards  deciding  it.  It  simply  asserts  that 
it  suspends  these  persons  as  members  of  this  house; 
that  they  are  r  o',  entitled  to  seats  in  the  house,  and 
that  the  Assembly  will  proceed  with  dispatch  to  in- 
vestigate these  iiimors  and  decide  upon  them.  I 
propose,  therefore,  alter  1  have  made  a  motion,  to 
offer  this  rest  Intion : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appoint- 
ed, composed  of  four  ministers  and  three  elders,  to 
examine  into  the  fikCts  connected  with  the  alleged 
acts  and  proceedings  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery, 
and  whether  it  is  entitled  to  representation  in  this 
General  Assembly,  and  to  recommend  what  action, 
if  any,  this  Geueial  Assembly  should  take  with  re- 
gard to  this  said  Preiibytery. 

I  riow  move  that  the  previous  question  be  taken  on 
this  paper. 

The  Moderator.  I  may  not  have  understood  Dr. 
McLean  entirely.  Do!  understand  that  the  demand 
for  the  previous  question  is  upon  the  motion  pend- 
ing yesterday  to  adopt  the  paper  originally  offered? 

Dr.  McLean.    Precisely. 

The  Moderator.  What  has  that  to  do  with  refer- 
ence to  the  committee? 

Dr.  McLean.    Nothing  at  all. 

A  member.  Dr.  McLane  had  the  floor  this  morn- 
ing on  a  question  which  he  debated  yesterday.  Now 


I  raise  a  point  of  order,  whether  setting  aside  bis 
right  to  introduce  a  new  resolution  he  can  demand 
the  pievions  question,  either  upon  that  resolutioa  or 
upon  the  whole  paner  offereo  by  him. 

The  Moderator.  It  is  certainly  his  right  to  move 
the  previous  question  at  any  stage.  Nothing  ia 
more  common  in  parliarafntary  bodies  than  lor  a 
mtmberto  ofier  a  rnotion,  and  then  demand  the 
previou  question.  I  umierstand  the  previous  ques- 
tion to  he  on  the  paper  offered  yesterday .  That 
would  brina  the  questLn  to  the  adoption  imme- 
diately of  his  paper.  There  can  be  no  debate  upon 
thi-  paper.    Inquiries  for  information  are  in  ortser. 

Rev.  Mr. West.  I  will  ask  for  information ,  throuuh 
you,  Mr.  Moderator,  of  Dr.  McLean,  whether  the 
paper  before  this  body — which  asts  of  this  body  to 
exclude  from  seats  in  this  house  the  Commissioners 
from  Louisville  till  tlieir  case  ifi  riec^ded — whether 
the  points  involved  in  that  rtsolution  are  to  be  de- 
termined here  and  now  by  the  prenous  question,  nv 
Whether  the  Doctor  proposes  to  offer  aregolution 
Which  will  ouen  the  whole  quesMon  for  debate? 

The  Moderator.  That  is  in  the  nature  of  debate. 
Dr.  McLean  offered  a  resolution  yesterday  which 
I  suppose  the  house  understands;  ifeo.  they  must 
urideistand  what  will  be  the  posture  of  thecase  if 
lino  is  adopted.    Shall  the  question  be  now  put? 

Rev.  Mr.  Anderson.  We  want  to  call  the  ayes  and 
noes  on  that  vote — on  the  demand  for  the  previous 
question. 

Dr.  Krebs.  Is  it  in  order  to  make  a  point  of  order, 
ana  move  a  reference  of  thU  whole  business  to  a 
committee?  And  again,  eir,  if  a  motion  for  a  refer- 
ence is  made,  is  there  auy  need  for  the  previous 
question? 

Tne  Moderator.  The  motion  to  refer  is  not  debate- 
able. 

Dr.  McLean.  It  is  very  simple  to  mv  mind. 

The  Moderator.  If  Dr.  McLean  will  wait  a  mo- 
ment, I  am  looking  for  a  rule  which  refers  to  this 
matter.  My  impression  is,  and  on  reading  the  rule 
I  am  confirmed  m  it,  that  the  motton  of  Dr.  Krebs 
is  not  in  order  during  the  pendancy  of  the  previous 
question. 

Mr.  Clark.  Is  this  question  under  rliscussion. 

The  Moderator.  No  sir.  There  is  no  question  that 
can  be  debated  before  the  house.  We  mustproceed 
to  vote  for  the  previous  question.  A  demand  for 
the  previous  question  is  made,  and  Dr.  Anderson 
demands  the  ayes  and  noes.  In  order  that  that  may 
be  tested  we  must  see  whether  one-third  of  the 
house  Is  willing  to  have  the  ayes  and  noes. 

Mr.  Clark.  Did  not  Dr.  McLeau  have  the  floor 
for  the  purpose  of  debating  the  question,  and  did 
he  not  make  a  motion  for  the  previous  question  in 
connection  therewith? 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean.  I  call  the  gentleman  to  order. 
There  is  no  discussion  permitted  on  this  question. 

Mr.  Clark.  I  am  making  a  point  of  order  and  I 
contend  I  have  the  floor.  By  the  14th  rule  when  a 
question  is  under  debate  no  motion  shall  be  re- 
ceived, unless  to  lay  on  the  table,  jjostpone  indefi- 
nitely, postpone  to  a  day  certain,  commit  or  amend. 
I  contend  chat  this  matter  is  under  debate,  then, 
and  that  I  have  the  right  to  make  one  of  the  motions 
here  specified.  If  the  Moderator  sustains  my  view, 
then  it  is  resular  for  me  to  make  a  motion  to  send 
this  resolution  to  a  committee. 

The  Moderator.  I  will  decide  that  point  of  order. 
I  agree  with  Judge  Clark.  The  question  is  under 
debate,  but  I  do  not  agree  with  his  construction  of 
the  rule— that  in  every  case  the  motions  mentioned 
can  be  made  while  a  question  is  under  debate,  for 
if  that  is  the  case  the  motion  tor  a  previous  ques- 
tion could  ne'ver  have  been  made.  Nothing  is  more 
common  in  parliamentary  bodies  than  for  the  pre- 
vious question  to  be  moved  at  any  stage  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. When  it  is  moved,  a  vote  on  It  must  be 
taken.  If  the  construction  of  the  gentleman  is 
right,  then  there  is  no  place  for  (he  previous  ques- 
tion to  be  made,  provided  the  subject  has  been  once 
depated.  I  decide  that  the  previous  question  must 
be  taken. 

Dr.  McLean.  The  Moderator  will  bear  witness 
with  me  that  ray  only  desire  has  been — 

The  Moderator.  The  gentleman  need  not  state  his 
desire.     We  must  take  the  vote. 

Dr.  McLean.  No,  sir;  but  the  motive  and  object  • 
of  making  the  motion — 


12 


The  Modersfor.  That  is  in  th«  nature  of  debate, 
Mid  the  pentlenian  need  not,  state  it. 

Ur.  McLenn.  Does  i,be  Moderator  decide  that 
notbinsf  finllif  r  is  to  lie  ffitd';" 

'Jlie  Moderator.  1  decided  tlie  gentleman  was  jiro- 
cerdinji:  to  debate  thequestiou  by  htating  his  desire. 

Dr.  iVIcLeaij.  Xo,  8ir,  not  at  all. 

The  Moderator.  That  is  u^y  judgment  and  you 
niu*t  submit  "V  appeal  from  it. 

Kev.  Mr.  West.  I  -wti^h  merely  to  pay,  Avirh  all 
defeience  to  tlie  iiupacience  oftlie  brethren,  thatl 
liesire  to  aek  for  inlorniation  whether  we  are  not 
called  upon  now  to  vote  aye  or  no  on  the  excluaion 
of  this  conimis.^ifin  without  hearlnj^  a  word  further 
than  what  Dr.  McLean  has  said. 

The  Moderator.  The  Assendjly  mu.«t  be  its  own 
judge  in  this  niiiLter. 

Hev.  Mr.  V/eat.  I  ask  as  to  the  efl'ect  of  the  mo- 
tion. 

The  Moderator.  I  presume  the  Assembly  has  all 
the  information  that  T  have  as  to  that  matter. 

Mr.  Wyctslitle.  I  rise  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring 
•whether  the  honorable  meud)er  who  moved  that  res- 
olution can  furnish  sny  instuuces  in  civilized  parlia- 
mentary b>idi''S  whtre'a  duly  accredited  member  to 
that  body  had  been  expelled  by  resolution  and  the 
lireviouri"  ques'ion  without  being  heard. 

Dr.  McLean.   Is  that  discussion  or  not? 

The  Moderator.  £t  is  not  in  order.  I  hope  when 
members  rise  they  will  speak  something  in  rejcard 
to  the  point  raided  and  not  debite  the  question. 

Mr.  Laws.  I  rise  to  inquire  if  we  cannot  refuse 
by  this  vote  to  take  the  previous  question.  If  we 
re'fuse  then  we  are  prepared  to  refer  it.  Under  the 
16th  rule  if  a  motion  under  debate  contain  several 
parts  It  may  be  divided.  This  has  thenaiure  of  two 
jmits.  I  tlJiiDk  Dr.  McLean  did  not  debate  it  but 
eiraply  explained  it. 

The  Moderator.  I  do  not  understand  that  the  de- 
mand for  the  previous  question  is  at  all  divisible 
The  demand  has  been  made  that  in  taking  the  vote 
the  ayes  andnors  be  recorded. 

A  member  I  ast  as  a  point  of  order  whether  the 
call  for  the  ayes  and  noes  at  this  point  is  in  order,  in- 
asmuchj  sir,  "as  the  preliminary  question  is  simply 
whether  house  will  second  the  call  lor  the  previous 
question.  Whether  the  call  of  Dr.  Anderson  is  not 
liroperly  f>r  the  record  of  the  aj^es  any  noes  on  the 
lirevious  question,  provided  it  be  called  by  the 
house. 

The  Moderator.  CVrtainly,  I  understand  it  so, 
and  io  order  that  vi'e  mav  determine  whether  the 
previous  question  is  seconded  or  whether  it  shall  be 
put. 

Mr.  Kempshall.  May  I  ask  the  Moderator  to  state 
the  effect  ot  this  motion.  Is  it  not  this,  that  if  the 
Assembly  orders  the  previous  question  it  brings  up 
the  pauer  offered  yesterday  and  not  the  resolution? 
The  brethren  evidently  seem  to  think  they  are  going 
to  vote  on  the  resolution  and  not  on  the  paper. 

The  Moderator.  In  case  one-third  of  the  body 
sliaU  answ'er  m  the  affirmative  to  the  question, 
'  'Shall  the  aj  esjand  noes  be  recorded?' ' 

A  voice.    A  majority  is  required. 

The  Moderator.  It  is  a  question  of  recordiug  the 
Kves  and  noes,  which  must  be. determined  by  one- 
third. 

A  member.  There  is  a  question  among  some  of  us 
whether  it  is  in  order  at  all  to  ,  move  the  previous 
question  in  this  way. 

The  Moderator.    1  have  decided  that  it  is  in  order. 

A  member.  Allow  me  to  ask  Dr.  Anderson  on 
what  he  desires  the  ayes  and  noes.  Is  it  on  the  pre- 
vious question,  or  on  the  main  question;  after  the 
previous  question  has  been  decided? 

The  Moaer.-itor.  It  is  on  the  drst,  question,  which 
is,  shall  the  main  question  be  put  ? 

Mr.  Kemoshall.  The  brethren  around  me  ask  you 
to  state  the  effect  of  the  previous  question  on  the  two 
papers — which  of  the  two  will  come  before  them  if  it 
is  sustained  ? 

The  Moderator.  If  one-third  of  the  body  vote  af- 
firmatively, thattheayes  andnoesmay  beiecorded, 
tl'.en  the  question  will  come  up.  Shall  the  main 
tiuestion  be  put  ?  If  that  is  decided  in  the  affirma- 
tive hy  a  majority,  then,  if  I  understand  Dr.  Ander- 
son's demand,  it  is  upon  the  main  question,  which 
will  be  the  adoption  of  Dr.  McLean's  jiaper,  the 
ayes  and  noes  will  be  demanded. 


Dr.  Anderson.  No,  eir.  It  18  on  tha  previous 
question.  When  the  other  comes  up  we  will  be 
leaily  for  the  same  motion  on  that. 

The  Moderator.  I'hen  to  answer  the  question  we 
are  brought  to  a  direct  vote  on  the  piiper  offered  by 
Dr.  McLean  yesterday. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  as  to  whether  one-iiiird 
of  the  members  desired  the  nyes  anil  noes  on  the 
previous  question. 

It  appeared  the  ayes  and  noes  wer«!  not  desired. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  on  the  previous  question, 
shall  tue  main  question  now  be  put?  and  it  was 
agreed  to. 

Dr.  Wilson.  Will  the  House  allow  the  ayes  and 
noes  on  the  main  question? 

The  Moderator.  1  ln»(l  begun  to  take  the  vote,  but 
I  will  give  Avay . 

Dr.  .Anderson.  I  gave  notice  in  advance  that 
when  the  question  came  U])  I  should  ask  again  for 
the  ayes  and  noes. 

TheModerator.  1  beg  pardon,  I  did  not  under- 
stand it.  'Ihe  question  now  18,  sliall  Dr  McLean's 
paner  he  adopted;  .no  amenduients  being  offered 
to    it. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  as  to  whether  the  ayes  and 
noes  should  be  taken,  and  the  ayes  and  noes  were 
ordered. 

The  .ayes  and  noes  were  then  called,  and  the  vole 
resulted  ayes 'iOl,  nays  50,  excused  3;  so  the  paper 
oHered  by  Dr.  McLean  yesterday  was  adopted. 

During  the  ciiiling  of  the  roll  several  of  the  com- 
mittees were  called  upon  to  hand  in  their  reportn. 

Dr.  Krebs,  from  the  Committee  on  New  Psalms 
and  Hymns, desired  to  report  but  was  declared  out  oi 
order. 

Uev.  Mr.  Forman  desired  to  give  notice  that  he 
entered  a  protest. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.    1  give  notice  that  I  orotest. 

Dr.  Bracken.    I  give  notice  that  I  protest. 

Rev.  Mr.  Smook.  I  wish  to  give  notice  that  I  iiro- 
test  against  the  vote  on  ordering  the  previous  ques- 
tion merely. 

Dr.  McLean.  It  is  necessary,  in  order  to  pi'otest 
for  A  B  and  C  to  do  s<»  individually,  or  can  they 
not  unite  in  a  protest. 

The  Moderator.  Evei-y  member  may  rise  and  en- 
ter his  protest  individually  if  he  chose  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Harding  stated  that  he  desired  to  dissent. 

Mr.  Farquhar.  As  I  understand  it  is,  shall  the 
question  be  taken  by  ayes  and  noes.  Twice  the 
Moderator  stated  distinctly  before  this  last  question 
was  taken,  .Shall  the  main  question  now  be  put? 
Has  the  main  question  been  put  ?  We  have  decideti 
to  take  the  previous  question,  but  I  submit  that  we 
have  not  decided  on  the  merits  of  the  question. 

'the  Moderator.  Tbe  main  question  has  been 
taken  and  the  vote  announced,  und  the  i)aper  is 
adopted  by  the  votes  I  have  announced. 

Dr.  McLean.    Shall  I  read  the  resolution  ? 

The  Moderator.  Let  rae  explain  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  gentlemen.  The  form  of  the  adoption  was 
by  taking  th#  ayes  and  noes.  I  had  announced  the 
vote  as  ayes  -.iO],  nays  30,  excused  3,  therefore 
the  paper  is  adopted.    That  is  the  main  question. 

Dr.  McLean  then  read  bis  resolution — above  giv- 
en— in  regard  to  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
whom  the  resolution  in  regard  to  the  Louisville 
Presbytery  shall  be  referred. 

Kev.  Mr.  West.  I  move  to  lay  the  resolution  on 
the  table. 

Mr.  Waller.  I  desire  to  offer  an  ameudnient 
to  Dr.  McLean's  motion  before  it  passes— that 
is,  that  the  case  of  Rev.  P.  A.  Bracken, 
Commissioner  hero  from  the  West  Lexing- 
ton Presbytery,  who  is  atlirmeil  to  be  a 
member  of  that  Presbytery,  but  who  is  the 
fiastor  of  a  church  within  the  bounds  of  the  Lafay- 
ette Presbytery,  and  has  never  been  dismissed  from 
us,  be  referrea  also  to  the  same  committee  to  in 
quire  in  regard  to  the  fact*. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brookes.  I  wish  to  offer  the  following 
amendment  : 

The  Moderator.  Is  that  an  amendment  to  an 
amendment. 

Mr.  Brooke.-i.    Yes,   sir. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  be  also  instructed 
to  inquire  into  the  truth  ot  certain  rumors  ctiarged 
upon  other  members  of  this  body,  and  with  the 
same  offenses  for  which    the  Presbytery  of  Louia- 


13 


\ ille  baa  been  arraigned  before  the  Aeeembly,  and 
to  report  what  action  should  De  taken  in  the  premi- 

1  prefer  it  should  come  up  at  this  time,  if  the 
"Moderator  and  the  Assembly  pieiise,  at)d  if 
you  ■will  allow  me  I  will  make  a  single  remark — not 
to  detain  tbe  House.  I  cannot  remain  content,  in 
my  seal  seeing  that  these  brethren  of  the  Louisville 
PreJsbytery  have  been  excluded  from  participation 
in  our  discussions*  on  account  of  offensive  Iftnguajje 
coniuined  in  that  "Declaration  and  Testimony." 
They  are  no  more  responsible  for  it,  Moderator, 
than  are  many  of  us;  and  it  would  be  unmauJy  in 
me  to  say  that  they  are  any  more  blamablethan  1 
am.  If  anybody  is  to  be  condemned  lor  that  paper 
I  am  the  man.  'l  had  more  to  do  with  the  origina- 
tion of  it — although  1  did  not  write  it— than  either 
Dr.  Wilson  or  Dr.  Stuart  Robinson.  And  inas- 
much as  these  brethren  have  been  excluded  from  the 
house  because  of  the  use  of  language  that  is  deemed 
ofleusive  to  this  judicatory,  I  cannot  remain  silent 
and  see  them  driven  away  and  retain  my  place. 
My  object,  therefore,  is  that  this  conimittee  shall 
make  a  thorough  investigation  of  this  whole  subject, 
uudifwe  are  deemed  to  be  unworthy  of  a  seat  in 
the  General  Assembly,  or  a  place  in  the 
Church  of  the  Fathers,  for  protesting 
.  against  what  we  honestly  deemed  to  be 
erroneous  proceedings  on  the  part  ol  the  General 
Assembly,  Jet  us  know  it,  and  lor  one  I  will  cheer- 
fully sutler  for  what  I  believe  to  be  God  Almigtity's 
truth  and  Christ's  glorious  kingdom.  ^Applause 
in  various  parts  of  the  house.  J 

A  Voice.    Dlear  the  galleries. 

Another  Voice.  Never  mind;  they  won't  hurt 
you. 

The  Moderator.  I  hotiejall  such  demonstrations, 
on  either  side,  will  not  be  manitested  in  this  house. 

Kev.  Dr.  VanDyke  obtamed  the  lloor. 

Kev.  Mr.  Bracken.  I  wish  to  explain  before  this 
•luestion  is  put  in  regard  to  my"  own  case,  that 
members  may  vote  intelligently,  'it  is  immaterial  to 
me  whether  they  refer  my  case  to  a  committee  or 
not,  but  I  wish  them  lo  simply  understand  the  facts 
which  1  will  briefly  state.  Ttie  I'resbytery  to  which 
I  belong  ia  Missouri  vvus  disorganized  during  the  pe- 
riod of  our  troubles — that  is,  lor  live  years  no  busi- 
ness was  done.  Three  years  and  a  half,  it  I  mistake 
not,  after  that  Presbytery  had  ceased  to  transact 
busiuesE,  I  presented  a  letter  from  the 
stated  clerk  of  that  Presbyteiy  to  the 
West  Lexington  Presbytery  testityiiig  to 
my  standing,  and  was  received  by  that  Presbytery 
upon  your  record— us  an  order  was  issued  by  the 
General  Assembly  in  18G4  in  regard  to  tliis  matter. 
These  are  the  facts.  I  think  that  perhaps  about  one- 
half— possibly  not  so  many — but  quite  a  number  of 
the  members  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Western  Mis- 
souri, were  received  in  other  Presbyteries  in  the 
same  way  and  during  the  same  perioil  of  time. 
And  I  presume  these  Presbyteries  thought  they  were 
authorized  thus  to  receive  them  by  the  action  of  the 
General  Assembly.  1  know  such  was  the  under- 
standing on  the  part  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wast  Lex- 
ington, which  received  me,  and  of  which  I  have 
been  a  member  for  two  vears  and  a  half,  and  have 
met  with  them  three  times,  and  have  twice  satin 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  as  a  member. 

Kev.  Mr.  Van  Dyke  again  obtained  the  lloor,  and 
was  proceeding  to  speak,  when  a  point  of  order  was 
raised  in  regard  to  the  discussion  on  the  amend- 
ment before  th's  House,  as  to  whether  it  should  be 
coniined  strictly  to  the  pending  amendment. 

The  Moderator.  I  shall  allow  Dr.  Van  Dyke  to  go 
on,  and  if  he  gets  out  of  order  I  will  call  him  to  or- 
der. I  will  ask  Dr.  Brookes  to  give  his  motion  in 
writlBg, 

Rev.  Mr  Brookes  then  read  the  re.solution  which 
is  given  above.  He  said  this  is  to  include  all  who 
liave  signed  tills  Declaration  and  Testimony  to  the 
name  committee  to  inquire  how  many  have  signed 
it,  and  therefore  chargeable  with  the  same  oflfense 
for  wtiich  these  gentlemen  are  excluded. 

Rev.  \Vm.  Breckinridge.  I  submit  whether  that 
is  not  the  whole  question  before  the  Assembly? 

The  Moderator.    I  have  so  decided. 

Rev.  Wm.  Breckinridge.  Yon  are  right,  un- 
doubtedly. 


Rev.  Mr.  West.  Can  an  amendment  be  discussed 
before  the  original  motion  is  discussed? 

Tbe  Moderator.     Certainly. 

Rev.  Mr.  West.  Then  what  do  we  vote  upon 
when  we  come  to  this  last  amendment? 

The  Moderator.  I  can't  tell  whether  wc  shall  ever 
get  to  that  point.  The  last  amendment  is  now  be- 
fore the  house,  and  Dr.  Vandyke  has  the  floor. 

A  member.  The  point  is  whether  either  of  the 
amendments  is  in  order. 

The  Moderator.    1  regard  both  in  order. 

The  member.  Allow  me  to  suggest  a  reason  why 
I  think  they  are  not  in  order. 

The  Moderator.  I  think  when  they  are  decided  in 
order  the  question  is  not  debateable. 

Dr.  McLean.  It  seems  to  me  on  taking  up  a  report, 
the  amendment  or  amendments  are  only  read  by  the 
clerk. 

The  Moderator.  What  rule  is  that? 

Dr.  McLean.  Jefferson's  manual. 

The  Moderator.  Well,  sir,  that  is  not  one  of  our 
rules.     [Laughter.] 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean.  I  thought  you  were  regulated 
by  parliamentary  rules. 

The  Moderator.  We  do  not  recognize  Jefferson's 
Manual  as  authority  on  this  particular  point. 

Re\ .  Dr.  McLean.  It  is  authority. 

The  Moderator.  This  is  all  in  the  nature  of  debate ; 
Dr.  Van  Dyke  has  the  floor. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.  I  have  been  waiting  patiently  all 
this  time,  and  if  1  had  been  allowed  to  go  on  1 
should  have  concluded  by  this  time.  1  think,  per- 
haps, It  is  due  to  some  of  the  members  of  this  As- 
sembly who  have  manifested  a  kind  interest  in  me, 
and  certainly  due  to  myself  that  I  should  explain 
exactly  my  relation  to  the  business  now  before  it. 
I  have  failed  many  times  to  receive  credit  for  what 
I  have  done,  and  I  have  many  times  received  credit 
tor  what  I  have  not  done.  I  have  been  told  by  sev- 
eral members  of  this  Assembly  that  1  have  been  ac- 
credited with  writing  the  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony. The  brethren  dome  honor  over  much.  I 
did  not  write  it.  I  had  no  part  in  the  writing  of  it. 
I  am  not  responsible  lor  it  in  any  way.  If  1  had 
either  written  or  approved  the  putting  forth  of  it  at 
that  time  I  should  have  signed  my  name  to  it.  Hav- 
ing said  that  I  am  bound  to  go  further,  and  say  that 
whatever  principle  is  incorporated  in  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  aside  from  the  language — from 
the  practical  inference  in  it — but  whatever  of  prin- 
ciple there  is  in  it  I  do  subscribe  to,  and  practically 
will  ever  act  upon  it  so  long  as  God  will  give  me 
sotodo  [.\pplause.]  And  sir,  agreeing  with  strength 
those  principles,  I  should  do  injustice  to  myself  if  1 
were  not  willing  to  take  my  full  share  of  any  re- 
proach or  any  condemnation  which  might  come  on 
those  brethren  for  having  advocates  these  princi- 
ples, even  though  they  might  have  erred  m  the  lan- 
guage. 

Now,  sir,  my  objection  to  this  whole  proceeding 
is,  that  it  is  partial.  Why,  a  strangerjcoming  in 
here  might  suppose  that  these  brethren  of  the  Lou- 
isville Presbytery  are  sinners  above  all  men,  when 
it  is  perfectly  notorious  that  men  high  in  position 
in  the  Church,  have,  from  the  beginning,  protested 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
language  quite  as  strong  as  any  of  these  gentlemen 
ever  used.  Sixty-oue  members  of  the  General  As- 
sembly— sixty-one,  I  think  the  number  is  correct — 
with  Dr.  Hodge  at  their  head,  said  the  deliverance 
of  the  General  Assembly  was  '  'unconstitu- 
tional, a  usurtjation  of  Christ's  prerogative, 
cruel  and  unjust."  Is  there  anything 
stronger  than  that  in  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  ?  [t  is  perfectly  notorious  that  in  the 
Synods  of  Baltimore  and  New  York— especially  in 
the  cities — the  orders  of  the  General  Assembly  have 
not  been  attempted  to  be  carried  out.  I  do  not  know 
a  man  in  the  region  of  the  church  irom  which  I  come 
that  will  consent  to  carry  out  these  orders ;  and  fur- 
ther, it  is  well  known  in  the  Presbytery  to  which  I 
belong — and  who  with  the  full  knowledge  of  that 
fact  Kent  me  here — that  I  have  not  only  refused  to 
carry  out  this  order,  out  have  openly  said  I  would 
not;  not  out  of  any  rebellious  spirit  against  the  As- 
.sembly— God  knows  I  have  no  such  feeling— but  on 
the  high  ground  that  I  owe  an  allegiance  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  unon  the  further  ground  that  according 


14 


to  the  Constitution  of  tho  Church  this  Gcneval  As- 
eemb)y  has  no  authority  to  make  such  an  order. 

Bcv.  Mr.  West.  I  rise  to  a  point  ot  order.  I  de- 
Eire  to  know  if  tliia  whole  subject  in  relation  to  the 
principles  involved  in  the  Declaration  and  Testimo- 
ny ts  to  be  gone  into. 

Rev,  Mr.  Van  Djts.  I  am  not  going  into  it.  I 
am  speaking  entirely  to  the  point.  I  am  sliowiuK 
ttiat  J ou  have  grounds  to  make  your  action  in  ihi-» 
case  a  preat  deal  broader. 

Tbe  Muderator.  Broader,  even,  than  the  action  of 
the  last  Assembly? 

Mr.  Van  Dvke.  No,  sir.  Our  own  Confession  of 
Faith  says  all  Synods — 

Rev.  Ml*.  West.  What  is  the  decision  ot  the 
Moderator? 

The  Woi-ierator.  I  have  alreadv  decided  the  point 
before  this  tajk  commenced.  I  si  ated  if  I  discovered 
that  the  gentleman  r.iuveled  beyond  ihe  bounds  of 
my  decision,  I  would  call  him  to  order.  I  confess 
I  was  not  paying  strict  attention  to  what  he  was 
saying  at  the  moment. 

Rev.  Mr.  West.  Am  I  to  understand  that  the 
merits  of  the  question  are  to  come  up. 

The  Moderator.  Just  so  lar  as  it  is  EPcessary  to 
discuss  the  question,  and  ir  he  goes  beyond  that  I 
will  call  him  to  order. 

Mr  Van  Dyke.  I  will  try  to  confine  myself  to  the 
question  if  you  will  allow  me.  If  the  charge  alleged 
against  the  Louisville  Fre^yiery,  in  the  paper 
which  you  have  already  adopted,  and  which  charge 
ia  equally  applicable  to  olhei-  brethren,  were  true, 
I  respectfully  submit  to  you  that  it  involves  neither 
heresy  nor  crime.  When  I  adopted  the  Con Tession 
of  Faith,  and  affirmed  the  government  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  aod  solemnly  swore  albgiance  to 
it,  I  meant  to  keep  it;  but  thrre  was  a  clause  there 
respecling  my  personal  rights  in  that  matter — a 
right  of  private  judgment. 

All  Synods  and  councils  since  the  time  of  the 
A])Ostles,  either  generally  or  pariicularly,  may  err, 
and  many  have  erred.  They  are  not  to  be  made  the 
rule  of  botn  faith  and  practice;  they  may  lapse  in 
both.  And  further:  '  'Before  any  overtures  or  i  egu- 
latione,  proposed  by  the  General  Assembly  to  be  es- 
taolisbed  as  constimiional  rules,  shall  be  obliga- 
tory on  the  Churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  trans- 
mit them  to  all  Presbyteries,  and  to  receive  the  re- 
turn of  at  least  a  majority  of  th^^m  in  writing,  ap- 
proved by  them."  Now,  no  act  of  this  General 
Assembly  on  freedom  and  loyalty,  from  18G1  to  1865 
(and  especially  the  orders  of  the  last  General  As- 
semblj)  was  transmiitsd  to  the  Presbyteries,  and  I 
ulhrm,  according  to  the  language  of  the 
book,  they  are  not  obligatory  on  any 
Church  or  Assembly,  and  no  bindinsr  author- 
ity on  me  whatever.  If  they  had  been 
transmitted  to  the  Presbyteries  and  adopted  by 
them,  then  the  question  would  come  up  fairly  as  to 
what  is  the  constitutional  rule  of  the  church;  but 
there  is  no  rule  that  has  been  violated  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville  according  to  the  Ifansusge  of 
the  book.  If  they  could  prove  all  you  have  said, 
there  then  is  no  violation .  The  language  of  the  res- 
olution is,  they  defied  the  General  Assembly. 
Now,  I  do  not  think  the  facts  justify  the  use  of  the 
word  "defiance."  And  what  is  the  proof?  The 
resolution  says  they  have  refused  to  obey  the  orders 
of  the  General  As?enibly,  and  said  so.  That  is 
just  what  I  have  done;  that  is  just  what  ttiree- 
fourrhs  of  the  ministers  that  I  am  acquainted  with 
in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  have  aoue.  The 
sessions  of  my  church,  immediately  after 
the  passage  of  these  orders,  moved — one 
of  them  on  their  records — a  protest,  and 
refusal  to  obey,  but  I  objected  for, the  same  reason 
that  I  did  not  sign  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  . 
I  believed,  under  our  confession  of  faith  and  terms 
of  membership,  and  the  doctrines  of  our  Church  as 
found  in  the  word  of  God,  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly has  no  authority  to  maKe  rules  in  this  way  that 
are  bindirgonus,  and  therefore  we  have  gone  tor- 
ward  without  reference  to  what  the  General  Assem- 
bly has  said,  and  intend  so  to  do  until  that  action 
ot  the  Assembly  is  adopted  by  the  Presbyteries. 
The  only  difference  between  these  brethren  in  Lou- 
isville and  lifty  others,  many  of  whom  are  on  the 
floor  of  this  Assembly,  is,  thej-  have  openly  printed 
what  they  intended  to  do,  while  the  rest  have  done 


without  openly  saying  anything.  I  do  not  see  that. 
60  far  ai  justice  is  concerned,  thtre  is  any  diifer- 
encem  the  case.  Now,  sir,  I  do  not  care  to  discuss 
the  question  farther  on  its  merits,  Ijecause  I 
respect  your  decision.  But  there  is  another 
remark  1  must  make,  and  I  make  it  in  a  spirit  of 
conciliation  and  kindness,  and  God  knows,  with  a 
feeling  of  grief.  The  carrying  out  of  the  plan  indi- 
cated by  the  resolution  which  you  have  adopted, 
whether  you  make  it  partial  or  universal,  will  de- 
feat Us  own  end,  because  I  take  it  for  granted  that 
the  motive  in  which  t'  is  paper  has  orii<iaaied  is  a 
motive  that  will  bear  the  test  oi  God's  word  and  the 
light  of  judgment.  I  take  it  for  Ktanted  it  is  to  pro- 
mote the  peace,  purity  and  unity  of  the  Church. 
You  may  rest  assured  it  will  not  promote  the  peace, 
purity  and  unity  of  the  Church.  If  vou  sacrifice 
these  brethren  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery  because 
Ihey  have  contended  for  a  principle  whicu  some  of 
us  hold  as  lirmly  as  they  do,  you  may  makfj  them 
martyrs  for  that  principle,  and  you  will 
rally  around  them  an  iuHuenco  numerically, 
socially  and  in  every  other  respect 
which,  perhaps,  on  personal  grounds  they  could 
not  hape  attamed.  If  this  General  Assembly,  by 
the  force  of  the  previous  question,  and  by  papers 
prepared  before  the  Assembly  met — and  I  di'not 
mean  to  be  diaresppcttul  m  this  m-ttter,  but  it  is 
notorious  what  I  allude  to — unless  the  General  As- 
sembly mean  to  cut  off  the  ditcussion  of  these  great 
principles  that  p'  rtain  to  ihe  kingdom  ot  Jexus 
Christ,  by  condeninii'g  those  who  honestly  oon- 
tpuded  for  tliose  principles,  there  are  others  of  us 
who  wilt  be  bound  by  t.ur  allegiaaccs  to  the  Church 
and  to  God  to  stacd  exactly  iu  the  same  position 
with  them.    I  have  nothing  further  to  say. 

Rev.  Dr.  Anderson.  It  would  be  entirely  un- 
maniy  and  unchristian  it  I  should  be  eifeut  now, 
though  I  ■-peak  as  you  perceive,  and  have  done  for 
years  with  great  diihculty.  [A  voice— "Louder."] 
I  will  make  the  members  hear  me,  if  they  will  wall; 
lill  I  can  clear  my  ihroat, 

I  am,  sir,  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Synod  of  Mi.?- 
souri,  and  I  wish  to  ssy  now,  in  this  body,  in  no 
spirit  of  defiance,  but  that  they  may  know  the  facta, 
that  by  a  deliberative  body,  after  a  calm  and  thor- 
ough di-cussion  of  the  ju-inciples  involved,  the 
mam  points  that  are  involved  in  the  Declaration 
and  Testifuony  were  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  Mis- 
souri by  a  vote  of  three  to  one.  We  wish  to  out 
ourselvep,  therefore,  in  the  ranks  with  our  brotners 
of  the  Preshytery  of  Louisville,  and  others  who 
may  fall  under  the  action  of  the  guillotine  in  hold- 
ing'these  sentiments.  I  wish  to  say  more,  sir.  I 
approve  of  that  action  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  and 
voted  for  it.  I  wish  to  say  further,  sir, 
and  in  no  spirit  of  defiance,  that  at  the 
last  meeting  of  my  session  but  one,  we  re- 
ceived two  memhert-  among  others,  sitting  side 
by  tide,  touching  each  other,  one  of  whom  had 
ridden  in  Merrill's  horse  on  the  Federal  side  and  the 
other  had  bared  his  breast  to  the  Union  bayonets  on 
the  Southern  side.  They  were  neither  of  them  asked 
any  questions  about  their  opinions  with  regard  to 
one  army  or  the  other,  but  we  received  them  as 
Christians,  supposing  that  in  their  union  with  Christ 
there  was  a  bond  strong  enough  to  bind  them  to- 
gether across  that  culf  of  blood  that  had  for  a  time 
separated  them.  Aud  I  wish  to  say  again,  sir.  in  no 
spirit  of  defiance,  that  I  should  be  glad  to  do  that 
tning  at  every  meeting  of  my  session;  and,  God 
helping  me,  I  will  never  obey  an  order  that  makes 
me  determine  the  political  opinions  or  practices  of 
any  man  who  may  come  to  me  to  be  united  in  the 
fellowship  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  I  wish  to  put 
these  facts  before  the  minds  of  this  Assembly  and 
ask  them  to  commission  that  committee  to  examine 
into  our  acts  as  well  as  those  that  have  already  been 
committed  to  their  charsre. 

Rev.  Mr.  Forman  of  St.  .Toseph.  Mo.,  said  owing 
to  physical  debiiitv  he  could  not  maKe  a  speech,  but 
wished  to  make  a  few  remarks  in  explanation  of  hi.s 
position.  Me  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  in  186-t 
and  on  his  way  home  had  consultation  with  several 
urethren  as  to  the  course  best  to  be  pursued  in  re- 
lation to  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  regarded  as  un- 
scriptural.  A  conference  was  suggested.  About 
a  year  after  he  received  a  letter  requestioghim  to 
attend  such   a  conference.     He  could   not  go  hut 


u 


wrote  a  letter  counseling  prudence  and  modera- 
tion. When  the  "Deolarafion  and  Testimony"  ap- 
peared he  did  not  and  could  not  sign  it,  for  he  re- 
garded it  as  too  harsh  in  its  spirit.  But  the  great 
principles  asserted  in  that  jsaper  he  held  to  be  true. 
The  orders  of  the  General  As-ernbly  in  relation  to 
Southern  Christians  and  ministers  he  conld  not  ex- 
ecute, because  he  believed  them  to  be  unscriutural. 
Wiicn  Southern  sympathizers,  or  those  who 
had  been  in  the  rebel  army,  made  application 
for  ailmissioD  to  his  Cburco,  he  could  only  ask  them 
whether,  as  lost  and  helpless  sinners,  they  were 
trustUi?  m  Jesus  as  a  personal  Savior.  To  go  be- 
yond this  would  he  contrary  to  tlie  teachinRS  of 
G  id's  word.  And  now  it  the  Assembly  were  deter- 
mined to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the  Louisville 
brethien  for  refusing  to  execute  the  orders  of  the  As- 
sembly, he  wished  the  investigation  to  extend  to 
himself  and  to  all  others  who  cannot  observe  an  act 
which  they  hold  to  be  unscriptural.  Yea,  he  would 
have  it  extend  to  Dr.  Hodge  lor  his  publislied  de- 
clarations in  opposition  to  the  Assemljly  acts,  and 
to  Dr.  R.J.  Breckinridge  for  the  paper  penned  bv  hiai 
and  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  1861,  in 
sucl)  very  strong  terms  condemtiingthedeJiveranoe 
of  the  Assembly  on  the  state  of  the  country. 

Rev.  Mr.  Bracken.  I  will  remark.  Moderator, 
Ihat  I  have  never  signed  the  piper  known  as  the 
Declaration  and  fesiimony.  Very  many  members 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucfcy,  and  indeed  m.iuy  mem- 
bers of  the  West  Lexington  Piesbyteiy  signed  that 
paper.  They  aid  not  regard  it  as  wise.  The  storm 
01  passion  was  raging  all  through  the  land.  It  had 
entered  the  Church  and  ecclesiastical  bodies,  and 
we  feared  ihat  document  would  be  misapprehended 
and  misinterpreted.  We  desired  to  avoid  the  evils 
that  might  result  from  it.  These  bi'etbren  said  in 
that  document  that  they  did  not  desire  a  division  of 
the  Church.  That  they  stood  upon  the  old  platform, 
and  observed  the  old  ^landmarks,  taking  the  word 
of  God  and  the  constiiution  of  the  Church  as  their 
guide.  But,  Mr.  Moderator,  we  feared  it  might  be 
said  that  they  had  other  aims  in  viev*',  and  the 
results  have  come  to  pass.  No  sooner  was  the  docu- 
ment circulated  than  it  was  noised  abroad  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  laniil,  that  here  were  rebels 
suspected  long  of  disloyalty  to  their  Church,  and 
now  that  they  had  openly  avowed  that  disloyalty, 
and  that  alarm  was  sounded  loud  and  long,  and  "it 
was  prolonged  and  its  echoes  may  yet  be  heard.  This 
is  what  we  would  have  avoided.  But  1  speak  with 
contidence,  when  I  say  a  large  majority  of  the  office 
bearers  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  indorse  substan- 
tiallg  all  that  is  said  in  that  document;  that  the  ma- 
jority of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  agreed  with  Dr. 
Hodge  and  fifty-seven  others,  who,  in  IGGl,  when 
the  first  step  was  taken — when  the  seed  was 
planted  whicn  has  matured  and  developed  and 
home  its  ripened  f.uit.  We  believe  with  Dr. 
Hodge  that  that  action  was  unconstitutional  in  its 
character — that  it  instituted  new  terms  of  Church 
membership,  and  usurped  the  perogatives  ot  the 
Divine  Master.  Furthermore, we  believe  that  whea 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  declared  in  their  report, 
which  was  written  tinu  introduced  by  the  Brother 
who  would  now  ask  you  to  exclude  those  who  rt as- 
sert the  same  sentiments— we  believe  with  that 
Synod  resolution,  adopted  without  a  dissenting 
voice,  that  the  action  of  the  Assembly  was  unscrip- 
tural and  unconstitutional.  But  ch.anges  took  place, 
and  new  judgments  weremade  tosuit  those  changes. 
But,  Mr.  Moderator,  it  was  not  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  men  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery  that 
changed  wnen,  in  1865,  they  repeated  the  same  Tes- 
timony of  the  entire  Assembly  of  ISlo.  We  believe, 
furthermore,  that  we  could  not  obey  these  orders, 
which  we  regarded  as  unrcriptural  and  unconstitu- 
tional without  violatieg  other  deliverances  of  the 
General  Assf-mbiy.  We  turn  back  over  the  record  of 
the  Cnurca  aod  we  read  in  the  minutes  of  lain  the 
sentiment  that  Christ  did  not  legislate  on  these  sub- 
jects, and  the  Church  could  not  since  the  great  head 
of  the  Church  had  not.  We  did  not  feel  like  violating 
the  deliverances  before  given  upon  the  clear  teaching 
of  Gott's  word.  We  felt  that  we  would  violate  the 
Bentiment  of  that  deliverance  if  we  obeyed  the  orders 
of  lBt>5. 

A  mem1)er.  I  insist  that  this  whole  debate  oomej 


on  the  report  of  the  Committeee,  and  I  move  to  ad- 
journ. 

The  Moelerator.  It  is  not  yet  time  for  a  recess. 

Dr.  Bracken.  That  "  action  of  1815  was 
taken  when  the  entire  Church  was  bound 
together  by  strong  cords  of  brotherly  love 
— delivered  at  a  time  when  the  excitements 
and  confusion  of  the  torum  had  never  been  intro- 
duced into  ecclesiastical  bodies.  It  was  delivered 
when  our  Church,  as  the  great  conservative  body 
of  the  laud,  stood  forth  like  a  mountain  cliff,  calm 
and  immovable.  There^was  no  disturbance  of  that 
kind  then.  Our  Church  was  then  like  a  firm  rock 
that  beat  back  the  muddy  waves  that  dashed 
against  it,  and  we  felt  like  adhering  to  that  deliver, 
ance  of  the  General  Assembly.  3Ir.  Moderator, 
are  we  understand  wnen  acts  of  the  General 
Assembly  contradict  each  other,  that  the  last  act  is 
the  one  alone  which  possesses  binding  force.  "We 
felt  that  this  mignt  be  very  good  popery.  We  had 
read  in  the  history  of  the  past  of  Popes  who  claimed 
universal  dominion,  and  the  argument  was  that 
they  had  received  the  keys  which  gave  them 
superior  power  from  Christ,  and  we  had  also  read 
that  polifical  and  civil  aliairs  came  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Pope  and  that  when  he  could  not  carry 
out  his  dictates  withotit  military  power,  the 
military  power  was  the  servant  of  the  spiritual  head. 
We  considered  it  was  the  same  old  argument  re- 
peated— repeated  within  the  last  few  years. 

And  again,  Mr.  Moderator,  every  Presbytery  al- 
most in  the  State  of  Kentucky  pronounced  that  first 
act  as  unconstitutional  and  unscriptural,  and  since 
that  time  almost  every  Presbytery  In  Kentucky  has 
taken  liKe  action.  But  that  is  not  all,  because,  Mr. 
Moderator,  the  very  brethren  who  have  assumed — 

Dr.  McLean.  Is  that  the  question  ?  What  is  the 
question  ?  Is  that  member  in  favor  or  opposed 
to  it? 

Rev.  Mr.  Bracken.  Whichever  way  you  choose 
to  have  it. 

The  Moderator.  I  understand  the  gentleman  that 
this  investigation  should  take  a  very  wide  range. 
[Laughter.] 

A  member.  I  wish  to  inquire  if  it  is  in  order  for 
a  .gentleman  to  speak  more  than  once  to  this  point 
without  the  consent  of  this  body.  The  gentleman 
has  already  spoken  upon  this  subject 

The  Moderator.  1  think  that  is  the  first  speech 
the  gentleman  has  made. 

Dr.  McLean.    Let  us  know  what  side  he  is  on. 

The  Moderator.    He  must  tell  you  that. 

Mr.  Ferguson.  I  hope  we  shall  trust  the  Mode- 
rator's judgment;  he  has  said,  as  soon  as  the  ecu- 
tlemau  gets  out  of  order,  he  will  call  him  to  order. 

Dr.  Bracken,  Allow  me  to  say  to  Dr.  McLean, 
that  I  am  talking  now  in  order  to  show  that  there 
are  very  m«ny  more  in  alike  state.  I  am  speaking 
ou  the  amendment  of  Dr.  Brookes,  and  to  show  thai 
there  are  many  more  beside  these  brethren  who 
stand  on  common  ground,  and  have  given  like  de- 
liverances. Mr.  Moderator,  we  feel  that  this 
would  be  very  partial  action,  because  the  very 
members  who  differ  from  us,  as  has  already  been 
remarked,  arc  practically  doing  the  same  thing. 
Where,  I  might  ask,  in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
has  there  ever  been  an  effort  made  to  enforcj  the»e 
orders?  I  presume  that  such  an  attempt  has  never 
been  made. 

Rev.  Mr.  Tliomes.  I  desire  to  make  a  few  re- 
marks but  as  the  hour  ot  adjournment  Jis  at  hand  I 
will  move  that  we  aeljonrn  tid  this   afternoon . 

The  Mo  Jerator.  The  General  Assembly  will  hold 
no  session  this  afternoon  unless  they  reconsider  the 
decision  that  they  have  a  ready  made. 

A  motion  to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  the 
hours  Were  fixed  Was  lost. 

The  Assenihly  then  adjourned  until  Saturday 
morning  at  nine'A.  m. 

The  following  is  a  complete  list  of  delegates  to  the 
Asseniblv : 

SYNOD  OF  ALBANY. 

PBESBYTEKIES. 

Albany-^Ministers,  DaTid  Lyon,  J.  T.  Backus, 
D.D. 
Londonderry—Minister,  JcsephP.  "Bixbj. 
Mohawk— Elder,    Lucien   B.Wells. 


IC 


Siam — Minister,  S.  R.  House,  M.  I). 
Troy — Minister,    Wni.  M.    Johnson.    Elder,  (i. 
Fort. 

SYNOD  OF  ALLEGHENY, 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Allegheny— Minister,  Robert  B.  Walker,  D.  D. 
Elder,  Valentine  O.  Glenn. 

Allegheny  City — Mlnistcr.s,  John  M.  Smith,  Jas. 
Allison.  Elders,  Robert  McKnighc,  John  llaT, 
Jr. 

Beaver — Minister,  C.  C.  Riggs,  D.  D.  Elder, 
"Wm.  M.  Francis. 

Erie— Minister,  George  F.  Cain.  Elder,  A.  H. 
Caaghiev. 

SYNOD  OF  BALTIMORE. 

PKESBYTERIES. 

Bdtiniore — Ministers,  Joseph  T.  Smith,  D.  P., 
John  Fym  Carter.  Elders,  Joliu  Dioktou,  M.  1)., 
Rogers"  Bimie. 

Carlisle — Ministers,  J.  W,  Wightman,  8.  S. 
Mitchell.    Elders,  W.  G.  Reed.  R.  G.  McCieary. 

Lewis — Minibter,  L.  P.  Bowen.  Elder,  Isaac  L). 
Jones. 

Potomac— Minister.  P.  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.  Elder, 
Edward  Myers. 

SYNOD  OF  BUFFALO. 

PHESBYTERIE8. 

Buffalo  City — Minister,  James  Remington.  El- 
der, H.  Howard. 

Genesee  River — Minister,  Charles  Ray.  Elder, 
David  McMaster. 

Ogdensbnrg — Minister,  James  Gardner.  Elder, 
Allen,  Chaney. 

Rochester  City — Minister,  E.  D.  Yeomans,  I).  1). 

S'iTvOD  OF  CHICAGO. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Bureau— Minister,  Sam.  T.  Wilion.  Elder  Ed- 
ward Buck . 

Chicago — Ministers,  R.  G.  Thompson,  Frederick 
T.  Brovu,  D.  D.  Elders,  Robert  Porter,  Lincoln 
Clark. 

Rock  River— Minister,  E.  C.  Sickles,  Elder, 
.Tames  Snyder. 

Schuyler— Minister,  J.  T.  Bliss.  Elder,  VTm.  E. 
Withrow. 

Warren— Minister,'.R.  C.  Matthews,  D.  D.  El- 
der, Thomas  Muir. 

SYNOD  OP  CINCINNATI. 

PRESBYTERIES, 

Chillicothe — Minister,  R.  L.  Stanton,  D.  D. 
Elder,  Wm.  Thomas. 

(jincinnati — Ministers,  J.  G.  Monfort,  D.  D.,  W. 
W.  Colmery.  Elders,  Thomas  McGe.chm,  A.  E 
Chamberlain. 

Miami— Ministers,  Thomas  E.  Thomas,  D.  D., 
Wliliam  T.  Findley.  Elders,  S.  D.  Wharon,  G.  8. 
Ormsbv. 

Oxford— Minister,  A.  O.  Patterson,  D.  D.  Elder, 
Wm.  Curry. 

Sydney — Minister,  Wm.  Greecough.  Elder, 
Samuel  Hover. 

SYNOD  OF  ILLINOIS . 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Bloomington — Ministers,  R.  COnover,  Wm.  T. 
Adams.    Elder,  I.  B.  McKinley. 

Kaskaskia — Minister,  Ttiomas  W.  Hynes.  F.lder, 
Hugh  Adams. 

Palestine — Minister,   .    Elder,    R.  M. 

Yates . 

Peoria— Minister,  J.  F.  Magill,  Elder,  John  C. 
Grier. 

Saline— Minister,  John  Crozicr.  Elder,  Thomas 
Buchanan. 

Sangamon — Minister,  R.  W.  AlKn.  Elder,  D. 
(".  Brown. 

SYNOD  OP  INDIAN.\. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Indianapolis— Minister,  (ieorge  C.  Heckman.  El- 
der, James  Blake. 

Madison— Minister,  G.  D.  Ar-'liiuald,  O.  D.  El- 
der, W.  P.  Inskepp. 


I      New    Albany- Minister,   J.    P.    Saflbrd,    D.   D, 

Elder,  J.  H.  McCampbell. 
Vincennes— Minister,  P.   R.  Morton.    Elder,   S. 

M.  Archer. 
i       Whitewater— Minister,  R.  F.  Patterson.    Elder, 
I  William  Blanchard. 
I  SYNOD  OP  IOWA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Cedar— Minister,  James  D.  Mason.  Elder, 
Tliomas  Elder. 

Dubuque— Minister, .    Elder,  J.  K.   Duncan. 

Toledo— Minister,  J.  S  Dunning.  Elder,  Wm. 
H.  Peterson. 

SYNOD  OP  KANSAS, 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Highland— Minister,  Wm.  Bishop.     Elder, . 

I.eaveuworth — Minister,  J.    G.    IJeaser.      Elder, 

Topeka — Minister,  I.  M.  Pryse.    Elder,  . 

SYNOD  OF  KENTUCKY. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Ebenezer — Minister,  J.  E.  Spillman.  Elder, 
Charles  A.  Munhall. 

Louisville— Ministers,  Stuart  Robinson,  D  D., 
Samuel  a.  Wilson,  D.  D.  Elders,  C.  A.  Wick 
Uffe,  MarK  Harden. 

Muhlenburg— Minister,    IR.     K.    Smoot.    Elder, 

Paducah— Minister,  J,  T.  Hendrick,  D.  D.  Elder, 
G.  W.  Garrett. 
Transvlvania— Ministers,  Wm.  L.  Breckinridge, 

D.  D,  EdwardP.  Humphrey,  D.   D..    Elders,  O. 
Beatty,  J.  C.  Maxwell. 

West  Lexington  —  3Iinister,  T.  A.  Bracken 
Elder,  G.  Marshall. 

SYNOD  OF  JUSSOURI. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Lafayette— Minister,  J.  L,  Yantis,  I>.  D.  Elder, 
George  W .  Buchanan. 

Missouri — Minister,  John   GiflBn.  Elder, . 

Palmyra — Minister,  J.  M.  Travis.  Elder,  J.  W. 
Pry  or. 

Potosi— Minister,  D.  A.  Wilson.  Elder,  A.  M. 
McPherson . 

St.  Louis — Ministers,  S. 'J.  P.  Anderson,  D.  D  , 
J.  H.  Brookes,  D.  D.  Elders,  E.  Bredeil,  Joseph 
Conway. 

Upper  Missouri — Minister,  A.  P.  Formau.  Elder. 
H.  T.  Walker. 

Wyaconda— Minister,  George  Van  Eman.    Elder, 

SYNOD  OF  NASHVILLE. 

PRESBYTERY. 

Nashville— Minister,  J.  B.  Liudsley,  D.  1).  El- 
der, Charles  H.  Smith. 

SYNOD  OP  NEW  JERSEY. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Burlington— Minister,  V.  D.Reed,  D.  D.  Elder, 
Joseph  D.  Reinboth. 

Elizabethtewn — Ministers,  E.  Kempshal!,  Jame.-i 
C.  Edwards.    Elder,  Reuben  Van  Pelt. 

Luzerne — Ministers,  Milo  J.  Hickock,  I).  D.,  A. 
M.    Lowry.    Elders, . 

Monmouth— Minister,  D.  D.  McLean,  D.  D.  El- 
der, Wm.  L.  Terhune. 

Newton — Ministers,  Myron  Barrett,  Aaron  IT. 
Hand,  D.  D.    Elder,  John  C.  Labar. 

New  Brunswick— Ministers,  A.  Gosman,  I).  D, , 
Joseph  G.  Symms.  Elders,  George  S.  Green,  Wm. 
Rust. 

Passaic— Minister,  W.  H.  Homblower,  D.  D. 
Elder,  Albert  DeHart 

Ilaritan— Minister,  John  Barrows.    Elder,  Hugh 

E.  War  ford. 

Susquehanna — Minister,  Halleck  Armstrong.  El- 
der, A.  Wickham. 

West  Jersey— Minister,  Charles  Wood.  Elder, 
Henry  B.  Ware. 

SYNOD, OF  NEW  YORK. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Conneticut— Minister,  A.  Shilaud.  Elder,  W.  P. 
Van  RcBBSAlaer. 


17 


Hudson— Ministers,  Kobert  A.  Davison,  Luther 
Little.  Elders,  James  Van  Kturen,  Linden  JMul- 
ford. 

Long  Island— MinisUr?,  Augustus  T.  Dobson, 
Sidney  G.  Law.    Elder,  James  R.  Rolpli. 

Nassau — Ministers.  Nathaniel  West,  U.  D.,  Henry 
J.  Y.Hn  Dyke,  D.  D.    Elder.   E.  P.  Ketchuni. 

New  York — Ministers,  Charles  J.  Jones,  John  M. 
Krtbs,  D.  D.  Elders,  Henry  Day,  John  Stewart, 
■Tames  Bayliss. 

New  York,  2d— Minister,  D.  M.  Halliday,  D.  D. 
Elder,  Wm.  K.  Belcher. 

Ningpo — Minister,  J.  L.  Nevins.    Elder, 

North  River— ilinister,  Samuel H.  Jasrger.  Elder, 
Husrh  S.  Banks. 

SYNOD  OF  NORTHERN  INDIANA  . 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Crawfordsville — Minister,  R.  Irwin,  Jr.  Elder, 
J.  G.  McMcchan,  M.  D. 

Fort  Wayne— Minister,  C.  A.  Mun>i.  Elder, 
Jesse  L.  Williams. 

Lake— Minister,  H.  L.  VannuYS.  Elder, JH.  L. 
Giller. 

Logansport — Minister,  J.  C.  Irwin.  Elder,  R.  P. 
Davidson. 

Munice — Minister,  John  A.  Campbell.  Elder, 
James  M.  Ray. 

SYNOD  OF  OHIO. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Columbus — Minister,  C.  W.  Flnley.  Elder,  Samuel 
Galloway. 

Hocking — Minister,  John  IT.  Pratt.  Elder,  A.  G. 
Brown. 

Marion— Minister,  C. .  H  Perkins.  Elder,  Moses 
Cole. 

Richland — Minister,  Alexander  Scott.  Elder,  J. 
J.  Turner 

Wooster — Minister,  J.  C.  Gillan.  Elder,  .Tacob 
Reaser. 

Zaoesville — Minister,  W.  M.  Fereuson.  Elder, 
Robert  Buchanan. 

SYNOD  OF  THE  PACIFIC. 
California — Minister,    A.    W.  Loomis.       Elder, 


Stockton— Minister,    James    A.  Skinner.     Elder. 


SYNOD  OF   PHILADELPHIA. 

Donegal — Ministers,  John  Farquhar,  Lindley  C, 
Rutter.    Elders,  David  Mitchell,  VV.  W.  Watnon. 

Huntingdon— Minister,  John  H.  Clark.  Elder, 
S.  T.  Brown. 

Newcastle — Ministers,  Justus  T.  Umsted,  David 

W.Moore.    Elders,  James  A.  Strawbridge,  

Vanarsdale. 

Northumberland— Ministers,  C.  H.  Park,  D.  J. 
Waller.    Elders,  M.  C.  Grier,  James  Rankin. 

Philadephia— Ministers,     William   E.    Schenek, 


Henry  A.  Boardman,  D-D.  Elders,  James  An- 
drews, W.  W.  Caldwell. 

Pniladelphia  Central- Ministers,  J.  A.  Htnry,  T, 
M.  ^unninsrham      Elder,  John  S.  Mci^;lellan. 

Philadelphia  '2d— Ministers,  J.  B.  Davis,  Roger 
Owen.    Elder,  Barton  H.  Jeucks. 

SYNOD  OF   PITTSBURGH. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Blairsville— Minister,  B.  L.  Agne'V.  Elder,  D. 
W.  Shryocb. 

Clarion — Minister.  J.  Mateer.    Elder,  0.  Orr. 

Ohio— Ministers,  Francis  J.  Collin,  J.  W.  Hazlett. 
Elders,  Samuel  McMaster,  Samuel  Rea. 

Redstone— Minister,  JoelScoueroad.  Elder,  Wm. 
S.  CaldweU. 

Saltsburg  —  Minister,  John  Caruthers.  Elder, 
.Tnhn  Christy. 

SYNOD  OF  SANDUSKY. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Findlaj— Minister,  W.  K.  Brice.  Elder,  John 
Dobbins 

Mauniee— Minister,  E.  B.  Raflfeasper^er.  Elder, 
S.  D.  Chamberlin. 

Michigan— Minister,  B.  F.  Morden.  Elder,  H. 
K.  Clarke. 

Western  Reserve  —  Minister.  Solomon  Cook. 
Elder,  Robert  Lyle. 

SYNOD  OF  SOUTHERN  IOWA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Des  Moines — Minister,  J.  P.  Brlngle.  Eider, 
David  Wills. 

Fairfield— Minister,  D.  V.  Smock.  Eldef.  Wni. 
T.  Orr. 

Iowa— Minister,  G.  D.  Stewart.  Elder,  Wm. 
Mason. 

SYNOD  OF  WHEELING. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

New  Lisbon— Minister,  Thomas  P.  Speer.  Elder, 
James  Russell. 

steubenviUe — Ministers,  Robert  Herron,  George 
Fraser.    Elders,  Andrew  B  )yd,  H.  Himmood. 

St.  Clairsville— Minister,  Wm.  M.  Grimes.  Elder, 
Robert  S.  Clark. 

Washington— Ministers,  Daniel  W.  Fisher,  James 
Fleming.  Elders.  Wm.  111.  Nicoll,  Thomas  Mc- 
Kean. 

West  Virginia- Minister,   C.   P.  French.    Elder, 

■  SYNOD  OF   WISCONSIN. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Dane — Minister,  J.  W  .  Dinsniore.  Elder,  L.  T. 
Stowell. 

Milwaukee — Minister,  Chae.  T.  Tiiompaoa,  El- 
der, JohnOgden. 

Winnebago — Misieter,  .     Elder.  A.  V.  Balch. 


THIRD    [).\Y— SATHRDAY,   MAT    10,    1866. 


Met  at  9  o'clock  a.m. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  devotional  exercises  the 
minutes  of  yesterday  were  read  and  approved. 

The  Moderator  announced  the  remainder  of  the 
committees  as  follows: 

DISABLED  MINISTERS'   FUND. 

Ministers,  R.  C.  Matthews,  D.  D.,  Wm.  Green- 
oniiti,  John  Farquhar,  R.  A.  Davidson,  D.  V. 
Smock  and  W.  M.  Ferguson. 

Elders,  Charles  E.  Webster,  Hugh  S.  Banks  and 
Henry  Hammond. 

SIILEAGE. 

Elders,  David  Mitchell,  Robt.  Buchanan  and 
Wm.  Mason . 

% 


LEAVE   OF   ABSENCE. 

Ministers,*  Samuel  B.  Jagger,  B.  K.  Smoot  and 
Gro.  Fraser. 
Elders,  J.  E.  Reinboth  and  Jacob  Reasor. 

SYNODICAL  RECORDS. 

Albany — Ministers,  Lindley  C,  Rutter,  C.  H. 
Perkins.    Eldrrs,  John  Dobbins.  Jumes  Russell. 

Allegheny — Ministers,  ,J .  P.  Pringle,  Solomon 
Cook.    Elders.  Andrew  Boyd,  Samuel  MoMaster. 

Baltimore— Minister.-i,  John  W.  Hdzleite,  Thoa. 
P.  Speer.  Elders,  Samuel  D.  Chamberlain,  John 
8.  Mct^lellan. 

Buffalo— Ministers,  B.  F.  Murden,  G.  D.  Stew- 
art.   Elders,  Wm.  M.  Nicoll.  L.  T.  8t«w«ll. 


18 


Chicago — Ministers,  John  Carothers,  Robert  Her- 
ron.    Elders,  A.  V.  -Balch,  N.  N.  Caldwell. 

Cincinnati — Ministers,  VVm.  M.  Grimes,  J.  N. 
Dinsmore.  Elders.  Culbertson  Orr,  James  An- 
drews. 

Illinois— 5Iinisters,  C.  P.  French,  J.  B.  Davis. 
Elders,  Wm.  8.  Caldwell.  J.  J.  Turner. 

lndiana--IMinister8,  Jas.  Fleming,  C.  H.  Parks. 
Elders,  John  Christy,  Moses  Cox. 

Iowa--!\Iini-iers,  D.  W.  Fisher,  I>.  W.  Moore. 
Elders,  R.  P.  Davidson,  E.  P.  Ketchuni. 

KansaS'-Ministevs,  .J.  A.  Skinner,  J  C.  Gillam. 
Elders,  Tbos.  McKeao,  W.  W  .  Warson. 

Kentucky— Ministers,  W.  W.  Colmery  John  H. 
Clarke.    Elders,  M.  C.  Grier,  A.  G.  Brown. 

Missouri— Ministers,  J.  Stoneroad,  J.  A.  Henry. 
Elders,  D.  W.  Shryock,  J.  G.  McMechan. 

Nashville  -Ministers.  A.  Gorman,  D.  D. ,  J.  M, 
Pryse.     Elders,  J.  F.  Vauarsdale,  Linden  IVUiliord. 

New  .Jersey — Ministers,  J.  T.  UiBstead,  John  A. 
Campbell.  Elders,  J.  A.  Strawbridge,  James  Van 
Kenren . 

New  York— Ministers,  A.  H.  Hand,  D.  D,,  J.  T. 
Hendrick,  D.  D.  Elders,  S.  T.  Brown.  T.  F.  3Ic- 
Coy. 

Northern  India — Ministers,  D.  M.  Haliiday,  D. 
D.,J.  E  Edwards.  Elders,  Henry  B.  Ware,  O. 
A.  Marshall. 

Northern  Indiana — "Jlinisters,  A.  T.  Dobson,  J. 
Allen.    Elders,  A.  Wickham,  W.  P.  Inskip. 

Ohio— Ministers,  R.  Lonover,  G.  O.  Heckman. 
Elders,  H.  E.  VVaiford,  J    H.  Cam.jbell. 

Pacific — Ministers,  J.  S.  Dunning, .  El- 
ders, A.  De  Hart,  J.  K   Duncan. 

Philadelphia— Ministers,  R.  T.  Patterson,  E.  W. 
Allen.    Eiders,  S.  M.  Archer,  Ed.  Buck. 

Pittsburgh— Ministers,  J.  Burrougns,  "W.  M. 
Johnson.    Elders,  W.  Eu*t,  C.  W.  Campbell. 

St.  Paul  Ministers,  C.  E.  Robinson,  S.  S.  Mitch- 
ell.   Elders,  A.  H.  CaugDey,  H.  Hcusan. 

Sandusky — Ministers,  Myron  Barret.  J.  S.  Dun- 
ning.   Elders,  Wm.  L.  Terhune,  Tiios.  Elder. 

Southern  Iowa— Miuisfers,  a.  M.  Lowry,  Jno. 
M   Smirh.    Elders,  J.   K.  Duncan,  Geo.  S.  Green. 

Wheeling — Mini.icers,  H.  Armstrong,  Geo,  F, 
Cain.    Elders,  Jno.  S.  'ra,bar,  Eaward  Myera. 

Wisconsin — Ministers,  L.  P.  Boweu,  Charles  Ray. 
Elders,  D.  McMaster,  W.  Blanchard. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Smook  gave  notice  that  hewithdrew 
his  notice  oi  protest  agtinst  the  previous  question. 

The   case  of  Rev.   Mr.  Giffin,  of  the  North  Mis- 
souri Presbytery,  was  reterred  to  the  Committee  on  i 
Elections. 

Tne  Moderator  announced  the  following  changes 
in  the  Standing  Committee:  Samuel  dagger  as 
Cnairman  or  a  commitree  in  place  of  R^v.  Mr. 
Fraser,  who  was  compelled  to  decline  the  nosition. 

In  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Rev.  Rcsbeit 
Porter  was  appointed  in  the  place  of  Geor^'e  Way. 

Tne  Rev.  Mr.  SaHord  moved  that  twelve  o'clock 
be  assigned  as  the  hour  lor  recei-ing  the  represen- 
tative of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  Dr. 
Nelson.    Agreed  to. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  McKnight  rose  to  a  point  of 
order.  The  applause  in  the  gallery  yester- 
day was  so  manifestly  a  breach  of  the  propriety 
that  ought  to  obtain  in  an  ecclesiastical  body,  tliac 
he  desired  the  Moaerator  to  make  an  appeal  to  the 
gallery  and  lobbies,  and  to  those  on  the  floor  to 
retrain  troni  the  repetition  of  such  applause  here- 
after, otherwise  he  should  feel  constrained  to  move 
that  the  house  take  some  action  on  the  subject.  He 
hesitated  yesterday  to  make  this  motion,  because 
the  aijplause  seemed  to  be  on  tlie  side  of  those  who 
were  in  the  minority. 

The  Moderator  hoped  that  a  sense  of  propriety 
would  restrain  all  such  applause  in  the  future. 

Tne  Rev.  Mr. oftered  tne  following : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed, 
of  which  the  Rev.  Or.  Thomas  shall  be  Chairman, 
to  confer  with  a  similar  committee  from  the  Assem- 
bly sitting  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  church  in 
this  city  with  reference  to  a  union  in  devotional 
exercises. 

The  resolution  was  adopted,  and  the  Moderator 
stated  that  the  committee  would  be  appointed  at  tne 
conclusion  of  the  forenoon  session. 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean,  from  the  Committee  on  Church 


Extension,  obtained  leave   to  make  the  following 
report : 

By  the  favor  of  God  we  are  able  to  report  to  the 
General  Assembly,  that  the  year  recently  closed 
was  one  of  progress  in  the  work  of  church  exten- 
sion. Thougti  we  cannot  as  in  our  last  annual 
statement  record  a  noble  legacy  of  S10,OUO  from  one 
who,  in  life,  honored  the  Lord  with  his  substance 
and  departing  to  his  regal  inheritance  blessed  the 
church,  through  her  difl'erent  boards,  with  princely 
gitts;  and,  though  far  tnis  reason,  we  now  report 
legacies  of  less  than  $000  instead  of  nearly  $11,000; 
yet  the  increased  receipts  from  oilier  sources 
swelled  the  iucume  of  the  year  to  within  $a,000of 
its  predecessor.  In  every  other  particular,  advance 
may  be  inscribed  upon  our  register.  As  compared 
with  tue  preceaing  twelve  mouths,  the  applications 
iccreaseu  tifry-five  per  cent;  the  appropriations 
forty- one  per  cent;  aud  tbe  payments  more  than 
thirty  per  dnt.  The  number  of  contrihutmg 
cnurcbes  rose  from  751  to  77;i,  while  the  tield  owen 
to  effort;  expanded  soutcward  over  twelve  degrees 
of  latitude,  encio-ing  Louisiana  no  less  than  Min- 
nesota la  its  genial  hues  of  aid. 

APPLICATIONS. 

During  the  fiscal  rear  ending  April  2, 1866,  ninetv- 
six  churches  sought  aid  to  toe  amoiini  of  $G5,4S4  07. 
This  gives  an  average  of  $683  12  to  each  caurch,  an 
Increase  of  nearly  eighteen  per  cent  on  the  average 
of  the  preceding  year. 

Adding  to  these  tne  applications  on  fil*?,  and  un- 
disposed of  April  1,  1865,  we  find  that  tnere  were 
before  tne  Board  during  the  year  one  hundred  and 
tbirty-two  applications  calling  for  $100,773  07.  Thus 
it  appears  that,  although  the  cost  of  building  has  not 
materiallv  diminished,  the  anticipations  of  increased 
applications  expressed  in  cur  last  report  have  been 
realized. 

In  the  twelve  months  under  review,  thirteen  ap- 
plications calling  ior  $r2,80'J  were  for  toe  usual 
reason  stricken  from  the  register.  There  remained 
on  file  April  2,  1S116,  awaiting  the  receipt  of  the  re- 
quisite information,  thirty-seven  applications  ask- 
ing for  $30,-550. 

APPROPRIATIONS. 

Appropriations  were  made  during  the  year  to 
sixty-nine  churches  whose  names  and  localities  are 
given  m  the  appendix.  The  amount  granted  to 
these  churches  was  $3f,121  33.  This  is  an  average 
of  $491  51  to  each,  being  nearly  thirty  per  cent  above 
the  average  of  last  year,  and  nearly  double  the  ad- 
vance in  Tbe  average  of  applications. 

In  addition  to  the  above  formal  appropriations  a 
number  of  informal  pledges  of  aid  were, as  in  some 
Tormer  years,  made  under  peculiar  circumstances. 
Thus  the  total  liabilities  incurred  during  the  year 
were  $8,217  71  in  advance  of  the  income. 

lu  every  case,  allowed  by  the  Assembly,  where 
the  necessary  inform.ation  was  furnished,  a  grant 
was  made  either  of  the  lull  amouut  asked  by  the 
Presbytery,  or  of  a. sum  sufficient  to  complete  the 
Sanctuary  free  from  debt.  Combine  this  fact  with 
the  fact  that  for  four  years  the  average  of  appropri- 
ations has  risen  more  rapidly  than  the  average  of 
applications;  and  with  the  further  fact  that  formal 
grants  during  that  period  have  been  made  to  thirty- 
four  churches  more  than  the  number  reported  as 
organized  within  that  lime  in  our  connection,  and 
there  seems  good  gmund  to  hone  that  the  people  of 
God  will  ere  long  enable  ttie  Board  to  overtake  the 
necessities  of  the  Church  Extension  work.  These 
facts  at  least  betoken  something  beyond  tne  dawn 
of  the  day  when  all  proper  claims  of  our  houseless 
flocks  on  the  Gnurch  at  large  can  be  met  without  the 
great  expense  and  terrible  drudgery  of  personal  in- 
discriminate appeals  lor  aid  by  Individual  solici- 
tors. 

Appropriations,  amounting  to  $2,185  25,  were 
during  tne  year  withdrawn  from  five  churches  for 
the  usual  reasons.  Two  of  these,  however,  were 
subsequently  aided  by  new  grants,  though  the 
name  of  one  of  tnem  had  meanwhile  been  changed. 

Fifty-four  churches,  between  April  1,  1865,  and 
April  2,  1866,  drew  their  appropriations  amounting 
to  $25,439  43. 

RECEIPTS     AND    EXPENDITURES. 

The  balance  appropriated  and  unappropriated  on 
hand  April  1,   l»(i5,  was   $51, .521  82.    The  receipts 


19 


from  April  1.  18G5,  to  April  2,  18(56, were  $35,870  28. 
The  enrire  availaDle  means  of  the  year  were  there- 
fore $87,392  10. 

The  Treasurer's  report  in  the  appendix  shows  ex- 
penditures to  the  amount  of  $28,390  89.  The  bal- 
ance in  the  treasury  April  2,  1866,  was  consequent- 
ly $59,001  21.  There  were,  however,  unpaid  at  that 
date  liabilities  amounting  to  $37,628,  leaving  an  un- 
pledged balance  of  $21,373  21  to  meet  applications 
already  filed,  (and  that  may  at  any  time  be  put  in 
proper  ehape  for  final  action,)  amountiug  lo  $30,- 
5.50.  Prestnted  in  tabular  form  the  fiuaucial  posi- 
tion of  the  Board  would  be  properly  exhibited  thus, 
viz: 

Pledges  already  made $37,628  00 

Applications   filed   and  that  at  any  time 

may  require  final  action 30,550  00 

Total  present  demands $68,178  00 

Balance  on  hand  April  2,  1806 59,001  21 

Deficit  in  present  means  to  meet  ijresent 
demands $9,176  79 

THE  WORK  DONE. 

The  Board  of  Church  Extension  has  presented 
eleven  annual  reports  to  successive  General  Assem- 
blies. A  brief  summary  of  these  reports  would 
sliow  the  turn  of  $288,237  17  raised  for  Church  Ex- 
tension; and  six  hundred  and  twelve  difi'trent 
cburches  aided  to  complete  their  eanc'.uaxies  with- 
out debt  by  formal  grants  amounting  to  $237,437  SO. 
At  a  low  estimate  of  cost  and  oaxjacity,  these  sanc- 
tuaries have  lurnished  comfortaole  accommoda- 
tions for  ^125, 000  worshipers,  and  secured  church 
prouerties  of  the  value  of  at  least  one  and  three- 
nuarler  mdlious  of  dollars.  Add  to  these  results 
(which  have  been  obtained  without  a  cent  of  ex- 
pense to  the  Church  or  to  general  contributors)  the 
382  churches  aideo  and  the  $68,544  06,received  dur- 
inS  the  previous  eleven  years  by  the  then  existing 
Church  Extension  Comnntlee  ol  the  Board  <;if  JSlis- 
sions,  and  we  arrive  at  the  grand  fact  that  our 
Church,  through  her  oiganized  agencies,  has  in  the 
last  twenty-two  years  quietly  raispd  for  this  work 
$3"i6,781  23.  TberewiLh  she  has  already  aided  nine 
hnndred  and  nioety-tour  of  her  feeble  llocks  to  pro- 
vide sanctuaries  lor  over  two  hundred  thousand 
worshipers;  and  to  secure  unincumbered  church 
properties  worth  over  two  millions  of  dollars.  Thus 
at  an  average  cost  to  the  Church  at  large  of  less 
than  one  dollar  and  fifty-three  cents  for  each,  has 
room  been  made  in  nearly  one  thousand  sanctuaries 
for  over  tw'o  hundred  thousand  persons. 
While  these  external  results  may  be  chrys- 
talized  into  figures,  what  arithmetic  can 
express  the  higher  ends  to  which  they 
have  been  the  means.  The  Omniscient  Eye  alone 
can  trace  the  established  relation  between  this 
church  erection,  and  the  hundreds  of  revivals  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  conversions  that  have  conse- 
crated these  "gardenslinclosed' '  aud  thus  lengthen- 
ed the  cords  and  extended  the  boundaries  of  Ziou. 
Only  the  All  KecordingPen  has  registered  the  innu- 
merable petitions  born  in  these  thousand  houses  of 
prayer  and  noted  the  blessings  with  which  they  have 
returned  fraught  to  earth.  Is  it  too  much  to  believe 
that  God  has  seldom  honored  the  labors  of  the 
Church  in  any  direction  with  richer  fruit  in  pro- 
portion to  the  exuenditure,  and  that  our  fathers  did 
well  when  looking  Deyond  the  mere  ]-ro cess,  they 
gave  the  work  a  name  expressive  of  its  results? 

THE   FIELD. 

■While  we  r- joice  in  the  work  already  done,  let  us 
not  forget  what  remains  unaccomplished. 

Nearly  four  hundred  houst  less  churches  still  need 
aid  from  their  more  favored  brethren. 

With  the  jiiturn  of  peace  nearly  a  hundred  new 
and  needy  organizatioas  will  in  all  probability  an- 
nually be  added  to  our  church  roll. 

Sanctuaries  desolated  by  war  must  be  rebuilt  or 
repaired.  Within  a  few  months  we  have  cheerfully 
aided  in  restoiing  several  such,  and  there  yet  re- 
main not  a  few  feeble  flocks  scattered  and  peeled 
liy  intestine  strife  that  must  have  help  in  the  same 
good  work. 

A  great  field,  as  yet  scarcely  touched,  opens  be- 
fore the  church  among  the  Ei  eedmen,  if  she  proves 


not  recreant  to  her  duty  to  these  millions  of  semi- 
heathen  at  home.  Already  our  brethren  ot  the 
Ereedmen's  Committee,  oppressed  by  the  responsi- 
bilities thrown  upon  them,  have,  as  they  were  au- 
thorized to  do,  appealed  to  us  for  help  in  securmg 
houses  of  worshiij.  Gladly  have  we  responded  to 
every  such  appeal ;  and  shall  continue, to  do  so  as 
long  as  the  means  are  entrusted  to  us  for  distribu- 
tion. 

In  view  of  these  varied  demands,  is  it  unreasona- 
ble to  ask  the  1,8.50  churches  that  neglected  this  labor 
of  love  last  year  to  lend  a  helping  hand  for  the  lu- 
ture,  and  the  779  churches,  with  the  generous  indi- 
vidual donors,  who  remembered  their  destitute 
brethren,  not  to  become  weary  in  welldoing. 

By  order  of  the  Board, 

SAM'L  J.  NICCOLLS,  President. 

H.  I.  CoE,  Secretary. 

After  (he  reading  of  the  report.  Dr.  McLean  made 
a  few  remarks  urging  efforts  looking  towards  an  in- 
crease of  the  funds  of  the  Board,  whereby  the  ability 
of  the  Board  to  establish  new  churches  would  be 
largely  increased. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Mr.  West,  the  subject  was  put 
upon  the  docket. 

Dr.  Krebs,  by  permission  of  the  Assembly,  made 
report  from  the'Committeeof  Five,  appointed  by  the 
General  Assembly,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1864,  to  select 
psalms  and  hymns  from  the  present  books,  and  from 
other  sources,  aud  publish  the  same  with  suitable 
tunes.  The  report  states  that  the  committee  were 
restricted  toformirg  a  small,  rather  than  a  large 
book,  to  contain  about  five  hundred  hymns.  A  large 
"numDer  of  Presbyteries  and  some  individuals  tiad 
responded  to  inquiries  sought  upon  the  subject, 
through  whom  the  committee  had  been  enabled  to 
learn  what  was  most  likely  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
Church.  The  committee  recommend  that  the  book 
be  styled  "The  Hymnal  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
ordered  by  the  General  Assembly."  In  conse- 
quence of  the  restrictions  imposed,  the  committee 
Were  required  to  sacrifice  personal  preferences, 
sometimes  rejecting,  sometimes  including  what 
others  might  have  reversed.  They  state  that  while 
many  persons  have  regarded  with  a  sacred  horror 
the  mutilation  of  old  and  lavortte  hymns,  they  have 
been  found  declaiming  against  the  restoration  of 
original  forms.  The  committee  had  made  but  few 
aiju  slight  changes,  which  practically  amount  to 
nothing  disturbing;  and  while  the  changes  made 
may  be  unpleasant  at  the  first,  it  is  easy  to  become 
reconciled  to  the  change,  while  the  children  who 
shall  take  the  place  of  the  present  constituents  will 
learn  to  cherish  the  present  rendering  as  the  former 
have  been  cherished  by  others.  As  for  the  name 
"Hymnal,"  although  not  absolutely  new,  it  is  de- 
sirably distinctive  in  this  day  of  confusing  common 
titles  in  the  rabble  rout  of  cornets,  flutes,  harps, 
psalters,  didcimers,  and  all  kinds  of  music,  bor- 
rowed from  Nebuchadnezzar's  orchestra  in  the 
plains  of  Dura. 

Dr.  Krebs  said  the  committee  was  prepared  to 
sustain  the  report  with  arguments  and  examples 
sufflcient  to  fill  a  wheelbarrow.  Whoever,  said  he, 
owns  the  book  will  make  a  fortune,  and  I  had  rather 
this  General  Assembly  should  own  ii  than  any  body 
else. 

The  report  was  received  and  adopted. 

The  Moderator  then  announced  that  the  unfinished 
business  ot  yesterday  would  be  taken  up,  and  that 
the  Kev.  Dr.  Thomas  had  the  floor. 

KEMARKS   OF  REV.    DB.    THOMAS. 

Moderator :  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
House  to  the  state  of  the  question  before  it.  Yes- 
terday, by  a  vote  of  254  to  50,  this  body  determined 
to  set  aside  for  the  present  the  representatives  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  until  they  could  investigate 
the  facts  connected  with  their  late  action,  and  to 
decide  on  a  cotu'se  in  connection  with  this  paper. 
Dr.  McLean  presented  a  resolution  that  was  neces- 
sary to  apply  to  the  action  of  the  house,  that  a  com- 
mittee be  appointed  to  investigate  the  facts,  and 
suggest  a  course  of  action  for  the  Assembly.  While 
that  resolution  was  before  us,  a  gentleman  ofiered 
an  amendment  by  way  of  adflition,  that  an  inquiry 
be  made  into  another  case  that  he  suggested,  and 
then  i»  second  amendment  was  offered,  by  way  of 
addition  also,  for  an  investigation  into  certain  ru- 


20 


mors  floating  through  the  country  in  regard  to 
other  persons  ttiat  might  have  sympathized  wiih 
certain  rpioions. 

Upon  this  question,  sir,  we  were  entertained  with 
■four  di?coui\-«-B,  two  Jrom  St.  JLouis,  one  Irom  Mis- 
Bouri- Kentucky,  (for  I  uiderttarid  the  geutleraan 
iiolds  relationi  ecclesiastical  in  both  parts  of  the 
country,)  and  another  from  Brooklyn,  and  I  think 
there  Were  premonitory  hymptoms  of  a  lifth  from 
Pniladelphia.  Hitherto,  sir,  on  the  question  before 
the  House  (here  has  been  no  reply.  You  know  very 
well,  sir,  that  it  is  the  nature  of  debate  to  kindle 
that  tiDgling  in  the  blood  which  Sir  John  Falstaff 
declares  was  symptomatic  of  apoplexy.  He  had 
'  'read  the  cause  of  his  efl'ects  in  Galen. ' '  You  re- 
member, sir,  under  the  influence  of  that  feeling  I 
arose  yesterday  to  occupy  the  floor  by  way  of  reply 
to  the  speeches  that  had  been  presented  on  this 
question.  I  rose,  sir,  very  much  as  the  Scottish 
poet  represented  the  Highlander  risiug  at  the  call  of 
his  country: 

"But  brings  Scotsman  from  his  hill. 
Clap  in  his  cheek  a  Highland  gill. 
Say  such  is  royal  George's  will, 

And  there's  the  foe, 
He  has  nae  thought  but  how  to  kill 
Twaat  a  blow." 

Now,  pir,  the  speeches  of  the  gentlemen  supplied 
me  with  the  electric  fluid,  and  I  rose  forgetting  that 
there  was  not  an  afternoon  session;  forgetting  ihere 
was  an  order  of  the  day  for  ten  o'cK  ck  this  morn- 
ing; forgetting  there  was  not  a  lull  opportu- 
nity for  entering  into  the  subject;  but.l  am  very 
thankful  for  the  circumstance  that  prevented  me 
from  undertaking  a  lull  discussion  of  the  subject — 
for  1  concur  perfectly  with  the  decision  of  the  Mod- 
erator, aud  with  the  suggession  of  Dr.  Breckin- 
ridge, that,  in  point  of  fact,  the  business  now  be- 
fore this  house  is  the  simple  amendment  of  Dr. 
Brookes,  and  I  call  it  simple,  sir,  designedly.  That 
IS  the  question  before  the  house. 

Shall  there  be  appointed,  under  the  second 
amendment,  a  smelling  committee  to  inves- 
tigate certain  disagreeable  odors  that  are  said 
to  be  floating  in  the  atmosphere.  Now,  sir,  it  is 
very  obvious  that  on  that  amendment  the  whole 
question  is  not  before  the  house.  It  is  very  obvious 
inat  very  little  indeed  can  be  said  m  reference  to 
that  whole  question;  and  I  do  not  desire  to  imitate, 
even  with  ttie  permission  of  the  Moderator  and  the 
indulgence  of  ihe  house,  the  range  that  it  seemed  to 
me  was  taken  in  the  remarks  made  upon  the  other 
aide  of  the  question. 

What  I  propose,  sir,  is  to  open  the  way  to  a  full 
and  free  discussion  of  this  subject.  I  k'noTy  very 
well,  sir,  that  this  house  understands  itself.  Several 
votes  have  determined  its  character.  A  majority 
of  four  to  one  holds  the  houce  firmly  upon  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  late  Assemblies  have  acted 
and  they  are  not  to  be  moved  from  those  principles; 
but,  sir,  there  is  no  desire  on  the  part  of  the  major- 
ity of  this  house  to  prevent  full  and  free  discussion. 

On  the  contrary,  sir,  the  course  that  I  shall  pro- 
pose this  morning  is  to  put  the  buoiaess  in  such  a 
shape  that  a  full  and  free'discussion  irom  the  egg 
to  the  apple  shall  be  had;  from  top  to  toe;  from  the 
deepest  lOOts  to  the  topmost  and  outermost 
braochesof  it.;|Inthei;wordof  God  and  in  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  and  in  the  acts  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  betore  the  churchand  the  country,  the 
majority  of  this  house  are  preoarcd  to  meet  ard  to 
vindicate  the  acts  of  our  Assembly.  But  we  can- 
not do  it  here,  sir.  We  are  hampered  by  the  rules 
of  order,  and  by  the  shape  in  which  ttie  business 
pre'-ents  itselt.  I  take  it  for  granted,  sir,  that  the 
majority  cf  the  nouse,  and  indeed  I  may  gay  the 
whole  house,  IJihink,  are  determined  to  have  a  deci- 
sion by  ayes  and  noes.  Four  to  one  it  has  been  de- 
termined that  these  representatives  shall  await  an 
investigation.  Does  this  house  intend  to  let  them 
"hang  by  the  giilb?" 

Does  this  house  mean  to  dissolve,  leaving  this 
question  unsettled?  That  were  unconstitutional — 
ungeutlemanly.  Well,  sir,  after  the  House  pro- 
posed an  investigation,  then  the  question  came  up 
on  the  motion  presented  by  my  fritnd.  Dr.  McLean, 
lor  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  conduct  it. 
It  is  the  simple  appointment  ot  a  committee  to  in- 


vestigate the  facts,  and  report  a  course  of  procedure 
for  this  Assembly.  Well,  sir,  as  we  want  a  full 
and  free  discussion,  the  way  will  be  open  when  that 
committee  shall  have  made  its  investigation  and  pre- 
sented Its  report. 

Wnat  man  here  can  tell  the  course  that  they  shall 
propose?  It  may  be  a  course  that  wid  harmonize 
tnis  whole  house.  It  may  be  a  course  that  will 
avoid  discussion,  and  it  may  be  a  course  that  will 
retiuire  extensive  discussion ;  but  it  will  bring 
the  subject  before  us,  and  the  hctise  can 
then  determine  how  far  and  how  long 
they  will  entertain  if.  But,  sir,  when  the  dis- 
cussion comes  full  and  free,  we  want  upon  this 
simple,  naked  question  no  side  issues.  We  want  no 
amendments,  but  the  simple  paper  before  us. 

And  what  is  that? 

For  five  successive  year?  the  General  Assembly  of 
this  Church  has  discussed  the  question,  and  has  "de- 
cided the  principles  that  are  at  issue  in  this  ques- 
tion. Five  years  ago,  with  all  the  talent  that  is 
ever  likely  to"  be  arrayed  on  one  side  of  the  question, 
with  all  the  prestige  that  belongs  to  the  most  dis- 
tinguished leaders  of  this  church  in  former  years, 
with  an  influence,  the  like  ol  which  is  not  s'oon  to 
be  found  in  this  Assembly,  and  when  the  destinies 
of  Church  and  State  seemeato  hang  trf  mbling  in  iue 
balance,  this  court  entertained  the  question  and 
discussed  it  for  four  or  five  days,  and  deliberately, 
in  the  sight  of  God,  bore  their  testimony  to  the  truth 
as  it  IS  in  his  Holy  Word  respecting  loyalty  to  the 
Government. 

For  five  years  this  church,  after  a  discufsion  that 
has  reached  every  hovel  in  tlie  land— a  discussion 
that  has  been  presented  in  religious  periodicals  and 
political  papers,  after  a  full  aud  free  debate,  has 
lour  times  repeated  the  testimony  of  1861.  Last 
year,  sir,  the  General  Assembly  determined  that  the 
time  had  come  when  these  principles  should  be 
carried  into  practical  application.  And  on  the 
minutes  of  the  Assembly  you  find  those  specific 
directions  that  were  given  to  subordinate  courts  for 
the  execuiion  of  the  law  of  the  Church. 

Now.  sir,  what  have  we  here  before  us?  We  have 
a  Presbytery  of  this  Church — and  let  us  remember 
that  this  is  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church— that  its  immediate  subjects  are 
Synods  and  Presbyteries;  that  it  deals  with  in- 
dividuals primarily"  in  their  relations  t©  Synods  and 
Presbyteries. 

Now,  sir,  we  are  here  as  the  General  Assembly'of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  we  find  one  of  the 
Presbyteries  of  the  Church  that  has  adoptedja^cer- 
certain  paper,  in  which  they  say : 

1st.  That  we  refuse  to  give  our  support  to  minis- 
ters, elders,  agents,  teachers  and  those  who  are  in 
any  other  capacity  engaged  in  religious  instruction 
who  hold  to  the  principles  of  the  General  Assembly. 

2d.  That  we  refuse  to  take  any  part  in  thedis- 
cusion  or  decision  by  any  ecclesiastica  court  of 
questions  touching  the  policy  and  measures  which 
properly  pertain  to  the  civil  commonwealth. 

5th.  (Passing  over  the  intermediate  points.)  That 
we  will  extend  our  sympathy  and  aio,  as  we  have 
opportunity,  to  all  who  are  in  subjection  to  the  ec- 
clesiastical" court. 

6th.  That  we  will  not  sustain  or  execute,  or  in;any 
manner  assist  in  the  execution  of  the  ordei's  passed 
at  the  two  last  Assemblies  with  reference  to  the 
conduct  of  missions  in  the  Southern  States,  and  with 
regard  to  the  ministers  and  members  of  churches  m 
the  seceded  and  border  States. 

Tih.  That  Ave  withhold  onr  contributions  from 
the  Boards  of  the  Church  (except  the  Hoard  of 
Foreign  Missions)  and  from  theological  seminaries 
until  those  institutions  are  rescued  from  the  hands 
of  those  who  are  perverting  them  through  their 
teachings  and  the  promulgation  of  principles, 
subversive  of  the  system  for  which  they  were  found- 
ed to  uphold  and  sustain. 

This  paper,  sir,  was  adopted  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Louisville,  at  Bardstown,  September,  I860; 
singned  by  the  Moderator  and  Statea  Clerk.  It  has 
been  published  to  the  world:  it  has  been  sent,  I 
suppose,  to  other  ministers  of  the  Church  as  well  as 
to  mj  self,  in  order  that  when  we  met  here  as  a  Gen- 
eral Assembly  we  might  distinctly  understand  tneir 
position,  and  if  ever  a  position  was  well  defined 
theirs  is  well  defined.    Now,  sir,  what  is  the  posi- 


21 


tion  of  thi8  thine?  You  have  beard  of  the  hypothe- 
tical case  in  which  a  body,  irresistible  in  its  mo- 
tion, meets  an  immovable  body.  Somethiug.  sir,  is 
bound  to  give -way.  [Merriment.]  Tiie  case  before 
us  is  not  precisely  the  same.  It  is  a  subordinate 
judicatoiy  litting  up  its  voice  in  the  presence  of  the 
highest  court  of  tae  entire  Cbuicb,  declaring  that, 
in  \iilation  of  their  oroination  vows,  and  of  the 
constitution  of  the  Church.,  they  will  not  render 
obedience  to  this  Assembly.  Now,  sir,  I  take  it, 
this  is  a  plain  case  tor  us  to  set  upon,  and  what  I 
wish  is,  that  in  the  disposal  the  bouse  shall  make  of 
this  matter,  there  shall  be  no  diversion  from  this 
plain  case  to  side  issues,  'fhere  may  be  other  cases 
that  may  demand  investigation — there  may  be  other 
bodies  that  have  acted  m  tbis  way,  and  when  the 
testimony  shall  come  before  ns,  let  the  cases  be 
properly  considered. 

Moderator,  we  have  in  this  case  the  deliberate 
and  intentional  defiance  of  tbe  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville to  the  General  Assembly.  We  have  the  evi- 
dence in  the  fact  tbat  they  bave  sent  as  representa- 
tives, the  head  and  front  of  this  oU'ending'.  We 
have  it,  sir,  especially  in  the  fact  that  they  sent  one 
representative,  of  whom,  since  he  cannot  reply  to 
me,  I  will  simply  say  ibat  his  presence  here  is  the 
most  marked  afl'ront  to  the  diguicy  and  the  loyalty 
of  this  house  tnat  tne  Presbytery  of  Louisville  was 
capable  of  perpetrating.     [Hisses.] 

I  hope  there  will  be  order  in  the  hotise.  I  desire 
to  ofiend  no  one,  but  I  witu  to  sueab  1  eeiy. 

Sir,  snail  we  be  thrown  aside  from  this  plain  case? 
A  case  tbat  is  made  up  to  test  the  Assembly,  anfi  see 
wheihtr  tney  mean  to  coinuiauo  obedience-  What 
matteiv  it  to  us,  sir,  whetluT  a  trio  of  confederates 
may  have  met  on  a  Lee  shore  somewhere  iu  New 
York?  Gentlemen  will  understand,  perhaps,  what 
Imean.  W bat  matters  it  that  they  met  to  deviae 
means  towards  the  dismemberment  of  the  Church? 
"No  weapon  formtd  agaiust  zions-hall  prosper." 
Wnat  matters  it  that  a  particular  session  in  Brook- 
lyn moved  to  record,  luaUverlently  or  unwisely, 
some  action  on  their  minutes?  Let  the  Presbytery 
■  of  Nassau  attend  to  that,  and  if  not,  let  the  Synod 
of  New  York  take  bold  of  it.  What  matters  it  that 
individuals  here  or  mere  may  have  expressed,  in 
writing 'or  in  speeches,  public  or  private,  their  par- 
ticular views  on  this  subject?  Why,  sir,  tbat  is  one 
thing.  I  have  stood,  myself,  for  twenty  years,  on 
grounds  whicn  Isiippostd  entirely  autagonistic  to 
ibe  position  of  this  General  Assemblv.  I  have 
known  this  Assembly  take  action  ihiit  I  believe  to 
be  in  the  Jaee  ol  the  word  of  God;  but,  sir,  I  did 
not  set  up  defiance.  I  lound  my  place,  and  I  kept 
it,  and  did  my  duty  with  others. 

Tv?eoty  years  aafo  there  was  a  solitary  couple  in 
this  Assembly  standing  up  to  testify  to  what  we 
thought  to  be  the  truth,  aod  what  the  Churcn  now, 
and  the  nation,  and  the  world  believe. 

There  is  an  ecclesiastical  way  and  a  Christian 
way  of  settling  such  contioversy,  and  it  is  not  nec- 
essary that  you  should  appoint  your  commiitees  to 
go  and  hunt  up  private  jouri  als  or  public  siieeches 
of  individuals.  Sir,  wnen  the  National  Govern- 
ment finds  a  State  organized  in  ai  nn  a  resistance  to 
its  au!ln>rity,  does  it  send  its  scouts  to  search  the 
portlolios  of  boarding  SQhool  misses  to  ascertain 
what  uamby-iiamby  treason  they  may  have  written 
to  their  country  cousins?  I  think  nut,  sir  In  this 
ease,  sir,  we  have  a  plain  and  distinct  defiance, 
'the  paper  ©f  my  Iriend,  L'r.  McLenn,  takes  the 
bull  by  the  horns,  and,  I  mean  no  disrespect,  sir, 
wnen  t  say  that  wciile  we  have  the  bull  by  the  horns 
we  need  not  trouble  oursei>?es  about  the  bleating 
of  the  calves.  [Laughter.]  It  isjnatural,  sir,  that 
they  should  sympatnize  in  the  anguish  of  their  sire. 
[Renewed  laugter.]  We  have  a  plain  worK  before 
us,  sir.  It  is  the  settlement  of  ibis  particular 
question  between  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  and 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  the  United  States. 

'There  are  other  reasons,  too,  sir,  not  to  speak  in 
the  spirit  ot  taunting — there  are  many  reasons  why 
we  might  bear  with  particular  brethren  and  even 
with  particular  churches,  and  sometimes  with 
larger  bodies,  too,  when  in  anything  like  an 
orderly  way,  they  should  express  their 
utter  disapproval  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Assembly.      Why,   sir,   there  "are    names  on  this 


very  Declaration  and  TeBtimony,  of  brethren  that  I 
shall  love  while  my  heart  beats.  There  is  the  name 
ot  one  there,  sir,  with  whom,  if  I  ever  reach  beaven, 
I  hope  to  walk  arm  in  arm  befcre  God's  throne  and 
sing, 

"Amazing  grace,  how  sweet  the  sound," 
as  thirtv-three  years  ago  we  santc  it  in  our  boyish 
day  s .  I  have  no  quarrel  with  such  a  man .  He  may 
entertain  his  views,  and  he  may  publish  them  in 
the  Princeton  Review,  or  in  any  p«per  he  chooses, 
and  if  he  cunflnes  himself  to  the  legitimate  work  of 
opposing  what  he  believes  to  be  eiToneons,  this 
house  will  not  interfere  witn  his  privilege; 
but  if  his  Presbytery  shall,  after  due  deliberation, 
formally  resolve  upon  open  rebellion,  and  if  they 
shall  pvblish  to  the  world  that  they  will  never  obey 
nor  execute  in  any  manner  the  decrees  of  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly— d*arly  as  I  love  him  I  would  part 
with  my  right  arm.  Sir,  before  I  would  hesitate  tor 
a  moment  to  part  with  him  and  let  the  Master  settle 
it  in  the  great  day  above. 

Now,  sir,  there  is  a  third  aepect  of  this  eabject. 
I  confess  I  felt  for  a  moment  a  flash  of  admiration — 
if  that  is  permissable — when  I  taw  the  gallant  and 
almost  martial  bearing  of  some  gentlemen  who  pre- 
sented themselves  yesterday  for  decapitation. 
[Laughter.]  1  remember  reading,  when  a  boy,  sir, 
the  siory  of  Damon  and  Pythias;  and  I  remember 
how  my  young  heart  was  interested  in  that  tender 
and  touchingr  narrative.  A  thousand  times,  wjile  I 
k'Oked  upon  the  pages  of  that  little  school  book,  I 
pictured  to  myselt  thosf-  two  Greek  brothers  stand- 
ing before  tne  tyrant  of  Syracuse  nleadicg: 

"Each  that  the  other. 
Might  die  for  his  brother. ' ' 

[L»ughter.]  I  thought  of  this  yesterday,  and  I 
ihotigbt  of  many  other  things. 

"The  Highland  gill  was  in  my  cheek. ' '  I  thought 
of  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  where 
James  and  John  met  with  Moses  and 
Ellas,  and  I  thdught  how  beautiiul  the  sight 
would  be  to  See  "Saint  James"  and  "Saint  John" 
grasping  in  the  hand  of  fraternal  alTection  the  dig- 
nifitd  ""Prophet  Samuel."  I  could  not  help  a  cer- 
tain sympathy  in  the  magnanimity  tha'  voluntarily 
oflered  itself  to  the  guillotine  for  his  brother,  or  at 
least  with  his  brother.  And  yet,  alas  sir,  age  has 
accomplished  for  me  that  which  was  once  given,  I 
think,  as  a  piece  of  advice  to  a  young  minii-fer — 
it  has  torn  away  the  plumage  from  the  wings  of  my 
imagination  and  placed  them  in  the  tail  ot  my  judg- 
ment. (Laughter.]  When  I  saw  those  brethren  step- 
ping forth  from  the  aalleries,  and  stretching  lorth 
their  necks  to  the  ax,  Irecalled  Paul's  "earnestex- 
pectation' ' — I  believe  the  Greek  word  is  apokaradokia 
—and  it  means  a  stretching  forth  of  the  neck.  But, 
then,  Paul  was  a  stretching  forth  of  the  neck  to 
Heaven,  while  this  is  a  stretching  forth  of  the  neck 
to  a  punishment  which  the  Church  is  not  ready  to 
inflict.  Let  gentlemen  bide  their  time.  It  will 
come,  possibly.  Moderator,  the  age  ot  martyrdom 
has  passed,  I  fear,  forever.  I  kuow,  sir,  howread- 
ily,  under  the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  men  are  ready 
to  face  martyrdom,  and  I  could  not  but  feel  as  these 
gentlemen  presented  themselves  that  there  was 
something  ef  that  old  enthusiasm  yet,  not  to  say  fa- 
naticism, for  the  crown  of  martyrdom  that  afl'ected 
some  men  in  the  early  ages.  But,  then,  sir,  consider 
the  diflerence;  martyrd-.  m  used  to  mean  the  sharp 
ax  of  Saint  Paul;  it  used  to  mean  the  cross  of  Peter, 
with  Dis  head  downward;  it  used  to  mean  the 
the  boiling  cnuloronof  St.  John;  it  used  to  mean 
the  arrows  ot"  St.  Sebastian ;  it  used  to  mean  the 
gridiron  of  St.  Anthony — I  think  it  was,  although  I 
must  confess  very  slight  acquaintance  with  these 
saints.  Like  the  Master,  my  association  has  been 
rather  with  publicans  and  sinners.  [Laughter.] 
But,  sir,  what  does  tbis  modern  m'arryrdom  mean? 
It  means — applause  in  the  galleries.  It  means  a 
palatial  mansion  on  Brc  oklyn  Heights.  It  mf-ana  a 
trip  to  Europe.  It  means  the  smiles  of  an  "innu- 
merable company  of  angels"  waving  their  cambric 
hjindkerchiefs.  [Great  merriment  and  sensation  ] 

Sir,  when  I  want  wine,  give  roe  the  blood  of  the 
grape,  and  not  your  cider  champagne.  When  the 
age  of  martyrdom  comes,  let  it  be  martyrdom  that 
means  something  and  costs  something— a  martyr- 


99 


(lom  that  empties  a  man's  church  and  does  not  fill 
it— a  martjTaom  that  drives  a  man  from  his  pulpit 
and  does  nor  invite  sympathizers. 

I  remember  hearing,  years  ago,  the  eloquent  Tom 
Coi  win  addressing  an  assemblage  on  a  question  re- 
lating to  physiology  or  geoaraphy,  whatever  it  was, 
connected  with  his  experience,  in  Butler  county, 
Obio.  This  county  was  the  tenth  legmn  ot'Bemoc- 
racy,  and  Warren  county  held  about  ihe  same  posi- 
tion in  the  old  Whig  lines;  and  he  mentioned  as  a 
curious  fact  that  had  been  discovered  by  long  ex- 
perience, that  whenever  a  young  lawyer  came  to 
settle  in  Warren  county,  he  was  sure  "to  become  a 
Whig;  while  if  he  settled  in  Butler  county,  he 
•wRa  sure  to  fall  into  the  Democratic  ranks. 
He  attributed  it  entirely,  sir,  to  the  eflects 
of  climate  and  atmosphere  (merrimenr] .  Now,  sir, 
our  martyrdom  tufees  that  shape,  and  1  coutesw  my- 
self indisposed  to  add  to  the  lit-t  ol  sriicti  martyrs  "as 
these.  If  they  wish  to  commit  suicide,  if  they 
wish  to  execute  the  "  happy  dispatch,"  there  are 
precedents  enough.  If  they  wish  to  go  out  of  the 
Church,  there  is  a  way  to  get  out,  and  we  say 
in  all  kindness,  that  we  don't  mean  to  drive 
you  out  if  we  can  help  it.  If  God  jn  his  grace 
will  show  us  how  we  can  maintain  his  testira'juy 
unfalteringly,  and  yet  bear  with  disorderly  and 
scbismatical  brethren,  we  will  w'alk  in  that  way; 
and  we  will  bide  our  own  time  for  such  action  as 
we  may  deem  proper.  But  we  respccttully  say  to 
these  "brethren.  Wait  till  the  General  Assembly 
calls  upon  you  to  answer  for  j'our  action . 

But  there  is  one  more  aspect  to  this  suVject,  sir. 
Possibly  I  ought  not  to  speak  of  the  motives  of  any 
man,  birt  we  cannot  help  assigning  one  motive  oe 
another  to  men  in  their  actions.  It  may  have  been 
in  the  rapid  springing  up  and  ulter.inces  of  these 
several  brethren  in  Missouri,  and  in  Kentucky,  and 
in  St.  Louis,  and  in  Louisville,  and  in  New  Yort — 
it  may  have  been  that  there  was  some  inti  ntion  to 
show  this  AssemlMy  that  if  we  are  disposed  to  enter 
on  that  kind  of  work  there  was  a  great  deal  of  it 
to  do. 

Well,  sir,  if  it  was  intended  to  frighten  this  As- 
sembly from  its  propriety,  I  beg  leave  to  remind 
these  gentlemen  that  they  have  been  asleep  these 
last  live  years.  What,  sir!  when  we  met  in  that 
Assembly  in  Philadelphia,  when  half  the  nation 
stood  in  arms  against  us;  when  our  friends,  and 
sons  and  hi-others  were  standing  arnitd  in  the  tented 
Held  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  the  heart  of  the  nation 
was  suspended  in  anguish  at  the  first  blood;  if, 
then,  when  all  was  uncertainty;  when  I'oreign  na- 
tions hesitated  to  decide  where  they  should  throw 
their  sympathies;  when  the  Throne  of  Grace  was 
besought  by  myriads  of  voices  on  opposite  sides;  if, 
then,  in  the  presence  of  sucU  foes  as  tuis  Assembly 
encountered,  opening  God's  word,  it  could  plant  its 
foot  upon  the  declarations,  '  'be  suhject  to  every  or- 
dinance of  man  lor  the  Lord's  salie,"  and  "obey 
your  rulers  and  submit  yourselves  to  the  powers 
that  be,"  if  the  Assembly,  under  such  circum- 
stances, sir,  could  adopt  this  action,  they  are  not 
likely  now  to  be  frightened  from  their  propriety  into 
an  abandonment  of  the  principles  the  nation  has 
sustained,  and  Heaven  has  ratified?  Have  these  gen- 
tlemen forgotten,  sir,  that  we  have  poured  out  three 
thousand  millions  of  dollars,  a  sum  hei'etofore  in 
this  land  undreamedof.  Why.  I  rtmember  hearing 
very  patriotic  citizens  in  their  brief  talks  on  this 
subject,  declare  that  it  the  war  went  on  for  a  time 
it  might  possibly  cost  us  the  enormous  sum  of  hve 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  !  Do  these  gentlemen 
lorget  that  we  have  poured  out  three  thousand  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  and  all  that  is  iiothing,  but  a  drop 
in  the  ocean,  compared  with  the  three  hundred 
thousandof  our  best  and  bravest — our  brothers  and 
our  sons  that  pfl'ertd  themselves  upon  the 
altar  of  liberty  to  maintain  the  princi- 
ple of  loyalty  which  this  General  As- 
BSemhly  has  approved'?  Do  they  suppose, 
sir,  that  when  we  have  met  the  hydra  with  his  hun- 
dred heads,  and  those  hundred  heads  lie  bleeding 
around  us,  we  are  to  be  frightened  from  our 
propriety  hy  the  wriggling  of  hi»  dying  tail.  [Sen- 
sation.] No,  Sir!  No,  SirV  If  that  hf  the  motive, 
the  ii  linen ce  is  lost  upon  this  Assembly.  With  the 
Moderator,  sir,  in  his  opening  sermon,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  stand  lu-mly  upon  God's  word.    We  will 


bear  patiently.  We  will  not  prevent  discussion.  It 
has  been  discussed,  as  I  have  said,  for  live  years; 
yet  the  heart  of  the  Church  is  ready  to  receive  dis- 
cussion upon  the  subject;  not  that  we  think  it  needs 
light,  hut  that  we  are  not  willing  to  gag  thi>!-e  who 
ihinktliey  may  communicate  information.  Now,  sir, 
when  this  discussion  comes,  let  it  come  unincum- 
bered with  side  issues.  Let  it  be  the  sim))le,  naked 
question,  whether  this  Assembly  shall  conimand, 
or  the  Presbytery  ol  Louisville  shall  command. 
Let  us  settle  tiie  principle  in  that  case,  and  having 
settled  the  principle,  we  can  make  our  application 
as  we  may  tee  it  is  necessary.  Moderator,  I  have 
done.  My  whole  object  in  these  remarKs  has  been 
to  show  the  course  of  action  that  will  open  the  way, 
in  my  judgment,  to  a  simple  and  full  liiecussion  of 
the  whole  subject  and  the  settlement  of  the  princi- 
ple; and,  therefore,  that  we  may  come  to  the  origi- 
nal question,  I  now  move,  sir,  the  previous 
question. 

Dr.  Boardman.  The  gentleman  began  and  closed 
with  reference  to  the  importance  of  Iree  debate, 
and  winds  up  his  eloquent"  and  earnest  pleading  by 
a  motiou  tor  the  ))revious  question. 

Dr.  Thomas.  I  have  expressed  my  views.  My 
object  in  moving  the  previous  question  ib  to  have  a 
free  debate. 

The  Moderator.  The  posture  of  affairs  is  under- 
stood, I  think. 

At  the  request  of  several  members,  the  Moderator 
then  stated  the  effect  of  the  previous  question. 

Rev.  Mr.  McKnight.  Do  1  understand  the  Mode- 
rator to  decide,  if  the  call  for  the  previous  que.siion 
be  sustained,  that  when  the  Question  comes  on  the 
main  question  it  will  not  lirst  be  taken  on  the  two 
ameuoments. 

The  Moderator.    Yes,  sir. 

Kev.  Mr.  McKnight  contended  that  the  Moderator 
erred  in  his  decision. 

The  Moderator  stated  that,  with  all  due  respect  to 
the  gentleman,  he  understood  the  matter.  The 
gentlnman  had  been  a  member  of  Congress,  but  he 
should  bear  in  mind  that  the  rulings  ot  that  body 
were  different  from  the  rulings  of  this  Assembly  in 
regard  to  this  particular  matter. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  moved  that  the  ayes  and 
noes  be  called  ou  this  morion  for  the  previous  ques- 
tion. He  wished  it  to  go  to  the  world  who  it 
is  that  votes  this  cag-law  upon  us. 

The  caU  for  the  ayes  and  noes  was  subsequently 
withdrawn,  but   renewe<l  by  another  member. 

The  question  was  pur,  and  oue-third  of  the  mem- 
bei's  failing  to  vote,  the  motion  for  the  ayes  and 
noes  on  the  previous  question  was  lost. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  on  the  question:  Shall 
the  main  question  be  now  put? 

The  motion  was   agreed  to. 

The  Moderator.  The  question  is  now  ou  the  adop- 
tion of  the  paner  offered  by  Dr.  McLean,  for  the  a^j- 
poititment  ol  a  committee. 

'Ihe  question  was  put,  and  the  ijaper  was  adopted. 

The  regular  order  of  business  was  then  called  for, 
which  was  the  foimal  reception  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Nelson  as  a  representative  from  the  New  School  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

Dr.  Nelson  then  came  forward  and  was  intro- 
duced by  the  Moderator,  and  spoke  as  follows: 

llErvIARKS  OF   DR.   NELSON. 

Mr.  Moderator  and  Brethren  of  this  General  As- 
sembly :  I  am  commissionerl  by  the  General  As- 
sembly which  sat  in  Brooklyn  a  year  aeo,  and 
whose  successor  is  sitting  at  i)resent  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city,  to  bring  to  you 
and  this  Jbody  thei  fraternal  salutations  of  that  As- 
sembly, and  of  the  church  which  it  has  the  honor  to 
represent 

You  will  permit  me  to  sav,  sir,  on  my  own 
behalf,  that  iuasmucu  as  this  is  the  first  occasion  on 
which  I  was  ever  honored  with  so  responsible  a 
duty,  I  feel  much  diffidence  in  respect  to  my  own 
judgment  of  wnat  is  precisely  in  order  and  proper 
to  say.  I  am  also  so  constautly  occupied  in  hap- 
py union  with  my  brother,  the  pastor  oi  the  church 
worshiping  here,  and  chairman  of  your  committee 
ol  arrangements  in  the  exceedingly  plea?ant, 
and  not  light  duties  of  m^iking  com- 
fortable provision  for  the  entertainment 
of    the    members    of     these    bodies,    and    I    am 


23 


with  my  brother  so  happ^  iu  the  discharge  of 
those  duties,  that  I  think  it  quite  possible,  in 
shaping  the  remarks  which  1  wilt  present  now.&I 
may  inadvertently  miit  together  things  which  would 
be  inost  proper  officially  lo  say  in  the  character  in 
which  1  am  commissioned,  and  some  things  of 
wUicU  my  heart  is  very  full  connected  with  these 
other  duties.  But  I  cannot  tuiuk  it  will  be  un- 
pleasantly out  of  order  for  me  to  say  that  it  is  with 
sentiments  oi  unusual  satis  tact  ion  tliat  I  unite  with 
the  pastor  and  people  of  this  (Jhurch,  and  the  other 
Presbyterian  pastors,  and  the  people  of  this  city, 
in  wefcoming  to  our  city  and  to  our  homes  these 
two  General  Assemblies,  par  nobile  s"rorum,  at  this 
interestins  time. 

It  IS  not  my  purpose,  and  I  presume  it  will  not  be 
regarded  as  my  duty,  to  make  any  reference  to  any 
portion  of  the  history  which  has  caused  these  two 
bodies  to  be  ?t«o.  I  may,  without  impropriety,  I 
am  sure,  indulge  myself  in  expressing  the  satisfac- 
tion whicn  I  feel  that  we  are  now  so  nearly  one  that 
it  is  difficult  for  any  of  us  to  explain  to  people  out- 
side of  us,  or  to  our  own  communicants,  the  differ- 
ence between  us.  In  this  I'espect,  I  imagine  that 
we  are  a  little  like  what  was  siid  on  the  platform 
of  Yale  College,  at  an  anniversary,  by  an  eloquent 
speaker,  who  relerred  to  two  of  her  distinguished 
alumni,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Taylor  and  Tyler,  who  were 
present  on  the  pla! form,  stating  that  although  they 
had  fililed  Connecticut  and  the  whole  T^ud,  with  the 
noise  of  theological  controversy,  he  would  deiy  any 
man  to  state  the  difference  between  theia  iu  terms 
that  either  ot  them  would  accept. 

I  may  congratulate  these  Assemblies,  as  I  con- 
gratulate my  fellow- citizens  :and  lellow-Christians 
of  St.  Louis.  OQ  the  providential  circumstances  in 
which  you  are  met,  and  I  thinK;  I  may,  without  im- 
propriety, refer,  in  illustration  of  what  1  feel  and 
thins  iu  respect  to  the  relations  of  these 
two  boaies,  to  the  relations  to  which  I  can 
testify  as  existing  between  the  congregations 
that  customarily  occupy  the  houses  of 
worship  in  which  these  two  bodies  are  now  sitting. 
There  was  a  time  when  it  was  different.  Once  I 
have  seen  this  house  crowded  more  than  it  is 
crowded  now;  I  have  seen  the  other  crowded  more 
than  this  is  crowded  now,  within  one  week  by  the  peo 
pie  of  these  two  congregations,  and  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  with  Us,  pouring  out  our  tears  to- 
gether amid  the  dark  drapery  which  sought  to  ex- 
press our  griet  at  the  Nation's  great  loss,  and  for 
wflich  tne  Nation's  heart  is  still  oo  sore.  We  min- 
gled thus  here  on  such  an  occasion.  It  is  these  great 
griets,  it  is  this  deep  experience,  it  is  the  conscious 
sympathy  in  these  great  interests,  and  iu  these  tre- 
mendous issues,  which  have  melted  down  the  moun- 
tains of  division,  and  ihey  have  disappeared  at  the 
presence  of  the  God  of  Hosts. 

I  take  the  attitude  of  these  two  congregations,  and 
of  their  pastors — who,  in  this  respect,  may  claim 
fairly  to  represent  them — to  be  an  adequate  illustra- 
tion of  the  present  relations  of  these  two  great 
Churches.  It  cannot  be  wrong,  I  thiok,  forme  to 
advert  to  that  great  thing  in  the  Providence  of  God 
which,  more  than  all  things  else,  has  made  this  state 
of  things  possible;and  as  I  ought  to  condense  what- 
ever I  nave  to  say  here  on  this  occasion,  when  time 
is  so  precious,  it  is  all  summed  up  and  all  told  in 
these  three  words :  "Slavery  is  dead. ' ' 

I  sat, sir, in  the  Convention  representing  the  people 
of  MissoiU'i,  not  long  asro,  and  listened  with  intense 
anterest  to  tne  sixty  ayes  against  only  four  noes, 
which  made  it  forever  unlawful  for  man  to  hold 
property  in  man  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  and 
1  took  great;  satisfaction  in  remembering  that  four 
of  those  ayes  were  spoken  by  four  Elders  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  I 
taKc  satisfaction  in  the  belief  that  it  was  the  calm 
and  steadfast  and  persistent  testimony,  which  the 
Presbyterian  church,  from  the  beginning,  when  she 
was  one,  and  recently  while  she  was  /?«o  bodies, 
has  borne,  which  has  resulted  in  delivering  the  na- 
tion from  the  enormity  of  that  institution;  and  I  da 
most  devoutly  believe'that  it  is  not  the  movement  of 
politicians,  that  it  is  not  the  force  of  commerce, 
that  it  is  not  any  secular  force  whatever,  but  that 
power  which  God  has  placed  in  the  bosom  of  his 
testifying  chureh,  that  has  wrought  this  great  de- 
liverance; and  I  Delieve  that  when  that  time  shall 


come,  that  the  last  !slave  on  eaith  shall  leap  from 
his  broken  fetters  and  toss  his  free  arms  out  of 
their  shattered  manacles,  his  exulting  shout  will  be 
' '  The  Truth  as  it  is  written  in  the  Bible  has  made 
me  Iree." 

It  is  under  such  circumstances  as  these  that  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  bringing  lo  you  the  fraternal  saluta- 
tion of  the  sister  As.sembly.  In  behalf  of  that  As- 
sembly I  may  say  that  it  was  our  great  happiness 
during  the  whole  fearlul  and  bloody  struggle  through 
Which  our  nation  has  passed  to  have  found  our- 
selves on  eveiy  occasion  of  the  assembling  of  the 
Geperal  Assembly  entirely  unanimous  in  our  ex- 
pressions of  determination  to  stand  by  the  faithful 
rulers  of  our  land  in  maintaining  the  integrity  of 
theKepublic,  and  in  carrying  forward  that  fearful 
work  of  .Jehovah  Which  he  entrusted  to  this  nation 
in  those  fearful  years.  I  know  that  to  this  Assem- 
bly the  testimony  of  this  absolute  unanimity, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  war,  will  be 
satisfactory,  and  1  Wish  to  be  permitted  to  say  that 
this  state  of  unanimity  has  been  reached — 
this  state  of  things,  which  made  this  unanimity 
during  so  trying  a  lime  certain — was  reached,  not 
by  any  rash  or  tyrannical  or  questionable  measures; 
not  by  the  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  authority  in  the 
excoinmunicaiion  of  dissentient  individuals  or  fac- 
tious and  dissentient  minorities,  bat  by  the  simple 
forces  of  calm,  steadfast  and  fraternal  testimony. 

The  pravers  of  that  Assembly  are  daily  offered  for 
God's  grace  to  be  bestowed  abundantly  upon  you. 
In  the  midst  of  these  trials  through  which  you  are 
passing,  and  of  which  we  know  something,  the 
prayer  of  your  brethren  of  the  church  is  that  God 
will  keep  all  your  hearts  and  minds;  that  he 
will  save  you  from  any  action  which 
you  will  ever  regret;  that  he  will  prompt 
you  to  every  action  which  he  requires 
of  you;  and  without  presuming  for  myself,  or  those 
whom  1  represent,  even  to  suggest  any  measures  for 
you,  we  commend  you  to  the  guidance  of  that  Di- 
vine spirit  which  evermore  dwells  with  the  servants 
of  Christ,  earnestly  deliberating  for  the  good  of  His 
cause,  and  the  glory  of  His  name;  and  we  shall  fre- 
qiiently  pray,  that  without  tyranny,  without  viola- 
tion of  any  principle  of  our  beloved  constitution, 
without  the  violation  of  any  command  of  the  holy 
scriptures,  and  without  shrinking  from  anything 
which  these  scriptures  or  your  present  circumstan- 
ces require  of  you,  God  will  give  youfull  deliver- 
ance from  all  your  troubles. 

I  know  that  the  hearts  of  many  brethren  in  both 
these  bodies,  and  the  hearts  of  thousands  of  breth- 
ren and  sisters  in  the  Churches  which  these  bodies 
represent  are  lull  of  the  question,  '  'Shall  we  ever  be 
one  again?" 

In  this,  sir,  I  am  sure  that  I  shall  correctly  repre- 
sent the  sentiment  which  prevails  in  the  Church 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent  here,  by  ex- 
pressing my  own  personal  sentiments.  As  yet  I 
see  not  the  clear  lignt  of  God's  Providence  on  that 
question.  To  me  it  appears  plain  that  all  things 
are  removed  which  should  prevent  our  entire  union 
inspirit.  It  has  been  with  me  a  solemn  question, 
whether  in  the  Providence  of  God,  He  in  his  holy 
Wisdom  saw  that  inevitably  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  these  United  States,  made  ot  such  stuff  as  Pres- 
byterian churches  in  all  lands  and  ages  are  wont  to 
be  made,  would  not  be  a  greater  (and,  peradveu- 
ture)  a  prouder  power  than  His  wisdom  would  in- 
trust to  the  administration  of  fallible  men.  I  rever- 
ently wait  for  His  Providence  to  shed  further  light 
on  that  question.  It  did  happen  to  me,  sir — you 
will  alloy/  me  to  say — some  six  years  ago  on  au 
occasion  of  considerable  local  interest  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  to  observe  that  whether  the  Provi- 
dence of  God  would  ever  direct  that  these  two 
churches  should  organically  be  one  again,  I  could 
not  devine,  but  sure  1  was  that  the  time  would  come 
when  at  least  they  would  pursue  their  paths,  and 
do  their  work  of  evangelization  side  by  side,  recog- 
nizing each  other  traternally  as  equals  in  all  re- 
spects, and  having  no  strife  between  them.  It  hap- 
pened tome  confidently  to  say,  "That  time  will 
come.  "  I  felicitate  myself  on  the  opportunity,  in 
such  a  presence  as  this,  and  feel  a  full  sense  of  my 
official  responsibility  here,  when  I  say,  "Blessed 
be  God,  that  time  now  is. " 


L>4 


At  the  conclusion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Kelson's  speech, 
the  Moderator  said : 

REMARKS   OF   THE  MODERATOR. 

My  Dear  Brother :  I  welcome  you,  and  this  whole 
General  Assemby,  I  am  sure,  welcomes  you  as  the 
representative  of  that  other  Assembly — a  branch  of 
The  eame  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United 
States.  In  presenting  your  fraternal  salutations  to 
us,  and  expressing  yoiir  congratulations  in  our  be- 
half for  what  we  are  doing  in  endeavoring  to  advance 
the  cause  in  which  we  are  unitedly  engaged— the 
cause  of  truth  and  the  Gospel  in  the  world — you 
have  referred,  and  I  regret  that  I  cannot  reter  to  it 
in  the  same  eloquent  and  fervent  words  which  you 
have  used,  to  the  union  of  sentiment,  which  is  ex- 
pressed before  the  Church  and  before  the  world,  in 
regard  to  those  great  matters  wiiich  have  so  agitated 
the  hearts  of  this  vast  people  during  the  years 
Which  we  have  recently  passed  through. 

I  can.  I  think,  express  the  thought  that  we  may 
felicitate  ovirselves  as  an  Assembly  and  as  a  Church 
that  we  have  made  some  progress  in  regard  to  those 
subjects  out  of  which  these  ti-oubles  have  grown. 
There  was  a  time  previous  to  the  war  when  the  Old 
School  General  Assembly  was  frequently  referred 
to,  and  not  without  reason,  as  taking  such  a  view 
of  that  one  great  swbject  which  has  lain  at  the  foun- 
dation of  these  troubles,  and  to  which  you  have 
alluded,  as  to  give  occasion  to  that  public  sentiment 
existing  North  and  South  which  resulted  iu  the  ris- 
ing up  of  rebellion,  and  the  bringing  out  of  armed 
forces  to  put  down  that  rebellion .  1  aliude  to  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery.  There  was  an  intense  Conservatism, 
to  express  it  by  no  worse  term,  existing  in  the  Old 
School  Presbyterian  Church.  Doubtless  you  re- 
cognize, as  we  are  happy  to  recoernize,  that  we  have 
made  great  progress  on  this  whole  subject  as  a 
church,  and  as  an  Assembly  during  these  more  re- 
cent years;  so  that  for  several  years  past  our  As- 
semblies successively  have  expressed  before  the 
Churcti  and  the  world  what  I  believe  to  be  the  sen- 
timents of  the  word  of  God  upon  that  great  matter, 
and  directly  contrary  to  what  bad  been  entertained 
as  being  in'accordance  with  the  word  of  God  in  the 
Southern  portion  of  our  country.  I  rejoice  in  this 
fact,  and  I  Know  avast  majority  of  this"  body  rejoice 
with  me.  I  am  only  sorry  to  say  that  the  entire 
membership  do  not. 

I  believe  we  may  now  look  on  the  people  of  this 
land,  and  realize  the  fact  expressed  in  trie 
beautiful  and  forcible  words  of  the  great  Peer  of 
England,  L-ird  Brougham,  "that  in  this  land  no 
more  shall  the  sun  ever  rise  upon  a  master  or  set 
upon  a  slave." 

There  was  a  time  before  the  war,  and  only  a  short 
time  before  the  war  it  was,  when  a  distinguished  in- 
.  dividual  who  presented  to  the  General  Assembly  a 
munificent  donation  to  endow  one  of  its  Theologi- 
cal Semauaries,  expressed  his  view — and  I  must  say 
It  was  a  view  that  was  entertained  very  extensively 
throughout  the  country — that  the  two  most  reliable 
hoops  to  bind  the  Union  together  were  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  the  Old  School  P 
Church. 

Well,  sir,  I  have  spent  almost  my  entire  ministry 
in  the  Soutaern  States.  I  know  the  sentiments  of 
these  brethren,  and  tor  many  of  them  I  have  the 
most  devout  and  sincere  aflection. 

Some  ot  my  most  endeared  friends  do  there  now 
abide;  and  I  have  all  that  yearning  over  their  f.inat- 
icism.  and  folly,  and  wickedness,  which  any  man 
ought  to  cherish  and  ought  to  express;  yet  1  bf  Ueve 
It  IS  the  judgment  of  the  Church  at  large— aloiost 
the  entire  Church  at  large — ihat  their  cauee  was  an 
unjustlflable  one,  and  the  nation  has  so  proDOUT?ced 


in  the  providence  ot  God,  and  the  word  of  God  sus- 
tains Ijoth.  Kow,  sir,  while  we  recognize,  and  you 
recognize,  that  we  have  made  some  progress  iu  these 
matters,  1  congratulate  you,  sir,  and  wi~h  you  to 
congiatuiaie  the  Assembly  ol  which  you  are  the  rep- 
resentative, that  you  staiid  as  a  cJmnact  body  on 
this  subject. 

But  It  is  a  matter  of  record,  as  j-ou  must  have  wit- 
nessed by  the  discussion  here  this  morning,  and  by 
the  discussions  of  previous  days,  that  we  do  not 
stand  tinitedly  together.  We  are  racked  and  torn 
by  internal  dissensions.  It  is  not  improper  for  me 
to  refer  to  it,  for  it  is  notorious. 

I  congratulate  you  that  you  stand  as  a  compact 
body.  We  recngnize  also  that  you  have  made  ijro- 
gress  in  some  things  upon  wbicu  we  greatly  differed 
at  the  time  of  our  division.  There  was  then  great 
opposition  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  embraced 
in  the  Synods  to  the  organization  of  the  various 
agencies  of  tlie  Church  under  ecclesiastical  boards. 
Many  of  your  leading  men  advocated  voluntary  as- 
sociations. The  progress  which  you  have  made, 
and  in  which  we  re'joice,  is  that  during  these  more 
recent  years  you  have  come,  as  I  think 
you  will  allow  me  to  saj'  without  offense,  sub- 
stantially to  our  ground.  The  Congregational  ele- 
ment has  been  almost  entirely  jmrged  from  your 
body— and  I  refer  to  the  Congregational  Church  with 
no  feeling  of  disrespect.  You  now  stand  as  regards 
these  external  matters  as  better  Presbyterians,  al- 
low me  to  say,  than  was  the  case  at  the  time  this 
division  occurred.  Therefore,  sir,  I  can  respond 
most  heartily,  and!  thinK  the  vast  majority  of  this 
Assembly  cm  respond  also  to  the  sentiment,  that 
we  are  drawing  nearer  together  than  we  have  been 
duriog  tbis  generation,  or  since  this  division  oc- 
curred; and  I  may  express  on  my  behalf,  and  I 
trust  on  behalf  of  a  large  majority  of  this  Assem- 
bly, that  we  hope  the  time  is  not  distant  when  we 
shall  not  only  be,  as  I  am  confident  we  now  are,  one 
in  spirit,  but  one  by  organic  law;  and  that  then 
these  two  branches  of  the  great  Presbyterian  family 
may  stand  Idrth  in  one  solid  phalanx  against  error 
and  corruption. 

You  have  intimated,  and  undoubtedly  it  is  true, 
that  iu  the  providence  of  God  it  is  not  yet  quite 
clear  as  to  the  time  and  the  manner  in  which  this 
organic  union  may  be  brought  about.  Many  have 
supposed  that,  from  the  simple  fact  that  the  two 
Assemblies  met  in  the  same  city,  (the  meeting  be- 
ing determined  without  concert  between  the«,) 
that  the  time  had  come  when  there  should  be  an  or- 
ganic union;  and  they  have  expected  that  that  or- 
ganic union  mignt  now  be  formed.  I  hope,  before 
we  adjourn,  allow  me  to  say,  and  if  it  shall 
meet  the  views  of  the  body  you  represent, 
I  hope  you,  before  you  adjourn,'  we  may  initiate 
measures  (perhaps  beginning  here,  and  being 
responded  to  by  you,)  looking  to  a  more 
close  fellowship  in  all  our  relations,  and  ultimately, 
as  soon  as  the  providence  of  God  may  open  the  way, 
to  an  organic  union.  And  now.  as  the  time  for  ad- 
journment has  passed,  I  will  close  my  remarks.  I 
believe  I  have  expressed  the  sentiments  of  a  vast. 
msjority  of  this  Assembly,  to  show  you  that  we 
heartily  sympathize  with  you  in  all  your  efforts  to 
promote  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  we  congratulate 
you  on  all  tne  success  you  have  attained. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  remarks  of  the  Modera- 
tor, Dr.  Boardman  obtained  the  floor,  and  claimed 
the  right  to  it  for  next  Monday  morning. 

After  prayer  by  the  Kev.  Dr.  Smith,  of  Balti- 
more, the  Assembly  adjourned  till  nine  o'clock  on 
Monday  morning  next. 


25 


FOUETH    DAY  — MONDAY,    MAY    21,   1866. 


The  Aseeuibly  met  at  nine,  o'clock,  ami  aftei  the 
rlt^votioiial  exercises  the  Moderator  announced  the 
foUovvin}!  as  the  committee  under  the  resolution 
offered  by  Dr.  McLean  in  regard  to  the  Louisville 
Presbytery:  Ministers,  Rev.  Dr.  McLean,  Rev. 
Dr.  Thomas,  Rev.  Mr.  Hines  and  Rev.  Mr.  Waller. 
Eldt'rs,  Samuel  Galloway,  H.  K.  Clark  and  Judge 
Davidoou. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Synodical  Rec- 
ords was  made  the  order  of  the  day  for  twelve 
o'clock. 

The  report  ot  the  Committee  on  Cburch  Exten- 
sion was  taken  up,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Oolwell,  of  Minne- 
sota, mail  e  an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of  more  en- 
ergetic action  anions  the  Churches  far  the  coutribu- 
tiou  of  funds  to  the  Board,  whereby  churches  may 
be  established  in  desolate  sections  of  ilie  country. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  then  adopted. 

An  invitatioD  was  received  from  Chas.  R.  <Jood- 
ing,  Recording  Secretary  of  the  Mercantile  Liorary 
Association,  extending  the  privileges  of  the  Library 
to  the  me.nbers  oi'  the  Assembly. 

On  morion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Patterson  the  receipt  of 
the  invitation  was  acknowledged,  and  a  vote  of 
thanks  retAirned. 

An  iuvitation  was  also  received  from  the  Direct- 
ors of  the  Iron  Mountain  railroad,  extending  the 
privileges  of  the  road  for  an  excursion  to  Pilot 
Knob. 

The  invitation  was  taken  under  advisement^  by  a 
committee,  appointed  to  confer  with  a  committee  of 
the  New  School  Assembly,  with  reference  to  lixing 
a  time  for  the  excursion. 

Rev.  Dr.  Safford  presented  a  report  from  the 
Board  of  Publication,  of  which  the  IblJowiog  is  a 
brief  synopsis. 

Tottil  copies  of  new  publications 01,500 

Re-princs  oi"  tormer  publications    during 

the  year 406,900 

Totil  number  of  publications ,558,400 

Total  number  of  copies  of  books  and  tracts 
issued  by  the  Board  since  its  organi- 
zation  12,707,788 

In  addition  to  the  above  tlure  nave  been  in-inted 
during  the  year— of  the 

Sabbath  School  Visitor 805,000 

Home  and  Foreign  Record 129,300 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board :?.500 

Report  on  ilie  Disabled  Ministers  Fund. . .         2,500 

Dr.  Safford,  from  t;he  committee  to  whom  the  re- 
port of  the  Board  of  Publication  was  relerred, 
recommended,  among  other  things,  that  it  should 
be  the  aim  ofthe  Board  to  reach  the  children  of  the 
street  oy  sprightly  publications,  and  that  as  soon  as 
the  Board  can  tind  ir  (inancially  prudent,  to  publish 
the  Sabbath  School  Visitor  tw"ice  u  month  instead 
of  once  a  month,  and  that  the  risht-arm  ofthe  Board 
in  the  svstem  of  colportage  be  more  directly  referred 
to  tbe  churches  for  a  more  liberal  support. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

Rev.  Mr.  Cook,  of  Pennsylvania,  spoke 
upon  the  subject  of  the  report.  He  thought 
there  might  be  a  plan  adopted  by  which  the 
books  of  the  society  could  be  lirought 
more  within  their  reach  than  they  now  are  He 
hail  been  laboring  in  the  Western  Reserve  of  ihe 
Presbyterian  Church  for  three  years,  and  he  had 
not  been  able  to  secure  any  books  from  ttie  Board 
Avithout  sending  all  the  way  to  Philadelphia,  and 
there  paying  a  catalogue  price  tor  the  books,  and 
the  expres^iage  on  the  book^;  and  then  if  he  wanted 
to  sel!  them,  he  must  sell  thetn  at  catalogue  price 
and  be  out  of  p<)Cket  hiniselt  f  >r  expressage.  This 
wa-i  too  severe  a  tax  on  attinao  wUo  received  onlv 
lour  hundred  and  tifry  dollars  a  year;  and  bethought 
that  some  plm  might  be  adopted  by  which  the 
books  could  be  put  within  their  reach,  either  by  the 
establishment  ot  a  depository  within  trie  bounds  of 
each  Presbytery  or  otherwi>^e. 

Rev.  Mr.  Scheuck  said  that  he  was  s-iti-ifit'd  they 
could  meet  the  real  ditticalty.     The  ival    ditlicnlty 

4 


was  not  in  the  Board,  but  it  was  in  the  brother's 
Presbytery.  They  were  ready  to  appoint  a  colpor- 
teur in  every  Presbytery,  wherever  the  Presbytery 
might  recommend  a  suitable  man.  If  they  would 
recommend  some  man  of  suitable  business 
qualifications  to  carry  their  books  from  church 
to  church  and  from  li'iuse  to  house,  the 
Board  were  ready  to  put  him  to  work 
and  to  sustain  him.  If  the  Presbytery  could 
not  find  such  a  man  then  the  Board  was  ready 
to  appoint  some  good  minister  and  give  him  a  sup- 
ply of  books  as  a  colporteur,  and  sive  him  such  a.  re- 
muneration for  selling  the  books  that  it  may  be  a 
pleasDut  addirion  ro  rhe  moderate  stir>en'l  wiucu  he 
gets  from  his  people. 

The  Moderator  then  appointed  Rev  Dr.  Hickock, 
Dr.  Kane  and  Dr.  Wells  as  a  committer  m  reference 
to  the  excursion  on  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 

The  Moderator.  I  have  a  cominunic*rion  irom  a 
convention  of  ruling  elders  and  nitujsters,  who  met 
in  this  city  on  Tuesday  evening  last,  with  a  request 
that  it  shonl'i  be  retd  before  the  General  Ai-senihiy . 

The  ptper  was  tlien  r»'ad  as  follows : 

To   Ih"  (^rtirnr!   .Us>-ml,t  1/  uf  Ihe    Prexl^nbridn  Cl,u,-rh    hi    Ihr 
Ij'iiileil  States  o/  Aini-rt'-a  : 

Tne  memorial  of  X\^^'  undersigaed  ministers  and 
ruling  Elders  ot  the  Presl)yterian  Cuurcti  in  the 
United  States  or  America,  respectfoUy  sheweth: 
Your  memoriitists, the  mostpartof  whom  are  Com- 
missioners, duly  appointed  to  this  General  A-isein- 
bly,  met  in  convencioa  on  'he  15th  of  Mav,  inst  ,  Ht 
St.  Louis,  in  accordance  with  the  recomuiemJa- 
tions  of  about  three  hundred  rainis'ers  and  elders 
of  this  church,  inviting  a  Convention  of  Commis- 
sioners, and  other  ministers  and  eiders,  specified 
in  the  call  as  "  Persons  who  instead  of  reviling  Mie 
five  preceding  Assemblies,  would  obeii  them;  for 
tae  purpose  of  prayer,  and  conlerence,  in  view  oi' 
the  approaching  meeting  of  this  Assembly ;  and,  in 
the  exercise  of  their  reasonable  rii^lit  to  assemnle 
as  members  ot  a  free,  Christian  commroi wealth, 
and  in  seeking  Divine  guidance,  and  mutual 
enlightenment  and  su))port,  to  ascertain,  to  repre 
sent  and  to  propose  to  the  General  Assembly,  as 
God  should  enable  them,  and  with  ail  due  rever- 
ence, the  tilings  which,  in  our  judgment,  are  need- 
ful to  the  Church,  touching  its  pre-ent  duues, 
dangers  and  necesslries. 

It  is  believed  that  this  Assembly  will  not  be  tree 
from  attempts  hostile  to  some,  if  not  all,  or' the  pre- 
cious Te-timonies  the  Church  lias  borne  lor  the 
trust  otGod  and  the  duty  of  Uis  children,  during  the 
frightful  years  of  sinful  insurrection  thrtmgh  wiiich 
we  have  been  led,  and  to  the  provisions  enacced  iiy 
the  General  As.sembly  for  ihe  unity  and  inregri'y 
and  peace  of  tae  *jhure,b,  consequent  upon  tht» 
schisms  and  defections  m  the  very  bosom  of  the 
Church . 

We  need  only  to  cast  our  eyes  over  the  controver- 
sies raging  even  now  in  the  Church  to  understand 
how  wide-spread  aod  how  diversitikd  are  the  evils 
which  threa'ten  her,  and  hjw  fatal  are  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  a  counter  revolution  in  h.er  siaie 
and  action  is  demanded,  and  how  eager  and  fierce 
is  the  spirit  of  reaction  against  her  solemn,  deliber- 
ate and  reiterated  Testimonies,  especidly  uttered 
by  the  preceding  five  Assemblies,  and  how  vene- 
niently  they  have  been  reviled  and  defied  and  set  at 
naught. 

We  believe  that  the  present  troubles  threatening 
anarchy  and  confusion  in  the  Church,  and  further 
defection  and  schism,  and  are  little  else  than  the 
sinful  continuation  and  working  m  a  religious  Jbrni 
of  tne  crimiual  spirit  and  designs  of  the  insurrection 
in  t'lnporal  aQairs;  »nd  we  are  persuaded  that 
neirher  tlie  couniry  nor  Church  can  have  peace  (;r 
s'curiry,  until  the  religious  poison  is  healeil  or 
purged  out. 

In  both  respect,  b  itii  ofthe  Stale  and  the  Church, 
itrs  Oetter  iinmeasiinilily  loheil,  it  it  lie  possinle. 
li' that  niiy  not  be,  it  is  iiiimeasuraoly  better  to 
keep  the  Church  pure  an<t  r'~Tore  it  to  peace,  let  it 
cost  wt'ttt  ir  mav  . 


26 


The  Presbyterian  Church  welcomes  to  her  bosom 
joytuUy  all  who  desire  to  be  as  she  and  her  children 
are.  If  others  will  insist  on  having  her  blessings, 
which  are  neither  lew  nor  small,  tney  ougtit  not  to 
be  allowed  to  revile  her  act?,  condemn  her  author- 
ity, waste  her  inheritance,  traduce  her  char- 
acter, tear  her  vitals,  and  corrupt  and  destroy 
her  integritv  and  unity.  All  such  attempts 
to  impair  her  Testimonies,  mar  her  peace,  and  hin- 
der Her  usefulness,  ought  to  be  put  an  end  to,  it'Gnd 
permit,  by  the  General  Assemblyj?rm/)/  adherinr/  to 
the  Testimonies  and  enaciitten^s  hitherto  uttered  from 
the  highest  tribunal  of  the  Church;  and  by  the  ap- 
propriate exercise  of  her  discipline,  effectually 
dealing  with  those  who  may  have  set  themselves 
persistently  to  revile  her  acts,  to  defy  her  just  au- 
thority, to  destroy  her  peace,  and  to  distract  ana 
rend  her  communion. 

Thus  believing,  your  memorialists,  without  pre- 
suming to  dictiie,  and  without  unlawtiiily  combm- 
ing  to  carry  in  ihis  bouse  the  measures  they  pro- 
pose, do  now  respectfully  and  dutifully  submit  the 
results  of  i heir  deliberations  to  the  Church  and  to 
this  General  Assembly. 

Your  memorali-ta,  therefore,  do  hereby  respect- 
fully represent,  in  reference  to  the  rtcent  persis- 
tent attempts  made  in  various  parts  of  the  ohurch 
to  have  the  deliveraiices  and  injunctions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  (produced  by  the  disturbed  state  of 
the  Church  and  nation  duriDg  the  past  five  years) 
reconsidered  and  changed;  that  the  Get  eral  Assem- 
bly has  nothing  in  the  matter  aforesaid  to  change, 
nothing  t)  explain,  nothing  tomodily,  nothing  to 
take  back,  noihingto  amend  in  any  way,  shape  or 
form  whatever;  it  being  needful  only  for  any  one  to 
correct  the  misrepresentations  published  and  in- 
dusinously  circulrtted  concerning  those  deliver- 
ances and  "injunctions,  in  oi'der  clearly  to  vindi- 
cate boih  the  moral  and  ecclesiastical  right  of  the 
Assembly  to  enact  the  same. 

All  the  more  do  your  memorialists  earnestly  press 
upon  the  Assembly  thej  importance  of  thus  firmly 
adhering  to  all  tnat  has  been  said  or  doije,  regard- 
iai?  the  great  moral  and  religious  issues  involved  In 
the  i-truggle  of  the  past  five  years;  inasmuch  as  the 
spirit  of  lebtlli  n  still  rages  in  some  portions  of  the 
Chuich.  even  to  the  extent  of  public  otliciai,  as  weil 
as  public  pei-sonal  defiance  uuto  and  insult  of  the 
authoiity  of  the  General  Assembly,  notable  in- 
stances of  which  are  the  adoption,  by  one  of  our 
Presbyteries,  and  many  of  our  members,  of  a 
"Declaration  and  Testimony".reviling  the  Assem- 
bly, and  covering  the  Church  "with  unmerited  re- 
proacn,  and  especially  the  election  of  some  as  Com- 
missioners to  the  Assembly,  whose  emiceuce  in 
open  hostility  to  the  loyal  deliverances  of  the  As- 
sembly and  to  tue  Assembly  itself,  is  unsurpassed  in 
the  history  of  our  Church. 

Your  memorialists,  in  calling  the  attention  of  the 
Assembly  to  the  opposition  thus  made  by 
individuals,  by  Church  courts,  and  by  the  press, 
do  hereby  also  invite  its  attention  to  the  vast 
multitude  of  fatal  heresies,  connected  witu,  and 
logically  growing  out  of  it, — not  the  least  of  whicQ 
is  that  which  i  enies  to  the  deliverances  and  in- 
junctions of  the  Assembly,  during  the  past  five 
years  (upou  slavery  and  rebellion)  any  binding 
force  whatever. 

The  action  ot  the  supreme  tribunal  of  our  Church 
is  denounced  as  contrary  to  the  constitution  and 
immemorial  usage  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  aua 
disobedience  to  the  same  publicly  aad  privately 
counseled. 

The  peace  and  purity  of  the  Church  imperatively 
demand  that  the  General  Assem-jly,  whose  duty  it 
is  10  suppress  schismatical  coatentious  and  dispu- 
tations, shall  adopt  ellicieat  measures  to  put  an  end 
to  the  anarchy  and  coniu-^ion  which  this  course  of 
things  is  bringing  upon  the  whole  Church.  They 
who  thus  revile  toe  authority  aua  dicturb  the  har- 
mony of  the  Church,  should  be  required  to  desist 
from  suoa  re*olutionary  and  scbismatical  conduct, 
— ind  where  Church  oflicers  or  courts  persist,  in  defi- 
ance of  theoi'oer  of  the  Assembly,  they  should  be 
dealt  vci(h  as  oflenders  against  the  peace,  purity, 
and  order  of  the  house  of  God. 

Less  ihiin  this,  your  memorialists  believe 
will  be  uot  cnly  an  encouragement  of  rebel- 
lion    against     the     government     of     the     Pres- 


bjterian  Church,  but,  against  the  very 
esserce  of  all  lawful  government  itself,  and  must 
inevitably  lend  to  the  fearful  result  of  anarchy  and 
irremediable  ruin.  The  General  Assembly  must  be 
lully  aware  that  even  amongst  those  who  cordially 
approve  of  its  past  deliverances  and  those  who  will 
stand  by  the  Church  of  tlieir  fathers,  slthough  they 
may  not  approve  all  those  deliverances,  there  is 
some  diversity  of  judg'nent  as  to  the  course  which 
ousjht  to  be  pursued  by  the  Church,  henceforth,  to- 
wards the  schismatical  sect  of  united  Old  School 
and  New  School  Presbyterians  which  has  been  or- 
ganized in  the  wide  region  covered  by  the  lately  re- 
bellious States;  fuily  aware,  also,  that  to  a  large 
extent  the  ijhurch,  in  a  state  of  opinion  which  may 
be  called  immature,  awaits  tome  clear  deliverance 
of  the  General  Assembly  touching  the  relations 
which  are  to  exist  on  our  part  to  that  sect.  Besidse 
this,  it  is  notorious  that  oil  the  past  deliverances  of 
the  Church  condemning  the  schism  in  the  Church 
South,  and  the  conduct  of  those  ministers  who  pro- 
duced and  organized  that  scnism,  and  used  it  to 
sustain  the  rebilliun  and  the  civil  war,  and  now 
use  it,  not  only  to  prevent  the  restoration  ano  spread 
of  'Ur  Church  in  the  Southern  half  of  the  Nation, 
but  to  extend  the  schism  into  all  parts  of  the 
Church  have  been  and  continue  to  be,  open- 
ly denounced  and  intentionally  disobeyed  by  all 
such  members  and  oflice -bearers  of  our  Church  as 
apjuove  the  wicked  conduct  of  the  authors  of  that 
schism,  and  repeal  iis  sir.lul  revilings  of  the  Pres- 
byterian vhurch  and  its  acts.  While  this  Conven- 
tion has  earnestly  besought  the  General  Assembly 
not  to  take  Ijack,  nor  modify,  nor  explain  away — 
under  rebellious  menaces,  and  heretical  expositions 
and  intrigues  and  consoiracies,  in  the  interest  of 
slavery  and  disloyalty  and  schi:^m — any  portion  of 
its  past  deliverttnces  touching  the  state  of  the 
Church  and  the  country,  we  suppose  that  a  fresh  de- 
liverance, founned  on  the  actual  condition  of  affairs, 
more  especially  as  they  affect  the  Church, 
and  embracing  amongsi  other  things  the  vital  sub- 
jects containul  in  tnis  petition  and  memorial, would 
be  of  very  high  Importance  at  the  present  time.  It 
needs  to  be  kept  in  perpetual  remembrance  that  the 
frightrul  civil  war  was  encouraged  and  eagerly 
supported  Irom  the  beginning  by  those  who  organ- 
ized this  einful  schism  as  soon  as  possible  after 
bloodshed  began,  mainly — as  openly  avowed  by 
themselves — upon  the  two  atrocious  ideas  of  the 
periietuity  of  negro  slavery,  and,  to  that  end,  the 
creation  of  a  new  nation  out  of  a  part  of  this  na- 
tion, through  its  destruction  by  treason 
ana  carnage.  It  must  be  further  kept  in 
mind  that  after  the  lapse  of  four  (1)  years 
of  ceaseless  activity  in  this  sinful  course, 
during  which  all  the  horrors  and  mlseriea 
of  civil  war  lell  upon  the  land,  with  a  violence  sel- 
dom exceeded  in  ext«'r)t  or  bitterness,  and  after  the 
new  Nation  had  expiied  and  the  perpetual  slavery 
had  perished  under  an  act  ot  sublime  National  retri- 
bution, those  same  scnismatics  deliberately  re&olved 
to  perpetuate  the  sectarian  organization  they  had 
crt-ated,  in  such  circumstances  lor  such  objects,  ac- 
companying this  last  act  with  formal  statements 
identijying  their  past  conduct  and  principles  with 
the  future  careei-  marked  out  for  themselves,  and 
striving,  in  particular,  to  make  mutual  confldence 
and  fraternity,  much  less  mutual  lel/owrhip,  and 
least  of  all,  organic  unity  with  the  Church,  which 
the  great  mass  of  them  had  betrayed,  forsuken  and 
traduced,  ibrever  iuipcssible. 

ThePresbytei-ian  Church  has  no  alternative  con- 
sistent with  safety,  wiih  self-respect,  with  the 
righteousness  of  its  own  past  conduct,  with  fidelity 
to  divine  truth  or  Christiiin  duty,  or  with  obedience 
to  God,  hut  to  accept  the  renuiiCiation  of  ihese  De- 
luded men,  to  testify  against  their  sinful  aco,  and 
to  iieep  her  skirts  clear  of  their  miserable  doimia. 
Three  great  duties  remain  to  her,  connected  with 
this  subject,  upon  the  right  p»^rtormanoe  of  which  a 
great  rev/ard  awaits  her,  and  upou  the  negJect 
of  which,  trouble  and  contusion  !  The  first 
is,  to  purify  herself  from  .he  widely  diffused 
poison  of  the  times,  which  (i'l  a  form  more  or  less 
vnuleot)  is  diffused  throush  all  the  Churches;  and 
to  do  ihis,  as  remetnoeriug  that  the  discipline  of  the 
Church  is  of  God,  is  an  or-Jiuance  of  mercy  to  back- 
sliders, and  stfccds  related  to  the  threateningi  of 


27 


God'e  word  in  some  manner  as  the  sacranienta 
thereof  do  to  the  promises  of  God.  The  second  is  to 
hold  out.  and  wide  open,  the  arms  of  ber  love  to 
every  chila  of  God  in  tlie  Southern  country  who 
has  Deeu  a  victim — not  the  wiilinar  partAker  of  the 
sins  against  God,  against  His  Church,  and  against 
their  country,  against  which  Divine  Providence  has 
testifitd  by  sucn  severe  and  most  righteous  jucig- 
ments.  The  third  is  to  proceed,  at  once,  and  witli 
a  zeal  proijortioned  to  the  urgency  of  ttie  necessity, 
to  redeem  the  solemn  promise  made  by  tlie  first 
Assembly,  after  the  bchlsm  organized  in  1861 — that 
she  would  wholly  disregard  its  existence,  and,  as 
God  might  enable  her,  would  strive  to  recover  all 
she  miitnt  lose  by  it,  and  to  exteed  and  establish, 
more  and  more,  throughout  the  whole  Somh,  the 
precious  system  of  Divioe  truth,  unto  the  lioerty 
and  power  of  which  God  has  called  her  by  His 
grace. 

Let  th«  revenge  we  will  asE  of  God  be  a  double 
Ehare  in  the  work  of  saving  those  wno  have  cast  ua 
out  as  doubly  vile. 

Adopter!  unonimously,  and  ordered  to  be  signed 
by  the  ottlcers,  in  behalf  ot  one  huadrod  and  eleven, 
in  Conventi  n  assembled  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
May  14th,  1866,  W.D.HOWARD, 

W.  W.  CoLiNERT,  President. 

.T.  G.  Reasjr,  Clerks. 

Several  motions  wi-remadeln  regard  to  the  dis- 
posal of  the  raHmonal,  and  finally,  on  motion  of 
I)r.  VV'm.  Breckinridge,  it  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Bids  and  Jvertures. 

Rev.  Mr.  Van  Dyke  said  he  had  a  paper  relating 
to  the  siine  subject,  which  he  wished  to  read  and 
have  referred  to  the  same  committee. 

The  piper  was  ri^ad  as  follows: 

This  Assembly  earnestly  deprecates  the  continu- 
ance ot'tiie  dlviiion  now  existing  betvveeu  tbe  Pres- 
ovteriau  Churches  in  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States,  together  with  the  strife  among  ours'dves, 
growing  out  of  this  division,  as  a  ruinous  and  un- 
necessary schism  between  brethren  wtio  maintain  a 
common  faith,  tending  to  perpetuate  the  evil  pas- 
sions generated  by  civil  war;  to  prevent  the  return 
of  tne  hirinony  and  good  will  so  essential  to  the 
prosperity  of  botb  Church  and  State,  and  to  dissi- 
pate in  futile  contentions,  the  resources  and  moral 
Kifluence  which  the  Church  ought  to  employ 
in  common  efforts  for  the  defense  and  propagation 
ot  the  Goajiel. 

In  the  spirit  of  reconcdiation  and  brotherly  kind- 
ness, this  Assembly  desires  ttie  re.storation  of  the 
unity  of  the  Chuicn  on  the  basis  of  the  principles 
upon  which  she  was  originally  organized,  and  upon 
which,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  she  so  long  and 
80  abundantly  prospered. 

Among  these  principles  we  regard  the  following  as 
fundamental : 

1.  "God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath 
left  it  iree  from  the  doctrines  and  commandments 
of  men,  whicb  are  in  anything  contrary  to  His 
wo  rd ,  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  and  worship . ' ' 
(Form  of  Gov.  I.  1.) 

2.  "All  the  Churcn  power,  whether  exercised  by 
the  body  in  general,  or  in  the  way  of  representa- 
tion by  delegated  autbority,  is  only  ministerial  and 
declarative;  that  is  to  say  :  the  Holy  Scriotures  are 
the  only  rule  of  faith  and  ministers  mthe  Church  ju- 
dicatory ought  to  pretend  to  make  laws  to  bind  the 
conscience  in  virtue  of  their  own  authority,  but  all 
their  decisions  should  be  founded  upon  the  recorded 
will  of  God."     (Form  of  Gov.  I.  7) 

3.  "Synods  and  councils  are  to  handle  or  con- 
clude notbiiig '^ut  that  which  is  ecclesiastical,  and 
are  not  to  intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which  con- 
cern the  commonwealth,  unless  by  way  of  petition 
in  cases  extraordinary,  or  bj'  way  of  advice  forsat- 
istaction  of  conscience,  if  they  be  thereunto  re- 
quired by  ttie  civil  magistrate."  (Confession  of 
Faith,  31,  4.) 

4.  "  All  Sy  nods  and  councils  since  the  days  of  the 
Apostles,  whether  general  or  particular,  may  err. 
and  many  have  erred;  therefore  their  decisions  are 
not  to  be  made  the  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  but 
to  be  used  as  a  help  in  both." — [Confession  of 
Faith,  31,  3. 

.5.  "Since  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God, 
it  is  the  duty  of  Christians  to  pray  for  magistrates, 
to  honor  their  persons,  to  pay  them  tribute  and  other 


dues,  to  obey  their  lawful  commands  and  to  be  sub- 
ject to  their  authority  for  conscience  sake. ' ' — [Con- 
fession of  Faith,  23,  4. 

In  accordance  with  these  principles  and  With  " 
view  to  promote  peace  upon  the  basis  tuerein  set 
forth. 

Resolved,  That  the  deliverances  of  the  five  pre- 
Cf  ding  A' semblies  on  tbe  state  of  the  country,  in- 
cluding the"orders"  of  the  last  Assembly  in  regard 
me  reception  of  members  from  Presbyteries  and 
Churches  in  the  Southern  States,  not.  fiaving  been 
transmitted  to  the  Presbyteries  for  their  apijrobation 
according  to  requirements  of  toe  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, cbap.  12,  sec.  6,  are  not  established  for  con- 
fttituiionai  rules,  and  are  not  obligatory  upon  the 
Churches.  Whatever  maybe  iheir  virtue  as  a  pare 
of  the  past  history  of  the  Churcb,  and  as  an  em- 
bodiment of  the  opinions  of  the  venerable  Assem- 
blies from  which  they  emanated,  these  deliver- 
ances lorm  no  part  of  our  standards  of  truth  and  or- 
der, and  their  adoption  cannot  be  lawfully  insisted 
on  as  a  term  of  tlhiircti  membership  or  of  ministerial 
communion. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brown  moved  that  the  paper  be  laid 
upon  the  table. 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Huntington,  moved  that  the  first 
five  propositions  be  accepted  and  the  sixth  rejected. 

The  motion  was  declared  oat  of  order. 

'the  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  was  lost.  « 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean.  Moderator,  lam  not  in  favor 
of  referring  this.,paper,  if  1  correctly  understood  a 
sentence  m  the  first  portion  of  it.  I  think  evcy 
paper  presented  decorou-ly  and  courteously 
ought  to  be  relVrr*=d  and  c->urteously  treated. 
My  doubt,  sir,  is  v/hether  that  paper  is  not  in 
one  or  two  sentences  in  the  first  part  highly 
disrespec'ful  to  this  body.  I  would  like  a 
sentence  of  the  first  partof  that  paper  reread,  for  I 
did  not  quite  hear  it  distinctly.  My  impression  is, 
if  I  heard  it  correctly,  that  you  were  asked  to  stul- 
tify yourself;  that  you  were  asked  to  swallow  your 
own  words,  so  to  speak;  that  you  are  discourteous- 
ly asked  to  do  what  you  cannot  do  with  any  sore  of 
propriety  or  respect  for  your  past  decisions.  If  that 
is  not  so,  I  am  iu  fay  or  of  reference.  If  it  is,  I  am 
not. 

Rev.  Dr.  Van  Dyke.  I  think  the  gentleman  must 
have  heard  ic  very  imperfncrly. 

[The  Clerk  then  i-ead  the  first  portion  of  the  pa- 
per.] 

Dr.  McLean  was  proceeding  to  speak  when  the 
Moderator  informed  him  that  no  member  could 
speak  more  than  once  on  the  same  subject;  that  he 
had  already  spoken  once  and  the  question  now  was, 
on  re  erring  to  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures. 

The  question  was  put  and  the  motion  to  refer  was 
agreed  Co. 

The  Moderator.  I  have  another  paper  signed  by 
Stuart  Robinsoi*  and  others.  I  have  read  the  paper 
and  as  it  refers  to  a  matter  which  was  referred  on  yes- 
terday to  a  committee  of  which  Dr.  McLean  was 
Chairman,  I  think  it  oroper  that  the  paper  should 
be  read,  and  either  referred  to  that  icommittee,  or 
take  such  other  direction  as  the  Assembly  may 
deem  proper.  It  is  a  memorial,  and  from  a  hasty 
reading  seems  to  be  respectful.  It  is  signed  by 
three  gentlemen,  and  from  the  conclusions  to  which 
they  have  come,  as  regards  their  status,  I  think  it 
ought  to  be  read. 

The  paper  was  then  read,  as  follows  : 

To  the  Moderator  of  the  G^eneml  Assembly  0/  the  Preabytirian 
Churchy  now  in  sesf^ioyi  in  St,  Louis: 

The  undersigned,  commissioners  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville,  deem  It  both  respectful  to  the 
Assembly  and  demanded  by  the  interests  of  truth 
and  righteousness,  to  lay  before  the  body,  through 
you.  in  this  formal  and  official  manner,  for  record 
on  the  minutes,  their  views  and  purp  ises  in  regard 
to  the  resolution  passed  yesterday,  under  operation 
of  the  previous  question ,  to  this  effect : 

That,  Whereas,  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
have  "  openly  defied  the  Assembly  "  and  declared 
publicly  their  intention  not  to  enforce  the  orders  of 
the  two' last  Assemblies,  on  slaves  and  loyalty,  etc., 
and  have,  in  act,  disregarded  them  in  sending  a 
commissioner  here  who,  bv  a  faithful  execution  of 
those  acts,  would  probably  have  been  suspended 
from  the  functions  of  his  olfice,  therefore 


28 


"Resolved,  Thet  until  the  Assembly  shall  have 
evauiiiifcd  and  decided  upon  ihe  conduct  of  said 
Presbytery,  the  commissioners  shall  not  be  entitled 
to  seats  in  Ibis  body . ' ' 

We  respectfully  suggest,  not  indeed  as  vital  to  the 
case,  but  as  illustrating;  siinplv  the  evil  of  such  ac- 
liou.  under  the  oi  eration  of  the  previous  question, 
cutting  off  all  explanation,  that  both  the  premises  of 
tiie  Assembly's  resolution  contain  grave  mistakes 
lit'  facts.  The  Presbytery  of  Louisville  ha\  e,  in- 
inileed,  published  a '  De'clanitian  and  Testimony 
;igainst,  the  acts  otthe  tive  prectding  Assemblies,  m 
which  many  ministers  and  elders  outsiue  the  Pies- 
bytery  lormally,  and  Many  more  in  S|>irit  and  act, 
have  concurred.  But  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
have  not  "openly  defied  the  Assembly,"  as  might 
have  heen  seen  by  reference  to  the  whole  tenor  of 
rhe paper,  from  wnich  a  single  passage  is  quoted. 
Nor  has  the  Presbytery  sent  any  commissioner  here, 
who,  even  under  the  act  of  1SG5,  in  relation  to 
ministers  who  have  gone  into  the  Confederacy  or 
lied,  or  been  banished  into  foreign  countries,  could 
have  been  suspended  from  the  ujinistry.  Since  the 
only  one  of  their  commissioners  who  has  been  ab- 
sent from  the  country  during  tlie  past  three  years, 
was  neither  in  the  Confederacy  nor  fled,  nor  was 
bauisiied;  but  being  absent  en  a  vacation  tour,  hy 
arrangements  made  months  before,  at  the  in- 
auguration of  an  unlimited  militai-y  power  under 
the  control  of  bis  bitter  ecclesiastical  enemies, 
prolonged  that  absence,  with  the  advice  and  con- 
currence of  the  Church  session  and  of  prudent 
friends  of  all  parties . 

Aside,  however,  from  these  mistakes  of  fact  in 
i,he  premises,  afar  more  important  matter,  in  our 
judgment,  is  the  dangerous  error  in  principle  involv- 
ed in  such  action,  even  were  the  facts  as  charged. 
On  this  view  Of  the  case,  we  beg  leave  with  all  re- 
spect and  deference  to  suggest : 

1.  It  will  be  manifest  on  due  reflection,  and  would 
have  been  shown  but  for  the  call  for  the  previous 
iiuostioii,  that  the  assumption  of  the  right  to  take 
such  action  under  the  general  power  of  any  deliber- 
ative body  to  judge  of  the  quafitications  of  its  own 
tuembers,  arises  from  a  failure  to  see  the  want  of 
analogy  between  the  case  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  that  of  legislative  and  other  similar  bodies  in 
the  secular  sphere.  The  right  to  appoint  commis- 
Hioners  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  to  judge  of 
the  qualitications  of  those  commissioners  is  inherent 
in  the  Presbyteries,  whose  members  are  a  constit- 
uent part  of  the  Assembly  itself;  nor  can  they 
be  divested  of  that  right  save  by  sentence  of 
deposition  from  office  as  Presbyters,  reached 
through  the  forms  so  carefully  prescribed  in 
the  constitution.  The  claim  of  any  particular  As- 
sembly to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its  own 
niemoers  must  be  limited  in  the  natixre  of  tho  case 
to  the  question  whether  the  credentials  are  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  provisions  of  the  book.  But  in 
tVict  the  Assembly  in  this  instance  does  not  pre- 
tend to  be  passing  jttdgment  upon  the  qualifications 
of  Its  own  members  at  all,  but  upon  the  constit- 
uency which  sent  them.  This  is  manifest,  not  on- 
ly from  the  terms  of  the  action,  but  also  from  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  Commissioners  excluded  was 
no  party  10  the  "Declaration  and  Testimony;" 
neither  cotUd  he  be  possibly  objected  to  on  the 
score  of  disqualification  or  a  defective  commission. 

2.  This,  therefore,  makes  manifest  what  was 
confessed  on  the  floor  ot  the  Assembly  by  some 
who  voted  for  this  resolution,  that  the  action  was 
in  its  nature  judicial,  and  ic  is,  therefore,  in  ef- 
fect, a  judicial  sentence,  pronounced  and  executed, 
not  only  in  disrecard  of  all  the  provisions  for  a  fair 
trial,  80  carefully  ordained  in  our  constitution, 
but,  under  the  oueration  of  the  pievious  question, 
excluding  the  parties  enlarged  liom  a  v>ord  of  ex- 
])lanalion,  defense  or  protest. 

;?.  And  it  adds  to  the  aggravation  of  the  wrong 
done  in  this  action  that,  even  had  the  Assembly  the 
right  thus  to  act,  and  were  its  action  according  to 
the  forms  of  law,  and  the  sentence  .given  after  a 
fair  hearing,  it  is  a  sentence  of  disgrace,  as  if  in- 
flicted for  crime  committed;  whereas,  what  was 
done  by  tne  Presbytery  could  at  most  be  regarded 
as  only  the  mistaken  exercise  of  the  right  of  protest 


against  what  was  conceived  to  be  an  act  of  usurpa- 
tion by  tne  Assembly. 

4.  A  further  aggravation  of  this  wrong  is  the 
manifest  partiality  evinced,  in  thus  singling  out  for 
condemnation  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  while 
Eotoriously  a  large  number,  if  not  a  majority,  of 
the  Churches  in  all  parts  of  the  ccuntrv,  but  al.'-o 
several  Presbyteries  represented  in  the  Assembly, 
have  done  precisely  the  thing  which  the  Louisvil'ie 
Presbytery  is  condemned  for  asserting  its  purpose 
to  do. 

.5.  But  a  still  more  imijortant  and  dangerous 
principle  involved  in  this  action,  is,  that  it  takes 
away  from  minorities  and  even  individual  members 
of  the  body,  all  those  safeguards  |)rovided  for  their 
protection  against  the  violence  and  partisan  feeling 
of  a  casual  majority  of  members  in  all  times  of  ex- 
citement and  passion.  The  principle  of  this  ac- 
tion if  admitted;  would  inevitably  and  speedily 
change  the  Asseinbly  from  an  ecclesia  organized, 
restrained  and  governed  by  the  well  established 
gaws  of  Christ's  house,  into  a  mere  ecclesiastical 
lathering  unaer  the  unlimited  control  of  the  major- 
ity of  members,  "the  niostpartknowing  not  where- 
fore they  nave  come  together. ' ' 

6.  It  but  evinces  more  clearly  and  agsravates  the 
wrong  done  in  this  case,  that  ttie  Assembly  resolves 
not  absoliit<ily  and  finally  to  exclude  us,  hut  only  to 
exclude  us  until  the  Assembly  ''shall  have  examined 
and  decided."  The  right  to  examine  and  decide 
under  such  a  resolution;  the  right  to  exclude  us, 
even  for  an  hour,  pending  such  examination;  the 
right  to  exclude  us  after  such  examination  is  had, 
and  the  right  absolutely  and  finally  to  exclude  us, 
are  all  equally  groundless.  The  injury^  inflicted  on 
the  good  name  of  the  Presbytery  among  the  churches 
from  a  temporary  exclusion,  as  though  probablij 
guilty  of  high  crime  is  scarcely  less  than  the  injury 
from  a  sentence  of  final  exclusion.  Besides,  even 
though  it  was  consistent  with  our  proper  self  re- 
spect, and  with  the  honor  of  the  Presbytery  for  us 
to  await  the  result  of  the  Assembly's  inquisition, 
thereby  recognizing  the  Assembly's  right  thus  "to 
examine  and  decide,"  we  are  cut  ofi",  by  the  sen- 
tence of  exclusion,  from  the  exercise  of  any  right 
of  defense.  All  ot  which  makes  it  still  more  palpa- 
bly manifest  that  the  action  of  the  Assembly  is,  in 
effect,  the  pronouncing  and  exec  ding  of  sentence, 
and  afterward  proceeding  to  examine  and  decide." 

With  profound  respect  for  the  Assembly  as  the 
highest  court  of  the  Church,  and  with  unfeigned 
sorrow  that  we  are  constrained,  in  fidelity  to  our 
trust,  thus  to  speaK,  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  say  to 
the  Assembly,  that— regarding  this  action  as  of  the 
nature  of  a  judgment  ui)on  the  Presbytery  and  its 
commissioners,  and  this  judgment  a  sentence  of  ex- 
clusion without  trial  or  a  hearing  in  any  form  in  ex- 
planation or  defense;  regarding  this  action  as  not 
only  unjust,  injurious  and  cruel,  but  as  subversive 
of  the  foundations  of  all  justice,  destructive  of  the 
constitution  of  the  Churcn,  and  revolutionary  in 
its  nature ;  regarding  it  as  setting  a  precedent  for 
the  exercise  of  a  partisan  power  in  the  courts  of 
Christ's  Kingdom,  which  leaves  all  the  rights  and 
immunities  of  his  people  at  the  mercy  of  any  faction 
that  may  casually  be  in  the  ascendency — we  should 
be  untrue  to  the  Presbytery,  whose  commission  we 
bear,  faithless  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  Christian  ' 
freedom,  false  to  our  Lord  and  King,  should  we 
silently  acquiesce  in  such  procedure  or  in  any  way 
recognize  its  legality.  We  must  regard  this  ac- 
tion in  its  effect,  so  far  as  relates  to  us  as  Commis- 
sioners, and  to  this  i)resent  Assembly,  as  final  in 
the  case. 

With  these  views  and  convictions  there  is  but  one 
course  left  open  to  us,  viz:  To  take  our  appeal  at 
once  upon  the  issue  as  it  has  been  made  for  us  and 
forced;  upon  us.  from  this  General  Assembly 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  in  particular,  in  so 
far  as  it  concerns  ourselves  and  that  body,  and  to 
the  whole  Church  in  so  far  as  it  is  an  issue  involv  - 
ing  the  great  principles  of  her  Constitution,  and, 
indeed,  her  continued  existence  as  a  free  Christian 
Commonwealth  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  franchises 
and  immunities  conferred  upon  her  bv  her  adorable 
Head. 


29 


We  therefore  respectfully   inform  the   Assembly 
that  we  shall  not  attend  farther  uiton  its  sessions. 
STUAIiT  ROBINSON, 
SAM'LR.  WILSON, 
MARK  HARDIN, 
C.  A.  WICKIIFFE. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  19,  1866. 

Rev.  Dr.  Boa.uQian.  I  eudeavorea  on  Satur 
day 

The  Moderator.  I  supuose  the  sfntleman  imdei-- 
stands  there  is  uo  motion    before  i  he  House. 

Dr.  Boarduian.  I  will  make  a  motion  in  a  min- 
ute. 1  endeavored  on  Saturday  to  jjet  the  floor  lor 
the  purpose  of  olltring  an  amendment  to  the  reso- 
lution which  was  adopted,  but  fading  so  to  do,  I 
will  now  present  the  ideuticul  resohition  which  1 
pvopobtd  to  oiler  on  Saturday.  I  will  simply  con- 
nect with  that  rt-solutiona  proposal  to  refer  this  pa- 
per to  the  committee  already  ajapoioted  on  the  case 
of  these  Louisville  brethren.  1  ofi'er  the  following 
resolution ; 

Resolved,  That  the  said  committee  be  instructed  to 
inquire  and  to  report  witli  the  least  practical  delay 
on  the  expediency  of  reaumitcing  that  delegation  to 
seats  in  the  Assembly  until  their  case  and  that  of 
their  i're^byttry,  shall  have  been  acted  upon. 

I  have  talked  with  none  of  these  brethren, 'except 
with  a  single  one  of  them,  whom  I  have  laljen  li^ 
the  hand,  eitlitr  in  the  aisle  of  the  church  or  on  the 
front  steps.  I  amnotiu  iheir  councils.  I  had  no 
intimation  that  they  purposed  to  cume  before  us 
with  this  paper  or  any  other.  The  resolutiot;  which 
1  have  just  read  was  prepared  entirely  on  in.v  own 
motion,  under  tlie  profound  ccnviction,  Mr.  Mode- 
rator, that  as  a  General  Assembly  we  have  placed 
ourselves,  not  merely  in  a  most  undesirable  posi- 
tion, but  in  a  most  iierilous  position.  I  think  we 
are  in  a  false  position.  1  need  nfit  say  that  the 
danger  of  legislating  in  times  of  great  public 
excitement,  is  verg  great  and  imminent.  1  need 
not  revert  to  that  illustration  of  ic  ttiat  meets 
us  so  j)erpetually  and  to  which  the  sessitms  of  the 
last  hour  have  presented  a  serie.s  of  illustrations. 
Every  man  is  more  or  less  excited,  and  to  that  de- 
gree, indeed,  that  the  most  famiJuir  ijroposltions 
canuot  be  presented  here  and  voted  upon  without 
drawing  in  their  train  the  almost  unliraitfd  se- 
quences, 1  liked  to  have  said,  ot  questions  of  order 
and  rules  of  order  aiid  demands  upon  the  chair  for 
explanations,  which,  indeed,  might  well  perplex 
and  narass  the  most  able  and  experienced  parlia- 
mentary officer. 

Sir,  the  deep  forces  of  society  are  in  motion .  The 
storm  of  war  has  suosided.  Slavery  is  dead  and  re- 
bellion is  dead,  thank  God,  and  sei-ession  is  de.-id, 
thank  God.  Take  that,  brethren !  you  who  have  re- 
peated a  thousand  times  over,  peradventure,  or 
heard  it  repeated,  that  I  have  more  symparliy  ihaii 
you  have  with  secession  and  rebellion.  But  I  am 
not  here,  though,  to  speak  of  myself.  No  man, 
thank  God,  has  more  loyalty  than  I  have.  No  man 
rejoices  more  sincerely  than  I  do  that  this  war  is 
over,  that  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government 
is  re-established  and  that  there  is  some  prospect, 
however  obscure  and  remote,  yet  still  in  the  dim 
distance,  that  this  Avhole  blessed  Union  is  likely 
once  more  to  be  re-established  under  our  glorious 
Constitution. 

But,  sir,  while  the  gale  is  passed,  the  heavy 
ground  swell  is  upon  us,  and  it  reouires  but  a  tyro 
in  the  history  of  navigation  or  commerce  to  know 
that  the  great  peril  that  besets  his  ship,  or  a  gallant 
fleet  even,  is  that  ot  being  lifted  on  the  lee  shore, 
amid  the  heavy  ground  swell  of  the  ocean  after  the 
wind  has  subsided  into  a  periect  calm;  and  that, 
sir,  is  just  the  position  of  our  glorious  Church  to- 
day; and  there  is  no  hand  but  One  who  can  rescue 
us  from  this  peril,  urdess  these  sails  that  are  flap- 
])ing  against  their  yards  shall  be  lilled  and  inflated 
with  the  gales  of  the  blessed  Spirit  and  the  breath  of 
Heaven,  it  need  not  excite  surprise  here  or  else- 
where it  we  shall  yet  find  this  glorious  bark  among 
the  breakers. 

I  have  intimated,  at  least,  that  I  have  no  sympa- 
thy with  the  views  that  have  been  attributed  to  some 
of  these  Louisville  brethren;  but,  sir,  1  have 
some  symijathy,  I  trust,  Avi'h  righteousuess  and 
truth  and  justice,  and  Christian  charity;  1  have 
some  sympathy    with  the  rights  of  any  man  who 


bears  the  form  of  a  man,  and  who  carries  an  immor- 
tal spirit  in  his  bosom,  and  1  will  not  sit  here  wil- 
lingly, I  will  not  sit  here  quietly,  and  see  any  man 
oppressed,  thoush  he  be  the  bitterest  secessionist  iu 
the  land.  If  he  is  to  b«-!  arraigned  and  condemned 
and  beheaded,  it  shall  be  done  in  so  far  as  my  voice 
and  my  humble  influence  can  accomplish  anything 
— it  shall  be  iloue  ucdtr  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  the  Church.  We  live,  sir,  under  a  government 
of  law.  We  are  not  at  liberty  to  take  counsel  of  our 
feelings  or  our  passions.  We  are  not  at  liberty  to 
go  for  our  law  to  prt cedents  to  public,  judici;ii  or 
legislative  assemblies.  We  are  not  at  liberty  to 
open  liur  bosoms  to  all  the  gales  of  human  passions 
that  may  meet  and  cooceutrate  here.  No,  sir,  we 
are  bound  by  that  Book,  and  if  it  were  not  my  de- 
liberate conviction  that  the  teachings  of  that  Book 
had  been  infringed  upon,  I  would  not  trouble  joii 
with  the  remarks  that  I  am  now  making. 

Sir,  I  regret  on  Saturday  that  the  gentleman  who 
called  for  the  previous  question  at  the  close  of  an 
exciting  and  satirical  speech — I  regret  that  he  did 
not  waive  his  right;  I  regret  that  on  two  occasions 
on  the  first  two  days  of  our  session  that  each  of  them 
should  have  been  marked  by  the  inflexible  enforce- 
ment of  the  ]irevious  question.  I  will  come  iires- 
eotly  to  the  alleged  reasons  for  this. 

But  )or  a  moment  let  me  say,  that  I  do  not  re- 
gret the  interruption  which  occurred  siibsequimil.y 
to  the  enforcement  of  the  previous  question  on 
Satuiaay,  and  with  my  brother  here,  1  was  wil- 
ling and  happy  to  give  the  right  hard  of  fellow- 
ship to  our  respected  ard  honored  brother,  who 
Came  to  us  from  a  sister  Assembly  iu  this  city. 
Idid  not  regret  the  interrupiion  afterwards;  1  do 
not  regret  ii  now;  but  I  think  that  that  interesting 
Christian  colloquy  which  occurred  between  the 
honored  representative  of  that  Church  and  our  own 
honored  Moderator  may  have  done  something  to 
open  the  eyes  oi  the  fathers  and  brethren  of  this 
body  to  the  actual  tendencies  of  that  current  into 
which  We  .are  drilting.  But  what  else  did  we  lis- 
ten to?  We  listened  to  an  earnest  and  eloquent 
harangue— not,  as  I  believe,  conceived  pre- 
cisely lu  tiiat  spirit  of  deep  anxiety 
and  solemnity  that  is  reached  when  a  crisis  in  the 
afi"airs  of  the  Church— a  speech  that  was  largely  em- 
bellished with  witticisms — a  speech,  one  of  the 
main  illustrations  in  which  was  drawn  from  abach- 
annalliah  song  by  Robert  Burns,  wherein  Avhisky 
and  the  shootingof  two  men  at  once  were  iluly  mag- 
nilitd — a  speech  in  which  the  majority  of  tliis  house 
Were  triumphantly  reminded  thtxc  we  are  but  a  poor 
handful  of  fifty  to  two  hundred — that  there  was  a 
majority  ot  four  to  one,  but  considerately  appre- 
hendins  the  depth  ot  the  wound  which  that  state- 
ment might  inflict  on  our  sensibilities,  the  stieaker 
was  kina  enough  instantly  to  apply  the  healing  bal- 
sam by  informingus  that  some  years  ago  the  major- 
ity against  him  iu  the  General  Assembly  was  one 
hundred  to  one;  but  that  he  and  one  other  stood 
faithful  alone  among  the  faithless;  that  they  had 
stooa  UP  and  breasted  the  niighiy  torrent  oi  delu- 
sion which  was  then  sweeping  over  our  General  As- 
sembly, and  in  their  judgment  bearing  our  noble 
Church  to  destruction. 

Sir,  history  repeats  itself.  That  which  has  been 
is  that  which  may  be,  and  if  a  minority  ot  two  may 
in  )?the  course  of  a  few  years  rise  to  be  a 
majority  ot  200,  a  minority  of  .50  to  200  may  rise  to 
become  a  majority  ot  250,  and  in  the  Providence  of 
God,  sir,  the  50  may  once  more  be  reinstated  witli 
their  privileges,  and  may  once  more  see  the  desire 
of  their  hearts  accomplished,  and  may  find  their 
good  old  Church  once  more  sailing  in  that  dark 
blue  sea,  where  from  her  foundation  she  has  been 
quietly  navigating  until  now.  Sir,  do  not  glory  in 
your  majority.  Truth  is  stronger  than  majorities, 
and  in  the  end  truth  will  triumph. 

Wtll,  sir,  in  respect  to  the  assault  that  was  made 
upon  certain  brothren  of  this  city.  It  is  a  delicate 
matter  to  refer  to  three  or  four  ot  those  brethren 
who  came  forward,  as  you  remember,  and  who 
were  not  arraigned  in  this  indictment  with  the  men 
of  Louisville;  bur  who  stood,  Mr.  Moderator  and 
brethren  of  the  Assembly,  in  the  same 
C(mdemuation,  and  who  said  we  hold  to  the 
principles  of  these  brethren,  and  if  they  are  to 
suffer  one  wish  to  suffer  with  them.    To  my  m:nd. 


so 


8ir,  there  waa  Bomething  honorable  In  It.  I  thought 
it  was  jast,  and  Cdristiau,  aa"!  maaly— Just  wQat 
It  became  them  to  say.  and  just  what  it  became 
them  to  do;  and  I  should  have  supposed  that  they 
would  at  least  have  wou  the  respect  of  those  mem- 
bers of  this  Assembly.  But  yet  what  do  we  beiir? 
an  ai tempt  to  transfix  these  brethren  aa  would  be 
martyrs,  and  they  were  held  up  to  ridicule  and  their 
motives  were  as.sailed.  We  were  told  in  eflect  that 
they  were  playing  the  hypocrite— that  tbey  were 
courting  a  mere  rose-water  martvrdom,  and  that 
you;  bir,  in  trie  preseDce  of  their  owu  conxregation, 
and  of  the  people  whose  munitJceut  hospitality  we 
ere  accepting — even  in  such  a  presence  as  this  the 
brother  was  not  ashamed  to  pour  his  ridicule  and 
eatire,  and  exhaust  his  fertile  cai3acity  of  Jnveciive 
upon  the  pasturs  of  these  St.  Louis  churches.  Well, 
fair,  whether  this  is  a  matter  of  taste  or  not,  it  la  a 
matter  of  inscmct,  and  although  no  great  amount  cf 
care  and  study  may  have  been  given  to  an  analysis 
of  the  human  mind  and  its  instincts,  yet  t'lis  Gen- 
eral Assembly  is  sufficiently  conversant,  with  the 
human  constitution  to  understand  that  an  '■  in- 
stinct" is  something  congenital.  It  is  hereditary, 
and  if  it  is  not  m  a  man  when  he  comes  into  the 
world,  you  cannot  put  it  in.  With  anything  else, 
in  any  other  department  of  the  human  "mind  or  the 
human  coustitutinn,  you  may  do  something  by  care 
and  culture  with  the  human  "intellect.  Wuj  ,  in  the 
suburbs  of  our  cily,  we  have  an  admirable"  institu- 
tion lor  tiie  trainiug  of  feeble-minded  cailaren,  and 
it  is  maivelloua  what  results  have  been  atrained 
ihere  under  thefaithiul  tutilage  of  the  guardians  of 
that  institution,  to  whom  scores  of  idi(nic  chilurt-n 
have  been  committed,  and  by  God's  blessiD>r  toey 
have  waked  up  their  slumbering  spark  of  intellect, 
even  in  the  inost  stupid  of  these  unUttppy  creatures. 
We  all  know  you  may  do  very  much  to  educate  the 
affections;  you  mav  do  very  much  towards  educat- 
ing the  conscience,  but  just  before  I  lelt  tiome,  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  principal  of  a  well  known 
Accademical  institution  in  our  State  who  had 
occaRiou  to  write  me  about  two  boys,  and  he  gave 
no  verj'  attractive  portraiture  of  their  characters 
and  tempers,  and  among  other  things,  ne  said  when 
they  came  to  him  they  had  no  conscience,  and  he 
had  to  inculcate  a  moral  sense  into  them.  Well, 
sir,  you  may  put  a  moral  sense  ;  into  a  boy,  but  you 
Ciunot  put  an  instinct  into  nim,  and  therefore  when 
I  refer  t  J  such  demonstrations  as  we  had  on  Satur- 
(tay,  and  in  such  a  presence  I  simijly  say,  sir,  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  instinct  whether  such  things  are 
becoming  and  fitting  among  a  people  at  whose 
generous  boards  we  are  sitting  down  and  with 
whom  tve  are  daily  interchanging  the  sweet  inter- 
courses of  triendship. 

Well,  Mr.  Moderator,  now  for  the  merits  of 
the  case.  Tliis  Assembly  remember  the  proceedings 
that  were  enacted  before  our  eyes  upon  this  plat- 
form, and  with  which  our  hearts  went  out  with  lull 
sympathy  between  you,  Mr.  Moderator,  and  an 
honored  representative  of  one  of  our  sister 
churches.  We  well  remember,  brethren,  that  the 
whole  tone  of  this  proceeding  on  the  one  side  and 
on  the  other  was  bland,  refined,  courteous,  and 
fi-aternal.  You  will  remember  that  there  was  no 
harsh  word  uttered,  as  there  surely  was  no  unkind 
emotion  felt,  but  that  there  was  a  just  and  mutual 
attraction — the  attraction  of  a  ijlessed  elective 
affinity,  all  the  more  signiticant,  aU  the  more  em- 
phatic, because  it  was  the  outgoing  of  a  sentiment 
which  has  been  seeking  expression  and  growing  in 
strength  for  several  years  past,  and  it  was  alto- 
gether a  delightful  exhibition  of  a  Christian  re- 
union. What  fruits  may  come  of  it  hereafter,  I  do 
not  know,  and  this  is  not  the  point  to  discuss  that 
question.  But,  sir,  I  will  tell ym  what  it  was  like, 
coming  after  that  other  tpeebh.  Have  you  ever 
been  in  a  mine,  brethren?  Have  yon  ever  been  la 
one  of  those  lonely,  dark,  dank  mines  in  the  heart 
of  a  mountain,  with  everything  hlack  around  you, 
with  the  water  dripping  from  the  sides  and  .from 
the  ceiling,  with  the  air  chilling  your  very  frame, 
compelling  you  to  wrap  your  overcoat  around  you ; 
and  have  you  sone  out  in  the  sweet  month  of  May 
inio  the  pure  sut)shiDe  of  heaven,  and  drawn  along 
breath,  while  the  fields  looKed  greener  than  ever 
and  the  sun  brighter,  and  have  you  not  felt  as  Pil- 
grim felt   when   his   burden  fell  from  his  back,  as 


you  went  forward  with  accelerated  step?  Why, 
Hir,  iC  was  like  getting  into  another  atmosphere  on 
Satarday  when  we  came  from  the  experience  of  one 
of  these  speeches  to  the  experience  of  that  blessed 
interlocutory.  And  I  could  not  but  ask  myself, 
Why  is  this?  Here  is  a  brother  from  a  sister  Church, 
not  one  ot  our.-.  We  love  him,  we  honor  him,  bu: 
he  is  not  one  of  our  household.  He  c  jmes  from  an- 
other Church,  and  we  open  our  arms  to  em- 
brace, we  lift  our  bauds  in  benediction  upon 
him,  and  we  bid  him  and  hi*  God- 
speed and  we  sent  him  home  laden  with  the  high 
expressions  and  tokens  of  our  Christian  affection 
and  good  will.  Bat  here  is  another  set  of  brethren 
—  call  them  the  Declava'Jon  and  Testimony  men, 
call  them  what,  you  will — I  do  not  approve  of  their 
l>ec!aiat!on  and  Testimony.  I  think  they  have  gone 
too  far.  I  think  they  have  been  inconsistent,  but 
nevertheless  they  are  brethren.  They  grew  up  in 
our  household.  Tbey  have  always  sac  at  our 
board.  They  are  ours.  They  are  ours.  But,  sir, 
while  we  have  spoken  with  gentleness,  tenderness 
and  affection  towards  our  brelhern  irom  without, 
we  have  turned,  Mr.  Moderator,  to  these  brethren, 
of  our  own  household,  and  instantly  our  visagn 
h^s  been  overshadowed,  and  we  have  looked  at  them 
with  a  stern,  unrelenting  brow,  and  we  have  made 
the  very  utmost  of  their  er.'ors  and  their  trailties. 
We  have  S'lid  to  oar  brethren  from  abroad,  we  are 
willing  to  overlook  and  forget  many  a  hard  thing 
you  pave  said,  end  many  an  unbound  doc- 
trine you  have  cherished,  and  many  a  conflict 
in  whioh  we  have  met;  dnd  i-o,  while  we  are  g'ad  to 
St  e  them  sailirpr  down  the  broad  stream  of  oblivion, 
we  have  taken  the  errors  and  mistakes  of  t^ete  men: 
every  f4leest>=pthey  have  made,  every  unkind  st-nti- 
menc  that  in  their  moments  of  passion  may  have 
fallen  from  their  lips,  we  have  taken  and  vi.^ited 
upon  them  a  rhadaiaanthine  justice.  Why  is  this, 
sir?  Why  is  this?  I  will  not  answer  the  question. 
Let  me  come  to  these  Louisville  men.  But  after 
all — alter  all — all  ihar  has  been  said  belongs  to  the 
concomitants  and  coUareral-  of  this  case,  and  I  have 
not  touched  upon  the  gravamen  of  the  question  be- 
fore us . 

Here,  sir,  on  the  first  day  of  this  question,  there 
came  Jour  '.brethren  from  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
vdie  and  presented  their  credentials  to  your  Com- 
mittee OQ  Commission — your  Committee,  not  theirs. 
Thac  Committee  passed  upon  them  and  found  them 
regular.  Their  names  were  enrolled.  They  took 
their  seats  upon  the  floor  by  the  same  authority, 
Mr.  Moderator,  with  which  you  and  I  sit  here. 
There  was  no  question.  There  was  no  question  as 
to  the  accuraey  or  regularity  or  validity  of  this 
commission.  Tlie  Presbytery  of  Louisville  was  a 
Presbytery  in  good  standing,  as  nmch  so  as  the 
Presbytery  of  Chillicothe,  or  the  Presbytery  of 
Miami,  or  as  the  Presbytery  down  in  Jersey— I 
don't  know  which  it  is— who  sent  a  brother  here  to 
move  a  previous  question.  That  Presbytery  wa'* 
and  is  in  as  good  standing  as  any  of  these,  and 
these  men  are  here  by  a  right  as  clear  and  indis- 
putable as  we  are — any  of  us — and  what  did  you 
do?    Well,  sir,  here  is  what  you  did : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  ap- 
pointed, composed  of  four  ministers  and  three 
elders,  to  examine  mfo  the  facfs  connected  with  the 
alleged  acts  and  proceedings  of  the  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery, and  whether  it  is  entitled  to  representation 
in  this  General  Assembly,  and  to  recommend  what 
action,  if  any,  this  General  Assembly  should  take 
with  regard  to  this  said  Presbytery. 

Well,  sir,  since  the  world  began,  since  the  Insti- 
tutions of  Justinian  were  organized  and  establish- 
ed, was  it  ever  heard  that  a  set  of  men  were  put 
upon  trial  under  an  indictment  like  that? 

"Alleged  acts!"  What  are  they?  They  are  not 
stated  here  on  this  paper  under  which  they  are  con- 
demned. Certain  things  are  referred  to  in  debate; 
what  has  it  to  do  with  the  action  of  this  bouse? 
Whit  explanation  is  there  to  be  of  that  resolution 
as  it  goes  dovvn  to  your  successors?  I  will  not  say 
that  a  dUigent  Archa'ological  student  in  some  distant 
period  of  the  Church  may  not  be  able  to  find  out 
what  the  first  groand  of  this  proceeding  vvas;  but 
surely,  sir,  it  was  the  equitable  right  of  these 
brethren  to  be  intormed  in  the  paper  and  resolution 


31 


by  which  they  were  condemned,  what  they  were 
coudemned  lor;  and  ii  they  were  to  be  excluded 
from  seats  in  the  house,  what  they  were  to  be  ex- 
cluded for? 

Mr.  JJavidson.  Moderator,  I  wish  to  make  a 
point  of  order.  I  wish  to  inquire  whether  or  not, 
under  this  discussion,  the  inerita  of  the  original 
resdlution  are  to  be  disciissifd,  wlietlier  or  not  the 
resolution  offered  by  Dr.  Boardtnau  i ;  the  question 
befire  the  house? 

The  Moderator .  I  think,  under  the  previous  reso- 
lution for  the  appointment  of  this  committee,  a  very 
wide  range  was  allowed  to  tlie  detiave.  From  that 
prc'cedeut  I  thmk  Dr.  Boardmiin  is  in  order.  It 
is  impossible  for  the  Moderator,  and  I  think  dif- 
llcult  lor  the  members  of  the  As.sembly,  to  point  out 
a  course  of  argument  which  a  person  shall  take,  or 
the  illustrations  he  shall  use, 

Mr.  Davidson  made  some  further  remark  which 
was  inaudible. 

The  Moderator.  I  cannot  hear  the  remarks  of  the 
peniteman.  I  have  already  decided  the  point  of  or- 
der.   I  think  no  further  debate  is  allowed. 

A  member  m  h  distant  part  of  the  house  also 
made  a  remark  which  was  iiauudible. 

The  iVIoderator.  Allow  me  ro  say,  aithougU  I  have 
decided  the  point  of  older,  that  1  think  lour  or  live 
>!entlemeu  from  St.  Louis  and  other  parts  of  iMis- 
souri,  from  Louisville  and  New  York  tooK  a  very 
wide  range;  Dr.  Thomas  was  allowed  to  take  the 
same,  and  I  do  not  think  Dr.  Boardman  is  going  be- 
yond what  was  allowed  them.  I  therefore  think  he 
IS  in  order.  It  is  only  live  minutes  before  we  reach 
the  order  of  the  day. 

A  mem  her.  I  move  that  the  order  of  the  day  be 
suspended. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Dr.  Boaidman.  Mr.  Moderator,  I  think  I  can 
relieve  the  mind  of  the  brother  over  the  way,  and 
any  other  brother  who  may  be  similarly  exercised 
m  respect  to  the  pi-rtiuency  of  this  line  of  ai^ament 
to  the  resolution  which  I  have  presented  to  the  As- 
uembly.  It  is  only  a  further  confirmation  of  what  I 
was  just  about  referring  to,  namely,  the  extra- 
ordinary stale  of  mind  which  has  heen  indi- 
cated by  the  remark  made  flfty  times  over 
— if  not  on  the  floor,  where  there  is 
but  little  opportunity  to  make  it— off  the  floor,  and 
which  I  have  heard  from  men  of  extreme  views,  and 
from  men  not  of  extreme  views— the  resolution  adp- 
ted  by  the  house  on  Friday  in  respect  to  these  Louis- 
ville orethren  was  a  mere  "preliminary"  proce- 
dure. "Ob,  a  mere  preliminary  procedure." 
"Bide  your  time,  brethren,  you  will  nave  time  to 
discuss  this  question." 

Now,  sir.  It  is,  to  my  mind,  the  most  striking  and 
significant  demonstration  that  has  occurred  in  this 
house.  That  the  cloud  that  has  been  brought  iu 
uijon  us  and  overshadowed  us— not  like  that  cloud 
of  refulgent  tight  which  lUumioated  the  Mount  of 
Trtiusjiguratlon,  but  rather,  sir,  like  one  of  those 
clouds  of  midnight  blackness  which  ome  from  yon 
Western  horizon,  and  enfolds  everything  within  its 
reach.  A  '  'preliminary  proceeding, ' '  is  it,  breth- 
ren? 

Suppose,  sir— the  case  is  supposable— that  amem- 
ber  miould  rise  in  his  place  ou  tuis  floor,  with  a  duly 
prepared  paper,  and  should  say :  "Mr.  Moder.T.tor , 
I  am  credihly  informed  there  are  raemberc  on  the 
floor  of  this  Assembly  who  for  years  have  not  given 
a  particle  of  attention  to  their  appropriate  work  as 
Christian  ministers — brethren  who  hav«  brought  the 
tables  of  the  money  changers  into  the  houae  ot 
God;  brethren  whose  walks  are  associated,  tar  and 
near,  not  with  the  highest  spiritual  Junctions  of  the 
ministry  of  reconcihaticn,  but  with  questions  of 
Wad  street,  and,  sir,  I  deem  it  due  to  the  purity  of 
this  house  that  before  we  can  sit  together  they  shall 
be  excluded  from  the  floor,  and  a  comuiictec  ap- 
pointed to  iDVentigate  their  claims  to  a  seat.  And 
now,  sir,  I  move  the  previous  question." 

Would  that  be  a  "preliminary  question?" 
Would  brethren  upon  whom  the  ax  happened  to  fall, 
regard  It  as  a  "  preliminary  proceeding!" 

What  better  right  have  vou  or  i  here  to-day  than 
to  a  seat  upon  this  floor  ?  You  deprive  me,  in 
wresting  iliat  right  from  me,  of  all  opportunity  of 
explanation— of  all  opportunity  of  self-defense,  and 
if  X  am  arraign v-d  and  csnsured,  if  I  atu  about  to  b* 


cast  out  of  the  Church  of  my  fathers — the  Church 
upon  whose  bosom  I  pillowed  my  head,  upon  whose 
bosom  I  hope  to  rest,  and  upon  whose  bosom  I  hope 
to  rest  in  my  dying  hours,  and  if  there  is  a  tear  to 
be  shed  by  anybody  on  my  humble  grave,  I  hope  it 
may  come  from  that  honored  mother. 

Sir,  this  Church  is  dear  to  me,  and  all  its  rights 
are  dear  to  me,  and  in  striking  down 
the.se  brethren  they  have  struck  at  me  and  struck 
at  you,  sir,  and  every  man  on  this  floor,  and 
every  convenient  method  of  defense.  And,  sir, 
rely  upon  it,  it  is  not  tha  mode  of  procedure  which 
is  recognized  in  the  house  of  God  ;  it  is  not  the 
method  of  dealing  with  the  highest  and  most  sacred 
rights  of  Christian  men  and  Christian  ministers, 
which  is  prescribed  in  that  Constitution  ;  it  is 
an  utter  invasion  ot  all  those  rights.  You  not  only 
fiuci  no  precedent  for  it  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
and  no  precedence  for  Jt  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tian jurisprudence,  I  take  it. 

Sir,  did  this  General  Assembly  in  1?37,  when 
the  minute  was  already  prepared  by  the  band  of 
Ih&t  revered  and  illustrious  man,  Dr.  Baxter, 
of  Virginia,  (for  he  wrote  it  m  my  house,)  a  minute 
which  WS4S  to  lay  the  foundation  for  the  excluding  of 
those  four  Syneils— sir,  did  the  General  Assejnbly 
introduce  that  minute,  or  the  commutee  who  pre- 
sented it,  avid  say,  "Moderator,  I  move  the  previ- 
ous question?' '  And  did  the  General  Assembly  sus- 
tain the  previous  question?  And  did  the  members 
from  these  four  Synods  get  up  and  go  out  of  the 
house,  or  were  they  allowed  the  amplest  laurude  of 
debate?  When  the  General  Assembly  dissolved  the 
three  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia  which  gave  them 
so  much  trouble  for  many  years,  did  they  begin,  sir, 
by  excladingthe  members  of  those  Presbyteries  from 
the  house,  or  did  they  give  them  plenary  opportunity 
to  say  what  reason  they  had  why  they  should  not  b'e 
dissolved? 

Sir,  do  you  suppose  there  is  a  court  sitting  in  that 
noble  edifice  over  the  way — [pointing  towards  the 
Court  House]— an  edifice  which  wemla  embelish  any 
city  in  any  land — do  you  suppose  there  is  a  court 
Bitting  there  this  morning  that  would  dare  to  try  the 
veriest  outlaw  that  this  miserable  jiil— the  only 
miserable  thing  is  St.  Lruis,  1  believe— that  would 
dare  to  try  the  veriest  outlaw  in  this  miserable  jail 
for  the  pettiest  offense — for  stealing  a  pocket-hana- 
kerchief,  if  yon  will,  except  the  man  were  tried  at 
the  bar,  and  he  or  his  counsel  had  opportunity  to 
say  why  he  siiould  n-  t  go  to  the  penitentiary. 

Sir,  there  is  at  this  time  in  the  jail  of  Philadelphia 
a  monoter— you  will  have  heard  of  him— a  man 
Whose  name  will  go  down  to  posterity  as  the  prince 
of  assassins— a  man,  who  in  cold  blood  deliberately 
murdered  a  whole  lamily  of  eight  persons 
— the  father,  the  mother,  the  sister,  thehirea  boy, 
the  child,  infant  upon  its  mother's  breast — this 
fiend  incarnate,  a  walking  devil,  if  there  be  one. 
And,  sir,  he  ws.s  tried  the  other  day,  and  he  is  now 
waiting  the  gallows.  But  what  did  they  do  ?  Why, 
sir,  they  brought  him  into  the  court  room,  and 
even  AVith  the  universal  conviction  on  the  mind  of 
that  community  that  this  man  was  a  monster — not 
worthy  to  live  even — with  the  full  assnrauce  that  the 
mob  would  ambush  the  man  on  its  way  to  gather 
aroune  thejgates  of  the  public  square,  through  which 
he  must  pass;  that,  if  it  were  possible,  by  strategy 
and  force,  to  rescue  him,  they  would  hang  hiin  to 
the  Urst  lamji  po-'t.  Sir,  that  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  would  no  more  have  dared  to 
try  that  wretch  without  having  arraigned 
him  at  the  bar  before  them  than  they  would 
hdvedared,  sir,  to  have  tried  you  or  me — not  a  bit. 
Sir,  if  it  required  the  whole  military  force  of  Phil- 
adelphia to  escort  that  man  safely  to  the  court  room 
and  back  to  his  prison,  the  military  lorce  of  the 
city  would  have  been  called  out  to  do  it. 

I  tell  you,  sir,  you  are  traversing  here  one  of  the 
fundaruenta!  principles — I  will  not  say  of  jurispru- 
dence, but  of  Amerieau  liberty,  ana  of  all  liberty. 
[AppliUre  in  the  galleries.]  I  tell  you  there  is  no 
Safety  from  any 

The  Moderator.  It  was  suggested  the  other  day , 
very  properly  by  a  member  of  this  body,  which  S 
eecondtd,  that  there  should  be  no  demonstration  of 
applause  or  disapprobation  on  either  side  in  the 
discussion  of  thia  exciting  question.  As  I  said  the 
other  day,  I  hope  oior  kind  fri«na»   "Wbo  bonoi*  ub 


g^ 


with  their  presence  will  observe  the  proprieties  be- 
longing to  this  body. 

Dr.  Boardmau.  Well,  sir,  I  say  there  is  no  safety 
for  any  man  if  this  priuciple  is  to  be  recognized 
which  is  embodied  here. 

My  brethren  and  fathers— I  mnst  say  it— I  believe 
a  mistaken  judgment  is  embodied  in  the  hasty  action 
of  this  body  on  Friday  last.  And  I  say  it  was  a  wo- 
ful  thing  for  a  great  assembly,  representiug  one  of 
the  greatest  Churches  on  this  continent,  or  of  the 
world— a  Church  which  has  gloried  alilie  in  holding 
forth  the  banner  as  well  of  civil  as  of  religious  liberty 
in  all  lands  and  wherever  yonder  sim  circuits  the 
earth— it  is  a  woful  thing  that  a  General  Assembly  of 
this  sort  should  set  its  baud  to  a  principle  wliich 
goes  to  subvert  all  human  rights  and  all  human  lib- 
erty. 

Sir,  these  men  must  be  heard;  and  you  will  not 
sleep  quietly  until  they  are  heard.  You  may  have 
four  to  one — yes,  sir,  and  you  may  have  tour  hun- 
dred to  one,  but,  sir,  you  are  on  trial  yourself— we 
are  on  trial ;  and  thus  far  we  have  made  but  a  very 
Ijoor  showing  of  it. 

The  sentiment  has  gone  over  this  community — 
among  the  men  that  have  been  faithful  Union  men 
during  the  war — that  have  poured  out  tbeir  money 
lilie  water,  and  that  have  stood  by  the  old  flag  witli 
an  inflexible  fidelity — and  among  the  men  whose 
sympathies  have  been  supposed  to  be  m  the  other 
direction — the  sentiment  has  gone  forth  thi-ough  this 
community  that  you  are  proceeding  beyond  the 
principles  of  enlightened  Cnristiau  liberty,  or  of  a 
government  of  law  or  a  constitution  of  iree- 
dom,  and  upon  the  principles  of  despotism; 
and  the  reiJUtatiou  of  the  Church  is  con- 
cerned in  it.  We  cannot  afiortl  that  Bort 
of  thing;  we  cannot  afford  to  have  it  pleaded  by 
politicians  who  may  have  their  schemes  to  accom- 
plish and  their  purposes  to  achieve;  we  cannot 
aflbrd  to  have  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  cited  as  a  venerable 
precedent  as  giving  sanction  to  these  foul  and  op- 
pressive measures .  No,  sir,  we  mnst  adhere  to  the 
great  doctrine  of  human  rights,  to  the  principles  of 
our  constitution  and  this  great  American  Republic. 
I  do  not  refer  merely  to  our  respected  friends,  our 
fellow  citizens,  I  nitiy  say,  for  the  time  being,  to 
the  comparatively  limited  assembly  which  can 
crowd  itself  within  these  doors.  We  are  on  trial 
before  the  American  people,  and  before  all  the 
churches  of  all  lands,  before  the  whole  civilized 
world.  And  1  tell  you,  sir,  that  if  this  action  goes 
forth  unmodified,  uuiecalled,  unredressed, 
by  what  you  are  yet  to  do.  it  will  turn  out  with 
you  as  it  turned  out  in  that  memorable  conflict  be- 
tween Borne  and  Carthage.  "One  more  .suoli  vic- 
tory wdl  prove  your  defeat  and  overthrow. ' '  Sii-, 
do  you  imagine— is  any  member  of  this  bouse  so 
simple  as  to  imagine — that  these  men  have  been 
silenced  ?  No,  Moderator,  there  is  a  silence  that 
speaks  louder  than  seven  thunders;  there  is  a  sub- 
lime allusion  to  that  sort  of  silence  in  the  opening 
of  the  nineteenth  psalm,  when  the  Psalmist,  Jifting 
up  his  eyes  to  the  starry  heavens,  and  referring  lo 
their  perfect  symphony,  says — for  you  will  omit, 
as  you  know  very  well,  brethren,  the  words  that 
have  been  interpolated  by  the  translator — "There  is 
no  speech,  nor  language."  "Their  voice  is  not 
heard."  "There  is  no  speech,  nor  langu^^^e." 
"Their  voice  is  not  heard. ' ' 

But  is  it  not  heard?  Do  we  not  know  what  the  mu- 
sic of  the  spheres  is?  When  you  go  out  on  o^e  of 
these  splendid  moonlight  niglits,  litt  un  yciir  eyes 
to  the  canopy  above — do  you  not  hear  mu^ic  as 
sweet  as  that  which  flowed  oyer  the  plains  of  J>eth- 
lehem? 

I  tell  you,  sir,  that  the  silence  of  these  men  who 
sat  along  here  but  the  other  day,  clothed  with  their 
sacred  right: — that  the  silence- the  enforced  silence 
of  these  men,  is  a  voice  which  will  make  itself  heard 
throughout  the  whole  land. 

Sir,  you  cannot  suppress  it.  You  might  as  well 
attempt  to  cairn  this  magnificent  river  tnat  pours 
its  mighty  torrent  down  to  the  Ocean — you  might  as 
well  attempt  to  impose  chains  on  the  blessed 
atmosphere  of  God  which  is  diffused  over 
the  whole  earth.  Why,  sir,  God  has  not 
left  the  weak  powerless.  Jn  many  a 
condition  of  aflairs — in  many  a  relation  m  lite,  i-<  it 


verified  as  well  as  in  the  personal  experiences  of 
Christian  believers.  "When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I 
strong." 

Sir,  you  have  delegated  these  men  with  a  power 
of  speech — with  a  mighty  influence  which  they 
never  coula  have  exercised--a  power  which  they 
never  could  have  attained  here,  had  y(^iu  surrender- 
ed this  platform  to  thorn  exclusively  for  a  week  to- 
gether. 

Let  them  do  their  worst,  sir,  they  could  not  have 
done  for  tliemselves  what  you  have  aoue  for  them, 
by  sending  them  forth  branded  men  without  tbe 
opportunity  of  makiog  a  defense.  It  has  gone  over 
this  comnmnity.  and  if  the  ])eople  your  are  staying 
with  do  not  delicately  hint  to  you,  it  wiU  be  be- 
cause tbeir  courtesy  forbids  it. 

God  has  put  that  feeiing  in  the  human  bosom— He 
has  lodged  it  there  in  the  deepes-t  recesses  of  human 
nature— He  has  incorporated  it,  I  might  say,  in 
almost  every  human  heart — that  sense  of  sympathy 
with  the  wronged,  of  compassion  for  the  fteble. 
Why,  Moderator,  there  is  every  day  an  example 
which  might  occur.  Suppose  you  see  a  group  of 
boys,  and  there  is  a  quarrel  among  tbem,  and  halt' 
a  dozen  of  them  have  taken  one  poor  scamp  and 
tied  his  hands  behind  him,  thrust  a  gag  in  his 
mouth,  and  are  attempting  to  beat  and  to  pumint'l 
him — what  would  you  say  ?  Suppose  they  tola  you 
he  is  the  greatest  little  rascal  in  tbe  street;  he  Pas 
done  ail  manner  of  wicked  things.,  and  is  likely  to 
do  just  as  many  more— what  would  you  say,  sirj; 
You  would  feel  like  shaking  them,  and  if  you  had 
your  official  gavel  in  vour  hand,  Mr.  Moderator,  if 
the  little  wretches  did  not  desist.  Christian  man 
that  you  are,  and  averse  to  controversy  as  you  are, 
I  almost  fear  yon  would  strike  the  little  scamps 
tiiemselves  upon  the  head,  as  I  know  you  have 
hit  a  good  many  others  on  the  head.     [Merriment.! 

Now,  1  tell  you,  sir,  that  is  what  you  would  havs 
done.  You  have  put  these  men  in  a  position  where 
every  fair  minded  man  who  looks  at  these  matters, 
in  any  other  atmosphere  than  one  which  is  be- 
clouded as  this  is— one  who  looks  at  these  things 
from  a  point  where  these  conflicting  and 
surging  tides  of  prejudice  and  passion 
and  remembered  wrong,  or  anticipated 
evil,  are  not  met  in  mighty  conflict — you 
have  put  these  men  in  a  position  where  the  heart  of 
every  man,  and  I  am  sure  of  every  woman,  (who 
in  otner  circumstances  than  these)  will  go  forth  in 
sympathy. 

I  do  not  want  to  be  in  this  position.  I  do  not 
fear  the  tongues  of  tbese  men;  but  I  do  fear  the  re- 
sults of  treating  with  injustice  and  oppression;  I 
dre-id  their  silence.  I  tell  you  tbey  have  a  right  to 
be  heard;  and  I  tell  you  thev  have  a  right  to  be 
heard , on  what  tbese  honored  brettiern  call,  this 
"preliminary  proceeding."  My  conscience!  A 
preliminary  proceedining  which  unseats  them. 

Kev.  Mr.  Crozier,  Moderator.  I  would  like  to 
ask  the  gentleman  if  he  has  read  the  disciplineV 

Dr.  Boardman.  Certainly;  I  am  glad  to  read 
anything  from  the  book,  and  I  wish  the  Assembly 
Would  study  it  more . 

Rev.  Mr.  Crozier.  I  would  just  like  to  point  to 
the  «;hurch  Discipline,  ch.  4,  sec.  18. 

'  'As  cases  may  arise  in  which  many  days  or  even 
weeks  may  intervene  before  it  is  practicable  to  com- 
mence process  against  an  accused  church  member, 
the  session  may,  in  such  oases,  and  ought,  if  they 
think  the  edification  of  the  church  requires  it,  to 
prevent  the  accused  from  approaching  the  Lord's 
table  until  the  charge  against  him  can  be  exauL- 
ined." 

And  also  to  chapter  ~i,  section  11  ; 

'  'When  a  member  of  a  church  judicatory  is  under 
process,  it  shall  be  discretionary  with  tlie  judica- 
tory whether  his  privileges  of  deliberating  and  vot- 
ing, as  a  member,  in  other  matters,  shall  be  sus- 
pended until  the  process  is  flnallv issued,  or  not." 

Dr.  Boardman.  I  should  like  to  inquire  if  these 
brethren  are  '  'under  process . ' ' 

Rev.  Mr.  Crozier.  1  think  they  are. 

Dr.  Boardman.  Please  read  the  ctiapter  on  pro- 
cess for  the  benefit  of  the  Assembly. 

Rev.  Mr.  Crozier.  I  just  wished  to  call  your  at- 
tention to  that,  sir. 

Dr.  Boardman.    Exactly;  but  if  you  are  not  dia- 


posed  to  read  it  to  the  Assembly,  please  to  refer  to 
it  for  your  own  illumination. 

Kev.  Mr.  Crozier.  Thank  you,  sir.  [Merri- 
ment.] 

Br.  Boardman.  "Why,  sir,  this  is  the  most  cheer- 
ful thing  that  has  happened  to-day.  1  am  delighted 
to  see  tliat  one  memCer-  -I  suppose  the  good  brother 
was  one  of  the  two  hundred  who  voted  against  the 
poor  minority  of  fifty — I  am  glad  to  see  this  discus- 
sion has  sent  one  oi'  these  two  hundred  brethren  to 
the  Book  of  Discipline.  My  only  hope  i"  that  this  is 
only  a  beginning,  and  that  he  and  all  the  brethren, 
in  concert,  singly,  or  alone  in  the  si- 
lence of  their  rooms,  may  take  this 
■venerable  hook  aud  sit  down  and  read 
It  through.  There  would  be  no  difilculcy  if  the 
brethren  would  read  it.  I  think  I  will  not  say  any- 
thing a  Dout  this  quotation;  it  i.s  too  bad, 

Nnw,  Moderator,  I  say  that  these  brethren  are 
just  as  much  entitled  to  be  heard  as  any  member  oti 
this  floor  is  entitled  to  be  heard,  and  if  distinctions 
are  to  be  made,  they  are  more  entitled  to  be  heard 
before  you  finally  dispose  of  this  case,  ttian  any 
man  is  to  be  heard  either  for  or  against  them.  It 
may  be  a  question  of  life  aud  death  with  them  and 
their  Presbyteries.  Sir,  by  this  vote  you  have  for  a 
time  disfranchised  one  of  the  largest  Prebbyteriea  of 
the  Church.  I  see  by  the  minutes  that  Presbytery 
has  thirty-three  churches.  You  put  them 
out  of  the  house  aud  entirely  ignore  them. 
We  have  a  right  to  avail  ourselves  ol  the  accumu- 
lated wisdom  and  experience,  and  Chribtian  fidel- 
ity of  every  (J"">nimissioner  appointed  to  this  body, 
in  passing  upon  every  one  of  the  questions  which 
are  or  may  be  acted  upon.  Sir,  questions  may 
come  up  here  which  the  presence  or  absence  of 
these  four  men  might  decide — questions  of  funda- 
mental importance  concerning  the  policy  of  the 
Church;  respecting  the  Theological  Seminaries  of 
the  Church,  and  respecting  the  future  interests  of 
our  blessed  country.  And  so,  therefore,  you 
wrong  not  only  them,  but  you  wrong  us  all.  You 
wrong  our  Presbyteries  aud  Churches  by  exclu- 
ding them  from  their  seats. 

Dr.  Thomas  said  to  us  that  we  have  one  of  our 
Presbyteries  before  us.  I  take  issue  with  him. 
We  have  not  that  Presbytery  before  us.  Where  is 
it  ?  It  is  not  before  us.  You  have  sent  them  out  of 
that  door  Now, sir,  I  see  ttiat  the  tiour  of  adjourn- 
ment is  at  hand,  and  I  have  not  gone  at  all  into  the 
general  merits  of  many  of  the  priuciiples  arid  ques- 
tions involved  in  this  issue.  lam  thankful  I  have 
the  opportunity  of  saying  two  or  three  words, 
and  that  no  brother  has  seen  fit,  or  claimed  the 
right  of  thrusting  in  the  previous  question  upon  me. 
It  might  be  done  when  I  get  through.  Just  do  it  as 
soon  as  you  please. 

But,  sir,  in  conclusion,  no  man  can  look  upon 
this  scene  without  feeling  that  our  Cliurch  is  reach- 
ing a  crisis.  The  Church  is  in  deep  waters  and 
there  are  two  policies  that  meet  us.  Ihere  is  a  fork 
in  the  road,  brethren,  and  you  must  take  one  path  or 
the  other,  and,  under  God,  the  whole  future  of  our 
Church  is  bound  up  in  tne  j)ath  which  you  take.  On 
the  one  nand  there  is  the  path  of  severity  and  stern, 
unrelenting  justice,  and  of  holding  every  man  ac- 
countable lor  every  rash  word  he  has  uttered  and  lor 
every  rash  sentiment  he  has  written  and  f<)r  every 
disloyal — I  refer  to  the  Church— for  every  disloyal 
paragraph  he  has  yiut  forth  in  sermon  or  newspaper; 
you  are  to  hold  every  man  accountable  for  whit  Iws 
gone  forth  from  hiiu  in  tne  season  of  conflict  and 
excitement  which  has  swept  like  a  hurricane  over 
our  land — which  has  filled  it  with  graves  and  mourn- 
ers; and  you  are  to  arrign  every  such  man  at  your 
bar;  you  are  to  visit  upon  him  the  fiill  uenalty  of 
your  jurisijiudence  fur  every  such  olfense.  But  if 
you  do  it,  sir,  your  church  is  divided.  The  Epis- 
copal Church  is  gathering  up  its  scattered  fragments 
to  unite  them  once  more  in  "blessed  fraternity.  The 
Methodist  Church,  North  and  South,  are  clasping 
their  hands  together  over  these  lines  of  blood,  aid 
saying  one  to  another  we  will  not  see  it  Let  iis  be 
brethren  Sir,  it  remains  for  this  Assembly  to  d*^- 
cide  what  shall  be  the  noucj^  of  our  i^huich,  not 
only  for  years  to  conie— for  a  fewyeai-stocome— but 
peradventure  for  a  very  long  period  to  com4. 

You  may  take  the  other   courae,    in  the  spirit  of 
Him  whose  pardoning  inercy  we  are  ail  dependent 


upon,  whose  forgiving  love  we  daily  pray  for  daily 
sins ;  you  may  go  to  these  brethren  and  say, 
brethren  you  do  wrong,  you  have  fallen  in  with  this 
torrent  of  jjublic  passiou,  you  have  violated  the  laws 
of  the  House  of  God;  you  have  said  things  that  are 
discourteous,  that  are  disarfreeuble  and  chat  you 
ought  not  to  nave  said,  but  we  will  not  hold  you  to 
a  ligorous  account;  we  will  bear  with  you  aa  we 
have  need  to  be  borne  with,  and  we  will  bear  with 
you;  if  you  will  come  back  to  our  arms,  here  they 
are. 

Sirs,  on  Saturday  last  I  was  driving  out  through 
the  suburbs  of  this  city.    It  is  a  beautiful  spread  of 
country  that  reaches  far  and  wide,  and  as  you  go 
out  over  the  crtst  of  the  hill,  a  scene  of  surpassing 
beauty  and  tranquility  presents  itself.   On  Saturday 
lastl  was  driving  out  with  a  gentleman  of  this  city,  a 
man  loyal  to  his  heart's  core,  a  man  whose  name  is 
never    mentioned   in    St.  Loiiis    by   any    niin,   of 
whatever  party,  or  profession  or  occupation,    but 
with  honor  and  reverence.  He  said  to  me  what  is  the 
reason  that  the  soldiers— the  men  who  did  the  fight- 
ing— not  the  holiday  soldiers,  butthe  men  who  did 
the  fighting — are  ready  to  exercise  forbearance  and 
forgiveness  and  neace,  while  the  ministers  seem  to 
be  in  favor  of  war.  Sir,  said  I,  you  have  propound- 
ed a  problem  to  me  which  [   caiinot  solve.     1  know 
the  fact,  for  I  have  had  personal  experience  of  it. 
And  here  again  in  one  of  these!  hospitals  during 
the  war.     [I  see  your  hour  has  expired,  aud  I  will 
not  trespass.    Just  give  me  one  minute  or  two,  and 
I   think    I|  can    release    you.]    In    one   of    these 
hospitals    were    two    soldiers.      They    were    very 
badly  wounded.    Those  ministeriag  spirits — those 
bles.-^ed  Christian  women  were  in  the  hospital  visit- 
ing them      I  think  it  was  in  the  strawberry  season, 
and  under  the  direction  ot  the  physician  of  the  es- 
tablishment one  of  them   was  required  to  go  about 
and  mark  the  couches  with  chalk,  aud  all  the  men 
who    could    have    any    strawberries    and  were    in 
that  condition  that   the    fruit   would   injure  them 
had  their  couches  marked.     Well,   there  were  two 
poor  fellows  lying    side  by  side.    One   bed    Was 
marked,  and  the  other  Wdis  not.    A  lady  came  along 
presently,  "Well,"  said  she  to  one  of  them,  "this 
poor  fellow  would  like  some  strawberries,  I  sup- 
pose?"    She  was    bearing  them   with  her.     "No, 
the   Doctor   says    they    will    hurt    him;    he   can't 
live;      he      is      going       to       die       soon.        The 
Doctor      says      strawberries     will     only     hasten 
his      death,     and       he       can't       have      them." 
She  hinded  the  basket  of  strawberries  to  his  fellow. 
She  had  got  but  a  little  way  ofl',  however,  and  whit 
do  you  think  she  saw?    Why,  she  saw  the  man  with 
the  strawberries,  a  Union  soldier,  getting  himself 
out  oi  his  couch,  and  with  his  crutch  he  was  limp- 
ing his  way  over  to  his  fellow's   bed,  and  there  he 
stood  resting  on  his  crutch  and  putting  the  straw- 
berries into  his  comrade's  moutn.     "Why,"  said 
she,    "you    are    Union   men.    I  suppose,   both  of 
you?"      "No,      madam,"      said     he;     "aay   be- 
fore yesterday    this    man    and    I   fought    against 
each     other,      but      we      are      brothers      now." 
"  We  are  brothers  now."    O,  brethren,  can't  you 
see  that?    VVe  have  fought  these  men,  and  we  will 
flght  them  in  time  ot  war.     We  are  here  in  a  State 
that  honors  the  name  of  Thomas  Jefl:erson,  but  you 
ministers  do  not  honor  it  much.     You  never  go  to 
Thomas  Jeflerson  lor  your  ethics,  I  am  sure,  or  to 
that  immortal  document— that  which  came  from  his 
pen,  and  which  is  an  heir-loom  in  every  American 
habitation,    and  which  every  American  boy  com 
mits  t)  memory  substantially,  and  which  is  recited 
every  year  in   your  Nati(mal  Lenislatiire.     In  that 
immortal  document  which  came  from  his  pen,  he 
said,  referring  to  Great  Britain  and  to  the  King  of 
England  aud  t  >  his  people,   '  ■  we  must  regard  them 
as  we  regard  all  other  nations,    as  enemies  in  war; 
in    ijeace,    friends."     Why,    brethren,    is   it    war 
or     is     It     peace?      Shall    they     who    not     only 
profess  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  the  meek  and   lowly 
Savior;  shad  they  whose  professed  voice  and  whose 
h^reditiry  fui  ction  it  is  to  preach  the  gosptl    of 
peace,  to  preach  forKivenerS  and  forbearance,  and 
universal  chariiy- shall   we    set  our  hand^i  to  the 
Btrucious  doctrine  that  any  class  or  coudinonof  men 
in  any  land  shall  be  regtrdea  by  us  enemies  not 
only  in  war,  but  even  iu  peace?    God  forbid  1    God 
forbid! 


u 


I  have  performed  a  painful  and  reluctant  duty, 
Mr.  Mo(*erator.  It' it  is  the  las';  word  I  er-er  say  for 
tnis  beloved  and  ctierished  Crmrch,  I  rejoice  to  have 
hafl  the  opportunity  of  making  an  ample  plea  for 
the  cause  ot  trutii  and  righteousness,  and  Jor  the 
charity  ot  our  ever  blessed  Ued^emer. 

Mr.  Gailaway  of  Ohio.  As  the  hour  of  adjourn- 
ment has  arrived,  I  take  this  opuortunily,  merely, 
to  claim  the  floor  at  the  next  sesnion. 

Rev.  Dr.  Guriey,  from  the  Judicial  Committee, 
reported  tnat  the  committee  had  agreed  for  a  joint 
trial  in  the  case  of  Dr.    Breckinridge  and  others 


against  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  also  on  the 
complaint  of  Dr.  Breckenridge"  against  toe  Presby- 
lery  of  Louisville,  m  the  case  of  J.  P.  McMillen. 

Same  committee  also  reported  on  the  complaint 
of  Rev.  J.  S.  NiccoUsana  others  againattlie  Synod 
of  Missouri,  asking  that  tne  action  of  that  Synod 
may  be  declared  null  aud  void. 

Tne  committee  recommend  that  the  complaint  be 
pustamed,  the  action  of  the  Synod  reversed  and  the 
Synod  censured. 

The  Assembly  then  adjourned  to  9  o'clock  Tues- 
day morning. 


PIFTH  DAY  — TQESAY,  MAY  22,  1866. 


The  Ass(  mbly  met  at  the  usual  hour,  and  after  de- 
votional exercises,  and  the  reading  of  the  minutes, 
the  Committee  appointed  to  arrange  for  an  excur- 
sion on  ttie  Iron  Mcuutain  Railroad,  presented  their 
report,  and  Saturday  next  was  the  day  agreed 
upon. 

The  presentation  of  Synodical  Records  was  next 
in  order. 

Rev.  Dr.  Gurley  and  Lincoln  Clark  were  deputed 
to  represent  this  As.sentbly  to  the  First  Assembly 
now  iu  session  in  this  city. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowrie,  from  the  Committee  of  Bills 
and  Overtures,  presented  Overture  No.  1,  concern- 
ing napers  relating  to  the  forming  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Shantung,  at  Tungehow,  China,  January 
29,  18ti6,  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Charles  R.  Mill,  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Shanghai;  Calvin  W.  Mateer,  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Marien,  and  Hunter  Corbett,  of 
the  Presbjtery  of  Clarion — the  said  Presbytery  to 
be  connected  with  the  Synod  of  New  York. 

The  Committee  tind  that  these  brethren  lollowed 
the  order  prescribed  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
1818,  concerning  the  forming  of  Presbyteries  in  our 
foreign  miss-iouary  fields  abroad,  and  recommend 
that  tne  Presbjtery  of  Shantung  be  recognized  as 
duly  organized,  and  its  name  be  entered  on  the  roll 
of  the  General  Assembly.     Adopted. 

Overture  No.  2— A  memorial  irom  the  Presbytery 
of  Canton,  asking  the  General  Assembly  to  adopt 
resulati  )ns  making  tae  Presbytery  ttie  last  court  of 
appeal  in  certain  cases  which  wilt  occur  in  the  For- 
eign Missionary  Presbyteries,  where  there  is  no  lo- 
cal Synod;  referring  to  the  duhculty  of  such  Presby- 
teries being  represented  in  the  meetings  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  requesting  leave  to  transmit 
tran.?cripis  ot  their  minutes  to  the  Assembly. 

The  committee  regard  the  first  of  these  subjects  as 
worthy  of  continued  consideration,  but  recommend 
that  the  Assembly  take  no  action  concerning  it  at 
present,  and  also  recommecd  that  the  Assembly  ap- 
nrove  of  the  Missionary  Presbyteries  sending  com- 
missioners to  its  meetings,  as  providential  circum- 
stances permit,  as  well  as  of  their  sending  trans- 
cripts ot  their  minutes  to  the  Assembly,  and  in 
general  recommend  that  the  act  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1815,  concerning  Presbyteries  in  India, 
be  extended  to  all  foreign  missionary  Presbyteries, 
Adopted. 

Overture  No.  3— From  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia, asking  the  Assembly  to  provide  a  form  for 
the  organization  of  new  churches,  and  also  an  ad- 
ditional form  for  the  solemnizntion  of  marriage. 
The  committee  recommend  the  following  answer: 
First,  that  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1834,  p. 
177,  on  the  subject  of  organizimr  churches,  is 
deemed  sufficient,  and  the  m'-morialists  are  referred 
to  that  action  as;  lound  in  Baird's  Digest,  pp.  54, 
65.  Second-No  further  action  is  deemed  neces- 
sary on  the  second  point  in  this  overture.  Adopted. 
Overture  No.  4— Being  a  request  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Pas-aic  tO" restore  the  geographical  arrangement 
of  Synods  and  Presbyteries  in  the  printing  of  the 
minutes.  The  committee  recommend  that  no  change 
be  made.    Adopted. 


Overture  No.  5— From  the  Presbytery  of  Leaven- 
worth asking  the  General  Assembly  to  place  the 
church  of  Denver  City,  Colorado  'X'erritory,  now 
reporting  to  that  Presbytery,  together  with  the  oth- 
er churches  of  that  Territory,  under  the  supervision 
and  control  of  some  Presbytery  which  they  in  their 
wisdom  think  may  best  oromote  the  interests  of  the 
Master  in  that  wide  and  interesting  field. 

The  committee  find  that  there  are  but  two  minis- 
ters belonging  to  our  Church  within  the  Territory 
of  Colorado,  and  although  the  organization  of  a 
Presbytery  thf  re  is  desirable  as  soon  as  practica- 
ble, yet  at  present  it  seems  impossible  and  the  com- 
mittee would,  therefore,  recommend  that  this  As- 
semiily  take  no  action  upon  the  subject. 

Ad  jpted . 

Rev.  Mr.  Farquhar  ofl'ered  a  resolution,  that 
the  churches  be  directed  not  to  report  under  the 
liead  of  "congregational"  any  money  received  for 
congregational  purposes,  which  is  tne  interest  of 
permanent  fundss,  belonging  to  churches,  nor  any 
appropriations  from  the  Board  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions. Also  that  the  Stated  Clerks  be  directed  to 
report  as  candidates  all  young  men  who  ai'e  study- 
ing for  the  ministry  under  their  care. 

The  resolntion  was  placed  on  the  docket 

Rev.  Dr.  Loomls  presented  the  following  report 
from  the  Committee  on  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions : 

REPORT  OF  THE    COMMITTEE    ON   FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

The  Committee  on  the  Board  of  Foreign  .Vllsslons  re- 
spectfully report  to  the  General  >■  ssembly  that  they 
have  carefully  examlnea  the  annual  report  of  this 
Board,  -whtcli  contains  a  brief  but  clear  statement  of 
the  condition  of  the  iiil.ssions  under  its  care,  together 
with  the  report  of  the  Treasurer.  We  recommend  Its 
approvft'  and  publication  as  a  document  wortnj-  to  be 
studied  by  all  the  ineuiDersof  our  Church. 

From  it  we  learn  that  cur  Church  sustains  missions 
In  nine  ditlerent  countries  and  at  forty-six  stations; 
that  we  have  employed  seventy-five  ordained  mission- 
aries, nineof  wlioa  are  natives,  together  with  eitht 
native  licentiate  preachers.  We  have  seventeeii  lay  la- 
borers from  tnis  country  and  seventy-four  female  as- 
sistants; one  liundred  and  forty  nstive  teachers,  with 
other  native  helpers;  four  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
scholars  are  taugnt  in  boarding  schools,  ana  six  thou- 
sand four  hunoied  and  th  rty-ihree  In  day  schools. 
The  Etlf^ion  churches  have  a  memcerthlp  O!  one  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  ninety-three,  of  which  i.bout 
one  hundred  and  seyenty' six  have  been  adde-i  during 
the  year  Tbree  deaths  of  missionaries  have  occurred 
during  the  year,  Tne  number  of  rolssionaries  now  em- 
ployed Is  three  more  than  were  reported  a  year  ago. 

From  the  report  it  appe;irs  that  the  receipts  of  the 
■Roard  from  contributions  and  from  legacies  is  less  Dv 
more  than  S46,(X)U  than  the  receipts  from  the  same 
sources  last  year.  The  total  receipts  of  the  Board  are 
$207,52(5  66;  the  expenaltures  $210,373  92,  leaving  a  bal- 
an   c*  a  tiit ircafury ot$2,8j9  9.S.  ihewholenum- 

berof  churches  contalbutlng  is  I  ?80  against  1.500  last 
5  ear,  being  a  falling  ott'  of  120  in  the  contributing 
churches. 

The  whole  number  of  churches  in  our  communion  Is 
2.629;  of  these  1,249  appe»r  as  having  cone  nothing  du- 
ring  the  past  year  towards  etndlng  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen. 


35 


We  find  that  all  the  missions  reported  last  year 
have  been  sustained,  but  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
i  ut  stations  no  new  ground  has  been  occupied.  While 
the  missionaries  in  nearly  all  tliete  fields  are  calling,  as 
they  Ions  have  been,  for  ministeis  and  teachers  to  be 
senttoihelr  assistanc«,  .ss  well  as  to  enttr  into  other 
aud  iieedy  fitltis,  and  in  some  of  the  missions  now 
buildings  aro  greatly  needed,  but  which  cannot  be 
fnrnlBhed!  until  the  <  hnrch  increases  iis  contributions. 

Ourlnfc  the  time  in  which  our  Board  has  been  in  ope- 
ration the  iii...leh3S  been  translated  into  many  lan- 
guages aod  a  trreat  amount  and  variety  of  religious 
booRshave  been  printed,  and  thus  the  way  has  bee'i 
preaared  for  the  more  rapid  ditfusiou  of  reliKlous  truth 
In  the  future  thari  in  the  past  if  ihe  men  were  ready  to 
take  these  scriptures  and  religious  publicatons  and 
preach  and  distribute  them  amongst  -he  people  for 
whom  they  wei-e  designed. 

In  all  tniswefina  reason  both  for  thankfulness  aud 
for  s.>rrov/;  thankfullness  thit  as  a  Church  we  liave 
been  able  to  hold  the  ground  i)re.vlously  acqu'red,  but 
great  j^rief  that  our  peoDje  have  not  hy  largely  in- 
tirexsed  contributions  enabled  the  Board  both  to  en- 
largn  Its  operations  in  the  olcer  missions,  awt  to 
e3tabli--h  newstations  1q  districts  and  countries  which 
xre  accessible,  and  where  they  have  long  desired,  as 
servants  of  tlie  Church,  to  plant  the  standard  of  the 
Cross. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  aud  in  view,  further,  of  the 
claims  of  the  heathen  upon  us  and  the  command  of  our 
Lord  to  preach  His  gospel  to  every  creature,  we  recom- 
mend >he  following  action,  viz: 

Resolved.  That  this  Assembly  gratefully  recognize 
Ihecoutiaued  prosperity  which  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  1)18  vouchsafed  to  the  work  ot  this  Board  during 
tne  past  yea?,  which  favor  has  been  especially  mani- 
fested m  the  goo  Uy  number  oi  converts  gattered  into 
the  mission  churcties  aud  in  the  increiseof  native  min- 
isters and  assistants. 

2.  Teat  tne  mernDers  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, and  especially  its  Executive  <  ommlttee,  are  de- 
serving the  thanks  of  this  Assembly  for  the  wisdom, 
zeal  ana  untiring  perseverance  with  which  they  have 
from  the  beginning  conductei  its  affairs,  and  particu- 
larly during  liie  pist  years  of  trial  and  perplexity. 

3  Tna.l  in  view  of  the  lands  yet  to  be  evangelized, 
the  many  fundreiis  of  millions  of  reople  yet  In  dark- 
ness; also  in  view  of  the  low  state  of  the  missionary 
spirit  in  our  churches,  the  small  number  of  candidates 
for  the  foreign  fielr:-.  and  the  Immediate  necessity  for  a 
great  army  of  native  assistants.  We  will  cry  mightily 
iinto  (xod  till  he  revives  pure  reiiglou  inour  hearts  and 
amongst  cur  neop'e,  and  till  he  so  bless  the  Word 
preached  amongst  ihe  Gentiles  as  to  give  us  our  desire 
in  raising  upvery  many  from  amongst  theheathen  who 
shall  soon  be  tiualitied  to  p;each  the  Gospel  to  their 
countrymen.  Nevertheless  the  Assembly  does  not 
mean  by  this  to  be  understood  to  aay  toat  the 
Church  at  home  may  sit  still  until  such 
converts  are  brought  into  the  Church  and 
elucajed  for  the  ministry;  it  believes  rather  that  no 
good  reason  can  be  shown  for  so  unequal  a  division  of 
the  ministerial  force  as  exists  at  present— 2,484  minis- 
ters remaiEing  here  amongst  a  population  of  only  five 
or  six  millions,  nearly  all  ol  whom  already  know  what 
they  should  do  to  be  saved,  while  we  give  83  ministers, 
17  of  whom  are  natives,  to  the  many  hundreds  of 
millloti3  who  have  never  yet  heard  o!'  Jesus  and  his  sal- 
vation. The  Assembly  therefore  recommends  &11  its 
young  ministers,  as  well  as  candidates  for  the  minis- 
try' toiiivna  new  hearing  to  the  calls  which  are  com- 
ing in  for  laborers  for  this  widespread  harvest  flela. 

4.  That  this  Assembly  re'arrts  the  whole  (  hurch  .as  a 
missionary  society  whose  main  work  is  to  spread  the 
knowledge  of  salvation;  that  individual  Chrfetians  are 
not  merely  to  en.loy  religion  themselves,  but  to  be  ac- 
tively engaged  in  efforts  to  load  others  to  Christ;  also, 
that  this  -"Ssembly  r^cognizes  the  right  as  vested  in 
I'resjyferies  to  select  acid  appoint  to  the  foreign  as 
well  as  to  the  domestic  missionary  work  any  and  all 
suchoi  their  nuuber  as  they  nelieve  to  be  fitted  for  and 
to  be  needed  in  the  foielgu"  field,  and  that  the  persons 
FO  designatea  and  callea  may  not  refuse  to  obey,  unless 
God  by  His  proviieuce  clearly  shows  that  His  will  is 
thit  tliey  remain  at  home,  and  that  until  we  come  up 
to  this  standard  we  cauoot  be  f  atlstied  that  with  entire 
sincerity  we  can  ask,  "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do?" 

5.  That  the  falling  oft"  in  the  contributions  to  this 
Board  during  the  past  year,  the  present  indebttdnets 
of  the  Hoard,  and  the  fact  that  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
Church  Ills  given  nothing  at  all,  while  the  abllilv  to 
coiitrioute  has  been  greater  owing  to  the  return  of 
peace  and  geueral  prosperity  to  the  land,  an-  the  dis- 
conlinuinee  of  those  calls  for  the  gifts  of  the  people 
whi'  h  were  fo  numerous  during  the  war,  are  cause  for 
oepp  humility  and  for  searching  of  heart;  therefore  the 
Geueral  A sseml>ly  commends  this  subject  totaepr*yer- 
ful  coasideration  of  the  churches,  and  reminds  them 
again  of  her  ott-repeated  injunctions  that  each  church 
shall  take  up  annual  colleJtionB  for  the  Boards;  and 


where  there  Is  afallureto  comply  with  th's  injunction. 
Presbyteries  are  directed  to  inquire  J n to  the  cause  ©f 
su  ;h  oellnquency. 

6.  '1  hat  we  hold  in  tender  regard  those  brethren  and 
sisters  who,  :n8teao  of  us,  nave  left  home  ai  d  Ruiarna 
and  are  now  la'oring  and  suUeriug  in  unhealthy 
climes  that  they  ui;iy  w'li  .souls  to  <  h-isl:  and  in  oroer 
that  they  may  lie  free  from  anxiety  about  the  future, 
provision  tor  the  supfiort  and  educallou  of  tht^ir  cbild- 
ren.  we  call  the  attention  of  the  churches  to  the  c>tate- 
iiient  in  the  annua-  it-port  of  the  flo.ird.  that  '"the 
fund  for  the  children  or  mis;ion.irle.  shuu'd  be  Nrgely 
ii  creased;"  and  in  order  that  alt  our  m'mbers  may  bo 
brought  into  closer  sym'sathy  w  th  our  missinnary 
brethren  we  urge  upon  all  ministers  and  church  offi- 
cers tlie  duty  of  spreading  mis-ionary  intellii:ence, 
maintaining  monthly  concerts  of  prayer  formlssioos, 
accompanying  such  prayers  with  contrioutiont  lot  the 
cause  for  which  they  have  been  praying. 

By  thereportof  the  Board  it  appears  thatai'  election 
should  be  held  to  till  tiie  vacancies  occurring  in  the 
Board  of  Missions.  The  fuUowing  names  are  recom- 
mended for  the  class  whose  term  of  office  expires  in 
1866: 


JIINISTERS. 


ELDERS. 


William  C.  Anderson,  U.  Alanson  Trask, 

D.,  DAvid  Olyphant, 

Charles  Hodge,  D.  D  .  Thomas  \V  .  feajyth, 

Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  Jonathan  Woodruff", 

J(.  1).,  JKobert  McKnlghl, 

John  C.  Backus,  P.  U.,  >*  alter  Lowrle, 

Heiry  A.  Boardman,  D.  Jasper  Corning, 

1>..  John  1),  Mc(  ord, 

Job  F.  Halsey.  D.  D.,  H.  H.  L.eavitt, 

Uavid  Irving,  D-  D  .  James  IJonaldao   , 

Samuel  Wilsoii,  D   D.,  William  Balrd. 

\Viiilam  D.  Howard,  D.  vi  m.  P   Van  Rensalaer, 

D..  Robert  McFarlane, 

William  G.  T.  Ghedd,  D,  James  Bavlips, 

D,,  David  Comfoit. 
William  M.  Paxion,   D. 

r>-, 

Benjamin  F.  Stead.  D.  I). , 
JamesG   Ralston,  D.  D., 
J   E.Rockwell.  D.  D  , 
Charles  C.  Beattv,  D.  I). 

In  the  class  of  1863: 

Miuiiters— Revand  K.  Rogers,  D.  D.,  In  place  of 
Geo.  W   Janvier,  D.  D.,  deceased. 

Henry  R.  Wilson.  D  D  ,  in  place  of  Robert  C. 
Grundy,  L>.  U.,  deceased,  and  Elder  Stephen  Lock- 
wo  >d,  in  place  of  C.  C.  Liathrop,  dece;ised. 

In  class  ot  lhS9: 

Eld°,r  David  Hotchklss.  in  place  of  Ebeuezer  Piatt, 
deceased. 

Among  the  papers  submitted  to  this  committee  was 
a  copy  of  the  records  of  the  aiinuil  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Mis  Ions,  in  which  we  Und  a  resolu- 
tion which  was  designed  for  this  General  Assembly,  a 
copy  of  which  we  here  present,  hoping  that  the  As- 
sembly will  entertain  it     It  li  as  follows,  viz: 

On  motion  of  Rev.  J.  C.  Rankin,  it  was  resolved 
that,  inasmuch  as  a  la"  ge  Increase  in  the  funds  is  de- 
manded for  the  necessary  operations  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  for  the  ensuing  year,  it  be  rrcom- 
mended  to  the  (Tcnern-l  Assembly  to  siTlicit  the  churches 
to  increase  donations  to  this  Board  by  a  sum  not  less 
than  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  there  were  referred  to 
your  committee  certain  overtures  from  Ncnhern  In- 
dia. No  1  being  an  overture  respecting  the  provision 
to  bemade  for  the  support  of  the  widows  of  missiona- 
ries. Mo.  2.  sn  overture  touching  the  subject  of  inade- 
quate provision  for  the  support  and  ec  ucation  of  the 
children  of  foreign  missionarlfs;  and  No.  3,  an  over- 
ture touching  the  sustentatioa  aud  enlargement  of  ihe 
missionary  work  in  India.  Respecting  theseovertures, 
wereionuuend  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Hoard  of  Foreign 
Missions  has  long  nad  these  subjects  under  considera- 
tion, and  has  already  made  partial  provision  to  meet 
the  wants  specified  lu  overtures  one  and  two,  aad  inas- 
much  as  overture  No  3  relers  to  matters  whxh  belong 
peculUrly  to  tbe  Hoard  of  Foreign  Missions,  therefore 
the  General  Assembly  refer  all  these  papers  to  said 
Roard,  with  instructions  to  give  them  that  attention 
which,  in  their  judgment,  the  cases  may  require 

As  a  part  of  their  report,  thfi  committee  farther 
recommend  that  the  evening  of  this  day  be  set  apart 
by  the  Assembly  with  a  view  to  the  fuller  considera- 
tion ol  the  interests  of  this  Board 

A.  W.  LUOillS,  Ch'mnofCom. 

Whereas,  By  the  Rede;mer's  last  command  to  His 
disciples  He  has  laid  the  Church  under  obligation  to 
carry  the  gospel  to  every  creature;  and 

Whereas,  The  difficulties  in  tlie  way  of  obedience  to 
that  commana  .ire  so  many  and  so  g'eit  and  the  labor- 
ers so  few  as  to  Imperiously  demand  that  every  agency 
adapted  tothe  accomniishment  of  this  work  should  De 
employed ;  and 


36 


Whereas,  Tlie  providence  of  God.  His  revealed  wf  rd 
and  the  txaiiiple  of  our  Lord  Jesnp  «  lir)st.  point  most 
empliaticaily  to  ihe  eniplny  jiem  of  the  ineu  both  of  trie 
se.iB  and  the  rivtrs  !!■  this  gooil  work;  tlieref'ore. 

Resolved,  Ihat  this  G^iier;il  Assembly  uipetiDou  the 
pastors  and  stafd  supplies  of  the  cliurrhes  viihinUs 
bounds  toe  importance  or  I'alliug  'he  atteutiov'  of  tlieir 
peiple  to  tlie  relie,!OUS  claims  of  this  ii't^re  tine  ana 
uselul  class  of  our  iellow  men  and  of  exhorlinf;  them  to 
labor  an -l  pray  tliat  the  abundance  of  the  Pea  may  be 
converted,  in  V  rdt  r  that  the  fortes  ol  tlie  GeutiUs  ma^ 
be  brouf-'ht  into  the  (.  Iiunh 

Rev.  Mr.  Jonet^,  chaplain  of  the  Sailor,*'  SMig 
Harbor  of  New  York,  said  his  heart  had  beeu 
thrilled  by  the  reading  of  (his  report,  and  he  de- 
sired to  ofl'er  a  resolution  that  the  Uen-ral  Atseni- 
bly  urge  the  pastois  and  churches  wiihin  its  bounds 
to  more  earnest  ell'orts  in  the  work  of  convi-rlifg 
fioilors,  as  a  meacs  of  carrying  the  gospel  to  all 
ljnd.s. 

He  thought  there  was  a  large  element  in  our  land 
out  of  which  they  could  make  up  the  deficiencies  in 
this  Board.  We  were  told  by  the  rejiort  that  there 
were  but  eighty-three  miiiisters  sent  abroad.  He 
contended  that  by  proper  efibrts  there  were  va->t 
numbers  of  men  iloinir  buniness-upoii  thf  great  deep 
who  could  be  biouglit  into  this  great  work,  wiio^e 
hearts  were  open  for  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  who 
W(uld  possess  an  influence  all  over  the  world  not 
easily  attainable  by  others. 

A  motion  was  made  to  conf^ider  the  matter  at  an 
evening  session. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowrie  concurred  with  this  suggestion. 
He  was  exceedingly  sorry  on  yesterday  that  two  of 
toese  sreat  home  evangelizing  agei  cies  were  dis- 
patched from  the  house  in  rive  or  ten  minutes. 

Rev  Mr.  Kempshall  rose  to  say  that  he  made  the 
motion  in  regard  to  the  adopiion  of  the  report  on 
Church  extension,  but  it  was  made  at  the  request  of 
tlie  Secretary  of  that  Board. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowrie  said  that  made  the  matter 
all  tlie  worse.  He  did  not  under  estimate 
the  importance  of  the  great  ciuestions  that 
.were  monopolizicg  their  time,  but  he  thousrht 
tHere  were  other  matters  in  the  court 
of  Christ  that  ought  to  be  discussed  more  thor- 
oughly. He  believed  also,  that  this  subject  should 
be  brought  to  the  attention  of  this  body  at  this  time, 
because  there  were  a  large  number  of  members 
whose  assistance  it  was  desirous  to  gain  who  would 
be  unable  to  be  present  in  the  evening.  He  wished 
to  say  thit  this  Board  bad  been  constrained  tor  five 
years  to  pursue  a  policy  of  restriction.  It  seemed 
at  one  time  that  these  Foreisrn  Missions  would  be 
broken  up,  and  the  Board  found  it  necessary  to 
curtail  expenses  as  much  as  possible. 

Last  year  the  Board  issued  a  special  appeal  for 
aid  to  the  churches,  and  that  apjieal  was  responded 
to.  The  consequence  is  there  now  appears  to  be  a 
greater  falling  off  in  contributions  than  there  really 
exists.  Still,  there  was  a  delicieucj  which  it  was 
necessary  to  make  up;  and  funds  were  required  for 
the  missions  at  Niugjioo,  at  Pekin,  and  in  other 
fields  of  labor.  It  seemed  to  him  it  was  better  to 
call  on  the  people  to  give  as  God  had  prospered 
them,  and  be  thought  there  was  no  doubt  that  by 
this  means  they  would  have  ample  lunds  for 
this  work.  Without  securing  this  aid  it 
would  be  impossible  to  carry  on  this 
instruction  further,  unless  they  withdrew 
some  of  the  missions.  It  was  a  matter  of  regret 
that  they  were  able  to  send  out  so  few  men.  This 
mfgbt  partly  be  accounted  for  from  the  state  of  the 
public  mind  in  regard  to  vital  questions,  but  prin- 
cipally because  the  minds  and  hearts  of  God's  peo- 
ple have  not  been  turned  sufliciently  to  the  power  of 
the  grace  of  God. 

The  speaker  concluded  by  earnestly  recommend- 
ing renewetl  zeal  in  behalf  of  this  great  cause. 

Rev.  Mr.  Remington,  member  of  the  committee, 
said  it  was  a  mutter  of  regret  that  there  had  been  a 
filling  ofi"  in  the  contributions,  but  he 
hoped  that  in  the  coming  year  they  would 
make  up  for  this  deficiency.  He  urged  the 
importance  of  this  field  of  labor.  He  recollected 
reading  not  long  since,  that  when  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  sent  a  petition  to  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts  for  an  ac;  of  incor- 
poration, one  of  the  members  objected  to  it  on  the 
ground  they  could  not  aflbrd  to  export  the  influence 
of  religion  to  other  countries.    Buc  in  reply  to  this 


a  member  said,  the  more  of  religious  influeuce  that 
was  Sent  abrond  the  more  they  would  have  at 
hime.  He  hoped  the  report  would  be  arioped;  and 
that  they  would  ^'ive  their  efl'  rts,  ai  d  labor  more 
frtithfully  to  promote  this  great  and  important 
work 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Kevins,  of  China,  said  he  stood 
before  them  to-day  as  the  representaiive  irom 
Ningpoo,  China,  a  representrtive  of  lour  millions 
of  our  race  He  had  iistcne'i  with  a  great  deal  of 
interest  lo  the  report,  and  he  could  not  imagine  how 
a  good  Christiavi  rr-an  or  vvciijan  could  read  that  re- 
port without  hiviug  their  hearts  thrilled.  Tnere 
were  iact:^  there  wfdch  every  Christian  man  shou'd 
consider  pray erfiiHy.  As  had  beeutaid,  the  word 
for  the  last  live  years  had  been  retrenchment. 
They  could  not  imagine  how  sad  that  word  n.ade 
ihem,  as  It  came  to  Ihem  by  the  overland  mail. 
Last  year,  it  seems,  an  urgent  t.pptal  was  made  for 
increaeed  contributions ,"  and  promises  were 
made  to  send  men  and  money  into 
these  fields;  but  What  had  been  the  re&ult?  Forty 
thousand  dollar  less  had  been  contributed,  and  one 
hundred  Churches  that  contributed  year  belore  last, 
ho,d  not  contributed  a  dollar  during  the  last  year, 
lor  extending  the  cause  in  foreign  parts. 

The  resolutions  that  bad  been  placed  on  the  min- 
utes from  time  to  time  have  been  a  dead  letter;  he 
feared  they  haa  not  been  read.  The  business  had 
been  mere  formality  and  routine.  But  he  was  happy 
to  fte  that  the  gentleman  who  drew  the  report  this 
year  had  departed  from  that  routine.  He 
asked  every  member  of  the  Assembly 
to  fake  that  jeport  and  read  and  digest  it.  There 
were  subjects  there  which  would  furnish  many  an 
luierestiug  theme  for  monthly  concerts  and  family 
conversation.  Before  he  went  to  China,  thirteen 
years  ago,  he  remembered  that  in  all  the  monthly 
concerts  the  stereotyped  expression  of  prayer  was 
"tnat  God  would  open  wide  the  dor  in  every 
land."  And  now  that  the  dior  was  open  woulil 
they  not  convict  themselves  of  insincerity  and  by- 
pocricy  if  they  did  not  enter  in  and  possess  the  land. 

The  speaker  alluded  to  the  vast  population 
of  China  and  tbe  region  of  cnuQtry  in 
which  he  had  labored.  He  had  seen  a 
river  in  that  far  ofl'  land  that  in  some  respects 
woulel  rival  this  great  Mississippi.  He  had  trav- 
eled up  that  river  six  hundred  miles  to  the  City  of 
Hankawj  which,  until  within  a  few  jears,  was  the  • 
largest  city  in  the  world,  containing  sonie  four  or 
five  million  of  people.  Ihis  whole  region  of  coun- 
try had  recently  been  opened  to  foreign  commerce 
and  foreign  missionaries,  audit  was  imijortant 
that  this  Cburch  should  be  represented  there.  AU 
those  nations  were  noyv  open — China,  India,  Japan 
— all  were  on  the  eve  of  a  new  era.  Old  systems 
were  crumbling.  [China; would  soon  be  the  theater  of 
a  conflict  of  iaeas,  as  it  bad  been  the  theater  of  a 
civil  conflict  for  the  last  fifteen  years. 

Agencies  were  at  work  to  create  an  entire  revolu- 
tion in  that  country,  and  it  was  time  for  this  Church 
to  begin  the  work  of  putting  forth  exertions  com- 
mensurate to  the  demands  oi  the  cause. 

Rev.  Mr.  Henry  said  be  had  listened  with  a  good 
deal  of  interest  to  the  report,  but  he  thought  a  dif- 
ferent system  should  be  ad'>pted  in  the  matter  of 
obtaining  coniributions;  he  believed  indirect  ap- 
pealsSto  the  people  of  the  churches,  asking  every 
man  to  give  according'to  his  means.  This  plan  had 
worked  successfully  in  his  own  church,  and  he 
believed,  if  generally  adopted,  would  reoult  iu  in- 
creased contributions. 

Rev.  Dr.  Ferguson  urged  the  importance  of  con- 
sidering ihis  matter  at  this  rime.  Other  que.-tions 
of  not  so  much  importance  to  the  interests  of  the 
Church  had  been  up  heretofore,  and  the  papers  haei 
been  filled  with  column  after  column,  widJe  only 
slight  reports  had  been  given  of  sucu  matters  u"s 
were  now  before  them  for  consideration.  He  de- 
sired that  they  should  go  into  this  matter  now  and 
give  it  a  thorough  discussion. 

After  some  further  debate  the  motion  to  defer  the 
subject  to  the  evening  session  was  agreed  to. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Mr.  Sims,  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Freedmen  yvas  made  the  order  of  the 
day  for  Friday  next. 


37 


The  Moderator  announced  that  he  haa  a  protest 
against  the  act  reinovinj?  the  Commissioners  from 
the  Lonisville  Presbytery,  which  he  desired  to  lay 
before  the  Asssembly. 

The  protest  was  then  read  as  follow^s : 

PROTEST. 

We,  the  undersigned,  respectfully  protest  against 
what  we  doera  to  be  the  mischievous  and  erroneous 
judgment  of  the  General  Assembly,  ia  susB<nding 
the  Commissioners  from  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville from  the  exercise  of  their  rights  and  privilegts 
as  members  of  this  body,  for  the  following  rea- 
sons: 

1.  By  this  act,  the  Assembly  has  violated  the 
fundamental  principles  oi'  its  own  organization, 
and  vitiated  its  own  integrity  as  the  highest  judica- 
tory of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  is  declared  in 
chaijter  XII  of  the  Form  of  Government,  that  the 
General  Assembly  "shall  represent  in  one  body  all 
the  particular  churches  of  this  detiouiinatioo;" 
and  again,  the  General  Assembly  "shall  consist  of 
an  equal  delegation  of  bishops  and  flders  from 
each  Presbytery. ' '  It  cannot  be  d.nied  th-it  at  Ihe 
iiine  tueir  representatives  were  excluded  from  the 
Assembly,  the  churches  composing  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville  were  and  still  are  an  inte(jral  part 
of  the  Presbyterian,  Church.  Ai'd  yet  the  Assemuly, 
by  a  simple  resolution,  adopted  tmderthe  operation 
of  the  previous  question,  without  debate,  ex- 
cluded these  churches  li-om  »\\  participation 
iu  its  proceedings  at  a  time  when  the  business  un- 
der consuleratioii  was  of  vital  importance  to  the 
said  churches.  Por  such  a  coarse  of  action  thers  is 
no  warrant  iu  the  coustitutiou,  and  no  precdeot  in 
the  hisiory  of  the  Church.  The  attempt  to  justily  it 
by  the  usage  of  legihlative  aud  other  political  as- 
j^emblies  is,  in  the  judgment  of  the  uodersiirned, 
utterly  futiie;  because,  in  the  lirst  place,  there  is  no 
proper  analogy  between  legislative  bodies  or  other 
secular  assemblies,  acting  under  rules  of  humau 
invention,  and  the  court  of  Jous  Christ  organized 
under,  aud  bound  by  the  laws  of  Christ  as  ex- 
pounded in  its  own  written  constitution;  and  be- 
ciuse,  secondly,  if  such  an  analogy  did  exist,  it 
has  been  violated  in  this  c^se  in  the"  foUowitig  es- 
sential particulars.  1.  By  the  action  of  its  own 
committee  on  commissions,  and  the  formal  adoption 
of  their  report,  the  Assembly  had  already  aecitled 
that  the  commissioners  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  were  entitled  to  their  seats.  2.  In  legis- 
lative and  other  secular  assemblies,  when  the  riiint 
of  members  to  the  seats  they  have  obtained  is  con- 
tested, they  are  alwavs  allowed  to  retain  their  places 
in  the  body,  and  to  participate  in  its  proceedings 
until  the  case  is  fully  decided. 

2.  By  this  act  the  Assembly  has  virtually  pro- 
nounced a  judicial  condemnation  upon  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville  without  observing  any  of  the 
forms  of  trial  so  carefully  prescribed  by  the  consti- 
tution, and  so  C'-seutialto  the  due  administration 
of  justice.  Aud,  in  the  opinion  of  tlie  undersigned, 
this  proceeding  is  rendered  the  more  irregular  and 
unjust  in  view  of  the  fact  that,  by  the  opt  ration  of 
the  previous  question  on  the  adoption  of  theresolu 
tion  excluding  them,  the  commissioners  were  de- 
nied a  hearing  before  the  Assembly,  either  in  their 
own  behalf,  or  in  the  behalf  of  the  Prest^ytery  they 
represent.  And  this  disregard  of  judicial  forms  is 
further  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  resolu- 
tion excluding  tbe  commissioners  from  their  seats, 
the  As-jembly  indorsed  unsustained  public  rumors 
against  the  muiisterial  character  and  standing  of 
<me  of  the  said  commissioners,  and'  made 
these  rumors  thus  Indorsed  without  any  judicial 
tjroof  a  ground  of  condemnation  against  the  Pres- 
bytery. 

3.  The  facts  alleged  against  the  Piesbytery  of 
Louisville  do  not  involve  any  heresy  or  crime,  nor 
justify  the  exclusion  of  the  churches  com- 
prising said  Presbvtery  from  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  "  Church  of  Christ. 
Inasmuch  as  "all  Synods  or  Councils  since  the  days 
of  the  apostles" — being  composed  of  uninspired  and 
fallible  men — "may  err,  and  many  have  erred, ' '  the 
rigtit  to  publicly  discuss,  dispute  and  protest 
against  tbe  deliverances  of  such  Synods  and  coun- 
cils belongs  to  every  other  ecclesiastical  body  and 
to  every,  even  the  humblest  member  of  the  Chiuch. 


This  right  has  been  exercised  from  the  loundation  of 
the  Church  till  the  present  time  and  has  never  been 
disputed  except  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  Moreover, 
the  deliverances  and  orders  of  the  General  Assem- 
blies, against  which  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
have  protested  aud  wliich  they  have  refused  to  obey, 
not  having  bf^en  transmitted  to  the  Presbyteries  for 
their  approbation,  (according  to  the  requisition  of 
the  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii,  sec.  6,)  are  not 
"established  as  coufctitutional  rules,  "  neither  are 
they  "obligatory  upou  the  Churches."  To  exidude 
the  churches  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  from 
representation  iu  this  body  for  refusing  to  do  that; 
which  according  to  exjuess  orovisions  of  the  consti- 
tution was  not  obligatory  on  them  is,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  undersigned,  an  unwarranted  and 
alarming  usurpation  of  power. 

For  tbe  foregoing  and  other  reasons,  in  the  name 
ol  Jesus  Christ,  by  virtue  of  the  right  secured  to 
them  in  the  constitution,  and  in  the  discbarge  of 
tneir  covenant  obligations  to  study  the  purity  and 
peace  of  the  Church,  the  undersigned  do  solemnly 
protest  against  this  whole  proceeding,  as  being  un- 
constitutional and  revolutionary,  as  calculated  to 
bring  the  lawful  authority  of  this  Assembly  into 
coutempt,  to  enkindle  strife  and  nrottuce  alienation, 
and  to  defeat  the  end  for  which  the  Assembly  was 
originally  organized,  viz:  that  it  iiiijiht  "constitute 
the  bond  of  Union,  peace,  correspondence  andmu- 
tuiil  conlidence  among  ail  our  churches. 

Henry  J.  Van  Dyke,  R.  K.  Smoot,  J.  L.  Yan- 
tis,  A.  P.  Forman,  L.  P.  Bowen,  R  L.  IMcAiee, 
Isaac  D.  Jvimes,  G.  C.  S  waUow,  S.J.  P.  Anderson, 
Glass  Marshall,  James  H.  Brookes,  John  M. Travis, 
Thos.  A.  Bracken,  J.  W.  Pryor,  Geo.  VV".  Buchan- 
an, J.  T.  Hendrick,  P.  Tnompsoo,  W.  M.  Fer- 
guson. 

The  Moderator  then  announced  that  the  un- 
flnished  business  was  in  order- -namely,  the  re- 
solution offered  by  Dr.  Boardman  yesterday,  to  re- 
iostatethe  members  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery, 
and  that  Mr.  Gailoway  had  the  floor. 

Mr.  Galloway,  ivlr.  Moderator  aud  brethren  of 
the  Assembly,  I  feel  somewhat  embarrassed  on 
rising  before  this  Assembly  to  address  them  upon 
this  important  question,  and  this  embarrassment 
arises  partly  from  the  fact  that  this  is  rather  a  new 
arena  for  me.  I  have  been  but  once  before  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Church  iu  the  capacity  of  a 
representative,  and  then  but  briefly  addressed, 
the  Assembly,  aud  hence  I  feel  a  little  like 
the  boy  who  was  asked  why  he  didn't 
spell  so  well  in  the  new  school- house,  and 
he  said  he  "hadn't  got  the  hiing  of  it  yt." 
I  feel  also  embarrassed  from  the  considciaii^n 
that  I  am  advertised  as  having  been  a  member  of 
Coufiress.  It  is  not  often  that  gentlemen  of  that 
body  appear  before  eccleaiastical  courts,  and  it  is 
not  tbe  best  certiflcate  of  qualiticatiou.  [Merri- 
ment.] It  woulii  scarcely  be  regarded  as  prima 
facia  evidence  of  qualification  to  appear  oeiore  a 
deliberative  body  such  as  this;  and  yet,  Mr.  Mode- 
rator, I  think  I  cau  say  in  all  sincerity  that  I  prefer 
to  sit  in  an  ecclesiastic il  body  of  this  character — 
that  the  interests  of  the  Church  are  dearer  to  me 
than  any  other  interests  with  which  I  am  connected. 
I  hive  for  many  years  been  an  elder  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  as  it  has  become  customary 
to  boast  of  ancestry,  I  may  be  permitted  to  enlarge 
not  a  little  in  regard  to  that,  at  least,  for  I  claim  to 
be  a  flescendent  from  the  old  Scotch  Presbyterian 
heroes,  and  I  say  with  Paul,  "  if  others  bodst,  I 
more."  I  feel,  Mr.  Moderator,  embarrassed  from 
another  consideration,  and  that  is  this,  that  I  have 
been  appointed  upon  the  committee  to  which  this 
matter  has  b-'en  assigned,  and  it  may  look  like  a 
prejudgment  ot  what  may  be  done  forme  to  express 
my  feelings  in  regard  to  matters  now  under  con- 
sideration; and  yet  I  can  say,  Mr.  Moderator,  that 
I  am  as  free  from  prejudice,  I  thiuk,  as  any  brother 
in  this  house.  I  proftss  to  be  a  liberal  Presbyterian; 
and  although  my  attachment  is  specially  to  the  old 
church  of  my  fathers,  yet  I  can  hail,  in  the  bonds 
of  brotherhood,  all  that  love  a  common  Savior. 
Yet,  at  this  laarticnlar  jnr,ctu>e,  Mr.  Moderator,  I 
would  desire  to  disabuse  the  minds  of  many  brethren 
of  this  Assembly  as  to  the  feelings  andpuruoses  of 
those  of  us  who  represent  the  majority  in  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 


88 


We  are  not  for  engaging  in  an  arbitrary  work. 
We  are  not  disposed  to  press  the  brethren  who  may 
diflVrfrom  us,  and  especially'  I  am  indisposed  to 
deal  unkindly  or  unjustiy  with  brethren  who  have 
been  peculiarly  circumstanced  during  these  last  days 
of  cisaster  and  of  rebellion.  Their  situation  com- 
mands  my  sympathy;  and  whatever  I  cati  do  con- 
sistentlv  with  my  obllsrations  to  the  ( hurch 
I  intend  to  do.  With  this  declara- 
tion, Mr.  Moderator,  I  think  I  am  pre- 
pared not  only  to  discuss  the  question  now  before 
the  Assembly,  and  in  my  ca|iaciry  as  a  member  of 
the  committee,  to  discharge  the  duty  as  faithfully 
and  impartially  as  any  other  brother  in  this  Assem- 
bly. I  would  not  at  all  attempt  to  address  this  As- 
sembly, but  for  the  imputations  aiid  reproaches 
that  have  been  cast  on  the  majority  of  this  Assem- 
bly. 

It  has  been  asserted  again  and  again  that  the  ma- 
joriry  here  is  disposed  to  usurp  and  exercise  arbi- 
trary power,  and  to  exercise  the  numerical  prepou- 
deracce  which  they  hold,  to  oppress  those  who  "may 
be  iu  the  minority."  I  have  no  feeling  of  that  sort. 
1  have  no  disposition  to  suppress  free  speech  or  free 
thought,  and  indeed  it  would  be  very  strange  that 
one  wiio  had  labored  so  industriously  as  I  and 
others  have  done  for  the  past  twentv  years  to  secure 
free  speech,  and  free  thought,  and  liberty  and  free- 
dom to  worship  God  according  to  the  "dictates  of 
our  conscience" — it  would  be  strange,  indeed, 
if  we  should  exemplify  our  attachment 
to  these  great  ideas  in  the  General 
Assembly  by  suppressing  free  speech  among  our 
own  brethren.  It  is  our  commendation  to-day,  as 
the  majority  of  this  General  Assembly,  that  we 
have  secured  free  speech  for  all  sections  of  this 
country ;  and  that  the  trumpet  of  tlie  gospel  and 
the  trumpet  of  liberty  cin  be  sounded  from  the 
lakes  to  the  gulf.  Under  the  Providence  of  God,  it 
is  our  boast  tb-riay  that  we  have  labored  to  secure 
these  high  and  distinguishing  privileges  of  the  free- 
men af  this  country;  that  we  have  given  these  testi- 
monies, and  have  also  given  the  blood  of  our 
kindred  to  seal  our  faith  in  those  great  principles. 

Mr.  Modeiaor,  with  these  preliminary  remarks, 
I  proceed  to  the  discussion  of  the  question  which  is 
before  the  house,  or  at  least  to  ttie  views  which 
have  been  presented  by  the  distinguished  brother 
who  has  preceded  me  in  this  debate.  And  although 
I  admit  that  this  is  not  the  regular  form  of  present- 
ing this  subject— I  admit  that  the  brother,  by  a  lit- 
tle ecclesiastical  and  parliamentary  intrigue,  has 
got  up  this  subject  for  reconsideration,  instead  of 
having  it  put  in  the  usual  form— yet  I  pass  that  by, 
for  our  object  is  to  aflord  persons  here,  irrespective 
of  arbitrary  rules,  a  full  opportunitv  to  discuss  this 
subject. 

The  first  question  that  is  presented  is,  whether 
this  feody— the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church— has  the  right  to  suspend  any  Presbv- 
tery,  or/iny  Cumaiissioner  from  a  Presbytery, fro"m 
the  lunctions  of  his  offlce,  as  a  Commissioner, 
That  is  the  question.  It  is  stated  that  we  have 
by  our  actions  suspended  the  fucciions  of  these 
men.  It  is  true,  and  we  done  it,  Mr.  Moderator, 
as  we  contend,  by  a  power  inherent  in  this 
Assembly.  Now,  the  brother  who  has 
made  this  protest  just  read,  says  that 
the  General  As-tmbly  difl'ers  Irom  other  bodies 
—that  there  is  no  analogy  b-tvveen  thi.s  and  other 
legislative  bodies  of  this  country. 

Permit  me  to  say,  Mr.  Moderator,  that  I  recollect 
the  remark,  and  an  analogy  in  respect  to  this  par- 
ticular course  of  action,  ly'ow,  it  is  well  known  that 
in  our  legislative  bodies,  although  they  difler  from 
the  GeQ,7ral  Assembly,  they  claim  and  they  exercise 
thi-  power.  \nd  I  need  not  go  further  than  to 
present  the  action  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  These  men  are  there  with 
their  credentials.  They  have  the  prima  facie 
light  to  a  seat  and  to  be  enrolled;  and  although  I 
diller  in  many  respects  from  the  majoritv  now  act- 
lug  on  this  subject,  yet  they  are  exercising  that 
power,  and  I  presume— for  it  is  presumable— that 
they  know  what  jjowers  they  possess  as  a  legislative 
body.  It  is  within  the  knowledge  of  some  brethren 
here,  or  at  least  one  brother  who  now 
meets     my      eye,       that        again      and     again. 


for  many  years  past,  after  persons  have  been 
enrolled  and  recognized  as  renresentatives  of 
particular  localities,  they  have  been  removed 
from  the  body  and  their  functions  as  legislators  for 
the  time  being  have  been  suspended.  I  now  have  an 
iiistauce  of  that  iu  the  somewhat  celebrated 
case  or  Johhna  R.  Giddings,  who  wea 
suspended  from  the  legislative  body  for  Ian-" 
guage  unbecoming  that  assembly,  as  it  was  al- 
leged, and  he  was  again  thrown  upon  the  people  smd 
was  again  a  candidate  and  again  re-elected.  And 
then,  but  afewdajs  ago,  a  re.'olu'ion  of  censure 
was  passed  on  a  member  of  ti:is  housf,  and  there  is 
nothing  better  seulcd  in  the  legislative  courts  than 
that  men  have  the  right  to  control  the  conduct  and. 
actions  of  thnse  that  are  sent  among  them 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  desire  to  know  if  mem- 
bers under  r  charges  in  Congref  8  or  elsewhere  are 
allowed  to  vote  or  act  clurini:  the  pending  of  a  trial, 
or  whether  they  get  the  opportunity  of  voting  until 
the  matter  is  decided? 

Mr.  Galloway.  I  presume  tbeyget  the  opnortu- 
ni'y  of  voting. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.    No,  sir. 

Mr.  Galloway.  1  don't  know  how  thatis.  I  pre- 
sume brother  Ferguson  knows  more  about  thete 
bodies  than  I  do.     [Laughier.l 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  1  confess  I  do  know  more 
about  it  if  he  says f 'order,    order. "J 

Mr.  Galloway.  I  know  that  brother.  He  belongs 
to  the  same  Church  with  me.     [Laughter.] 

A  member.  I  suggest  that  there  be  no  ioterrup- 
tion. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  understano  the  courtesy 
of  debate.  I  know  Mr.  Galloway  well.  I  know  he 
is  a  gentleman,  and  I  know  he  will  answer  a  ques- 
tion as  a  gentleman  should.  He  said  that  he  did 
not  know;  I  say  they  are. 

Rev.  Mr.  ClarK.  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  I 
claim  that  the  gentleman  has  no  right  to  interrupt 
flebate  iu  this  way.  The  gentleman  .isked  Mr. 
Galloway  a  question,  and  it  was  answered;  and 
now,  sir,  he  should  be  permitted  to^go  on.  I 
desire  to  see  it  go  on,  and  I  insist  on  my  light  as  a 
member  that  it  shall  go  on.  I  insist  that  the  mem- 
ber has  no  right  to  address  the  Moderator  when 
another  member  has  the  floor. 

Mr.  Galloway,  I  will  waive  my  privilege  in  that 
respect.  Brother  Ferguson  is  a  little  like  myself- a 
little  excitable. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  insist  on  my  i-ights.  I 
knew  Mr.  Galloway  would  treat  me  courteously. 
I  asked  him  a  question  courteously  and  he  answered 
it  courteously,  as  a  gentleman.  I  wish  the  brother 
to  know  that  I  know  my  rights  as  well  as  he  does  and 
I  will  maintain  them,  excitable  or  nol.  excitable. 

Rev.  Mr.  Clark.  I  think  we  shall  get  along  more 
smoothly  if  we  stand  l)y  our  rights.  The  right  for  a 
member'  to  give  way  to  a  question  is  undoubtedly 
correct.  Mr.  Gallo'way  did  give  way  to  a  question. 
He  was  answered  and  the  answer,  as  the  geutleuiau 
says,  was  to  his  satisfaction. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  Certainly. 

Rev.  Mr.  ClarK.  And  then,  I  think  he  should 
have  set  down.  But  then  he  went  on  with  some  re- 
marks which  I  contend  were  not  in  order.  Now  I 
insist  that  he  had  no  right  to  do  this;  my  point  there- 
fore, is  that  he  had  no  right  to  go  on  with  his 
speech. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  It  was  not  a  spe;ch,  it  was 
only  a  word. 

R"ev.  Mr.  Clark.  It  takes  words  to  make  a  speech 
generally. 

Moderator.  I  will  state  the  matter  as  1  under- 
stand it.  Mr.  Clark  adaiits  tint  it  i^  the  right  of 
every  member  to  give  way  for  an  explanation.  Mr. 
Galloway  did  so.  Mr.  Fe'rguson  asked  the  question 
and  it  was  answered.  Mr.  Ferguson  went  on  and 
srill  Mr.  Galloway  consented.  I  think  it  was  in  or- 
der for  him  to  consent,  and  for  Mr.  Ferguson  to 
occupy  the  floor  if  he  chose.  Tha".  is  my  view  of 
the  case. 

Mr.  Galloway.  This  is  a  little  out  ot  the  way  of 
the  subject,  but  nevertheless  I  am  at  all  tbues  ready 
to  answer  any  questions  that  may  be  propounded". 
What  I  propose  now,  is  to  read  an  autliority  in  re- 
ference to  this  subject — an  authority  which  should 
be  regarded,  at  least  by  all  Presbyterians,  as  pood; 
an  authority  connected  with  the  great  trial  between 


s§ 


our  brethaen  of  the  New  School  and  the  Old  School 
hetbre  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania.  That 
decision  is  recognized  as  law.    I  vvili  read: 

"The  decisiDDS  of  every  council,  to  which  parties 
refer  a  matter  for  adjudication,  is  binding,  though 
It  be  a  mere  informal  relereLCe  to  a  neighbor.  " 

"The  tleci:iions  of  the  General  Assembly  or  any 
other  of  tliese  general  councils,  is  as  binding  on  all 
the  churches  and  congregations  within  its  jurisdic- 
tion, in  spiritual  affairs,  as  the  decision  oi  a  State 
tribunal  iu  civil  affairs.  All  are  bound  to  submit 
to  such  decisions." 

I  say,  therefore,  Mr.  Moderator,  that  this  is  a 
right  inherent  in  this  body,  necessary  for  its  pro- 
tection, and  necessary  for  it  to  preserve  its  self-re- 
spect. In  the  exercise  of  that  power  it  may  do 
whatever  may  be  necessary  lor  the  dignity  and  self- 
respect  of  that  body.  It  is  a  power  exercised  by 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  It  is  a  power  ex- 
ercised by  our  constitutional  legislators.  It  is  a 
power  exercised  by  our  courts,  'ihis  is  a  Court  of 
ihe  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and,  of  course,  may  differ 
in  many  respects  from  our  civil  courts;  neverthe- 
less in  th  s  respect  as  to  its  power  to  jireserve  its 
own  dignity  and  self-respect,  it  does  not  differ 
from  any  other  court.  Now,  in  one  of  our 
civil  courts,  it  any  individual  or  membQr  of  the  bar 
is  guilty  of  contempt,  if  he  insult  the  dignily  of  the 
court  he  is  punished  tor  contempt  without  any  trial 
he  is  attached  for  contempt,  and  sent  to  prison  for 
contempt.  For  example,  1,  as  a  member  of  the  bar, 
after  a  decision  has  been  made  by  the  court,  will 
say  to  the  court,  "You  are  a  tyrant,  a  usurper:  you 
have  transcended  your  powers."  What  will  the 
Judge  do?  He  will  say,  "Mr.  Sheriff,  take  Mr. 
Galloway  to  jail.  That  is  done  again  and  again, 
and  would  not  my  f  unctions  then  be  susnended. 

Dr.  Boardman.  It  you  say  these  things  of  the 
court  in  your  office  or  on  the  street,  will  it  bring 
you  within  the  law  of  contempt  without  a  hear- 
ing. 

Mr.  GalJoway.  Not  unless  I  bring  that  paper 
into  court  as  that  Declaration  audTestimony  has 
been  bioughc. 

Dr.  Boardman.    It  has  not  been  brought  here. 

Mr.  Galloway.  Well,  sir,  the  difference  between 
that  is  the  difference  between  written  and 
verbal  slander — between  slander  and  libel. 
Now,  Brother  Van  Dyke  or  any  other  brother, 
has  his  own  private  judgment,  and  I  am 
Willing  that  he  should  exercise  it.  I  have  exercised 
It  with  regard  to  the  last  General  Assembly  for 
about  twenty  years,  but  where  that  brother  puts 
his  private  judgment  upon  paper  that  which  he  may 
properlj  entertain  privately  becomes  libel,  and  he 
renders  himselt  amenable  to  the  law  of  the  land. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.    Fine  him. 

Mr.  Galloway.  We  have  no  power  to  fine,  but  we 
have  power  to  do  soiuelhing  else;  so  I  say,  Mr, 
Moderator,  that  it  is  a  power  which  is  exercised  by 
the  Courts,  and  it  is  necessary  for  its  own  dignity 
and  preservation.  It  is  a  power  which  is  every- 
where exerciseti.  I  can  not  go  over  to  a  brother  lu 
the  Armenian  Church  and  say  to  him,  although  I 
may  believe  it,  that  he  is  in  error;  that  the  crowned 
head  of  the  Ciiurch  has  told  me  that  he  is  in  error, 
and  that  I  must  rebuke  him  for  ir.  What  would  he  do 
with  me  :'  If  he  haa  any  respect  lor  the  dignity  of 
his  body,  he  would  take  me  by  the  nape  of  the  neck 
and  turn  lue  out  of  doors;  for  it  is  a  power  inhe- 
rent in  every  body  to  preserve  its  self-resptct.  It 
won't  do  lor  me  to  stand  at  the  bar  and  liowl  about 
tree  speech,  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  right  to 
worship  God;  althougli  I  might  have  felt  that  1  had 
a  special  communication  from  the  eternal  world 
lo  rebuke  the  errois  of  tnat  erring  brother  wbom  I 
belies'e  lo  be  delivering  false  doctrine.  I  am 
rather  a  sociable  man  in  my  family,  and 
I  certainly  shall  not  entertain  a  gentleman  m 
my  house  who  comes  up  and  says,  "Galloway,  you 
are  a  tj  rant,  but  I  will  be  glad  to  take  dinner  with 
you  to-day."  [Merriment.]  "You  area  scoun- 
drel, but  we  will  hold  sweet  converse  toj;etber  in  the 
lamily."  Have  not  la  right  to  protect  my  own 
househok!?  I  will  do  it  and  so  will  Brother  Board- 
man  and  every  Christian  gentleman.  I  claim  only 
for  this  General  A'^sembly  the  same  right.  These 
brettiren  have  gone  through  the  land  denouncing  us 
in  the  bitterest  terms.    Am  I  willing  to  sit  with  men 


who  regard  me  as  a  tyrant,  or  usurper,  or  a  heretic? 
Do  these  brethi-en  themselves  wish  to  sit  with 
a  heretic.  For  my  part,  1  prefer  choosing  my  own 
company,  and  whenever  I  btlieve  this  Old  School 
General  Assembly  is  htretical,  I  will  go  somewhere 
else;  but  with  heretics,  I  never  will  astociate,  and 
they  shall  never  be  associated  with  me  by  The  bless- 
ing of  God  and  the  government  of  the  Church. 

At  this  poiut  the  Moderator  announced  that  the 
hour  for  taking  up  the  order  of  the  day  had  ar- 
rived. 

A  motion  was  made  to  suspend  the  order  of  the 
day  in  order  that  Mr.  Galloway  might  conclude  his 
remarRs. 

Mr.  Galloway  said  that  he  did  not  desire  the  mo- 
tion to  nrevail,  and  it  was  lost. 

The  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  which  was 
the  formal  reception  of  Dr.  Vermilyea,  a  delegate 
Irum  the  Synod  of  the  Dutch  Keformed  Church. 
Dr.V.  was  iiitioduced  to  the  Assembly  by  the  Mod- 
erator, and  delivered  an  eloquent  aodress  in  regard 
to  the  common  bond  of  union  which  should  exist 
between  the  Presbyterian  Church  ana  the  Dutch 
Keformed  Church,  and  expressing  his 
approbation  of  the  efforts  that  were 
being  made  for  the  accomplishment  of  that 
object,  as  well  on  the  part  of  his  own  Church  as  on 
the  part  of  the  New  School  Assembly.  He  thought 
the  services  last  evening  indicated  tht  early  ap- 
proach of  such  a  union,  aod  the  only  question  was 
how  the  marriage  settlement  should  be  orawn — how 
long  it  should  be  necessary  toat  the  intention  of 
marriage  should  be  pubhshed  before  Prof.  Hopkins, 
of  Auburn  Theological  Seminarj',  and  Prot.  Stan- 
ton, of  the  Danville  Semioary,  shall  become  man 
and  wife. 

The  Moderator  replied  to  the  address  in  a  happy 
manner.  He  alluded  to  the  slight  difference  between 
the  two  organizations  and  thought  from  what  lie  had 
observed  that  the  manner  of  cuiiducting  business  in 
this  Dutch  Reformed  Synod  was  attended  with  less 
confusion  than  in  this  Assembly.  The  brother  must 
have  observed  that  this  Assembly  was  somewhat 
turbulent  at  times.  In  reference  to  the  proposed 
nuptials,  he  was  ready  to  respond  most  heaitily  with 
one  exception.  The'  brother  had  placed  Dr.  Hop- 
kins' name  lirst  in  order,  thereby  iutimating  that  he 
(the  Moderator)  was  the  weaker  vessel .  If  he  would 
change  the  order  he  was  willing  the  bonds  should  be 
approved  whenever  the  parties  might  agree. 

Mr.  Vermilyea.  Well  sir,  if  the  wife  is  disposed 
to  be  turbulent,  you  had  better  chang<:  the  order. 

The  Moderator  hoped  by  the  time  the  union  was 
consummated  the  turbulence  ;:would  have  subsided. 

At  the  termination  of  the  reception  the  Assembly 
adjourned  Until  half  past  three  o'clock. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

The  Assembly  met  at  haU'-pastthree  o'clock. 

Rev.  Mr.  Stoneroid,  clioirman  of  the  committee 
to  whom  was  refei-red  minutes  of  Sjnod  of  Mis- 
souri, stated  that  the  committee  had  only  a  print- 
ed copy  of  the  proceedings  of  that  Synod  before 
them,  and  that  theydesirtd  the  manuscript  record. 

After  a  brief  discussion,  an  order  on  the  Stated 
Clerk  ot  the  Synod  of  Missouri  was  issued,  calling 
upou  him  to  produce  the  manuscript  minutes- 

The  Moderator  then  stated  that  the  unfinishtd  bus- 
iness would  be  taken  up;  namely,  the  resolution 
offered  by  Dr.  Bi^ardmau  yesterday,  far  the  rein- 
statement of  the  members  of  the  Louisville  Presby- 
tery; and  that  Mr.  Galloway  was  entitled  to  the 
floor. 

Mr.  Galloway.  In  the  course  of  my  remarks  this 
morning,  1  referred  lo  the  action  of  the  National 
Legislature,  and  I  quoted  it  only  as  a  precedent  in 
parliamentary  matttr.i.  1  sooke  of  the  lact  that 
they  exijelled  individuuls  for  an  insult  to  the  dignity 
of  the  House,  or  for  an  insult  or  an  outrage  upon 
any  member  of  the  House. 

My  attention  has  been  called,  during  the  interim, 
to  a  case  that  has  occurred  within  the  last  three 
years — the  case  of  a  representative  ftom  Louisiana — 
a  Mr,  Field,  who  was  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the 
House,  and  who  voted  as  a  member  of  the  House, 


40 


and  who  gave  one  of  the  two  votes  that  Gen.  Blair   I 
got  as  candidate  for  Speaker.  | 

This  Mr.   Field  attacked  Wm.    B.  Kelly  on  the   ] 
street,  and  when  the  intelligence  reached  the  Honse    I 
they  caused  him  to  be  arrested,  brouglit  hiin  to  the 
bar  of  the  House,  reluseft  him  its   privileges  and 
would  not  restore  him  until  he  came  m  and  bowed    , 
before  the  Honse  in   a  penitential  attitude.    And, 
Mr.  Moderator,  whenever  these  brethren  come  be- 
fore this  Assembly,  and    in    the    same  penitential 
tones  aek  forgiveness  for  what  they  have  done,  we 
will  do  likewse  by  them.     (Merriment  ] 

I  don't  know  any  better  authority  than  is  found 
in  the  decisions  of  the  court  that  settled  the  suit 
between  our  brethren  of  the  other  branch  and  our- 
selves, and  I  would  read  Mr.  Hubbell's  opinion  on 
that. 

'  'From  the  decision  of  this  great  council  there  is 
no  appeal;  and  when  the  General  Assembly  declares 
a  doctrine  heretical,  it  must  no  Ioniser  be  neard  in  a 
Presbyterian  Church.  Its  maiataiiiers  must  either 
conform  to  this  decision,  or  go  elsewhere  and  form 
new  assiiciations  :  of  which  they  may,  at  tlieirpleas- 
ure,  make  what  are  heresies,  when  compared  with 
our  standards.  TQia  decision  of  the  General  As- 
sembly is  the  decision  of  the  majority  of  that  zVs- 
semoly,  and  hence  its  results,  (however  harsh  it 
may  seem,)  that  the  construction  which  the  maior- 
ity  put  iipon  the  standards  is  orthodoxy,  and  that 
of  the  minority  is  heresy.  This  power  is  necessary 
to  and  inherent  in  every  church  establishment,  or  it 
ceases  to  be  a  church,  call  it  wh^t  you  please.  This 
decision  may  be  given  either  in  the  process  of  a  ju- 
dicial trial,  and  be  the  sentence  upon  an  indivioual 
heretic,  or  it  may  be  an  abstiact  declaration  of  the 
Assembly,  or  'bearing  of  testimony'  against  hereti- 
cal aoctrines. 

'  'In  WHATEVER  FoiiM  this  declaration  of  the  As- 
sembly may  be  giT,  en  agam&t  a  particular  opinion, 
ihat  opinion  is  i&eresy,  and  must  be  abandcmed  by 
the  faithful  The  malcontents  have  no  alternative 
but  submissioi".  or  secession." 

That,  Mr.  Moderator,  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church;  it  is  the  doctrine  of  common  sense — it  is  the 
doctrine  that  every  parliamentary  body  is  the  judge 
in  regard  to  the  qualiiication  of  its  members.  For 
instance.  Sir,  iloneot  the  members  of  this  house 
were  to  come  into  this  house  intoxicated — I  do  not 
care  what  Presbytery  sent  him  here — if  he  came  liere 
intoxicated  and  disgraced  the  doctrines  of  the 
Savior  and  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  world  turn 
him  out.  We  have  the  right  to  do  it;  for  it  Is  our 
duty  to  preserve  the  dignity  of  the  Court  of  the  Lord 
Chrii-t.  This  is  a  power  that  is  given  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and,  sir,  I  have  no  right  to  rebel  against 
this  well  established  doctrine  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

For  the  last  twenty  Jyears  the  deliveraaces  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  i^rior  to  the  war,  were  against 
my  judgment,  but  I  submitted.  I  had  faith  m  the 
dtctrines  of  truth  andjustice;  and  1  had  faith  in  the 
progress  of  truth.  1  submitted  until  victory 
crowned  my  sentiments  by  the  blessing  of  God  and 
the  power  of  the  peojtle.     There  is  no  other  way. 

Suppose,  for  example,  I  am  a  member  of  the  ses- 
sion, and  I  am  overruled  in  that  session,  I  must 
submit.  But  suppose  instead  of  submitting  I  be- 
come a  rebel  against  the  {.'overnment  of  the  s(  ssion, 
and  state  it  as  my  individual  opinion  that  they  are 
heretics,  and  perverters  of  the  word  of  God,  will 
they  keep  me  in  the  sessionV  Nevir!  They  have  a 
right  10  complain  to  the  Presbytery— they  nave  the 
ritiht  to  turn  me  out  of  the  session  if  I  so  behave 
myself. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  is  a  court,  and  it  must 
preserve  its  dignity  and  do  things  in  order.  The 
greatest  indignity  that  can  be  perpetrated  on  any 
deliberative  body  is  to  insult  its  power  atid  dignity". 
Ah!  they  say,  we  didn't  mean  any  harm.  Why, 
the  men  who  stiuck  at  Fort  Sumter  did  not  me;iu 
any  harm.  It  was  an  error  of  power  as  sovereigns, 
and  they  thought  they  had  the  i>ower  and  the  right 
to  be  independent  of  "the  power  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  Stute^— not  that  they  had  struck  at 
the  dignity  of  the  National  Government — .ind  they 
sent  representatives, as  these  men  now  Fond  represen- 
tatives tons,  to  Washington  City,  miuifcters  plenipo- 
tentiary of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  to  confer  with 
the  Government  of  the  United  States— to  ask  them 


whether  they  would  be  willing  to  make  terms,  and 
submit  to  the  power  of  this  subordinate  State.  And 
these  gentlemen  of  the  Southern  States  profess  to 
derive  their  power  to  rebel  from  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  states.  Why,  sir,  there  never  was  a 
rebel  in  the  Church  or  State — heretic  or  traitor— that 
did  not  base  his  heresy  or  his  (reason  on  the  word 
of  God  or  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
[Laughter.]  Any  one  who  has  had  observation  and 
experience  knows  that  to  be  the  tact.  One  of  the 
most  violent  arguments  I  ever  heard  on  an  iulrac- 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  was  made  by  a  man  who 
was  defending  a  grog  seller  wtio  had  riolated  the 
law,  and  the  man  contendi-d  It  was  not  in  accordance 
with  the  Constitution  ot  Ohio. 

I  say,  then,  that  it  is  the  necessary  and  inherent 
right  of  every  deliljerative  body  to  control  its 
own  members.  We  are  bourdto  abide  by  the  de- 
cisions of  the  highest  judicatory  in  the  Church,  and 
whenever  the  Presbyterian  Church  makes  a  deci- 
sion contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  and  I  shall  con- 
sider that  in  so  doing  they  are  heretic;!,  I  will 
leiive  them..  Their  decisions  are  the  supreme  law, 
and  are  binding.  That  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  has 
laid  down  the  law  upon  this  subjecr-.  Let  me  read  : 
"The  whole  power  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is 
concentrated  in  the  General  Assembly.  Notwith- 
standing, that  supreme  judicatory  of  the  Church 
has  entrusted  the  exercise  of  this  power,  in  many 
cases,  to  the  inferior  Church  judicatories,  the  Sy- 
nods, Presbyteries,  and  Church  sesfions,  yet,  as 
the  General  Assembly  exercises  an  aitpeliate  juris- 
diction over  ail  these  inf^-iior  judicatories,  and  is 
the  tribunal  of  dernier  resort,  the  whole  power  of 
those  judicatories  concentrates  in  the  General  As- 
sembly as  the  primeval  fountain  of  ecclesiastical 
power.  It  exercises  the  ssme  power  over  the  decis- 
ions of  the  inferior  judicatories  that  the  Supreme 
Court  in  this  State  exercises  over  the  decisions  of 
the  inferior  Courts.  And  you  cannot  arraign  the 
Supreme  Court,  on  an  accusation  of  abusing 
its  power  by  reviewing  the  proceedings  of  an  infe- 
rior court;  whilst  it  would  undoubtedly  be  an 
abuse  of  power,  should  the  inferior  refuse  to  allow 
an  appeal  to  be  taken  from  their  judgment. ' ' 

I  have  had  an  experience  in  regard  to  this  matter, 
and  so  have  many  other  brethren.  For  years  the  Su- 
preme Court  sustidued  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and 
the  decisions  of  that  Court  in  effect  were,  that  a  ne- 
erohad  no  rights  which  a  white  man  was  bourid  to 
respect.  We  submitted  to  this.  We  did  not  walk 
u]i  and  call  those  men  who  delivered  this  opinion, 
"You  tyrants;  you  despots;  you  perverters  of  the 
power  of  the  Government."  Not  at  ah.  If  any 
man  had  gone  in  and  used  that  language,  he  would 
have  been  turned  out  for  contempt  of  Court. 

Now,  brethren,  this  is  the  law,  and  hence  I  sav  to 
these  men,  they  are  rebels  against  the  government 
of  God;  and  I  do  not  mean  it  in  a  political  sense. 
We  say  to  them,  take  down  your  standard,  haul  in 
your  flag,  and  putup  the  old  banner  tnat  has  floiited 
over  the  Presh.vterian  church,  and  put  upon  it  me 
inscriptions  that  have  been  put  forth  in  these  recent 
and  latter  days.  Until  these  brethren  retract  their 
errors  and  become  penitent,  we  cannot  take  them  in. 
But, it  is  said,  we  can  not  suspend  their  Junctions 
untd  they  have  a  trial.  I  contend  that  we  can  turn 
thf-m  out  without  a  tiial — on  common  fame.  What  is 
that?  Tate  the  declaration  and  testimony,  and  you 
find  they  become  Their  own  accusers.  It  is  a  con- 
fession of  guilt.  They  say:  "We  are  guilty,"  and 
can  never  be  otherwise  th.an  guilty;  we  will  fight 
it  out  to  the  last,  and  we  expect  the  crowned  head 
of  the  Church  to  be  with  us.  That  is  the  doctrine, 
and  it  is  the  doctrine  of  rebels  everywhere.  But 
every  man  who  is  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  government  of  the  Prtsbytcri&n 
Church,  which  bears  a  closer  resemblance  to  oui- 
institutions  than  any  other  governmental  organiza- 
tion— knows  that  itis  the  duiy  ot  these  men  to  sub- 
mit. But,  says  a  brother,  you  must  serve  them 
with  process.  Why,  sir,  they  have  had  process. 
They  nave  served  themselves  with  process  in  flaunt- 
ing "their  own  confession  before  us — wherein  they 
defy  the  power  of  the  Church. 

And  yet  these  men  complain  of  persecution.  Who 
persecuted  them?    They  persecuted  themselves.  As 


41 


the  little  girl  said  when  her  mother  left  her  some 
work  to  do,  aurt  she  pr*;terrei  fetandins:  still  to 
working,  aud  so  tied  herself  to  the  table.  Her 
mother  came  home  and  said,  "Mollie,  why  didn't 
you  sweep  the  floor?"  Said  she,  "t  couldn't,  I'm 
tieo."  "  Why,  who  tied  you  ?"  "Itietl  mytelf." 
So  It  is  wiih  thetie,  brethren.     [Laiigtiter.] 

They  are  in  an  uaphasaut  pi  edicament,  but  they 
digged  the  pit,  and  iliey  have  fallen  inio  ic.  They  are 
in  the  Assembly — their  doctrines  are  here — they 
have  flaunted  them  in  uur  laces.  This  Declaration 
and  Testimony— look  at  it,  ana  see  whiit  sort  of  lan- 
guage 18  employed  by  gentlemf  n  who  wish  to  come 
in  and  associate  wiiu  us.  Chnsiian  gentlemen  call- 
ing us  "heri'iics,"  "apostates,"  end  "perverters 
of  the  word  of  God. ' '~  Why,  these  are  the  most 
serious  charges  tuat  can  be  brought  against  one. 

Sir,  I  have  been  to  some  extent  a  child  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  Wy  lather  was  in  it,  and  my 
cranafather  was  in  it,  and  somehow,  I  thought  they 
had  found  out  the  best  way  to  Heaven  was  through 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  But  now,  in  these  latter 
days,  when  the  war  is  over,  when  the  Testimony  is 
accomplished  and  the  common  glory  of  the  country 
is  consummated,  here  come  in  these  rebels  before 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  good  brother  over  the  way  talks  about  a  tem- 
pest, and  the  vessel  going  on  to  the  lee  shore.  Well, 
sir,  what  else  could  be  expected,  when  there 
s  a  mutiny  among  the  land  lubbers?  [Laughter.] 
Sir,  we  hitve  got  tiiat  old  rebel  craft  to  deal  with— 
the  Alabama,  and  it  is  endeavoring  to  send  that 
grand  old  man-of-war,  the  Kearsarge,  to  the  bot- 
tom. Nov,  brother  Boardmau,  I  will  take  that 
rule  of  the  Church  that  you  wish  to  refer  to. 

Dr.  Boardmau.  You  are  on  another  part  of  the 
argument  now. 

Mr.  Galloway.  I  am  en  that  part  of  the  argu- 
ment that  process  has  been  served  on  them,  and  I 
have  your  own  language  in  reference  to  this  matter 
in  1S38. 

Dr.  Boardman.  If  you  have  any  authority  for 
visiting  summary  punishment  upon  men  without 
giving  them  permission  to  be  heard,  I  should  be 
glad  to  hear  it.  Or  if  you  can  vindicate  in  the 
presence  of  the  learned  jurist  whom  I  Know  to  be 
in  the  house  at  this  moment,  the  extraordinary 
theory  of  the  law  of  contempt  which  was  presented 
here  to-day,  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  it. 

Mr.  GaUoway.  I  have  it  on  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  Boardman.  I  heard  that  quotation  this 
morning. 

Mr.  Galloway.  Well,  I  have  some  of  your  own 
sentiments  on  the  subject. 

Dr.  Boardman.  As  far  from  the  subject  as  the 
North  is  Irom  the  South,  my  good  brother.  Show 
me  the  authority  for  putting  a  man  out  of  the  house, 
court  or  anything  else,  without  giving  him  permis- 
sion to  open  his  lips . 

Mr.  Galloway.    The  authority  is  univeral  usage. 

Dr.  Boardman.     Will  you  cite  an  example. 

Mr.  Galloway.  I  cited  an  examnle  that  occurred 
in  Congress  a  short  time  since. 

The  Moderator.  I  think  this  colloquy  is  not  in 
order. 

Dr.  McLean.  Moderator,  the  speaker  would  edify 
the  house  more  if  he  would  not  speak  to  that  corner 
so  much,  (referring  to  the  corner  in  which  Dr. 
Boardnrjn  sat.) 

Mr.  Galloway.  This  is  the  most  interesting  corner 
just  now. 

Dr.  Boardman.  This  is  the  only  corner  where 
there  is  any  light. 

Mr.  Galloway.  ''The  light  shineth  in  darkness, 
but  the  darkness  camprehendeth  it  not.  [Great  mer- 
riment.] 

I  come  now  to  the  language  which  was  used  by 
Brother  Boardman  in  1838,  in  reference  to  the  men 
who  were  then  cut  wlf  from  the  PiesUvlerian 
Church  without  the  formality  of  a  trial.  It 
was  then  he  applied,  according  to  McEl- 
roy's  liepoit  of  tne  Presbyterian  Church 
case  to  those  unfortunate  brethren,  the  Pagan 
maxim,  "Whom  the  gods  wish  to  destroy  they  flrat 
make  mad  "  So,  Mr.  Moderator,  I  contend  that; 
these  brcthern  are  under  protest  according  to  the 
principles  of  ttie  decision  of  this  Church  case  of  our 
General  Assembly  before  the  Supreme  Court.    The 

5 


difference  between  Dr.  Boardman  and  mayself  is, 
1  submit  to  Tile  Supreine  (.oiut.  while  he  yields  to 
the  better  opinion  of  tne  LoLii-,vilte  p!'esl)yc^:ry. 

So,  Mr.  Moderator,  and  members  of  the  General 
Assembly,  we  coudeam  ttjtse  men  out  of 
their  own  mouths.  'these  men  pre  undtr 
process  by  an  appeal  from  the  distinguished  Fatn<  r 
of  the  Church,  Dr.  Robr.  Breckinridge.  Thty  were 
under  process  fr(;m  the  day  notice  was  given  of  tlie 
appeal.  They  are  here,  and  the  question  is,  shall 
they  be  allowed  to  deliberate  on  other  mutters  ? 
We  sav  they  shall  not,  because  of  their  deUant  and 
reproach lul  laiigaage  against  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  Presbyterian  Chuicti,  cotstituttd  by  the  Head 
of  the  Church  by  the  instrumentaiity  of  His  chosen 
people.  When  Brother  Boardman  wants  to  over- 
throw this — 

A  member.  Speak  this  way,  instead  of  to  that 
corner. 

Mr,  Galloway,  (taking  a  position  on  the  middle 
of  the  platform.)  1  am  so  much  in  hubit  of  audress- 
ing  one  side  of  a  house  that  it  is  diilicult  to  accommo- 
date myself  to  a  mauy-sided  audience.  [Laughter.] 
But  1  do  not  propose  to  prolong  this  arguuieiit.  I 
have  no  unkind  feeling  toward  these  erring  bn;th- 
ren,  only  1  say  they  do  not  belong  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  at  present,  having  contemptuously  re- 
pudiated tbeir  allegiance  to  its  highest,  deoisioni. 
When  they  are  to  be  tried  we  will  give  thein  every 
opiiortUDity  that  every  other  criminal  has.  We  in- 
tend to  give  them  every  right  of  process,  but  we 
have  a  right  to  protect  our  own  digniry  till  the 
hour  cf  trial  arrives.  As  I  said  this  morniog,  these 
brethren  cannot,  with  a  proper  self-respect,  ask  to 
enioy  our  latercourt.e  and  communion.  What!  do 
they  wisn  to  be  associated  with  us,  whom  they  have 
branded  heretics  and  tyrants.  Suppose  a  member 
would  rise  iu  his  place  in  this  Assembly  and  use  the 
defiant  and  scurrilous  language  ol  thid  Act  and  Tes- 
timony, would  he  not  be  rebuked  for  his  gross  in- 
decency, and  should  he  persist  in  his  c  mteaipt  of 
authority,  would  he  not  be  ejected  without  a  tormal 
trial  Irom  the  floor  of  this  Assembly  ?  The  House 
would  have  tiie  right  to  vindicate  its  dignity  by  its 
inherant  right  to  protect  itself  against  willluland 
deliberate  insult. 

Mr.  Galloway  continued  to  illustrate  at  length  the 
points  assumed"  by  him, and  his  lurther  remarks  wiU 
appear  in  our  next  is^ue. 

Mr.  Reinboth  said  that,  feeling  the  weighty  re- 
sponsibility which  rested  upon  cuem  as  a  Church 
Assembly,  and  realizing  the  course  this  discu^  ion 
had  taken,  he  had  drawn  up  a  paper  which  alter  be- 
ing read  might,  bethought,  be  referred  to  a  cwin- 
mittee  with  as  much  propriety  as  other  papers  had 
been .    He  then  read  as  follows : 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  for  the  past  five 
vears  have  greatly  erred  in  their  acts  and  utterances 
In  respect  to  slavery,  rebellion  and  secession,  as 
well  as  to  all  that  has  been  considered  subversive  of 
good  order  and  peace  in  our  Church,  and  contrary 
to  both  law  and  gospel;  and 

Whereas,  The  Churca  is  more  than  threatened  not 
only  AViih  schism,  but  with  ittter  oestruciion,  in 
consequence  of  said  acts  and  utterances;  and 

Whereas,  Notwithstanding  by  large  and  uniform 
majorities,  the  acts  and  records  of  the  last  hve  }  ears 
of  the  Assembly  are  sptcially  objectionable  to  many 
of  our  Souttieru  brethren,  but  more  especiallv  to 
those  sympathizing  Northern  brethren,  who,  un- 
lovtunately,  have  been  and  still  are,  in  the 
minority  in  respect  to  ail  the  aforesaid  acts  and 
records;  and, 

Whereas,  That  although  the  minority  should 
generally  acquiesce  in  the  acti  and  decisions 
of  the  majorit} — inasmuch  us  the  mujorhy  of  this 
Assembly,  in  tbe  spin  of  ma^nanimiiy,  are  will 
ing  to  accord  to  their  brethern  ot  the  minority  the 
greater  amount  of  wisdom,  patriotism  and  loyalty 
— although  their  record  and  autecedeats  are  seem- 
ingly against  them;    and, 

WheiLas,  It  may  be  that  the  said  brethren 
of  the  minority  are  right  iu  their  views 
and  interpretations  of  thf  constitmiou,  order 
and  di.-cipiiue  of  tur  Ctiurcn;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  hereby  reconsider, 
reverse  and  utterly  expucge  all  and  every  act  ubd, 
acts,  recrda  and  deliveriiices  of  the  sever*!  As- 
semblies for  the  years  ISiJi.  'tii,  '63,   '64,  and  'G5. 


4-2 


Resolvfd,  That  it  be  fr. j ->inpd  upon  the  mpmbers 
ol  ttiis  Aftt-euiOly,  during  ii»  Juiure  se.'-cions,  to 
ntither  think,  nor  8)if-ak  df,  >ior  make  any  reference 
to,  by  word  or  act,  the  matters  tliU3  reversed  ana 
txV'Ungrd. 

ilebuiv.-rt.  That,  In  order  to  secure  the  Church 
from  s-cbisiii,  division  or  stcussion  '>n  the  part  of 
even  oije  of  its  inenib<-rs,  it,  he  liurher  ei'joined 
upon  eiery  member  of  our  Ctitrch,  young  and  old. 
iiidle  ana  femaie,  -hit  lereal'ier,  uiiUi  the  recixi- 
fitructiou  oi  our  >a'innal  Govtruait-nt  be  lully 
eotabliijhed,  no  siHusion  .^ha,!  he  made  to  the 
subject  ut  blfcvery,  or  the  war  gro^wing  out  of  the 
same,  nor  to  any  of  the  collateral  i.-ssiit-s  and  ques- 
tions urisrug  tutrelri-iii;  and  that  no  reJerence  t.ha)l 
be  njidf  to  paHt  political  diil'erences;  nor  shall  any 
of  ibe  Dtoin  s  or  e^iithe's  whch  have  c^mni'^nly  pre- 
vailed in  desigfiaiiou  of  the  resptc  ive  parties  and 
bclr  adherent-,  Ol  u-^ed  or  uttered  at  any  time,  Lor 
under  uiiy  circumstances. 

KesolTec*,  That  the  thanks  of  the  majority  of  tbis 


Aspembiy  ffre  especially  due  and  hereby  tendered  to 
their  bri'ihren  in  the  minoi  iiy  for  the  kmd.iy  and  pa- 
tient eflbrtH  which  th"y  have  ever  riKhieou-)y  and 
persi-steiitly  made  to  convince  us  of  our  errors  and 
bring  us  to  a  c  ilm  and  generous  acquie.sence  iu  and 
to  their  views  of  constitutional  law  and  order. 

Resolved,  That  we  hlfcerely  regret  and  deplore 
the  consequecces  ai  ising  iroin  the  acts  and  records 
of  the  As^tmblv  in  the  jear.^  aioresaid,  and  that  now 
we  beg  and  implore  our  oflenled  brethren  of  tho 
South  to  accept  our  niagnaininity ;  to  excuse  our 
mifrtaKen  but  well  ii.ttndfd  ze^l,  atd  to  rtceive  our 
extended  and  Jiateriial  ritjht  hand  ot  tellosvahip. 

Resolved,  That  our  aforesaid  brethren  of  the  mi- 
nority be  a  coinmit'ee  of  the  whole  on  the  *-tate  of 
the  Country,  and  tiiat  they  be  specially  instructed  to 
coniniunicate  this  action"  to  their  brethereu  of  the 
Souih- 

AVithout  coming  to  any  decision  on  the  question, 
the  Assembly  aaji.urned  to  meet  at  9  o'clock  to- 
mori-ow  morning. 


SIXTH  DAY— WEDNESDAY,  MAY  23,  1866. 


The  Assembly  met  at  the  usual  hour,  and  after 
devotional  exercises  the  minutes  were  read  and 
approved . 

Rev.  Dr.  Anderson  of  St.  Louis  stated  that  he 
■v/as  prepared.t'j  deliver  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  of 
Mi.-feouri  to  the  chairninn  of  the  committee  having 
the  matter  in  charge,  as  per  order  of  the  Assenibiy 
on  yesterday.  He  legretted  that  he  had  to  make 
the  rema-k  that  he  thought  it  was  unnecessary  for 
the  Assembly  to  take  such  a  course  of  action  as 
they  had.  for,  hud  he  known  that  a  single  member 
of  that  cuuimiitee  would  have  preferred  to  have  had 
the  wriiteo  rather  thau  the  printed  record,  it  would 
httve  }!1Vhd  him  ureat  pleasure  to  have  given  it  to 
Dim.  With  all  respect  to  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, be  aid  bay  he  had  the  written  reord,  but 
he  supposed  the  printed  record  would  be  more  con- 
veiiienr.  Ke  regretted  that  any  difficulty  of  this 
sort  should  have  occurred,  for  the  reason  that  it 
miijht  fceem  to  the  brethren  who  knew  nothing  about 
them  that  they  were  trying  to  conceal  what  they  had 
done. 

Rev.  Mr.  Henry  wished  to  explain  that  the  brother 
bad  misunderstood  llie  remark  that  he  made  on  jea- 
terday,  or  rather  a  remark  maele  to  him  a  few  mo- 
ments ago,  in  saj  log  that  the  minutes  were  signed 
by  ones.  J.  P.  Anderson;  he  did  not  know  that  that 
was  the  brother's  name.  He  hoped  that  if  the  gen- 
tleman thought  there  was  any  reHeciion  case  upon 
biui,  he  would  pardon  him.  He  certainly  did  not 
mean  any  personality  at  all. 

Rev.  Mr.  Andeison.  The  explanation  of  the 
brother  is  amply  sutlicient.  I  withdraw  all  that  1 
have  fell  of  unkindness  to  the  remark  which  was  re- 
portea  to  me.  I  did  not  think  it  was  courteous  for 
a  brott;er  to  speak  of  another  brother  in  the  ministry 
in  that  way. 

Rev.  Mr.  Gurley  presented  a  report  from  the  Judi- 
cial Committee  as  in  order  and  ready  for  trial, 
case  No.  a,  the  a»peal  of  Rev.  Samuel  i5oyd  of  the 
Isjnod  01  Wheeling.  The  committee  suggest,  in 
connection  with  this  report,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
Character  of  the  case  and  the  testimony  connected 
With  It,  tliat  it  be  referred,  by  consent  of  the  parties, 
to  a  committee  lo  be  appointed  by  the  Moderator — a 
commiitee  of  live  ministers  and  lour  elders — who 
ehail  bear  ins  parties  and  report  to  the  Assembly. 

Rev.  Mr.  Kivhs  moved  its  adoption. 

Rev.  Mr.  I'isber  had  no  objection,  but  wished  to 
coi  re<;t  one  thing;  that  was  in  regard  to  the  consent 
ofparties.  He  aid  not  know  that  any  such  consent 
had  been  given. 

Rev.  Mr.  Gurley  saidthat  this  could  be  done  with 
thf^  consBLit  of  parties. 

Rt.v.  Mr.  Edwards  said  they  had  no  rightto  allow 
this  tetirtnce  to  a  special  committee.    He  held  that 


the  constitution  did  not  give  the  least  count enance 
to  such  a  thing. 

Rev.  Mr.  Krebs  said  those  familiar  with  the  pro- 
ceedings of  past  years  must  recollect  frequent  in- 
stances in  which  the  course  now  proposed  had  been 
adopted  by  the  General  Assembly;  to  have  the  case 
prepared  by  a  committee  fur  the  action  of  the 
house, 

the  report  was  then  adopted. 

Case  No.  4,  from  the  tame  committee,  was  then 
reported — that  of  B.  F.  Avery  against  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville. 

Rev.  Mr.  Krebs  moved  that  this  case  be  referred 
to  the  same  committee,  if  it  covild  be  done  with  the 
consent  ot  parties. 

Mr.  McKnight  moved  to  place  the  report  on  the 
docket. 

Mr.  Day  moved  that  the  report  be  referred  to  a 
committee  to  prepare  testimony  and  report  the  same 
to  this  house. 

Rev.  Mr.  Krebs  said  that  was  the  substaace  of 
his  motion.  He  hoped  it  would  not  go  on  the 
docket,  as  nobody  could  tell  whether  it  would  be 
reached  before  the  day  of  judgment. 

The  motion  to  docket  the  case  was  lost. 

Mr.  Fisher  saia  he  objected  to  a  reference  of  tbis 
case  to  that  committee  because  the  case  !rom  Wheel- 
ing would  occupy  a  great  deal  of  their  time. 

Mr.  McKnight  caid  that  if  it  was  referred  to  a 
committee  all  the  testimony  taken  before  the  com- 
mittee, all  the  testimony  taken  before  the  commit- 
tee and  the  arguments  would  have  to  be  dis- 
cussed bf  lore  the  house.  He  did  not  see  that  any 
time  would  be  saved  by  this  cour.4e. 

Rev.  Mr.  Humphrey  said  this  was  a  complaint  of 
Mr.  Avery  against  the  Presbjtery  or  Louisville. 
The  commissioners  of  that  Presbytery  were  cot 
here  to  answer,  and  he  did  not  see  how  it  was  pos- 
sible to  proceed  with  the  trial  of  the  case,  either  he- 
fore  the  house  or  before  a  committee,  while  the 
commissioners  of  that  Presbytery  were  rmt  in  the 
house.  He  believed  it  should  be  put  on  the  dock- 
et, and  if  the  commissioners  of  the  Presbyteiy  were 
admitted  to  the  house,  they  could  proceed  to  try  the 
case. 

Mr.  Clarke  ^thrught  the  gentleman  was  in  er- 
ror. The  Presbytery  of  Louisville  were  out  of  the 
house  as  judges,  but  they  would  ctrtainjy  come  here 
to  the  bar  as  parties. 

The  Moderator  aunoucced  that  the  time  tor  the 
order  ofthedayhad  come — namely,  the  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Homesuc  Missions. 

On  motion,  the  special  order  was  postponed  until 
Monday  mornlig  next. 

Rev.  Mr.  Guriey  saia  he  understood  Mr.  Boyd, 
the  appell«nc  in  the  CBte  of  the  Wheeling  Synod,  to 


48 


consent  on  yesterday  to  a  reference  to  a  oommlttee. 
H^  DOW  states  that  he  is  uowillinx  to  have  buch  a 
refer-ence;  rhereiore  ihey  would  have  to  reconsider 
the  vote  and  put  the  c  is*;  on  the  docket:. 

The  Modertlor  cte-ired  to  know  if  Mr.  Boyd  had 
bi'cn  in  the  house  durini^  all  these  proceedinijB? 

Mr.  Boyd  said  he  had  not 

Rev.  Mr.  Moafort  moved  that  the  case  of  the 
Louisville  Pre-Ltytery  be  docket*  d. 

The  vote  Oy  wnich  the  report  in  regard  to  the 
Wbe«?ling  Synod  svas adopted, was  reconsidered, and 
ou  motion  oi  Dr.  Pntterso!],  placed  on  the  docket. 

Kev.  Mr.  Krebs  moved  that  the  second  ordfr  of 
the  day  in  the  afternoon  be  th-^  consideration  of  the 
appeal  f-om  the  Louisville  Presbytery. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

On  modon  cf  Rev.  Dr.  Patterson,  the  business  of 
apuniutmgthe  next  place  of  meeting  be  taken  up. 

The  mo'ionwas  agreed  to. 

Dr.  Paiteraon  nominated  the  Central  Church  of 
Ciucinnati. 

ihe  ,\i')derator  suggested  that  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  Danville  Theological  Semin.ary  had  passed 
)e-olut!0:i8  that  the  Board  meet  at  an  early  day  in 
Kcnluckv. 

liev.  Mr.  Waller  said  the  Committee  on  Theologi- 
cal Seminaries  had  agreed  to  name  an  early  day  lor 
a  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  Kentucky.  If  they 
met  at  Cincinnati  they  could  set  apart  a  day  to  go 
ID' o  Kentucky  and  attend  to  the  business  of  the 
Danville  fiernmary. 

Ktv.  Mr.  Webbter  Dominated  the  Central  Church 
of  baltiiu^rtt. 

Rev.  Mr.  Bently  nominated  the  First  Church  of 
New  York. 

liev.  Jlr.  ChamberUin  said  it  was  by  tacit  con- 
sent last  agreed  mat  the  Assembly  should  go  to  Al- 
bany. 

Rev.  Wm.  Breckinridge  said  he  supposed  the  re- 
mark of  the  brother  on  his  left  (Mr.  Waller,)  was 
in  jyat,  hut  it  might  he.  serious.  It  seemed  to  imply 
that  they  would  n"t  like  to  go  into  Kentucky,  for 
the  rea'rOQ  that  they  wouhi  not  be  kindly  received. 
Havmg  been  born  in  Kentucky  and  still  living  there, 
he  felt  tree  lo  give  the  Assembly  an  invitation  to 
meet  anjR"Dere  lo  Kentucky,  and  he  would  guaran- 
tee that  the  Assembly  would  be  treated  with  as 
gi'eat  hospitality  as  at  any  otljer  place  m  the  coun- 
try . 

A  member.  In  what  part  of  Kentucky  do  vou 
live? 

Rev.  Mr.  Breckinridge.  1  would  be  glad  to  live 
in  every  parr,  of  it;  at  present  I  am  in  Danville,  and 
if  the  Assembly  will  go  there,  they  will  be  well  en- 
tertained.   1  move  that  they  meet  at  Danville. 

Rev.  Mr.  Remington  nominated  Bull'alo,  New 
York. 

Rev.  Mr.  Humphrey  wished  to  make  a  remark  in 
regard  to  the  Uam  iile  Seminary.  The  charter  pro- 
vides for  eighteen  trnstees,  and  the  Assemoly  has 
povvi  r,  as  often  as  it  meets  in  Kentucky,  to  lill  va- 
cawcit'S  and  appoint  Dew  truatees.  In  1857  the  As- 
sembly met,  iu  Kentucky  and  exercised  this  power, 
and  appuiuted  one-third  of  the  entire  Board.  He 
ihonghc  that  the  inteiests  of  the  institution  were 
sate  m  the  hands  of  the  prebtnt  Board.  His  judg- 
ment was,  tint  if  the  General  Assembly  was  not 
preparetl  to  meet  there,  that  undoubtedly  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Seuiinai-y  would  be  sare  until  the  Asstm- 
bly  thiaks  proper  to  meet  there,  and  there  was  no 
immediate  necessity  for  meeting  there. 

Rev.  Mr.  Chamberlain  claimed  that  Cincinnati 
was  as  hospitable  as  any  city,  not  excepting  St. 
Louis,  and  that  was  saying  a  great  deal. 

Rev.  Mr.  Scott  desired  to  know  whether  tlie  Church 
at  CinciunaCi  was  well  located,  or  was  it  ou  a  noisy 
street. 

Rev.  Mr.  Chamberlain  said  it  was  not. 

Rev.  Mr.  Scott  said  he  would  never  vote  to  send 
the  Assembly  to  such  a  noisy  Church  as  this. 

Rev.  Mr.  Monfort  said  it  was  seventeen  years 
since  the  Assembly  had  met  In  Cincinnati,  and  he 
had  no  doubt  the  hospitalities  of  the  ci'y  would  be 
all  that  could  be  desired. 
The  vote  was  then  taken  and  resulted  as  follows : 
Cincinnati,  124;  Baltimore,  o6;  New  Yoik,  35; 
Da.ivilie,  2;  BuHalo,  61. 

There  being  no  choice  the  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson 
moved  that  Cincinnati  be  chosen. 


Rev.  Mr.  moved  as    an  amendment  that 

Buffalo  be  chosen. 

A  memtjer  olijected  to  holding  a  meeting  so  far  in 
the  East,  and  suggested  a  compromise  on  Cin- 
cinnati. 

The  amendment  was  lo.st,  and  the  vote  was  then 
taKen  on  the  motion  to  meet  at  Cinciuuan. 

Ihe  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Mr.  Humphrey  moved  that  the  time  be  (Ixed 
uiJ(m  the  third  i'huriaay  iu  May,  at  eleVcu  j'ciock, 
1867. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Moderator  announced  that  the  hour  for  the 
order  of  the  day  had  arrived,  nara'iy,  tue  hearing 
of  the  report  from  the  Committee  ou  Toreign  Cor- 
respondence. 

Rev.  Dr.  Boardman,  from  the  Committee  ot 
Foreign  Corresuondence,  read  a  letter  introductory 
of  Rev.  Dr.  McCosh,  signed  by  various  eminent 
members  of  the  Church  if  Scotland.  Dr.  K  said 
the  Rev.  Dr.  McC  )Sb  was  originally  a  member  of 
the  Established  Church  of  Scotland,  but  went  out 
of  that  Church  at  the  time  of  its  disruption,  and 
was  for  several  years  and  is  still  connecred  with  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland.  At  present  he  holds  a 
commission  under  the  Crown  as  Pf'ifessor 
of  Logic  and  Metaphysics  of  the  Queen's 
College  at  Belfast,  and  he  was  also  con- 
nected with  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ire- 
land. He  need  not.  in  such  a  presence,  refer  to 
those  admirable  works  that  had  given  t)r.  McCosh  a 
place  in  the  respect  and  aff-  ction  of  our  whole  min- 
istry. We  honored  him  as  a  profound  and  able  ex- 
positor on  many  of  the  most  abstruse  problems  in 
moral  philosophy;  and  he  was  sure  the  Assembly 
would  receive  him,  ni^t  only  on  his  own  account', 
but  as  the  representative  of  churches  abroad,  and 
would  cordially  and  graiefuUv  vvelcooie  him  to  this 
Assembly. 

Rev.  Dr.  McCosh  was  then  introduced  by  the  Mod- 
erator. 

The  Assembly  arose  to  receive  Dr.  McCosh,  after 
which  Dr.  McCosh  addressed  the  Assemoly  at 
length. 

He  expressed  a  deep  sense  ot  appreciation  for  the 
honor  that  had  been  conferred  upon  htm  by  the  in- 
vitation. His  lirst  leeling,  on  receiving  the  invi- 
tation was,  that  he  ought  to  decline  it,  but  again  he 
felt  that  he  must  not  allow  personal  considerations 
to  influence  him  on  such  an  occasion.  When  he 
saw  this  Assembly  on  Sunday  morning,  he  saw 
from  the  very  aopearance  of  those  who  were  present 
that  they  were  men  ot  intellect,  who  hail  thought  a 
great  deal,  and  been  engaged  in  great  conflicts,  per- 
sonal and  public.  He  came  before  this  A-suibly 
not  exactly  as  an  official  delegate.  The  Presby- 
terian organization  with  which  he  was  connected 
had  been  sitting  since  he  re.^olved  to  come  to  this 
country.  He  feit  the  need  of  relaxation  in  conse- 
quence of  being  engaged  in  a  literary  work,  which 
had  to  be  executed  speedily  to  meet  a  crisis  m 
thought.  LoDtcing  for  relaxation,  he  was  looking 
toward  a  visit  to  this  cnuntry  as  a  means  of  refresh- 
ing his  mind.  He  wished  also  tj  seethe  great 
Lakes,  the  Falls  and  the  great  Prairi-s,  and 
everything  of  that  sort,  for  he  had  a  pas.'sion  for 
natural  scenery,  and  he  had  all  along  feit  a  deep  in- 
terest m  the  btudy  of  American  character.  He 
wished  to  see  the  peojile  of  this  country,  and  he 
wished  to  see  the  energy  of  the  If.nd.  When  his 
Christian  friends  heardhe  was  about  to  proc.  ed  to 
the  United  States,  he  received  v-irious  comoiuuica- 
tions,  official  and  private,  jjraying  that  he  might 
accomplish  the  desire  of  tlie  British  people,  who 
hold  the  truth  as  it  is  iu  Jesus,  for  a  more  eUective 
union  with  the  Churches  in  America.  The  Evan- 
gelical Alliance  unoilicially  instructed  htm  wher- 
ever he  went  to  call  on  the  ministers  and.  brethren 
of  the  various  denouiinations,  in  order  to  bring  us 
in  closer  union.  He  had  come  here  in  fulfillment  of 
this  mission  as  well  as  to  gratify  his  own  personal 
feelings.  Hecontinued:  On  all  previuus occasions 
when  it  wa.^  proposed  to  bring  about  a  closer  re- union 
there  was  always  an  uniortunafe  topic  that  came  up 
as  a  barrier.  1  am  not  saying  anything  as  to 
who  was  to  blame.  When  there  is  a  fusing  of 
hearts  into  one,  I  do  riot  think  it  is  a  time  to  ko 
back  and  sneak  of  old  f^uds  of  the  past.  When  the 
Ylle   reeiduim   is  sinking  and  the  waters  are  puri- 


44 


fying  it  is  not;  for  me  to  stir  up  the  fiUh.  And  I 
Hiiiurit  ei  in::  now  to  inquire  wh' ther  there  lias 
been  Hnj^Hiiit  on  the  part  of  British  Chrlariuns  or 
.American  Chii-tian^,  liut  it  difl  so  hnputn  iin'oriu- 
naielv  rimr  whent-vtrwe  s^uuht  to  nifet  w  ih  each 
"ihT,  and  hold  I'riend'y  intercoiir.se.  there  w.»s  one 
f-ubject  Ihit  itievitahly  c^me  tip  and  inevitably 
Beparalf d  us;  and  tiiat  was  the  i-U'ject  ot  slavery. 

Tiie  subject  always  came  up  somehow  or  other. 
British  Ohrisiiaus  i"elt  that  they  had  a  duty  to 
riisoharjre.  and  alluded  to  it.  You,  on  the  other 
hand,  felr'fhat  ynu  wn-e.endefcvovli.g-,  to  the  htst  of 
y'Ur  ability,  10  do  your  duty  ia  the  very  painful 
circumstances  in  which  you  were  placed.  Ton 
were  not  very  willir  jx  sometimes  to  receive  counsel; 
and  the  subject  always  came  up  between  those  who 
Bonpht  to  brinp  ab  uf  a  more  intimate  i-piriiuil 
relfilimi;  but  now,  God,  in  his  Pr»-ivi(lence--I  give 
the  glory  first  to  God--liMs  removed  that  great  barrier 
fiiit  of  tlte  way,  and  E  thinJJ--although  1  do  not  a-p- 
penr  here  oificiaUy  for  aiybody--!  think 
I  can  state  on  the  part  ot  the  British  Churches, 
who  are  sound  in  thu  faith,  ard  British  <  hrist'ans 
giueially,  that  they  vvish  row  that  these  obsta- 
cles ;iie 'taken  away,  that,  v\e  m:vy  rnsh  into  each 
other's  arms  acd  live  for  all  future  tinie  in  very 
c'.osest  intimacy  and  fellowship.     [Applause.] 

He  was  happy  to  say  that  there  was  a  ve>y  great 
desire  f  r  a  closer  unirn  in  all  Evangelical  Chusches 
in  Kngland  av'd  Ireland,  and  be  thought  in  a  few 
venrs  There  would  be  a  substantial  union  of  all  the 
jwi-i  conformist  Presoyierian  Churches  of  Great 
Britain  acd  Ireland. 

He  refevred  to  the  troubles  of  t^e  Church  in  Scot- 
land, and  to  some  facts  in  his  own  histf>ry.  ilius- 
irating  what  the  Chuiches  in  Great  Britain  hadhai'i 
to  contend  with,  and  parsed  to  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  Churches.  The  tree  Church  of  Scot- 
land, though  not  a  numerous  body,  had  contributed 
for  the  year  ending  May  1,  18!i5,  the  sum  ot  X350,- 
000  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel;  had  set  going  a 
general  sustaining  fund  for  poor  congregations,  a 
benevolence  instituted  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  which  had 
been  carried  on  with  great  visjor  and  liberaHiy,  and 
to  which  the  church  contributed  in  I86.1,  ^180,000, 
and  for  twenty-two  years  ending  May,  18B5.  the  to- 
t»l  sum  of  jee, 000,600.  The  Free  Church  of  Seot- 
land  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing  about  a 
state  ot  tliitigs  that  looked  to  the  union  of  all  the 
chui  ches  of  lilse  faith  and  government  not  only  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  but  in  the  Colonies,  and  the 
epeaker  took  the  opportunity  to  say  that  the  British 
churcties  were  most  anxious  to  be  in  sume  wny  otli- 
clHlly  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  bodies  in 
this  couuti-y  by  having  delegates  reciprocally  ac- 
credited to  the  General  Assemblies  who  might  have 
a  voice  and  a  vote  on  the  more  important  questions 
of  general  interest  to  the  church. 

There  were  many  reasons  why  this  union  should 
be  consummated.  'The  flrst  was,  that  as  they  knew 
each  other  better  they  would  love  each  other  better. 
True,  there  were  many  statements  in  the  newspa- 
pers concerning  us,  but  when  he  came  here  he  could 
not  find  them  verifled.  But  as  one  of  the  strong 
reasons  why  there  should  be  a  closer  union,  take 
lor  instance,  the  sunken  population  of  the  ctties, 
such  as  London  and  Liverpool.  By  a  union  they 
might  co-operate  together  to  devise  some  plan  for 
emigration,  by  which  this  sunken  population  might 
come  to  these  great  prairies  of  the  West,  where, 
said  he,  although  not  very  good  citizens  with  us, 
thev  might  be  verv  good  citizens  with  you.  [Laugh- 
ter Tl  True,  I  have  not  seen  New  Yoi-k,  but  I  aai 
goin?,  there  to  see  whether  you  have  any  pojmlation 
there  as  low  as  ours.  You  must  take  care  of  that 
population  at  the  beginning,  for  I  tell  you  if  it  accu- 
mulates to  any  extent,  it  is  the  worst  evil  that  can 
hefall  yon — worse  even  than  the  slavery  that  has 
Deen  in  your  midst. 

Then  in  regard  to  the  contest  with  Popery.  There 
are  tour  millions  and  a  half  of  people  "who  are 
Catholics  in  my  country,  and  only  a  million  and  a 
half  are  Protestants.  We  have  not  as  much  success 
with  the  Catholics  as  we  would  wish,  but  there  is  a 
great  emigration  going  on.  In  the  vessel  iu  which  I 
came  over  there  were  over  9C0,  mostly  Catholics. 
When  away  from  the  influence  of  their  priests  they 


can  be  reached.  United  together  as  members  of  one 
Cnristian  fanidy  we  may  i-trengthen  each  oiher's 
hands  in  regard  t'>  this  matter.  Anotner  thing.  This 
imion  is  e^senllal  in  letaid  toihe  missionary  field, 
8'>  tlr>.t  we  can  see  to  it  that  when  you  have  taken  up 
afield  Great  Uritain  shall  not  take  up  tue  same 
iield.  VVe  could  thus  confer  how  we  couid  advance 
the  ciuse  of  missions  and  schools. 

Again,  we  have  iu  our  country  a  great  contest  of 
opini  in.  In  the  tirst  place,  we  have  a  very  power- 
lul  oody,  comniobly  called  the  Pu-eyires,  or  High 
<  hurchnien — men,  some  of  wham  are  p  ssessed 
witri  great  ability,  are  devout  and  »re  of  a  high 
character,  and  who  occupy  ahii^h  place  in  the  liter- 
ature and  theology  ot  the  country.  These  men,  I 
think,  are  dejiaiting  from  the  simplicia  of  the  faith 
as  It  is  in  Christ,  and  ihey  mu^t  be  met  by  men  of 
equal  character.  Thus  we  have  Kationali.s'ni  in  our 
country, and  it  Is  that  ihe  one  promotes  the  other.  We 
saw  mat  illustrated  iaour  great  University  at  Ox- 
ford. In  that  university,  agreitmany  young  men 
W'-ntup  ten  years  ago  to  be  framed  tor  tlie  ministry 
—High  Churchmen  or  Pu-eyit,es—bU'.  they  r-belied 
bnd  swung- back  to  Rationalism;  then  they  became 
connected  with  the  literary  press  of  Locdtn,  and  a 
fjieat  uiany  able  articles  in  the  iitetary  press 
of  London  are  wntien  by  young  men  who  are 
Rationaiists— who  are,  trained  up  at  Oxford  in  the 
manner  I  have  described.  During  the  last  few 
years  a  greater  cont  st  has  been  going  on  between 
f  ruth  and  Error,  and  Infidelity  and  Christianity, 
than  has  beea  wicnes.««  d  for  the  last  one  hundred 
and  fifty  }  ears.  One  hundred  and  fifty  yeers  ago 
when  this  contest  began,  the  Church  was  in  a  low 
state,  m-d  there  was  a  detemiination  among  men 
of  high  thought  to  put  down  Christianity.  We  are 
now  in  the  thickest  of  the  tight  at,  this  moment. 
These  contests  aregoingon,  and  they  will  come  to 
jour  land,  and  I  can  conceive  of  nothing  better  than 
for  you  to  send  some  of  your  learned  Professors  to 
comer  frankly  with  us  on  these  suigccrs,  and  to  de- 
vise means  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  as  a  united 
phalanx  fight  the  enemy  cjmbined. 

Another  question  connected  with  this  matter  was 
that  of  universal  philanthrophy  aud  Catholic  Chris- 
tianity. I  have  all  along  taken  a  very  deep  interest 
in  the  stiuggle  of  your  counny,  and  the  question 
arises  iu  this  connection,  what  are  you  to  do  with 
your  colored  population.  You  have  come  through 
a  conflictnohly.  It  seems  to  me  like  that  mighty 
Niagara  1  saw  the  other  day.  You  have  passed  over 
the  rapids  and  the  precipic>^-,  and  now  as  you  rush 
along  there  is  nothing  left  but  the  loam  of  the  con- 
flict which  gradually  spreading  out  into  a  peaceful 
expanse. 

What  were  woto  do  with  the  colored  population? 
This  was  a  question  in  which  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  teel  a  deep  interest.  We  lu.ve  accomulished 
a  great  work,  but  there  was  a  greater  work  than  we 
had  yet  had  before  us.  He  spoKe  as  a  man  who  had 
had  occasion  to  study  this  subject.  The  great 
problem  was,  is  the  white  man  ever  to  improve  the 
black  man  ?  He  was  sorry  to  say  that  Great  Britain 
had  not  settled  this  problem,  although  she  had  at- 
tempted it. 

Said  the  speaker,  I  tell  you  this  frankly.  We 
have  had  a  race  of  the  noblest  savages  in  the  world 
—the  New  Zealauder.  I  believe  we  meant  to  do 
justly,  but  we  have  never  been  able  to  do  so.  We 
havebeeir  at  war  with  them — a  most  painful  war — 
although  I  hope  it  is  now  terminated.  We  iiave  not 
been  able  to  elevate  the  lowest  races.  Then  we  have 
had  our  own  slaves  iu  Jamaica,  aud  late  events  there 
show  that  we  have  not  been  able  to  settle  the  ques- 
tion. Now,  I  say  that  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
and  the  civilized  Christians  of  the  world,  are  look- 
ing to  you  to  see  how  you  will  settle  this  question. 
Are  you  to  go  on  aud  prosper  yourselves,  and  let  the 
black  man  die  out  ?  Are  you  to  realize  that  most 
awtul  theory  of  Darwin,  that  the  higher  races  must 
advance  and  the  lower  races  must  be  extinguished. 
That  is  a  dark  and  gloomy  view,  acd  I  can- 
not accept  it.  I  cannot  believe  that  the 
white  man  is  to  prosper  and  the  black  man  is  to  fade 
away  little  by  little  until  he  is  extinguished.  My 
hope  in  God  is  that  you,  with  the  energy  that  char- 
acterizes all  your  eflbrts,  will  settle  that  question. 


\ 


45 


and  that  the  churches  of  Christ  may  meet  In  harmony 
and  union  for  that  purpose.  I  am  not  speaking  of 
politics  on  ihis  question,  but  I  am  speaking  of  what 
steps  you  are  to  take  to  train  these  people  to  indus- 
try, to  increase  their  inteHigence  and  make  them, 
in  some  measure,  equal  to  you,  not  merely  in  civi! 
matters,  but  equal  to  you  in  Reneral 
advancement.  Your  State  must  take  such  a  course; 
but  the  State  canrot  do  it  alone.  It  must 
be  done  by  your  ctiurchee.  And  1  confers  I  have 
been  lookiap:  to  you— to  the  old  Presbyterian  Church 
— as  takiijg  the  initiative  in  this  matter.  You  have 
an  influence,  and  oui;ht  to  have. 

I  must  say  I  would  like  exceaaively  to  see  the 
North  aud  the  South  closely  united  in  this  vrork;  for 
the  North  to  say  we  have  spent  all  ihis  for  the  sake 
ot  the  black  man;  and  let  the  South  say  we  are 
Iriends  of  the  black  man.  And  I  would  like  to  see 
this  UTiii)n  consummated  between  Christian  men 
North  ard  South,  for  then  I  believe  you  would  be 
brnnght  iiiore  closely  together  in  the  work  to  which 
I  tru^t  you  will  deVi  te  yourst-lvee,  aud  you  will 
have  the  best  wishes  of  the  best  men  in  Europe. 

The  Moderator  replied  briefly  to  the  cddress  of 
Dr.  McOosh  He  said  that  he  rejoiced  that  there 
was  a  tendency  in  this  country  to  a  like  union  of 
which  Dr.  McCosh  had  spoken  He  believed  it 
foretold  great  results,  not  only  in  this  conntry,  but 
m  Euriijie.  He  doubled  not  that  the  Commiitee  on 
Foreisn  Correspondence  ivou'd  urrange  it  so  that 
members  who  propose  visiting  Europe  the  coming 
season,  might  be  de()Utised  to  the  churches,  thereby 
opening  a  way  forihe  realization  ot  what  was  so 
much  dt-sired.  He  had  no  doubt  it  would  result  in 
great  good.  It  was  true  thac  we  had  just  passed 
through  a  great  war,  in  which  the  aristocracy  of 
Europe  seemed  to  sympatdize  with  those  who  were 
agaiiJStus,  but  all  had  passed  away,  and  he  believed 
a  better  state  of  feeling  existed.  Now  that  we  were  at 
peace,  he  hoped  it  would  be  a  lasting  and  undis- 
turbed peace,  and  that  in  due  time  they  would  reach 
that  blue  and  peaceful  expanse  where  no  angry 
words  of  passion  will  be  encountered,  and  where 
these  tendencies  to  union  in  all  Presbyterian  bodies 
shall  have  been  realized. 

Mr.  McKnight  oflered  a  resolution  that  the  Com- 
miitee  on  f'oreign  correspondence  be  instructed  to 
inquire  into  and  report  upon  the  projjriety  of  ap- 
pointing a  committee  tr)  open  a  correspondence 
with  the  Churches  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Rev.  Mr.  Kempshall  offered  the  following  as  a 
sub^^it^te: 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  has  listen- 
ed, with  the  deepest  iutertst,  to  the  address  of  Dr. 
McCosh,  and  responds  most  cordially  to  the  very 
friendly  sentiments  aud  wishes  expressed  by  him 
for  the  promctiOH  of  a  more  intimate  and  direct 
correspondence  between  this  General  Assembly  and 
the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Ireland. 

Resolved,  That  the  matter  of  adopting  a  nlan  for 
carrying  into  practical  efl'ect  this  correspondence 
be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Coires- 
pondence,  to  report  to  the  General  Assembly. 

Mr.  McKnight  accepted  the  substitute. 

Rev.  Mr.  Smith  suggested  that  som^  personal  re- 
cognition of  the  great  services  of  Dr.  McCosh  should 
be  made. 

The  Moderator  suggested  that  it  would  be  more 
proper  to  have  this  referred  to  a  committee. 

Rev.  Mr.  West  made  a  motion  to  that  effect,  which 
was  agreed  to. 

Dr.  Boardman  moved  that  Rev.  Dr.  McCosh  be 
invited  to  occupy  a  place  at  his  pleasure  bi  side  the 
Moderator  during  the  session  of  this  Assembly. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Tilr.  Croser  moved  that  in  the  case  which  has 
been  before  the  Assembly  for  the  last  two  years 
from  Illinois,  the  parties  may  appear  before  the 
eommittee  which  has  been  appointed  and  give  in- 
formation on  which  to  make  a  report. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  resolution  offered  yesterday  by  the  Rev.  Mr, 
Farquhar,  relative  to  money  received;  for  congrega- 


tional purposes  and  directing  stated  clerks  to  report 
as  canojdates  young  men  studying  for  the  minis- 
try, vvas  referred  to  a  committee  consistin;;  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Krebs,  Rev.  Mr.  Farquhar  and  Elder  James 
Black. 

The  Assembly  then  adjourned  to  3H  p.  m. 


AFTEKNOON  SESSION. 

The  order  of  the  day  being  the  nomination  of 
cfficirs  for  the  various  Boards,  Rev.  VVni.  Wilson 
and  Matthew  Howell  of  Leavenworth,  were  nomi- 
nated on  the  Board  for  Church  Estentiou. 

No  action  was  taken  in  the  matter. 

The  next  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  namely; 
the  case  of  Mr.  Aveiy  against  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville. 

Mr.  Owens,  from  the  Judicial  Committee,  said  the 
papers  in  this  case  were  put  in  the  hands  of  the 
Judicial  Committee,  but  tDe  appeal  was  not  fouad 
among  them. 

An  application  was  made  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of 
the  Louisville  Presbytery  to  attest  to  the  fact  that 
the  appeal  had  been  made,  and  (he  Staled  Clerk 
saia  tais  mornrng  that  he  had  prepared  the  appeal, 
anaj  It  was  properly  before  the  Assembly.  This 
venerable  Eider  of  the  Walnut  street  church  of 
Louisville  was  duly  appointed  a  delegate  from  that 
session  to  the  Presbytery  of  Ltuisville.  Another 
who  had  been  appointed  by  amiiiorify  also  appeared 
on  the  floor  of  the  Presbytery,  ilr.  Avery  presented 
his  case,  but  the  Moderator  said  he  recognized  the 
minutes  ot  the  session  as  the  minutes  of  the  Church. 
The  other  elder  was  therefore  recognized  aod  Mr. 
Avery's  claims  were  rejected.  Mr.  Avery  ap- 
pealed from  the  decision  I  have  read  the  [proceed- 
ings of  the  case,  and  it  seems  remarkable.  This 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  to  be  an  order-loving  and 
constitution-loving  and  law-abiding  Presbytery, 
but  of  all  the  proceedmgs  in  the  world — 

Rev.  Mr.  Crozier.    I  rise  to  a  point  of  order. 

Moderator.  I  think  this  is  not  in  ortler.  I  under- 
stand it  is  your  duty  to  make  an  explanation,  but 
you  seem  to  be  going  into  the  merits  of  the  case. 

Mr.  Owen.  Well,  my  objftct  was  to  show  that  this 
appeal  was  in  order  and  that  he  was  the  person  to 
bit  here. 

The  Moderator.  We  take  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee as  showing  that  the  appeal  is  in  order. 

Rev.  Mr.  Owen.  Have  we  not  a  right  to  show  that 
the  appeal  is  just? 

The  Moderator.  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by 
the  word  just. 

Dr.  Boardman.  I  think  the  court  must  first  in- 
quire whether  the  parties  are  present.  I  wish  to 
niake  that  inquiry. 

The  Modera'ior.  I  suppose  that  to  be  inferred  from 
the  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee,  that  the  case 
was  ready  for  trial. 

Dr.  Boardman.  I  wish  the  Judicial  Committee  to 
answer  the  question  categorically,  whether  the  par- 
ties are  before  us? 

Rev.  Mr.  Owen.  I  understood  that  the  parties 
are  properly  before  us. 

The  Moderator  read  from  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
and  said,  the  tirst  inquiry  was  as  to  whether  the 
parties  were  here .  Do  I  understand  that  the  writ- 
ten appeal  is  not  before  the  Committee? 

Rev  Mr.  Owen.  In  this  case  the  Stated  Clerk  of 
the  Louisville  Presbytery  stated  to  me  that  the  an- 
peal  was  i)roperl.y  made,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
although  he  has  just  now  moditied  his  statement 
somewhat. 

The  Moderator.  Let  me  explain  my  view  of  this 
case.  I  had  supposed  that  the  Committee  had  dis- 
charged their  duty,  and  I  know  nothing  to  the  con- 
trary yet.  If  it  is  a  fact  that  there  is  no  written 
document,  my  judgment  is  that  the  rule  has  not 
been  complied  with. 

Rev.  Dr.  Patterson  rose  to  request  that  the  ap- 
peal might  be  read. 


46 


The  Moflerator.  I  have  not  vet  passed  the  final 
step.  1  have  not  heard  theaentence  appealed  from 
rtrttd. 

Dr.  P<it(erson.  I  move  that  the  case  be  post- 
poned to  the  n<  xt  General  Assembly. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs  hoped  that  no  hasty  action  be 
taten.  The  committee,  in  presenting  ttiis  report, 
f-upposed  it.  was  pr'ipcriy  prepared.  He  under- 
btcod  that  there  was  an  appeal  proi^erly  made  out. 

The  Moderator  eaid  this  seemed  ti  be  a  case  that 
was  not  properly  before  them,  aad  it  was  his  sug- 
gestion ttiit  the  matter  be  recumaiitted. 

The  suggestion  was  agreed  to. 

Ttje  UMlinished  business  was  then  taken  up, 
namely,  the  resolution  offered  by  Dr.  Boardman 
to  reinstate  the  Louicville  Presbytery. 

Mr.  .Jones,  from  Maryland,  obtained  the  floor 
anil  spoke  at  length  iu  support  of  the  resolution, 
and  in  rtply  to  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Galloway  and 
others,  lie  comeuded  that  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Lon'svilie  Presbytery  bad  complied ,  with 
the  requireu)^nts  of  tlie  Board;  tiiat  thty 
bad  Committed  no  ac^  that  could  be 
construed  into  an  ofl'snse  aga,inst  the  dignity  of  this 
body,  anil  this  body  had  no  right  whatever  to  pun- 
ish tuem  either  for  cont.r-mpt  or  anything  else.  The 
cases  which  had  been  cited  by  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  were  not  analogous,  and  it  was  utterly  impos- 
sible to  find  any  jjrecedent  ior  the  action  that  bad 
been  taken  by  ttie  Assembly. 

Topuo  the  most  ressouable  constniotion  upon  the 
maitf-r,  it  would  appear  that  tht^se  brethren  were 
punitht'd  for  d>iiig  preciseiy  what  the  gentleman 
from  Ohio,  iiud  others,  had  done  wren  they  were  in 
the  niinoriiy.  Then  they  assaded  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  continued  to 
mike  war  upon  toera  unti!,  by  a  pounlar  appeal, 
they  succeeded  in  overturning'them,  and  aboli  hing 
slavery.  No  attempt  was  made  to  turn  the  gentle- 
man irora  Ohio  out  of  Congress  when  he  was  en- 
gaged in  this  work.  The  brethren  of  the  Liouis- 
ville  Presbytery  stood  in  precisely  the  same  position 
IQ  relation  'to  tiie  Church.  They  had  simply  uttered 
their  Te-timouy  against  the  Deliverancesoi' the  As- 
sembly, and  for  so  doing  they  had  been  expelled 
from  this  body. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Jones'  remarks,  Mr. 
Law  of  Long  Island,  obtained  the  floor,  but  gave 
way  in  order  that  a  vote  might  be  taken. 

The  Moderator  stated  the  question  to  be  the  adop- 
tion of  the  resolution  oilered  by  Dr.  Boardman. 

Mr.  CI  irke,  of  Detroit,  called  for  a  division  of  the 
que;ti  >o. 

Agreed  to. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  on  the  motion  to  refer  the 
matter  to  a  committee,  which  was  agreed  to.  while 
so  much  of  the  resolunon  as  instructs  the  committee 
t'>  rf  port  in  regard  to  reinstating  the  members  of  the 
Louisville  Preshjtery  was, on  motion  of  Mr.  Clarke, 
laid  oil  tiie  ti»ble. 

The  resignation  of  Kev.  Di.  Stanton  (the  Modera- 
tor) as  Professor  in  the  Danville  Seminary,  was  re- 
cti ved  and  referred  to  a  committee. 

The  Assembly  adjourned. 


Cosicliision    of     Mr.   Gallo^vay's    Re- 

The  following  is  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Callaway's 
speech  on  Tuesday  evening,  on  the  resolution  tor 
reinstating  the  members  of  Louisville  Presbytery, 
which  was  crowded  out  of  our  last  edition.  He 
said: 

Take  another  illustration.  Suppose  some  com- 
misoiouer  of  this  Assembly  bhould  rise  in  his 
place  in  a  .-tate  O'  intoxication,  and  ititerrupt  its 
proceedings  by  turbulent  and  disorderly  conduct, 
woul )  not  his' mdeceijcy  be  immediately  rebuked? 
And  it  he  pertenaciously  adhered  to  his  impropri- 


ety, would  not  the  power  of  this  house 
be  exercised  even  to  the  extent  of  eject- 
ing him  from  the  house?  Would  any  one 
demand  that  the  fact  of  intoxication  should  be 
investigated,  and  a  trial  be  allowed  the  oflender, 
when  his  condition  had  been  maniie.«ted  lo  every 
sober  eye,  and  especially,  when  he  admits  himself 
to  be  drunk,  and  insolently  delles  the  authority  of 
the  hou^e,  can  there  be  any  douut  as  to  ihe  riKht  of 
this  Assembly,  lor  the  purpose  of  preserving  its 
harmony  and  order,  to  vac.ate  the  seat  of  one  who 
had  thus  disgraced  himself,  aud  insulted  its  di^'Bity? 
Certainly  not,  and  our  rigbt  is  equally  unquesiion- 
able  to  rid  ourselves  of  the  contamination  and  iosulis 
of  those  who  defame  our  character  ^nd  cur  high»»st 
court  by  the  utterance  of  the  vilest  libel  which  can 
be  cdStupon  a  Christian  or  any  Cliristiau  organiza- 
tion. 

But  I  pass  to  the  consideration  of  some  other  pe^ 
culiar  views  oi  the  gentleman.  He  says  'hat  we 
have  not  been  properly  affected  by  the 
hospitality  of  the  people,  ana  tuat  we 
have  been  deficient  in  our  appreciation  of 
the  feelings  of  that  class  who  sympathize  with  the 
members  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery.  Ah,  Mr. 
Moderator,  let  me  say  to  that  brother  and  to  thtee 
Oispensers  of  hospitality  with  whom  he  so  tenf.erly 
sympathizes,  that  but  fcr  the  testimonies  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  of  Joyal  Christians  of 
every  faith;  and  for  the  memorabi(3  fact  that  these 
testimonies  of  our  Assembly  have  be^n  teiiled  with 
the  blood  of  her  sods— ihe  life,  liberty  aud  propeity 
of  the  good  people  of  St.  Louis  would  have  been 
sacrificed  by  the  treason  and  traitors  of  our  land. 
Yes,  it  has  been  the  fine'ity  of  the  true  hearted, who 
have  borne  the  flag  of  the  courjtiy  aloui;  with  the 
standards  of  a  loyal  Christianity,  which  haa  si  cured 
to  them  ami  to  us  the  downfall  of  the  rebellion  and 
the  triumphs  ot  freedom.  lApplause  and  histes  iu 
various  parts  of  the  house.] 

The  Moderator  caUed  upon  the  audience  to  pre- 
serve order. 

Mr.  Galloway.  Why,  Mr.  Moderator,  I  did  not 
expect  to  plea-^e  certain  ladles  and  gentlemen  of  this 
locality  by  any  allusion  to  the  triumphs  of  our  arms 
and  our  testimonies.  "Oh  ye  gf-'neration  of 
vipers,"  it  might  not  have  been  so  well  for  you,  but 
perhaps  a  little  better  for  the  ijurify  and  perma- 
nency of  our  freedom,  if  our  testimonies  had  re- 
ceived a  fuller  dfcvelo omen t  by  a  longer  continu- 
ance of  this  war.  [Sensation  and  merriment.]  I 
am  acquainted  with  such  specimens  of  loy<tlty. 
Why,  sir,  in  my  capacity  as  commissioner  at  Cainp 
Chase,  I  had  charge  of  just  such  loyal  ladies  and 
j;entlenien.  They  had  been  sent  There,  as  they 
alleged,  by  apersecuiing  t^overnment  tor  a  consci- 
entious adherence  to  their  views  of  truth  and  gov- 
ernment. I  have  fully  experienced  tne  perfume  of 
that  species  of  loyalty,  aoO  hence  can  O-ttct  its 
odor  here  or  else  waere.  [Great  merriment]  I  could 
nut  trespass  upon  the  proprieties  of  this  pfice  or  oc- 
casion by  doing  orfea}icg  anything  wnich  might 
be  ofl'ensive  to  the  most  peculiar  senbibilities. 
and  yet  I  purijose,  at  all  times  autl  in  all  places,  to 
vmuicate  the  flag  of  my  country  and  the  covenant 
aud  testimonies  of  God's  people.  I  say  to  all  in  re- 
bellion against  the  National  Government  or  ti'e  loyal 
of  Christ's  Church,  seek  the  communion  of  those 
who  are  your  kindred  in  faitti  and  practice;  go  your 
own  way;  and  it  that  shall  end  as  in  the  cse  oi  Ju- 
das—in hanging  yourselves— you  must  take  the  re- 
sponsibility.    [Renewed  meirimeut.] 

You  ssy  you  are  persecuted.  The  testimony  of 
the  word  is,  "If  ye  are  nersecuted  lor  righteousness 
sake  happy  are  ye,  and  be  not  troubJtd  in  your 
minds."  Bucyouappear  tobevery  much  troubled, 
and,  therefore,  I  logically  conclude  that  you  ar*- per 
secoted  lor  some  other  sake.  [Merriment.]  "Pro 
cul,  O,  2Jrocul  este  profani." 

Mr,  Moderator,  I  would  not  unnecessarily  ruflie 
the  sensibilities  of  any  class  of  people,  but  1  cer- 
tainly cannot  be  frightened  from  propriety  or  princi- 
ple by  an  appeal  to  my  appetites;  and  hence  I 
am  not  to  be  intimidated  py  the  "bread  and 
butter"  argument  of  Bro.  Boardman.  I  am  rattier 
disposed  to  think  that  those  who  have  survived  the 
disasters  and  perils  of  the  past  few  years,  will  be 


■    I 


A1 


able  to  endure  a  withdrawal  of  the  hospitalities  of 
those  wbo  dislike  the  testimonies  of  loyal  people. 
This  afffctii  g  appeal  fiforcibly  recallfd  to  my  mind 
an  anfcvi  Jte  1  once  lie»rd  of  an  eccentric  but  noble 
champi'in  of  tvurh,  Ola  Father  Cravens,  (us  he  was 
oailtd,)  of  Virginia.  Tne  old  preacher  was  well 
known  tor  his  airong  opposition  to  slavery  ana  in- 
temptranoe,  aun  was  usually  accompanied  iu  his 
travels  by  a  guod  old  man  by  tiie  name  of  Fitzaer- 
a!d,  ot  similar  views  and  fei  lings,  it  was  the  usual 
custom  ot  FatDer  Cravens  to  preach  on  camp  meei- 
int;  ccoiisions,  and  lo  address  the  jjeople,  speaking 
of  his  favorite  topics.  On  one  occasion,  in  Rock- 
insrham  cuDty.  Virginia,  in  advance  of  preachinsf, 
he  was  invited  to  the  house  of  a  slaveholder,  and  Was 
liberally  treated  to  uaiermelons.  Soon  after  tne 
feast,  Father  oravens  occupied  the  pulpit, and  whilst 
discoursing  upon  lits  favorite  tiiemes,  he  was  less 
hold  thdu  usual  in  his  denunciations  of  slavery. 
Hiis  brother,  I'itzgerald,  on  his  tender  ireatQient of 
the  theme,  rose  in  the  Congregation  and  gsaid, 
"Brother  Cravens,  you  may  as  well  let  all  ,the 
truth  out,  for  you  [will  get  no  more  watermelons 
for    what  you  nave  already  said." 

As  I  have  not  yet  been  led  into  the  temptation  of 
hospitality  by  any  sympathiser  with  disloyalty,  I 
cannot  appr<-ciate  the  feelings  of  those  whose  prin- 
ciples, whilst  in  this  city,  are  influenced  by  what 
they  bhall  eat  and  drinls:.  When  1  am  reduced  to 
toe  necessity  of  testifying  for  the  church  and  the 
country — at  the  peril  of  losing  an  entertainmet  of 
strawberries— or  the  coarms  and  smiles  of  those  who 
have  not  been  suspected  of  a  fervent  attachment  to 
our  views — I  will  hire  a  small  boat,  and  take  up  my 
boardin«  and  lodging  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
and  come  in  betw^een  times  to  the  meetings  of  the 
Gen'irai  Assembly.     [Laughter.] 

Bro.  Boardman  says  this  is  an  hour  when  we 
oughi,  not  to  manifest  unkind  feelings  towards  these 
eirius  brethren.  Sir,  we  are  ready  to  receive  re- 
penteiit  rebels,  when  they  come  to  us  washed  with 
the  washing  of  a  regeneration,  which  irhall  be  ex 
empliiied  by  a  sincere  sorrow  for  a  participation  in 
that,  terrible  crime  of  treason,  wtucli  has  slain  the 
beloved  of  many  of  the  households  of  members  of 
this  Assembly. 

Mr.  Moderator,  whilst  Brother  Boardman  was 
takiDg„his  excursion  among  the  surroundings  of 
this  city  with  bis  hospitable  fjiend,  and  was  survey- 
ing the  strawberry  patches  and  other  attractive 
scenery,  I  was  visiting  and  meditating,  at  Camp 
Jackson,  over  the  graves  of  the  brave  boys  from  my 
own  and  other  loyal  States,  who  sacriticed  their 
lives,  and  saddened  the  hearts  of  many  homes,  that 
you  and  I,  and  the  brethren  of  this  Assembly,  might 
enjoy  the  hospitalities  of  a  home  of  freedom.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

The  Moderator.  The  audience  must  preserve  or- 
der. 

We  are  not  here,  sir,  to  indulge  in  strains  of  sen- 
timectalism  or  sketches  of  imagination.  We  are 
here  to  preserve  the  purity,  the  patriotism,  the  doc- 
trines, standard  and  government  of  the  church  of 
our  fathers,  and  to  preserve  in  all  its  purity  and 
beauty  that  glorious  temple  of  spiritual  truth  which 
has  been  the  object  of  our  admiration  and  love.  Our 
testimonies  and  our  works  in  the  great  contest  which 
has  jusc  been  terminated,  have  been  abundantly 
vindicated  and  honored  by  the  Providence  of  God — 
and  tne  valor  of  our  countrymen.  Our  mission  is 
one  of  love  for  the  right,  and  for  all  that  elevates 
and  adorns  humanity.  We  are  ready  to  welcome  all 
to  our  tVUowthip  ot  faith  who  sympathize  with  us 
in  the  onward  and  upward  movements  of  the  age — 
of  ttie  gosppl — and  who  are  ready  to  co-operate  in 
extending  the  empire  of  righteousness  and  universal 
freedom. 

Mr.  ITorublower  said  they  had  had  too  much  wit 
and  eloquence — too  much  sarcasm,  vituperation  and 
Violence.  What  was  required  was  calm,  clear 
argunent  to  convince  every  wavering  mind.  He 
had  voted  with  the  minority,  but  those  who  knew 
him  knew  that  vote  was  not  intended  to  oppose  any 
feeble  resistance  that  he  could  offer  to  the  exercise 
of  justice  towards  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville. 
As  he  understood  it,  they  had  excluded  from  this 
Assembly  not  certain  persons  alone,  but  a  whole 


Presbytery,  by  very  extraordinary  means.  And 
the  most  extraordinary  thing  was,  mat  a  member  of 
the  Synod  of  New  Jfrsey  snould  be  the  one  to  make 
this  morion  for  expulsion,  wben  that  Synod  ot  New 
Jersey,  ac  its  last  meeting,  and  without  a  dissent- 
ing ^oice,  d^cl4:red  the  action  of  llie  General  Aa- 
stmbly  of  ISGii,  was  to  be  deplored,  and  virtually 
coiidemBed  that  action. 

Mr.  Reinboth.  It  is  notorious,  I  think,  that  the 
acuon  of  the  f^ynod  of  New  Jiriey  was  not  unani- 
mous. They  took  advantage  of  the  absence  of  a 
great  number  of  members.  It  was  not  properly  the 
action  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey.  The  aodon 
was  taken,  it  is  true. 

Mr.  Hornblower.  It  was  at  an  evening  session 
after  the  conclusion  of  a  long  and  interestiog  de- 
bate, and  when  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  Synod 
were  in  their  seats.  And  at  that  moment  the  Synod 
was  as  lull  as  it  generally  is. 

Mr.  Reinboth.  I  would  like  to  ask  whether  a 
great  many  of  the  members  of  the  Synod  h;iduot 
already  left;  whether  it  was  nut  Irite  in  the  evening, 
and  the  members  anxious  to  get  awayV 

Mr.  Hornblower.  According  to  my  recollection, 
it  was  a  very  full  meeting  of  the  Synod. 

Mr.  Kempshall.  lam  a  member  of  the  Synod  of 
New  Jersey,  and  I  can  bear  witness  that  tue  gen- 
tleman's statement  is  correct.  I  saw  and  read  the 
paper,  and  it  was  passed  without  a  word  agains-t  it, 
or  a  single  dissenting  voice,  and  I  believe  the  Synod 
was  as  largely  attendtd  at  that  time  as  at  any  time. 

Mr.  Hornblower  continued.  That  the  next  thing 
that  was  extraordinary  was  that  the  gentleman  who 
presented  this  paper  stated  that  he  had  concocted 
It  himself.  That  a  brother  should  bring  in  a  [laper 
on  g  such  a  momentous  subject — miike  a  speech 
upon  It,  and  move  the  previous  question,  was,  to 
his  mind,  the  most  sublime  effrontery  thitt  he  ever 
witnessed  in  a  deliberative  body.  It  was  still  more 
surprising  that  the  previous  question  should  at  once 
be  adopted. 

They  had  all  come  here  from  the  Northern  States, 
at  least  with  a  feeling  that  a  wrong  had  been  done, 
and  that  it  ought  in  some  way  to  be  reached  and  pun-i 
ished,  and  it  seemed  to  be  a  most  admirable  tiling  if 
these  brethren  who  are  in  the  wrong  could  at  once 
be  ousted  out  of  their  seats. 

The  speaker  said  he  was  not  here  to  shield  them 
from  the  execution  of  justice;  but  he  was  here  as  a 
member  of  Christ's  Court,  to  see  that  the  thing 
was  done  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  Church. 

They  had  been  told  that  the  fact  of  this  Declara- 
tion anel  Testimony  was  that  of  public  rumor.  He 
would  like  to  know  how  mauj^  members  of  this  As- 
sembly had  seen  that  Declaration  and  Tortioiony. 
He  presumed  it  had  been  sent  to  many  whose  names 
were  eminent,  but  be  had  not  seen  it  until  he  came 
here.  And  yet  these  brethren  hid  been  excluded. 
But  he  contended  it  was  not  the  men  that  had  been 
excluded,  biit  the  Presbytery  of  Licuisville,  and  he 
would  like  to  know  where  they  obtained  authority 
to  exclude  a  Presbytery.  Ihey  could  rebuke  it, 
and  compel  the  expunging  trom  their  records  '.f  tbac 
which  was  insulting;  but  he  knew  of  no  authority 
by  which  they  could  exclude  a  whole  Presbytery. 
It  had  been  stated  by  the  orother  from  Ohio  that 
these  gentlemen  might  be  reinstated  in  their  ^eats, 
but,  judging  from  that  gentleman's  speech  ana 
others,  such  a  result  CDUld  hardly  be  looked  for. 
He  beseeched  them  to  consider  what  they  were  do- 
ing before  it  was  too  late. 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean  said  he  was  of  the  opinion  that 
he  should  survive  all  that  the  young  brother  bad 
said  against  the  little  Presbytery,  or  .^gtiinst  him- 
self, for  presuming  lo  bring  an  important  subject 
before  this  house,  of  which  he  wa.s  a  member.  The 
astonishment  which  Dr.  Hornblower  manifested 
perhaps  would  not  be  as  great  if  he  were  a  little 
older,  and  a  little  more  experienced  in  regard  to 
men  and  measures.  It  was  a  new  doctrine,  that 
because  a  man  hanpened  to  belong  to  a  small  Pres- 
bytery, that  therefore  it  was  presumptions  in  hira 
to  make  an  imporcaut  motion  in  the  Assembly,    He 


4g 


■wa3  here  as  commi-sioi.er  from  one  of  the  Presliy- 
teries  of  New  Jersfv,  and  he-  held  it  to  be  his  sacred 
ri^ht  to  brinp  any" proper  subject  he  chose  before 
Itiis  house.  No  man  ought  to  be  surprised  ac  it, 
and  he  thought  no  luau  txcept  ft  very  young  mau, 
like  his  brother  Hornblower,  would  be  surprisea. 
Objection  had  oeen  made  to  his  motion  be- 
cause it  had  been  made  without  consulta- 
tion. What  of  tliat?  Had  not  any  mem- 
ber the  right,  on  his  own  responeibility, 
to  make  a  motion.  So  far  as  tlie  action  of  the  Synod 
of  New  Jersey  was  concerned,  suppose  that  body 
did,  at  the  close  of  its  session,  near  ten  o'clock  at 
night,  when  many  of  its  members  were  absent, 
adopt  the  paper  which  had  been  referred  to  in  re- 
ference to  this  General  Assembly,  than  the  action  of 
this  Assembly  was  wrong,  that  form  of  discussion 
availed  nothing. 

Rev.  Mr.  West  desired  to  know  if  the  brother 
Would  not  forego  further  reference  to  tfcis  matter. 

Dr.  McLean  said  he  was  williog  to  yield  to  any- 
thing which  was  properjy  in  order;  but  he  did  not 
think  it  was  courteous,  under  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  stood  before  the  Assembly,  as  the  mover 
of  the  measure,  and  after  the  animadversions  which 
had  been  made  upon  his  course,  that  it  was  quite 
right  to  prevent  him,  by  entreaties  or  anything  else, 
from  explaining  the  circumstances  of  this  case. 

The  Synod  of  New  Jersey  did  just  wnat  the  mem- 
ber had  stated;  and  he  thought  there  were  but  two 
men.  in  this  house,  who  were  members  of  that  Sy- 
nod, that  voted  against  that  paper.    What  did  that 


indicate?  And  what  did  it  indicate  even  if  he  did 
make  a  motion  without  consukatum?  Long  before 
he  came  here  he  had  made  up  his  mind  just  how  he 
should  act  on  this  subject,  and  he  determined  that 
if  some  Cine  else  did  not  lake  notice  of  ttie  matter, 
he  would;  he  determined  that  that  Prei?bytery 
should  not  be  entitled  to  a  seat  here  until 
their  case  wa^*  invesiigated.  And  when  be 
made  the  motion  which  he  did,  he  asserted 
principles  which  had  not  been  controverted. 
The  truth  was,  the  tsctics  jjursued  had  been 
to  annoy,  harass  and  perplex.  And  these  gentle- 
men, instead  of  coming  forward  boldly  and  facinsr 
the  matter,  had  underiaJien  to  delay  and  protract 
business.  This  very  motion  for  reconsideration  had 
this  efl'ect.  It  the  committee  had  been  let  alone,  the 
piobabiiity  is  that  they  would  have  reported  by 
this  lime,  and  then  the.y  would  have  had  the  whole 
question  before  them,  as  it  was  intended  they 
should,  but  they  had  been  delayed  bv  side  issues; 
and  who  was  responsible?  Ir,  was  the  laen  who 
were  annoying,  perplexing  and  harassing  with  vex- 
atious amendments — endeavoring,  appdrenily,  to 
weary  the  patience  of  the  house. 

What  did  it  all  mean  but  to  harass  the  house,  and 
to  perplex,  and  ultimately  defeat  its  action?  But 
there  was  no  danger.  They  believed  they  were  risht 
in  the  course  they  had  taken,  ani  it  Wj.s  their  pur- 
pose to  maintain  it. 

Mr.  Jones,  of  Maryland,  obtained  the  floor,  and 
was  proceeding  to  speak,  when  the  hour  of  adjourn- 
ment having  arrived,  the  Assembly  adjourned. 


49 


SEVENTH  DAY  —  THUESBAY,  MAY  24,  1866. 


Met  at  nine  o'clock. 

Aftt^r  devotional  exercises,  the  minutes  of  the  last 
session  were  read  and  approved. 

Mr.  Henry  Djj,  of  New  York,  was  nominated  in 
the  class  of  sixty  six  on  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowrie,  of  the  Committee  on  Bills  and 
Overtures,  preseotedtwo  reports: 

Firot.  Tlie  B' 'aid  of  Domestic  Mis.^ions  ask  that 
Rev.  Andrew  Vauce,  Ri-v.  Wm.  Akin,  and  Rev. 
Wm.  RanKin,  co;mected  with  certain  ctiurchei  in 
Tennessee,  be  constituted  a  Presbytery  under  the 
Dame  of  Holstein. 
The  request  was  granted. 

Second.  Overture  presented  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Missouri,  asking  the  General  Assembly  to  extend 
the  boundaries  of  s.dd  Presbytery  northsvard.  so  as 
to  include  Woodbury  county  in  Iowa,  which  is  at 
present  included  in  tlie  former  Sioux  i^iry  territory, 
and  ti)  detach  the  Presbytery  of  Ml>SouVi  liom  the 
Synod  of  Southern  Iowa,  and  unite  it  with  tbe  Synod 
of  Kansas. 

Rev.  Mr.  Stewart  said  if  this  Presbytery  was  ta- 
ken away,  he  would  ask  the  General  Assembly  to 
arrange  it  eo  that  there  should  be  but  one  Synod  in 
Iowa. 

Dr.  Lowrie  sutrgested  that  this  should  come  up  as 
a  separate  proposition. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Fisher  the  report  was  recom- 
mitted. 

The  order  of  the  day  commencing  with  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  on  tne  Board  of  Education, 
was  taken  up.  Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  ol  Baltimore, 
cbitirman  of  the  committee,  presented  the  report: 

The  foilewing  summary  as  to  the  annual  uumber 
of  candidates,  will  afford  a  more  .satisfactory  view 
of  the  growth  of  ttie  Board,  and  of  the  periods  of 
its  most  marked  usefulness : 

Average  No.  of  Average 

Tears.  Candidates.  Contriburions. 

1819—24 108 $7,555 

1825—29 230 14,026 

1830—32 149 9,444 

1833—40 601 36,631 

1841—45 337 27,233 

184tJ— 50 381 34,651 

18.51—55 368 42,480 

18')6— 61 423 55,007 

1862-6tj 301 47,744 

The  following  is  a  general  view  of  the  pecuniary 
affairs  of  the  Board  during  the  ecclesiastical  year 
ending  the  1st  of  May,  1866: 

I.  candidates'  fund.  ii.  schools  and 

COLLEGES. 

Receipts $43,616  53  $3,135  37 

Balance,   1865 18,313  53  3,498  56 


$61,930  06 
.  41,027  70 


Payments . . 

Balance,  1866 $20.902  36 

III.  AFP.ICAN  FUND. 

Receii'.ts $ 

Balance,  1835 1,039  35 

Payments 445  07 

Balance,  1863. 


$6,633  93 
3,807  86 

$3,826  07 


594  28 


Total  receipts  of  the  year  from  all  sources,  $46,- 
51  90,  $1,91:1  05  leas  than  last  year. 

That  tile  above  may  be  understood,  it  is  necessary 
t  J  explain  tnat  the  existence  of  the  iari,'e  balance  in 
our  receipts  aiise.-i  from  the  fact  tliat  our  colleciions 
come  in  mainly,  and  should  come  in  almost  wbolly, 
in  ttie  months  of  March  and  April,  ja>-t  previoii-s  to 
our  report.  Thi«  does  not  indicate  that  surplus  of 
receipts  overpayments,  but  is  the  reservou-  from 

0  s— '7 


which  the   supplies  of  the  remainder  of  the  year 
must  be  drawn. 

The  statistics  as  to  the  number  of  candidates  for 
the  past  ecclesiastical  year  are  as  fallows: 

Numoer  of  new  candidates  received 83 

Whole  number  on  the  r.iU, 

in  their  frieological  coui'se, 168 

m  tlieir  Collegiate  course 84 

in  their  Academic  coiiroe 44 

Total 296 

Entire  number  received  from  the  beginning, 

in  1819 3400 

The  deaths  of  two  candidates  have  been  reported 
to  us;  botb  spoken  of  as  having  been  young  men  of 
exemplary  piety;  one  of  them  Mr.  P.  P  Irwin. 
having  lelt  it  his  duiy  to  engage  in  the  defense  of 
his  Country,  died  a  martyr  to  her  liberties,  trum  the 
sufferings  endured  in  the  Anaersonville  prison. 

The  following  resolutions  were  appended  to  the 
report : 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  gee  reasons  for  deep 
concern  in  the  fact  that  the  number  of  candidateH 
under  the  care  of  the  Board  for  the  past 
year,  and  several  precedine  years,  has  been  so 
small  (not  more  thau  half  of  the  number  of  some 
past  period-),  yet  are  filled  with  gratitude  and  hope 
for  tiie  future  in  view  of  the  recent  wiiie-sprend  re- 
vivals of  religion  and  the  conversion  of  multitudes 
of  young  men. 

2.  In  consideration  of  these  revivals.  Presby- 
teries are  requested  to  be  especially  careful  in  the 
examination  of  candidates  us  to  their  character, 
motives  and  general  suitableness  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry. 

3.  The  attention  of  the  ministry  and  churches  is 
earnestly  called  to  the  great  importance  of  the  ob- 
servance of  ttie  day  of  prayer  for  such  schools  and 
colleges  on  tbe  J ast  Timrsday  in  February;  and  to 
the  first  Sabbath  in  March  as  a  period  for  solemnly 
addressing  parents  and  children  as  to  their  duties, 
and  petitions  to  God  for  the  outpouring  ot  His  spirit 
upon  the  several  objects;  and  the  Assembly  urges  a 
substantial  remembrance  of  the  wants  of  the  Board 
by  taking  up  a  collection  for  its  funds  in  its  depart- 
ments of  general  and  ministerial  education. 

4.  Rtsolvei),  Thit  in  the  present  dispersed  condi- 
tion ot  Presbyteries  in  some  portions  of  the  land, 
aid  may  be  granted  by  the  Board  to  instruction  of 
candidates  requuing  it  on  satisfactory  recommen- 
dations irom  ministers  known  to  it,  and  that  no 
exti'a  aid  be  given  to  any  young  man  unleos  the  same 
shall  be  reported  to  tbe  Presbytery,  a  d  to  the 
faculty  <f  the  institution  in  which  the  candidate  ia 
pursuing  his  duties. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  desires 
the  Board  of  Education  to  give  all  the  encourage- 
ment and  aid  possible  towards  the  permicenc  en- 
dowment of  institutions  of  learning,  .centrally  lo- 
cated, uromising  in  results  and  under  ecclesiastical 
supeiviflion. 

6.  Resolved,  That  copies  of  the  report  be  sent  to 
the  sessions  of  Cnnrcbes,  with  a  view  to  the  faith 
hud  principles  being  brougnt  more  fully  before 
parents  and  those  iDterestert  in  the  youug. 

7.  Resolved,  f  hat  the  objects  of  this  fundamental 
Bjard  are  CLpmmended  to  the  prayers  as  vpell  as  the 
contributions  of  the  Churcb,  hiving,  as  the  final 
end  iu  view,  a  general  revival  of  religion  and  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  to  all  the  worht. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Patterson,  the  report  was 
accepted. 

Hie  question  being  uvjon  the  adoption  of  the  reso- 
lutions appended  to  tbe  report,  liev.  Wm.  Speer, 
Secretary  of  the  Board,  was  called  upon  to  address 
the  Assembly.  He  said  that  tbe  pastoral  letter  sent 
forth  by  the  last  Genera)   Assembly,   tbat  earoeat 


50 


prarer  should  be  made  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, had  been  pi-oductive  of  great  results.  The 
prayers  of  the  Churches  seemed  to  have  been  fully 
answered.  The  tirst  object  of  tiie  re|)ort  was  to 
show  God's  pur))ose  in  connection  with  our  Na- 
tional cnastisements.  There  were  before  him  some, 
perhaps,  who  had  been  brought,  iuto  the  Church  by 
the  great  revivals  succeedinsf  the  Rcvolationary 
war,  and  there  were  many  facts  to  show  that  the  re- 
vivals at  tiiat  time  were  nnprecedeuted.  This  late 
war  having  been  much  greater,  as  to  the  terrirory 
involved,  the  amount  of  money  expended,  and  the 
number  who  had  poured  out  their  blood  fur  the 
coiinfry,  might  it  ni)t  be  hoped  that  the  ell'ii^ion  of 
the  Holy  spirit  in  revival  ot  religion  would  be  pro- 
portionably  greater  and  more  powerful,  and  that 
result  would  till  our  land  with  its  b'essed  fruits.  He 
believed  that  we  were  entering  on  a  new  era — that 
there  were  indications  that  ihe  powir  of  ihe  Holy 
Spirit  was  at  work  in  regeueratinir  our  nation,  and 
making  us  a  holy  people. 

Kev.  Mr.  Stonerode  moved  that  the  resolutions  be 
taken  up  seriatim.    Jjost. 

JRev.  Mr.  Francis  said  he  should  exceedingly  re- 
gret being  compelled  to  vote  against  The  report.  In 
g",nerai  ic  met  his  hearty  approbation,  but  he  had 
noticed  in  this  Assembly,  and  in  other  As- 
semblies, for  many  years,  thit  ofteiitirces 
in  their  best  reports  somettin.g  dolorous 
bad  slipped  in.  Now,  there  was  one  resolution  in 
this  series  which  expressed  the  sorrow  and  contri- 
tion of  this  Assembly  that  so  few  young  men,  of 
late,  were  applying  for  aid  from  the  Boara  of  Edu- 
cation. It  did  not  strike  him  that  this  was  a  matter 
to  be  complained  of.  He  thought  it  was  a  good  in- 
dication that  so  many  of  the  young  men  ot  the 
Churcli  were  able  to  help  themselves  rather  than 
rely  upon  the  charity  of  others,  in  order  that  the 
rhurcii  might  be  untrammelled,  and  adapt  its 
means  to  other  causes,  equally  as  sacred  as  this.  If 
it  were  tiue  that  the  candidates  lor  the  ministry 
were  decreasing,  there  would  be  cause  fur  regret, 
but  tlie  record  did  not  show  that.  He  believed  there 
were  great  numbers  ot  young  men  who,  having  as- 
sisted in  tiKhting  the  battles  of  their  country,  aud 
achieved  viciory  aud  triumph,  to-day  preparing 
to  meet  the  great  enemy  of  souls,  and  light  the  bat- 
tles of  the  Lord  until  ihe  sinful  world  should  be 
subdued. 

Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell  moved  that  the  fourth  resolu- 
tion should  be  amended  so  as  to  urovide  that  tne 
recommendations  therein  contained  should  be  ap- 
proved by  the  Presbyteries  at  their  next  meetings. 

Rev.  l>r.  Smith  explained  that  the  fourth  resolu- 
tion had  reference  only  to  that  portion  of  the  South 
in  which  the  Churches  were  in  a  dispersed  condi- 
tion. 

Mr.  Caldwell  then  withdrew  his  amendment. 

Rev.  8.  T.  Wilson  concurred  with  the  remarks  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Francis,  and  moved  that  the  tirsi,  resolu- 
tion be  stricken  from  the  report. 

Mr.  Bay,  of  New  York,  claimed  that  this  Board 
was  established  to  aid  young  men  who  ciuld  not  aid 
themselves,  and  that  to  thank  God  th.it  there  were 
no  mt)re  young  men  who  were  in  indigent  circum- 
stiijces  who  would  apply  to  that  Board  seemed  to 
him  an  absurdity.  It  was  not  understood  that  this 
Board  aided  young  men  who  could  aid  themselves. 
They  asked  God  that  men  of  promise  might  be 
brought  forward  who  have  no  reliance  upon  any 
other  source,  who  would  throw  themselves  on  the 
Church,  and  yet  the  Assembly  were  asked  to  thank 
God  that  there  were  no  such  men,  that  they  have 
been  killed  in  the  war  or  have  gone  into  the  profes- 
sion (  f  Che  law,  and  have  been  turned  out  of  the 
Church.  As  he  understood,  we  asked  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church  to  bring  out  These  youn«  men 
who  have  no  time  to  labor  for  themselves,  and  in- 
duce them  to  devote  their  waole  talents  to  the 
Church.  He  believed  it  was  a  great  mi>take  to  send 
a  halt  educated  miin  into  the  ministry,  or  that  he 
should  be  placed  in  a  po.-itiion  where  he  would 
have  to  teach  school  for  a  poriim  of  the  time  in  or- 
der to  pursue  his  studies;  that  the  Board  ought  to 
bring  up  young  men  so  ihatthey  would  be  entirely 
ludependt-nt. 

The  amendment  seemed  to  imply  that  in  certain 
Oises    nnn    had     peeu   helped    Who    could    hive 

tlped  ihirnsclves,    and    ihus    threw   censure    on 


cei-tain  men  venerable  in  this  Assembly.  Three 
men  were  present, ;who  were  an  honor  to  the  Church 
who  had  been  sustained  by  this  body.  He  hoped 
the  original  resolutions  w  ould  pass.  He  had  al- 
ways felt  that  it  was  .-i  contemptible  thing  to  say  that 
a  young  man  had  been  brouyht  up  by  charily,  when 
he  had  been  educated  by  the  Church,  for  it  "was  not 
so — the  Church  was  begging  for  men  to  come  for- 
ward and  give  themselves  to  its  work.  He  affirmed 
that  when  he  gave  his  money  to  assist  a  young  man, 
he  felt  that  the  young  man  was  hon- 
oring him  in  accepting  it,  and  when  he 
heard  such  a  man  preach  the  man  always  had  his 
thanks.  If  this  idea  could  he  more  generallv  im- 
pressed on  the  minds  of  the  young  men  wno  w^re 
raised  up  in  the  Church,  a  Jdiflerent  state  ol  things 
would  be  brought  about — a  great  deal  of  talent  had 
been  lost  to  Ihe  Church  tor  want  of  it. 

Rev.  Mr.  Heron  lelt  that  ir  was  highly  projier  that 
the  resolutions  of  the  committee  should  be  indnrsed. 
He  admired  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  member 
over  the  way,  who  would  cultivate  a  feeling  in  young 
men  that  they  should  throw  themseivea  on  their 
own  resources,  but  It  appeared  to  him  that  striking 
out  the  part  ot  the  resolution  proposed  would  not  be 
proper,  and  would  work  disastrously  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Chuich.  The  resolution  was  predicated 
on  the  well  understood  principle  that  there  "^always 
was  a  proportion  between  the  number  of  young  men 
entering  the  ministry  and  the  number  who  received 
aid  at  the  lianils  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
hence,  in  nroportion  as  the  number  of  iiiose  asking 
aid  diminished,  there  was  a  proportionate  diminu- 
tion in  the  whole  number  of  candidates  for  the  min- 
istry. He  therefore  thought  it  inexjiedient  and  un- 
wise to  strike  out  that  clause  from  the  report,  be- 
cause in  so  doing  would  be  stricken  out  tiie  recog- 
nition of  a  great  and  well  understood  fact  that  there 
was  a  great  dearth  of  candidates  for  the  ministry. 
There  was  no  denying  the  tendency  of  the  times. 
Th'^u.  andsof  young  ;men  who  had  returned  with 
military  laurels  encircling  their  brows  were  seeking 
the,  various  avenues  of  wealth,  and  would  leave  the 
ministry,  because  in  the  ministry  they  would  have 
nothing  to  look  forward  to  in  their  old  age,  but  pen- 
v.ry,  and  perhaps  want,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
those  who  sought  other  callings  did  so  in  order  that 
they  might  m  their  old  ajje  live  in  security  from 
want,  it  not  in  affluence  Under  such  circumstan- 
ces it  was  not  remarkable  that  but  few  young  men 
came  forward  and  offered  themselves,  and  consecra- 
ted their  talents  to  the  ministry. 

Rev.  Mr.  Shiland.  The  remark  had  been  made 
that  there  was  a  great  dearth  in  the  ministry,  and 
when  there  is  a  dearth  what  do  wo  want  but  rain  ? 
Why  were  there  so  te  v  candidates  for  the  ministry  ^ 
He  stated  that  it  was  because  of  the  unwilliugness  of 
the  churches  to  support  them .  He  lielieved  that  when 
the  Cnurch  came  up  to  her  obligation  in  this  matter 
there  would  be  more  candidates  tor  the  ministry. 
He  questioned  whether  the  Church  had  performed 
her  duty.  Might  it  not  be  that  the  Church  had  mors 
ministers  now  ihan  she  could  well  support.  When  te 
had  seen  men  in  the  ministry  compelled  to  leave  it  for 
the  purpose  of  sujjporting  their  families  he  could 
not  help  thinking  that  the  Church  was  not  pertorm- 
ing  her  duty  in  this  mattei-.  They  migiit  call  for 
more  candidates  for  the  ministry,  but  Vvhat  would 
It  signify?  He  knew  men  to-day  who  were  willing 
to  go  any  where  if  their  families  could  simply  be 
secured  from  want,  bat  they  wire  unwilling  to  la- 
bor and  see  their  wives  and  children  suffer  lor  bread. 
He  knew  men  wh-i  had  preached  the  gospel  for 
>  ears,  and  paid  out  of  their  own  pockets  $500  a  year 
f  r  the  privilege  of  preaching  it.  He  asked  '  'where 
were  the  young  men  who  would  come  into  the  min- 
istry under  such  circumstances?" 

Rev.  Mr.  Whitman  .asked  if  it  was  a  fact  that  the 
number  of  candidates  tor  the  ministry  was  on  the 
decrease. 

Rev.  Dr.  Smith  stated  that  it  was  a  fact. 

Rev-  E.  R.  Wilson  said  he  was  unwilling  to  take 
the  position  expressed  in  the  resolution.  If  it  was 
a  fact  that  the  number  of  candidates  tor  the  minis- 
try was  decreasing,  it  was  a  matter  to  be  mourned 
over;  but  if  it  was  only  a  fact  that  the  number  of 
candidates  anplying  for  aid  to  the  Board 
was  decreasing,  he  did  not  think  it  was 
to  be  diplorid,     They    might  draw  ft  lesson  in 


ol 


this  respect  from  the  affairs  of  every  day  life.  In 
this  very  city  it  could  be  found  that 
the  meu  who  had  amassed  fortunes,  at)d  bnilt  pal- 
atial residences,  were  the  men  who  came  to  this 
city  yeart!  aco  in  neeay  circnrast 'DCps,  and  struy;- 
gled "their  way  into  the  position  which  they  now  oc- 
cupy; while  on  the  other  hand,  those  who  had  bten 
provided  for  in  early  life,  were  now  the  ones  who 
were  in  needy  circumstances. 

Kev.  Dr.  Henry  had  only  one  remark  to  miike, 
and  that  was  in  regard  to  bis  experience  m  Phila- 
delphia. There  were  in  his  coDgrej?arion  eleven 
minii-ters  without  a  church,  and  he  had  suggested  to 
the  venerable  Secretary  here  to  ro  to  Philadelphia 
and  make  the  runiber  a  round  dozen .  They  had  he- 
come  so  remarkable  in  this  resyipct  fbat  West  Phila- 
d  ilphia  was  called  "Saints'  Rest," 

Rev.  Mr.  Fergupon  remarked  that  he  did  not  pro- 
pose to  detain  the  Assembly,  but  consiiiered  this  an 
interesting  question,  and  would  be  glad  to  see  the 
whole  day  consumed  upon  it.  He  had  been  friendly 
to  this  Board.  Twelve  years  ago  he 
went  out  to  look  for  \oung  men 
of  piety  and  promise,  who  could  be  brought  up  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  and  be  put 
in  the  way  by  which  they  could  reach  the  ministry. 
At  the  place  where  he  resided  there  was  a  Prisby- 
terian  Academy,  and  he  worked  diligently  to  in- 
creuse  the  numhex  of  such  young  men.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  inducing  many  to  bee  in  the  work  of 
educatiig  tnemselves  for  the  iniiiistry  under  the 
auspicisot  the  Board,  and  thousands  of  dollars 
were  expended  by  the  Board  for  that  purpose .  i'hey 
grew  up  and  had  JLi.-t  enough  sujiport  from  the 
Board  to  make  iheni  lazy.  'Ihey  did  not  feel  like 
going  out  to  work  iu  vacation.  The  Board  gave 
ibem  one  wing  and  told  them  to  fly,  and  they  m-ver 
put  forth  any  eilbrts  to  educate  the  other.  Before 
three-fourths  of  the  numiier  had  reached  the  period 
when  ihey  should  go  to  tlie  t-eminary,  some  had 
gone  to  the  Methodists— he  believed  (ne  made  now, 
wliat  might  be  caded  a  second  rate  Methodist  preach- 
er— anoti'.er  had  gone  to  hack  driving,  others  got 
roamed— list-niBg  to  the  calls  of  Cupid  rather  than 
the  calls  of  Christ.  Then,  of  course,  their  support 
was  drawn  ofl',  and  they  had  become  farmtrs,  and 
could  not  now  be  persuaded  that  they  ought  to 
retund  tne  money  which  had  been  expended  ujion 
them.  He  advised  caution  iu  recard  to  this  mat;er, 
so  that  when  men  arc  s  -nt  out  in  this  way  no  green- 
back attractions  should  be  placed  belore  them, 
otherwise  Ihey  would  be  imposed  upon.  A  young 
man  who  was  not  independent  enougb  to  work  his 
own  way  into  the  pulpit  woidd  be  a  poor  and  feeble 
preacher  when  he  was  there,  and  he  wou  d  say  that 
with  all  due  resj lect  to  the  dear  fattiers  in  the  Church 
at  the  present  time,  there  swas  a  time  when  young 
men  bad  to  preach  tor  $13  a  month,  now  they  could 
get  $60,  He  hoped,  therefore,  no  such  utterances 
would  come  from  this  Assembly  as  were  put  forth 
twelve  years  ago. 

Rev.  Dr.  Patterson  moved  to  lay  the  motion  to 
strike  out  the  flrst  resolution  on  the  table. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Mr.  Scott  thought  the  fourth  resolution  was 
objectionable,  inasmuch  as  ic  was  inconsistent  with 
Ih.'  second  one. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  said  he  supposed  be  had  been 
referred  to  iu  the  remai-lis  of  the  Secretary.  He  did 
not  prtfe-s  to  understand  the  hearts  of  men.  and  in 
soliciting  young  men  to  enter  the  Academy  to  which 
he  had  referred  he  did  so  Vtecause  of  the  urgency  of 
the  Assembly  and  the  need  tor  workers  in  the  miu- 
islry. 

Rev.  Dr.  Nevins  desired  to  know  if  it  was  in 
order  for  a  member  to  speak  twice  to  a  question. 

Mr.  Ferguson  said  he  was  sorry  that  whenever  he 
attemijted  lo  speak  he  had  to  be  called  to  order. 

The  JModerator.    You  are  not  oin  of  order. 

Rev.  Dr.  ttonerode.  I  wiish  to  know  whether  ail 
the  young  men  you  have  brought  into  the  academy 
turuea  out  to  be  scamps. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  said  that  he  bad  already  stated 
that  about  one-third  of  them  fell  back,  but  he  had 
not  I'l-UrAved  Uie  history  of  everyone.  He  hoped 
that  the  amendment  offered  bv  Dr.  Scott  would 
carry.  How  did  they  know  but  that  some  terribly 
disloyal  creature  in  the  South  might  impose  upon 


them  under  this  resolution  and  draw  the  funds  of 
the  Board? 

R  -V.  Mr.  Crczier  moved  that  the  motion  to  strike 
out  the  word  "candidate"  be  Ui<x  on  the  table. 
Agreed  to. 

Rev.  Dr.  Smith  offered  as  an  amendment  that  no 
extra  aid  be  given  to  any  young  man  unless  the 
same  be  reported  to  the  Presbytery  or  the  faculty  of 
ilie  Institution. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to  and  the  report  adopted. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Gurley,  the  appeal  case  from 
the  Syn  >d  of  Wheeling  was  made  the  order  of  the 
day  fur  this  afternoon. 

The  Committee  on  Synodical  Records  then  pre- 
sented their  report  in  regard  to  the  minntes  of  the 
several  synods,  of  which  the  following  is  the  re- 
sult: 

Found  correct  and  approved— Albany,  Alleghany, 
Baltimore,  Chicago,  Kew  Jersey,  Korthern  India 
Ohio,      Philadelphia,    Pittsburg,    Southern    Iowa. 

No  mini.tes  and  Committee  discharged- Iowa, 
Kansas,  Nashville,  Pacific,  St.  Paul. 

Not  ready— Kentucky,  Missouri,  Northern  Indi 
ana  and  VVisconsin;  recommitted. 

Dr.  McLean  moved  that  the  order  of  the  day  for 
the   afternoon— the   appeal  case  from  the  Synod  of 
Wheeling— be    suspended    in  order    that   he  might 
make  a  report.    The  motion  was  lost  and  the  As 
sembly  adjourned. 

AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Cain,  the  order  of  the  day 
(the  appeal  from  the  Synod  of  Wheeling) ,  was  laid 
on  the  tanie,  in  order  to  allow  Dr.  McLean,  ehair- 
mi'U  of  the  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the 
case  of  the  Louisville  members  of  the  Louisville 
Presbytery,  to  make  a  report. 

The  following  is  the  report: 

Your  commitiee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  pa- 
pers concerning  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  beg 
leave  respectfully  to  report  as  follows : 

Three  subjects  were  committed  to  our  consider- 
ation; viz:  I.  To  examme  and  report  the  acts  and 
proceedings  of  the  said  Presbytery. 

2.  To  inquire  whether  said  Presbytery,  Ln  view 
of  its  action  referred  to,  is  entitled  to  a  seat  in 
this  General  Assembly. 

3.  To  recommend  what  action,  if  any,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  should  take  in  the  premises. 

As  to  the  lirst  point,  your  committee  remark  that 
the  acts  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  come  be- 
fore this  court  in  the  way  of  review  and  control. 
We  have  not,  indeed,  the  original  records  of  that 
Presbytery.  Yet  our  Book  of  Discipline  provides, 
[chap.  vLi.  sec.  1.  v.  J  that  "if  the  superior  ju- 
dicatory be  well  advised,  by  common 
fame,  that  irregularities  have  occurred  on 
the  pan  of  ttie  inferior  judicatory,  it  is  in- 
cumbent on  them  to  take  cognizance  of  the  same; 
and  to  examine,  deliberate  and  j"dge  in  the  whole 
matter,  as  completely  as  if  it  had  been  recorded, 
and  tiius  brought  up  by  the  review  ot  the  records. " 

We  have  before  us  a  printed  paper,  a  copy  of 
which  is  hereunto  appended,  entitled,  "Declaration 
and  Testimony  against  the  erroneous  and  Heretical 
doctrines  and  practices  which  have  obtained  and 
been  propagated  iu  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  during  the  last  five  years."  Itissnb- 
e-ciibed  by  three  of  the  four  Commissioners  who 
represent  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville;  and 
is  farther  subscribed  as  "Adopted  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  at  Bardstown,  September  2d, 
A.  D.  1865,"  with  the  uume  of  W.  W.  Duncan, 
Moderator,  and  Robert  Morrison,  Stated  Clerk. 
This  paper  is  widely  circulated,  and  is  acknow- 
ledged as  authentic  by  the  Commissioners  referred 
to.  Your  committee  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
it  is  a  genuine  transcript  of  the  paper  adopted  by 
The  said  Presbytery  at  the  date  above  mentioned.  It 
will  be  readily  admitted  that  such  a  document  fur- 
nishes far  more  tubstautial  groimds  of  proceeding 
than  mere  common  fame. 

This  paper,  considertd  as  the  Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony of  file  said  Presbytery,  furnishes  the  follow- 
ing facts:  That  Presbytery  herein  ahlrms  that  "for 
several  years  past"  our  "Church  has  been  depart- 
ing farther  and  farther  from  both  the  spirit  and  the 
plain  letter  of  her  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
and  her  charter  as  a  aing^ioim  not  of  this  world." 


52 


(p.  3.)  It  declares  that  "by  the  decisiocs  of  the  Su- 
preme ./udiciitory  of  cl?eChurcb,  ai.  Its  recent  aieec- 
insT  in  Pirtisburo:,  the  consutrimation  seems  to  liAve 
been  renctied,  »nd  the  s>-al  liually  set  U|>oa  sll  previ- 
OU8  unconslitutional  and  unscriptiiial  acts  of  tbe 
body."  (P  4  )  It  des-crihes  ih.-bK  ao's  el  the  Gen- 
eral 4LSSr'mbly  aa  a  "feubversion  of  the  Liw  ot 
Chrut'sKiiigdom  and  surrender  of  t:e  Crown  Right-i 
ofZion'8  King:,  on  account  of  whicQ  tlie  naoie  and 
honor  of  our  Lord  are  evtrywhcre  bhispliemtd." 
(p.  4.)  It  charges  an  "assumption  on  tlae  part  of 
the  couns  of  the  Church  of  the  ritrht  to  decide  ques- 
tions ot  State  policy."  (p.  5  )  It  characterizes  the 
deliverances  of  ihe  late  Assemblies  as  a  'Saoction 
given  by  die  Church  to  the  pervers]on  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ  aijQ  bis  Apostles  upon  the  subject  of 
the  duty  of  Christians  as  uttizeus."  (p.  7. J  It  af- 
firms that  the  Assemblies  of  1804  and  1805 
have  "laid  down  a  ne'v  doctrine  upon  the  subject 
of  slavery,  unknown  to  the  apostolic  and  primitive 
Chu.ch,  a  doctrine  which  has  its  origin  iu  infidelity 
and  fanailcisai."  (p.  8.)  It  represents  certain  lan- 
guage of  the  Assemblies  of  1864  and  1865,  as  au 
"uioust  and  scaudalouj  contradicliou  of  their  own 
recorded  testiiiiouy  and  of  well  isnown  Jacts." 
(p.  8)  It  teaches  that  the  General  Assemblies  of 
1861  and  1864  "coiintenarcea  >he  doctrine  that  be- 
fore a  Court  ot  Chi  ist  ought  to  take  action  on  import- 
eit  questions  brought  before  ihem,  it  is  right  and 
fltiir'tr  that  tbey  should  ioquire  'wtiat  the  Cabinet  at 
Washington  may  wish  them  to  do,'  and  ascertain 
what  effect  their  ac ion  may  be  liKely  to  have  upon 
the  n)ii.d  of  the  Presidtnt  and  the  army,  or  upon  the 
price  of  the  Government  slocks  abroatJ."  (p.  10.) 
Of  the  Assembly's  reference  to  the  developments 
of  Provioence,  irsays:  "A  more  tdtal  abandon- 
ment of  God's  written  word  for  the  uncertain  light 
of  daik  aiid  my.-terious  and  yet  undeveloped  provi- 
dences, and  iliese  to  be  expoundea  by  men,  it  may 
be,  'having  tlieir  understandings  darkened,'  and 
for  not  obeying  the  truth,  perchance  'given  up  to 
believe  a  lie,'  can  sciTcely  be  conceived  of." 
(p.  10.)  It  proclaims  that  "the  usurpation  by  the 
secular  and  military  power,  of  authority  in  and 
over  the  worship  and  government  of  the  Church, 
has  been  sanctioned  by  Sessions,  Presbyteries, 
Synods,  and  the  General  Assemblyj  directly,  by 
Virions  acts  which  are  luily  known  to  the  word;" 
and  adds  that  the  Tlieological  Seminaries  of  Prince- 
ton and  Danville  have  "indorsed  in  word  and  act 
such  usurpation."  (p.  11.)  It  cestilies  that  an  "al- 
liance has  been  virtually  formed  by  the  Church  with 
the  State;  by  which  the'State  has  been  encouraged, 
and  even  invited,  to  use  the  Church  as  au  instru- 
ment for  giving  effect  to  its  various  schemes  of  a 
political  character."  (p.  11.)  It  denounces  the  last 
five  Assemblies  as  having  practiced  "a  re- 
lentless and  malignant  persecution,"  which 
is  sought  to  be  justified  by  false  state- 
ments and  misrepresentations."  (p.  12.)  It 
charges  the  Assembly  of  1865  with  "basing 
an  action  upon  an  assertion  of  what  the  Assembly 
bad  the  clearest  evidence  was  not  true."  (p.  la). 
It  declares  that  the  deliverances  of  the  iate  Assem- 
blies '  'are  contrary  to  the  woid  of  God  and  subver- 
sive of  its  inspiration  and  supreme  authority." 
(p.  15) .  It  assures  the  world  that  '  'our  Synods  and 
Assemblies  *  *  have  ceased  to  command  even 
ordinary  respect;  (p.  19);  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly *  *  has  become  the  support  of  heresy,  the 
abettor  of  injustice  and  despotism,  the  fonienter  of 
discord,  and  tlie  prime  leader  in  promoting  a  great 
and  destructive  schism  in  the  body  of  Christ." 
(p.  21).  It  charges  that  "the  infallible  oracles  of 
God  have  been  abandoned"  for  "a  shallow  human- 
itarian philanthropy;  (p.  21) ;— that  "the  plainest 
teachings  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  respecting  the  re- 
lation and  duty  of  masters  and  servants  have  been 
pronounced  cruel  and  unjust;"  (p.  2i); — that  "(he 
whole  mediatorial  glory  and  dignity  of  the  Messiah 
has  thus  been  tarnished;  and  all  the  offices  of 
Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,  which  he  executes  for 
the  salvation  of  his  people,  are  subverted  and  sur- 
rendered." (p.  23).  Finally,  it  sums  up  these 
weigtity  and  serious  charges  with  the  declaration 
that  "If  this  be  not  an  Apostacy,  surely  it  needs  but 
little  to  make  it  so,  clearly,  unmistakably,  fatally." 
(p.  23). 
In  view  of  this  alleged  position  of  the  Presbyterian 


Church  represented  in  this  Assembly— within  r 
hair's  breadth,  as  they  affirm,  ot  utter  and  Una! 
aiiostacy  frjm  Christ— the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
adopt  tea  resoJations,  of  which  the  following  are  a 
specimen : 

"1.  'I  hat  we  refuse  to  give  our  support  to  Minis- 
ters, Elders,  Agents,  Editors,  Teachers,  or  to  those 
who  are  in  any  o'her  capacity  engigeU  in  religious 
instruction  or  eflbrt,  who  hold  the  p/ecedinR  or 
similar  heresies' ' — thai  is,  to  all  such  as  agree  with 
our  late  Assemblies. 

"  6.  That  we  will  not  sustain,  or  execute,  or  in 
any  manner  assist  in  the  execution  of,  the  orders 
passeil  at  the  last  two  Assemblies  ou  the  subject  of 
slavery  and  loyalty  ;  and  wiMi  reference  to  itie  con- 
ducting of  mirSiouH  in  the  Snuthern  Stat<  s;  and 
wim  regard  to  the  ministers,  members  and  churches 
in  the  secedfd  and  border  Stat'-s. 

"7.  That  we  will  withhold  our  contributions 
from  the  Boards  of  the  Church,  (with  toe  exception 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis'ions,)  and  from  the 
tneological  seminaries,  until  these  mbtitutions  are 
res-cued  from  the  hands  of  three  who  are  perverting 
them  to  the  teaching  and  promulgation  of  priocipie,s 
subversive  ot  the  system  which  they  were  founded 
and  organized  to  uphold  and  disseminate.  And  we 
will  appropriate  tlie  money  thus  withheld  in  aid  of 
tnose  instrumentalities  which  may  be  employed  far 
maintairdrrg  and  defending  the  principles  affirmed 
in  this  Declaration,  against  the  errors  herein  re- 
jected; and  in  assisting  the  impoverished  mini-ters 
and  churcjes,  anywhere  throughout  the  country, 
whoatiree  with  us  in  these  essential  doctrines,  in 
restorir>f,  and  building  up  their  congregatious  and 
houses  of  worship. 

"8.  We  recommend  that  all  ministers,  elders, 
church  sessions,  presbyteries  and  synods,  who  ap- 
prove of  this  Declaration  and  Testimony,  give  their 
public  adherence  thereto  in  such  manner  as  they 
shall  prefer,  and  communicate  their  names,  and 
when  a  Church  Court,  a  copy  of  their  adhering 
act." 

To  this  document  are  appended  forty-one  names 
of  miQii-ters,  and  seventy-eight  names  of  ruling 
elders— in  all,  one  hundred  and  nineteen;  of  whom 
eleven  are  ministers  belonging  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville. 

Such  is  the  tenor  and  spirit  of  the  act  which  has 
been  adopted,  as  we  have  no  room  to  doubt,  by  a 
majority  of  the  said  Presbytery,  and  which  has 
been  published  and  extensively  circulated  for 
mouths.  Its  character  lies  upon  its  surface.  It  is 
not  simply  an  expression  of  disagreement  with  the 
vast  majority  of  the  Cnuvch  to  which  this  Presby- 
tery belongs,  on  the  subjects  of  loyalty 
and  slavery,  nor  a  public  protest  against 
what  they  might  regard  as  seriously  er- 
roneous or  unconstitutional  iu  the  teaching  or  de- 
cisions of  the  General  Assembly.  Such  a  right  of 
protest,  public  or  private,  by  individuals  or  ecclesi- 
astical bodies,  is  the  birthright  ot  Presbyterians.  It 
is  not  even  a  refusal  to  sustain  the  Genera'  Assem- 
bly aud  a  renunciation  of  all  obligations 
to  support  the  organizations  by  which  our 
Church  seeks  to  maintain  and  extend 
the  gospel  aaiong  men.  Nor  is  it  an  act  of  rebel- 
lion simply  against  the  constituted  ecclesiastical 
authorities,  to  wliich,  in  his  ordination  vow,  every 
Presbyterian  minister  has  solemnly  "promised 
obedience  in  the  Lord."  " It  is  an  org aniled  con- 
spiracy" against  the  honor,  the  peace  aud  die  unity 
of  that  paitof  the  body  of  Christ  in  which  they 
still  claim  the  righis  and  privileges  of  membership. 
It  is  a  violent  and  studied  disruption  of  the  Christ- 
ian bonds  which  tbey  claim  to  be  yet  unbroken, — a 
bold  di.nial  t  f  mutual  obligations  by  men  who  de- 
mand for  themselves  the  full  enjoy  meet  ot  cove- 
nanted engagements,  wittiout  the  poor  merit  of  a  re- 
bellion which  scorns  obedience,  proudlly  defies 
power,  and  challenges  authority  to  meet  it  in  the 
field  of  deadly  conflict;  this  is  the  act  of  men  who 
wear  the  garb  of  friends  that  they  may  more  effi- 
ciently do  the  work  of  enemies. 

While  claiming  memoership  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  repre.'^eutation  iu  thl»  As3embly.  they 
denounce  that  Church  as  anostate;  iti  highest 
court  as  the  support  of  heresy,  the  abettor  of  des- 
notism,  the  fomenter  of  discord,  the  prime  leader 
in  a  destructive  schism!    Under  the  form  of  refus- 


63 


lug  to  support,  they  set  themselves  to  undermine 
every  living  instrumenialily  of  the  Church  in  har- 
mony with  the  Assembly,  trom  the  ministry  to  the 
comiDon  school  teacher  They  withhold  their  coii- 
tri'Uti.ns  from  the  Boards  and  Seminaries,  that 
may  expend  (hem  in  aivaucirg  the  ends  of  this 
conspiracy — iu  sustaining  such  miui-ters  and 
cliurches  ai  will  co  operate  in  their  conspiracy. 
SittiUi?  as  a  court  of  f.ur  Church,  in  connection  with 
our  Assembly,  th«y  organize  themselves  into  a  head 
cen'er  of  tre+i-on  to  the  Uhurch,  ard  invite  other 
courts  to  send  inth^ir  "  adhevine  acts." 

II.  The  second  subject  submitted  to  the  considera- 
tion ot  your  committpe,  is  the  bearing  of  the  action 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  upon  its  right  to 
represenratioo  in  this  Oody. 

Our  constitutiju  pretcribes  (Dis.  chap,  v,  ix) 
thsLf.  wh^n  a  member  of  a  church  judicatory  is 
under  process,  it  shall  be  dii-cret.ionary  with  the 
judicatory,  whether  his  jjrivileges  of  deliberating 
and  votinsr,  as  a  member,  in  other  matters,  shall  be 
suspended  until  the  process  is  finally  issued  or 
uot."  The  principle  of  this  rule  has  been  applied 
by  former  assemblies  to  such  cases  as  tliat  before 
your  body.  Thus  the  Assembjy  ot  18o7,  "Resolved, 
That;  agreably  to  a  principle  laid  ciown,  ch.  5,  sec 
9^  of  the  Form  of  Government,  the  members  of  said 
judicatory  be  excluded  Irom  a  seat  in  the  next  As- 
sembly until  their  case  shall  be  decided."  (See 
Baird's  Digest,  second  edition,  book  vu,  titled, 
page  7iO.)  A  pratest  against  this  order  was  entered 
on  the  records  as  follows:  "This  Assembyhasno 
power  by  their  vole  to  deprive  commissoners  duly 
elected  fron\  a  seat  in  the  next  Assembly,  because 
that  Assembly  has  the  exclusive  right  of  judging  of 
the  qusiilications  of  its  own  members,"  &o.  Even 
this  protest  admits  the  right  to  exclude  iu  the  case 
in  hind.  To  thi-?  protest  (with  reference  to  "the 
next  Assembly,")  our  Supreme  Judicatory  replied 
as  lollows:  "The  General  Assembly,  by  its  very 
Constitution,  is  regarded  as  having  a  general  con- 
trol ot  ihe  whole  (Jhurch,  and  in  its  conservative 
character  shall  superintend  all  of  its  concerns.  It 
is  believed  that  the  initiatory  steps  contemplated  by 
the  resolutior.s  authorizing  a  committee  to  designate 
inferior  judicatories  who  msy  have  been  guilty  of 
irregularities,  to  cite  them,  acid  report  as  soon  as 
practicable  to  this  Assemt)]y,  do  not  infringe  the 
spirit  or  letter  of  the  inhtrent  powers  of  the  General 
Assembly.  And  the  great  principles  of  analogy 
would  obviously  dictate  that  the  members  of  the 
inferior  judicatories,  upon  whom  these  preparatory 
measures  are  supposed  to  operate,  should  not  be 
permitted  to  sit  iu  the  next  General  Assembly  until 
their  cases  should  be  decided.  If  there  be  any 
sound  princiole  contained  in  the  clause,  and  the 
uniibrm  practice  which  excludis  an  interested  judi- 
catory from  voting,  that  principle  and  that  prac- 
tice slioula  be  applied  to  the  memners  of  such  in- 
ferior judicatories  as  may  be  aU'ected  by  these 
resohttions.  This  view  of  the  suDject  is  exceedingly 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  express  power  is 
ve-ttd  ID  our  judicatories  to  exclude  at  will  their 
own  members,  when  ou  trial  before  them." 

(See  Aubwer  to  Protest,  Baird's  Digest,  §127,  p. 
728.) 

In  all  cases  of  appeal  or  complaint,  it  is  a  common 
sense  principle,  as  well  as  a  constitutiouui  law  of 
our  Church,  that  none  of  the  metubers  of  the  judica- 
tory whose  act  is  complained  of,  or  appealed  from, 
can  vote  in  the  superhrr  judicatory  on  any  Question 
connected  with  their  own  case.  (See  Disc.T  c.  vii, 
sec.  ill,  xii,  stc.  iv,  vii.)  In  cases  at  review  and 
control,  our  book  prescribes  no  rule  on  this  sub- 
ject. Commonly,  perhaps,  the  question  of  right  is 
not  thought  of;  the  exercise  or  neglect  of  it  is  im- 
material. "But  it  maybe,"  as  remarked  inch, 
vii,  sec.  1,  "  that  iu  the  course  of  review,  cases  of 
irregular  proceedings  may  be  found  so  disreputable 
and  injurious  a*  to  demand  the  interference 
of  the  superior  judicatory."  In  such  circum- 
stances the  principle  adopted  in  cases  of  appeal 
and  comnlnint  mu.st  obviuu'-ly  be  applied.  The 
gravest  que-tions,  involving  not  merely  constitu- 
tionaiity  of  proceedings,  but  the  doctrinal  sound- 
ness or  the  moral  character  of  the  body  whose  re- 
cords are  reviewed,  may  arise  iu  the  course  of  such 
review  by  a  superior  judicatory.  In  such  cases  "it 
is  incumbent  on  them,"  as  our  Discipline  declares. 


"to  examine,  deliberate  and  judge  in  the  whole 
matter."  The  members  ot  such  subordinate  judi- 
catory are  then  "on  trial"  upon  their  record,  or 
upon  common  fame.  This  judicatory,  with  its  rep- 
resentatives, is  "under  process"  from  the  moment 
the  superior  court  has  taken  a  step  tending  to  the 
exercise  of  discipliue.  For  what  is  "process"  but 
that  course  of  action,  from  b^-gmningto  fud,  which 
aims  to  secure  the  ends  of  discipline?  Where  cita- 
tion is  issued,  the  citation  is,  as  the  Assembly  has 
said,  "the  commencement  of  a  proceHS  iuvoiviug 
the  right  of  membership"  iu  the  superi  )r  body. 
(Digest,  Bk.  vii,  Tet.  3,  p.  726.)  But  there  may 
arise  contingencies  of  such  character  as  to  forbid 
citation.  The  judicatory  alleged  to  have  offeuded 
is  cited  "to  show  what  it  has  done  or  fuiled  to 
do."  (Disc,  c.  vii,  sect.  1,  vl.)  But  the  records 
themselves  may  sufficiently  "show  wnat  it  has 
done,"  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case  may  re- 
quire the  earliest  decision  compatible  with  our  Con- 
stitution. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  a  judicatory  under  pro- 
cess of  trial  retains  unimpaired  its  right  to  be 
heard,  through  its  repre.-entatives  or  otherwise,  in 
selt-defense.  Though  it  cannot,  and  should  not, 
claim  a  seat  on  the  bench  as  an  assit-taut  judge,  it 
may,  and  must,  be  heard  at  the  bar,  in  person  or  by 
counsel. 

III.  We  are  directed  "to  recommend  what  course 
of  action,  if  any,  the  Genei-al  Assembly  should  take, 
with  regard  to  the  said  Presbytery  at  "Louisville. " 
Were  the  case  before  us  one  ot  ordinary  charac- 
ter, the  proper  course  of  proceeding  would  be  that 
prescribed  in  our  book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii, 
sec.  1.  vi.  "The  judicatory  next  ; above  "  that 
which  has  offended,  (iu  this  instance,  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky)  should  have  cited  ihe  Fre.-bytery  to  ap- 
pear and  answer,  and  should  have  issued  the  case. 
But  it  appears,  from  an  appeal  and  complaint 
against  that  Synod,  now  in  the  possession  of  this 
House,  in  reference  to  the  very  transactions  of  the 
Louisville  Presbytery  in  question,  that  the  Sjnodof 
Kentucky  refused  or  declined  lo  take  action  in  the 
premises;  or,  at  least,  that  it  failed  to  ciie  the 
Presbytery  before  Its  bar.  There  is  reason  to  fear, 
that  besides  the  injury  to  the  churches  in  the  region 
in  question,  resulting  from  unuue  delay  in  the 
settlement  of  so  grave  a  question,  additional  com- 
plications might  arise  and  the  leaven  of  rebellion 
become  far  more  widely  diffused.  ' '  A  little  leaven 
leaveneth  the  whole  lump.  Purge  out,  therefore, 
the  old  leaven,  that  ye  may  be  a  new  lump,  as  ye 
are  unleavened. ' ' 

"To  the  General  Assembly  belongs  the  power." 
by  the  express  provisions  of  oui  con-itituii  n  (ch. 
xii,  5.),  "at  deciding  in  all  coutroversie>>  re.>pect- 
ing  doctrine  and  discipline,"  and  " supjiressing 
schismaiical  contentions  and  disputations." 
In  the  General  Assembly  "the  whole  church 
is  called  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  acts  ot 
apart."  (Disc.  c.  vii.  1.)  It  possesses,  there- 
fore, whatever  power  belongs  to  the  Church,  being 
the  highest  instrumentality  through  avIucIi  the 
Churchacts.  Its  methods  of  action  are  cuuditioced 
only  by  such  express  liititations  as  the  Chuich  has 
imposed  on  herself  in  her  Constituticn.  Hence,  as 
our  Supreme  Court  has  decided,  "any  supposed  re- 
striction of  the  right  of  the  General  Asuembly," 
(to  "cite  any  other  inferior  judicitories  but  Sy- 
nods," for  example,)  "is  explained  by  the  com- 
prehensive character  of  the  fifth  part,  (ch.  vii, 
lect.  5,)  which  assigns  to  the  superior  judicatory 
power  to  examine,  deliberate  and  judge  in  the  whole 
matter,  as  compleiely  as  if  it  had  been  recorded, 
ard  thus  brought  up  by  review  of  the  records." 
(Bair's  Digest,  2d  edit,  bk  vii,  §  137,  p.  728.) 

The  power  of  the  Assembly,  then,  to  act  directly 
and  conclusively  in  the  case  before  them,  is  clear 
and  unquestionable.  The  necesbity  for  prompt  and 
decisive  action  is  apparent,  in  viewotihe  position 
assumed  by  the  Precbjtery  of  Louisville  iu  The  paper 
under  consideration,  as  well  as  in  view  ot  the  fact 
that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  has  failed  to  act  in  the 
premises.  Your  committee,  therefore,  recommeud 
the  adoption  of  the  following  measures: 
Be  it  resolved  by  the  Genera*  Asseaiby  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America: 
1.  That  tne  Presbytery  of  Louisville  be,  and 
hereby  is,  dissolved,  and  that  the  custody  of  its 


oi 


records  and  other  papers  be  transferred  as  hereaf- 
ter ordered. 

2.  That  a  new  Presbytery  is  hereby  constituted, 
to  be  Ictiovvn  by  tlie  same  nanie,  occupy  the  same 
territurj',  uTi'i  have  watch  and  care  of  the  same 
churches;  said  Presbytery  to  be  comijostrt  of  the 
following  ministers,  (togi-ther  with  so  many  elders 
as  may  appear,)  to-wit:  D.  T.  Smart.  W.  W.  Hill, 
S.  WDliams  W.  V.  Matttiews,  R.  Valentine,  B. 
H.  McCown,  J.  H.  Dinsmore,  H.  C.  Saclise,  T.  A. 
Hoyt,  J.  L.  McKee,  J.  P.  McMillan,  J. 
McRae.  H.  T.  Morton  and  J.  C.  Young, 
or  t-o  many  of  them.  Whether  ministers  or  ruling 
elders,  asshsiU,  belore  their  organization,  subscribe 
the  followimr  formula:  "I  do  hereby  proffss  my 
disapproval  of  the  Decl.;ratiou  and  Testimony, 
adopied  by  the  late  Presiiytcry  at  LoniSTiile,  and 
my  obedience  in  the  Lord  to  the  General  Assembly 
of  ihe  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States;" 
which  lormuJa,  together  with  the  subscribers' 
names,  shall  be  subsequently  entered  upon  their 
records.  The  said  Presbytery  shall  meet  in  the 
Chesnut  street  Prcsbyteriao.  courch  of  LouisvUle, 
Ky.,onfbe  iOrh  day  cfjune,  1S66;  and  shall  be 
opened  with  a  sermou  by  J.  P.  MacMillan,  or  in  his 
absence  the  oldest  minister  present,  who  shall  pre- 
side until  a  Moderator  is  elected. 

3.  That  so  many  ministers  belonging  to  the  late 
Presbjtery  of  Louisville  as  are  not  herein  named 
are  hereby  directed  to  apply  for  admission  to  the 
Presbytery  now  constituted  as  soon  aiter  its  organ- 
ization as  practicable;  and  they  shall  be  received 
only  on  condirion  of  acknorvledging  before  the  Pres- 
bytery their  eiror  iu  adopting  w  signing  the  Dechi- 
ration  and  festimbny,  and  of  subscribing  the  afore- 
saia  formula,  on  its  records.  If,  at  the  expiration 
of  two  months  from  the  organization  of  the  new 
Presbytery,  these  ministers  shall  not  have  made 
such  application,  or  shall  not  have  been  received, 
their  pastoral  relations,  so  far  as  any  may  exiss 
with  the  churches  under  our  care,  shall  thenceforth 
be  ipso  facto  dissolved.  Acknowledgment  and 
promise  shall  be  lecorded  in  the  minutes  of  the 
Presbytery . 

4.  That  tbe  licentiates  and  candidates  under  the 
care  of  the  Ul-solved  Presbytery  are  hereby  trans- 
ferred to  that  now  constituted;  and  the  Stated  Clerk 
of  the  late  Preabytery  is  hereby  directed  to  place  the 
records  and  other  pai)ers  of  the  former  in  the  hands 
of  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  latter,  so  soon  as  one  shall 
be  chosen. 

5  That  this  General  Assembly,  in  thus  dealing 
with  a  recusant  and  rebellious  Presbytery,  by  vir- 
tue of  the  nlenary  auihori'y  existing  "in  it  tor 
"suppressing  sciiismatical  contentions  and. 
disjjutations,"  nas  no  intentiun,  or  dis- 
position, tJ  di-turb  the  existiug  relations 
of  Churches,  ruling  eiders  or  jsrivate  mem- 
bers; but  rather  to  prrectrdem  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  righis  and  privileges  in  the  Church  of  their 
choice,  against  men  who  would  seduce  them  into  an 
abandonment  of  tbe  heritage  of  their  fathers . 

U.  v.  McLEAN,  Ctiairman, 
Th'OS.  E.  THOMAS, 
THOS.  W.  IIYNES, 
D-  J-  WALLEK, 
HOVEY  K.  CLARKE, 
SAM'L  GALLOWAY, 
R.  P.  DAVIDSON. 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  24,  1860. 
That  in  the  hearing  of  the  report  the  committee 
recommend  i  lie  following  order. 

That  the  Commissiooers  to  the  Asssemby  from  the 
Presbytery  ot  Louisville  be  admitted  to  the  floor,  to 
discuss  any  question  comingup  on  this  repoit,  and 
subj-  ct  only  to  the  rules  of  the  Assembly. 

On  motion  ot  Rev.  Dr.  VT'aUer,  it  was  moved  that 
when  ihe  convention  adjourn,  it  adjoui'u  to  meet  at 
8  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean  moyed  that  Rev.  Dr. Brookes  be 
requested  to  inform  the  members  of  the  Louisville 
Presbyiery  in  rcitard  to  the  matter. 

Rev.  Mr.  IJrookes  said  he  understood  these  gen- 
tlemen had  talitn  their  departure  and  respectfully 
bade  adieu  to  the  A>sembiy,  to  return  to  their  Sy- 
nod and  report  the  facts.  All  of  these  gentlemen, 
he  was  aware,  had  not  left  the  city,  and  of  course 


he  would  obey  the  request  and  give  them  the  infor- 
mation. 

The  motion  of  Dr.  M.cLean  Was  agreed  to , 

The  report  of  Dr.  McLean  was  then  put  on  the 
docket  for  the  evening  session. 

Rev,  Dr.  Humphries  desired  to  givt  notice  of  an 
amendment  which  ne  proposed  to  offer  to  the  report 
of  the  committee,  and  which  he  would  now  re  id  tor 
information.     The  amendinenc  was  read  as  follows: 

"The  Declaration  and  Testimony  adopted  and 
published  by  tbe  Presbytery  of  Louiovill*'.  appeara 
in  the  terms,  spirit  and  interest  thereof,  to  be  de- 
roga'ory  t'>  the  just  authority  of  the  Geiier-'.l  Assem- 
bly, hostile  to  tue  institutions  of  this  Chuich,  de- ' 
structive  to  the  peace  of  our  people,  and  fruitful  iu 
schismatical  contenl'ons  and  disputations. 

"Therefore,  the  General  Asserablyexprosses  its 
grave   disapprobation  of  this   proceeding    of    the 
Presbytery,  as  unbecoming  in  a  low-judicatory  of 
the  Church. 

*  'The  Assemlilv  also  enjoins  upon  the  Presbytery 
to  forbear  whatever  tends  to  further  distvu  baaces 
and  agitation,  to  support  the  institarious  of  the 
tlhurch,  and  especially  to  take  such  order  at  its  next 
stated  meeting  as  will  show  that  it  does  not  intend 
to  defy  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly,  to 
disparage  the  institutions  of  tbe  Church. 

"Furthermore,  the  Assembly  does  hereby  require 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  to  appear  oy  its  Com- 
missioners hetore  the  next  General  Assembly  on  Itie 
second  day  ot  its  session,  to  show  wh.it  it  bas  done 
or  fa-Lled  to  do  iu  these  premises,  and  the  Assembly 
is  requested  to  take  up  and  issue  the  busioess.  The 
Commissioners  from  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
are  now  readmitted  to  seats  on  the  floor  of  this  As- 
sembly." 

Kev.  Mr.  Brookes  announced  that  be  desired  to 
have  an  ofliciai  statement  from  the  Clerk  in  regard 
10  the  action  concerning  the  Louisville  Presbytery. 
He  had  seen  one  of  the  Commissioners  who  had 
suggested  the  propriety  of  an  official  statement. 

The  Clerk  WiiS  instructed  to  furnish  the  required 
stsiteinent. 

The  appeal  case  of  Rev.  Mr.  Boyd,  from  the  Sy- 
nod of  Wiieeling,  was  then  taken  up. 

The  sentence  appealed  from  was  read,  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Frazter  addressed  the  Assembly  in  regard  to 
tbe  points  invoived 

It  appeared  that  Mr.  Boyd  was  before  the  Synod 
of  Wheeling  for  deserting  his  wife,  but  that  there 
was  some  informality  in  re^nrd  to  the  ch*'-6res  on 
which  the  sentence  was  made  up.  Without  coming 
to  any  decision  in  the  case  the  Assembly  ad- 
journed. 

NIGHT  SESSION. 

Assembly  called  to  order  at  eight  o'clock. 

The  tollowing  conimunicaaou  from  the  .suspended 
raemoers  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  iu  response 
to  an  invitation  to  be  present,  was  then  read  by  the 
Clerk. 

The  undersigned,  Commisnoneners  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  who  haupen  not  yet  to 
have  left  the  city,  overlooking,  iu  the  spirit  of 
Christian  forbearance,  the  iu.sult  and  seeming 
mockery  of  the  Presbytery  aud  themselves,  in  a 
proposition  to  appear  and  be  heard  before  a  Court 
wiiicb  has  already  condemned  them  unheard,  iu 
response  to  the  resolution  of  this  afternoon ,  trans- 
mitted to  them  by  the  Permanent  Clerk  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  mu^^t  respecrfnlly  refer  the  Assem- 
bly to  their  letter  of  May  10th,  as  containing  very 
obvious  and  sufficient  reasons  why  they  coubl  not, 
without  lu.(ther  special  insiructions  from  their  Pres- 
bytery, appear  before  the  present  Assembly  in  any 
capacity.  SAM.  R.  WILSON, 

SrUARr  ROBINSON, 
C.  A.  WICKLIFFE. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  21:  186G. 

The  question  being  on  the  reiiort  in  regard  to  the 
Louisville  Presbytery. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  then  obtained  the  floor  and 
spoke  tor  two  hours.  His  argument  was  able  and 
exhaustive  of  all  the  questions  involved  in  the 
case  It  will  be  published  iu  the  Democrat  iu  full 
hereafter. 

The  argument  was  not  concluded  wheu  the  Assem- 
bly adjourned. 


55 


EIGHTH  DAY  — FEIDAY;   MAT   25,   ISGG. 


MORNING  SESSION. 

After  devotional  exercises  and  tlie  approval  of  the 
minutes,  Rev.  Mr.  Raffensperger  offered  a  resolu- 
tion, that  in  order  lo  avoid  tlie  errors  and  mit-im- 
derstandiDRS  con-tautiy  occurring  L)y  cont'ounding 
the  Presbytery  ot  Toledo,  Iowa,  with  the  Presby- 
tery of  Maumee,  ia  Oliio,  tliis  General  Assembly 
eaTne-41y  request  the  Synod  of  lowa  to  change  tlic 
name  of  the  l^resbytery  of  Toledo  to  tluit  of  Jasper. 

He  considered  it  WiS  in  the  power  of  the  Assem- 
bly to  cliiu:^e  the  name  if  tLiey  ttiouglit  proper.  He 
understood,  however,  that  the  ijrethren  of  Iowa  had 
)iad  a  conference,  aud  agreed  upon  the  name'of 
Jasper. 

The  Moderator  suggested  that  it  was  in  order  at 
the  beginning  of  a  session  to  hear  reports,  and  on 
motion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Scheuk  the  resolution  was  re- 
feiTed  to  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowrie,  from  the  Committee  on  Bills 
and  Overtnres,  presented  the  following: 

Overture  No.  7— From  the  Presbycerj  of  Missouri 
River  asking  this  General  Assembly :  fli'St,  to  ex- 
tend the  boundaries  of  said  Presbytery  northward 
so  far  as  to  include  Wooiibury  Cjuiity,  Iowa,  wliich 
county  is  at  present  included  iu  the  territory  of  the 
former  "Sioux  City  Presbytery,  "  and  second,  to 
detach  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri  River  from  the 
Synod  of  Southern  Iowa,  aud  unite  it  with  the 
Synod  of  Kansas. 

The  committee  recommended  that  the  request  be 
granted. 

Adopted. 

Overture  No.  8. — Memorials  have  been  presented 
to  the  iJoramittee  from  the  Synods  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey,  and  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Lake, 
Etizabetiitown  and  Logansport,  requesting  this 
Assembly  to  devise  measures  for  tliti  more  compe- 
tent aud  unifonu  sustentaiion  of  those  who  are  able 
and  willing  to  engage  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  also  au  Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  AUe- 
gheny  City  concerning  unemployed  ministers  aud 
vacant  churc  bes . 

The  Committee  recommend  that  in  view  of  the 
highly  important  and  closely  related  nature  of  these 
subjects,  this  Assembly  appoint  a  Special  Commit- 
tee consisting  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elliott,  D.  D.,Rev. 
C.  C.  Beatty,  D.  D.,Rev.  Jas.  J.  Brownsou.  D,  D., 
Rev.  Loyal  Youns,  D.  D.,  Hon.  Wm.  M.  Francis, 
Hon.  Rvjbert  McKnight,  and  Dr.  C.  R.  Robinson, 
Esq.,  to  prepare  a  special  report  on  this  subject, 
Which  so  intimately  concerns  the  growth  aud  pros- 
perity of  our  Caurch,  to  the  next  General  Assembly, 
aud  that  all  tne  papers  now  oefore  the  Committee  on 
Bills  and  Overtures,  on  these  subjects,  be  passed 
over  to  this  Special  Committee,    Adopted. 

Overture  No.  9. — Being  a  paper  tVoin  Rev.  W.  P. 
Car.ron  on  the  subject  of  licensing  teachers  or  cate- 
chists.  The  committee  recommend  tliat,  inasmuch 
as  ttie  subject  is  new,  and  of  .great  imjjortance,  and 
in  order  to  its  adoption  mi^y  require  some  constitu- 
tional legislation;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  attention  of  the  Presbyteries 
be  called  to  it.  and  that  a  committee  consisting  of 
Rev.  W.  T.  Findley,  D.  D.,  Rev.  F.  E.  Thomas, 
Elder  Sam  Galloway,  be  appointed  to  make  a  report 
on  the  whole  subjeet  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

Adopted. 

Rev.  Dr.  Safiord  moved  that  the  Assembly  request 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCosh  a  copy  of  tiie  sermon  de- 
livered by  him  on  Sunday  morning  last  for  publica- 
tion m  the  proceedings  ol  tne  Assembly.  The  mo- 
tion was  agreed  to. 

The  order  of  the  day — the  report  of  the  Committee 
on  Disabled  Mini8ter»--was  taken  up. 

Rev.  Dr.  Matthews,  chairman  of  the  committee, 
read  the  repoit,  but  as  it  was  subsequently  recom- 
mitted It  will  be  published  hereafter. 

Bev.  Dr.  Matthews  wished  to  call  special  atten- 
tion to  one  of  the  resolutions,  requiring  the  commit- 
tee to  present  to  the  Board  a  statement  of  the  re- 


ceipts and  expenditures,  and  hoped  it  would  be 
itrged  by  the  Assembly. 

Rev.  Mr.  Remington  desir<^d  to  oljtbr  the  following 
resolution,  in  connection  with  the  re^■Ol•t: 

Resolveil,  That  in  tiie  action  of  the  report  before 
us,  the  As-,embly  express  the  desire  that  the  entire 
ministry  inay  in  due  lime  receive  adequate  support 
by  means  of  thesu-teiitiition  lund,  similar  to  that 
instituted  by  the  Free  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scot- 
land. 

Rev.  Dr.  Bo.irdman  said  that  he  had  been  re- 
quested by  the  Rev.  Dr  Jones,  the  Secretary,  who 
was  absent  on  .account  of  sickness,  to  address  the 
Assembly  m  regard  lo  this  subject.  Xhis  was  a 
case  whicli  made  its  own  plea,  aud  he  submitted 
that  as  the  whole  principle  on  which  this  plan  pro- 
ceeds is  one  of  great  delicacy  ami  tenderness  towards 
the  brethren  who  are  to  be  the  recipients  of  the 
Church's  sympathy  and  care,  none  of  the  names 
of  those  recipients  be  given;  nobody  cared  to  know 
who  the  pastor's  widow  is  who  receives  aid,  or 
who  the  orphans  were  that  received  aid.  They  had 
coutidence  iu  the  Board  ol'  Crustees  who  have  charge 
of  this  trust,  and  he  desired  lo  know  if  the  com- 
mittee w-Duld  not  consent  to  modify  that  part  of 
Their  report  requiricg  the  Trustees  to  {iive  the  de- 
tails as  to  the  rtceipts  and  expenditures  of  the 
Board.  He  moved  to  strike  out  that  part  of  the  re- 
solution which  had  been  reported  by  tne  committee. 
He  continued:  if  I  were  permitted  to  select  in  the 
whole  range  of  our  institutions  a  case  which  I  would 
take  to  the  churches  with  (he  utmost  assurance  of 
its  meeting  with  a  prsnipt,  cordial  and  generous 
leceptioD,  it  would  be  the  very  case 
now  under  consideration.  And  though 
up  to  this  time  the  receipts  of  the  committee  have 
been  small  comparatively,  yet  they  are  small  only 
because  their  necessities  were  small,  and  because 
the  number  of  individual  applications  for  the  benefit 
of  the  fund  has  been  very  light.  Now  we  have  no 
Suntentaiion  Fund .  It  is  one  of  the  sad  things  about 
our  churches  in  this  country,  and  we  are  constantly 
reminded  by  churches  abroad  that  our  voluntary 
plan  has  failed.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  Our  minis- 
ters are  hard-working  men  and  wear  out  early.  The 
statistics  would  probably  show  that  in  other  coun- 
tries the  Christian  ministers  live  longer  than  men  of 
any  other  liberal  profession,  but  in  this  country  the 
average  duration  of  life  in  the  ministry  is 
less  than  that  of  any  other  learned  pro- 
fession, ar.d  it  is  beciuse  the  minietry  here  are 
hard  working  men.  There  is  no  end  to  the  diver- 
sity of  the  claims  and  the  demands  which  are  made 
upbntheQi,  and  the  urgency  with  which  these  de- 
mands are  pressed.  Tiiere  are  poor  men,  I  have  no 
doubt,  Vfho  are  traveling  from  twenty  to  htty  miles 
from  week  to  week,  in  older  to  make  a  circuit. 
Sir,  such  men  need  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  the 
Church.  Just  look  at  the  ministers' families.  Why, 
the  cases  are  the  exception,  I  take  it,  in  which  a 
minister's  widow  is  not  obliged,  en  the  death  of 
her  husband,  to  go  to  work  and  support  her 
children.  She  must  open  a  school  or  a  boarding 
house,  or  become  a  seamstress — publicly  or 
privately  she  must  do  something  to  obta'n  support 
for  herself  and  her  children.  She  may  bea  woaaan, 
too,  in  most  cases,  who  has  been  reartd  in  the  com- 
forts of  .life,  not  to  say  luxuries — a  woman  of  high 
culture',  unused  to  hard,  laborious  and  exhausting 
toil;  and  yet  compelled  to  chose  between  it  and 
starvation.  It  is  a  curious  thing,  sir,  Ihis  matter  of 
sympathy  with  Christian  pastors.  Now,  a  congrega- 
tion, as  long  as  the  pastor  lives,  will  gather  around 
him  and  sustain  him,  and  applnud  him,  aud  help 
him  and  his  family  of  children.  But  sir,  how  long 
in  all  ordinary  cases  does  it  take  after  he  is  laid 
in  the  grave  tor  his  family  to  be  practically  lost 
sight  of,  even  by  that  same  congregation.  Here 
and  there  there  will  be  a  kind-hearted  Christian 
friend  that  will  remember  the  children  for  Ibe  fath- 
er's sake,  and  the  widow  will  etiU  be  beloved  for 


56 


the  husband's  sake,  but  we  know  how  it  is  ordi- 
narily, and  theivfore  I  say  In  behalf  of  this  fund, 
that  you  look  to  it  laiihfuiiy  iu  its  proper  distriou- 
tion. 

Mr.  Farquhar  said  he  was  instrumental  in  having 
the  objection  able  feature  introduced  in  the  reporr, 
but  he  vv'tos  ready  to  accede  to  tne  request  of  Dr. 
Boardman,  that  it  shall  be  left  out.  The  resolution 
was  iatrO':uct,d  tor  the  purpose  of  puttin.ff  side  by 
side,  as  lar  as  possible,  the  contribu'ions  of  Pres- 
byteries and  tbe  amount  of  aid  received,  in  order 
that  the  Presbjtenea  mij^ht  be  stirrea  up  to  more 
liberality.  Brn  he  perceived  in  that  aireciion  there 
might  he  daii};er  of  injustice,  because  there  might 
be  Circumstances  in  which  the  aid  extended  to  biiper- 
animuted  ministers  ami  the  widowsgand  orphans  of 
deceased  ministers,  might  be  so  great  as  to  exhaust 
the  abid'y  of  the  Presbytery  to  give  aid. 

Dr.  Boardman  said  he  would  prefer  that  no  de- 
tails should  be  entered  into  in  the  leport  of  matters 
connected  ■ftith  the  financial  arrangements  of  the 
Board,  as  referred  to  this  particular  survject. 

Rev.  Mr.  Faiquhar  said  that  he  understood  the 
amendment  was  only  to  strike  out  so  much  of  the 
report  as  required  the  trusiees  to  report  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  the  amounts  disbursed  to  the  several 
Prcbbyteries.  If  it  was  to  strike  out  the  whole  he 
should  teel  constrained  to  oppose  it. 

Kev.  Dr.  Patterson  moved  to  re-commit  the  re- 
Dort  to  the  committee. 

Mr.  Clarli  of  Detroit,  desired  that  some  provision 
mignt  be  made  by  which  the  trustees  of  ihe  fund 
shall  be  directed  to  report  annually  the  amount  of 
their  permanent  fund,  and  the  amonnt  of  income 
received  annnally  from  the  fund.  He  would  move 
that  resolution  as  a  substitute  for  the  one  before  the 
house. 

The  Moderator  said  the  question  was  on  the  motion 
to  re-commit.    The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Kev.  Dr.  Gttrley,  from  the  Judicial  Committee, 
presented  the  following: 

The  Judicial  Committee  report  to  the  General  As- 
sembly case  No.  5,  being  the  complaint  ot  Alexan- 
der Grey  against  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati.  This 
case  originated  in  the  Presbytery  of  Oxford  and 
cannot  be  tried  without  the  records  ot  that  Presby- 
tery, or  a  ?certi3ird  copy,  of  its  proceedings  in  the 
case;  neitlier  of  which  has  been  sent  to  the  Assem- 
bly. The  Committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  it 
be  continued  and  referred  to  the  next  Assembly,  and 
that  the  85  nod  of  Cincinnati  be  directed  to  send  to 
that  Assembly  all  the  records  that  we  requii-e  for  a 
proper  adjudication  of  the  case. 

1^0  6.  The  Juaicial  Committee  to  whom  was  re- 
ferred the  coQiplaint  of  Messrs.  Mack  and  Crozier 
against  the  S3'nod  of  Illinois,  which  was  referred  by 
the  last  Assembly  to  this  Assemoiy,  report  that  the 
parties  in  this  case  have  appeared  before  the  Com- 
mittee and  agreed  upon  a  presentation  statement  of 
all  the  fac'S  which  tl^ie  Committee  deem  essential  to 
the  adjudication  of  the  case,  and  on  these  facts  they 
rest  the  case  and  ask  the  decision  of  the  Assembly'. 
The  Committee  recommend  that  this  statement  "be 
read  and  the  case  thereon  decided. 

On  motion  ot  Dr.  Patterson  the  report  was  dock- 
eted. 

Dr.  Gurley  moved  that  the  appeal  of  IPr.  R.  J. 
Breckinrioge  against  the  Synoa  of  Kentucky  Ibe 
made  the  first  order  of  the  day  for  Monday  morning. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  doubted  the  propriety  of  mak- 
ing so  many  orders.  So  long  as  they  had  express 
trains  on  the  track  they  should  have  the  way  clear; 
but  If  any  other  orders  were  made,  they  would  be 
compelie'd  to  switca  off. 

Dr.  Wm.  Breckinridge  suggested  that  it  be  made 
the  order  ot  the  day  for  Monaay  at  eleven  o'clocK. 
That  would  give  them  an  hour  to  consider  the  sub- 
ject of  Domestic  Missions. 

Kev.  Dr.  Montfort  said  tne  report  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Domestic  Missions  was  very  important,  and 
he  hoped  more  time  would  be  given  to  it  than  one 
hour. 

The  motion  of  Dr.  Breckinridge  was  lost,  and 
the  motion  to  make  the  appeal  case  the  order  for 
Monday  morning  was  agreed  to. 

Rev. 'Dr.  Krebs  movtd  that  the  order  of  the  day 
—the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Freedmen— be 
postponed  with  the  view  of  resuming  tne  unflnished 
Dusia&as. 


Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  hoped  the  motion  would  not 
prevail,  as  it  would  looic  very  much  like  leaving 
the  colored  brethren  out  in  the  cold. 

Rev.  Dr.  Van  Dyke  c!e>ired  to  know  whether  the 
committee  had  seen  the  printed  report  cantaiued  m 
the  corresijoiidence  between  (he  Secretary  of  the 
Freedmen's  Society  and  Dr.  Adger  of  S 'Ut;h  Caro- 
lina: it  not,  hedesirea  to  move  its  reference  to  the 
committee. 

The  motion  was  declared  out  of  order,  and  the 
motion  to  pot-tpoue  the  consideraiion  of  the  report  of 
the  Freedmen's  Couimutee  was  agreed  to. 

The  uijiinished  buslne-a  was  then  taken  up, 
namely,  the  case  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery. 

Dr.  Thomas  concluded  hi^  speech  on  the  subject. 
He  was  followed  by  Dr.  Wm.  Breckinridge. 

The  speeches  of  both  these  gentlemen  will  be  given 
in  Monday's  Democrat. 

Aajourued  until 3m  p.  m. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Rev.  Mr.  Sims  offered  a  resolution  to  resume  the 
appeal  Citse  from  the  Synod  of  Wheeling. 

The  Moderator  decided  the  si  eciai  order  of  busi- 
ness to  be  the  hearing  the  address  from  Eev.  Dr. 
McCosh  in  regard  to  the  Sustenlation  Fund  in  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

Dr.  McCosh  proceeded  to  explain  the  manner  in 
which  this  fund  originated  and  the  method  by  which 
It  was  carried  on.  "Hebaid  that  originally  live  hun- 
dred ministers  gave  up  the  stipends  that  had  been 
given  them  by  tne  State.  Tiie  peoule  then  came  to 
their  rescue  and  made  provision  for  them,  feeling 
that  they  hhould  be  put  in  a  position  where  they 
Would  be  free  from  poverty .  It  was  then  that  the  Sus- 
tentation  Fund  was  devised  by  Dr.  Chalmers.  Each 
congregation  contrib  .ted  according  to  its  ability. 
The  coiltciion  of  the  fund  devolved  upon  the 
Deacon's  Court.  It  was  either  collected  by  the 
Dtacons  going  around  in  the  District-',  or  by  female  • 
agents  deputized  to  call  upon  the  people.  There- 
turns  in  all  cases  Wrre  laid  before  the  Deacons' 
Court  once  a  month,  and  if  it  was  found  thattlie  con- 
tributions from  different  districts  oimitiished,  in- 
quiry was  instituted  into  the  cause,  and  if  tne  evil 
was  not  remedied  official  steps  were  taken  to  check 
it.  The  fund  is  distributed  equally  to  all  congrega- 
tions, 80  that  in  the  last  year,  eacti  minister  was  en- 
titled to  a  dividend  of  one  hundred  and  ibrt3'pcuQds. 
The  advantages  of  the  system  were  obvious.  Under 
its  workings  they  were  enabled  to  send  into  the  coun- 
try districts  among  the  poor  people,  an  able  and 
educated  ministry,  and  each  cont^regation  could 
retain  its  minister  so  long  as  it  paid  its  proper  pro- 
portion to  the  fund.  It  was  not  for  him  to  say 
whether  the  Church  in  this  country  should  atiopt  this 
plan.  They  were  all  of  one  mitid  that  some  such 
measure  is  essential  to  the  well  being  of  tha  Church 
of  Scotland.  Whether  it  would  be  well  lor  the 
Church  hsre  it  would  be  for  them  to  dftermine, 
but  before  proceeding  to  carry  it  out  they  should 
secure  two  things.  First,  the  people  should  be 
thoroughly  prepared  for  it;  the  people  of  Scotland 
were  Providenii'dly  prepared  fur  it  by  the  ministers 
giving  uo  their  positions.  Ther-^  they  had  Dr.  Chal- 
mers, who  went  from  town  to  town  and  explained 
it  to  the  people  until  they  understood  it.  The 
people  should  understand  that  it  is  not  the 
rich  givitig  to  t'le  poor.  The  main  principle  is  that 
the  rich  give  and  the  poor  give  also,  and  while  the 
poor  receive  the  rich  also  receive  the  beuetit  of  it. 
He  stated  in  conclusion  that  if  the  measure  was  un- 
dertaken it  would  require  all  thH  energy  ti) at  char- 
acterized the  American  people  in  order  properly  to 
carry  it  out. 

Rev.  Dr.  Boai-dman,  from  the  committee  to  whom 
the  subject  of  an  address  to  Dr.  McCosh  was  re- 
ferred, presented  the  following: 

The  General  Assemtjly  records  the  high  satisfac- 
tion it  has  experienced  la  receiving  the  KiV  James 
McCosh,  L.  L.  D.,  wh),  although  not  ofiiciaUp-  ac-  ' 
credited  to  us  by  the  Free  Chui-ch  of  SC3Cland,  bears 
credentials,  having  the  signatures  of  msnyof  the 
promineot  and  influential  ministers  of  that  Ci)arch, 
assuring  us  that  tueir  General  As-serab!}',  it  iu  s'-s- 
sion,  would  unquestionably,  in  their  jud->ment,  have 
given  him  a  form»l  coramissioatomee!:  this  ooay. 


^ 


57 


Appivciatirgthfi  valuable  services  our  distinguished 
brotiicr  lias  Betidered  ti')  the  caii.^e  of  rtveaed  re- 
ligion,;by  his  learned  and  able  disqui  itions  m  moral 
philosophy  and  theolosry,  we  t'-nder  to  him  perrfon- 
ally  ihe  tribute  ct'oar  corilial  respect  and  gratitude. 

We  wcleome  Dc.  McCosh  as  tiie  honored  reprt- 
petat  ive  of  tiie  Free  Cliurci)  ot  Scociaud,  and 
heartily  reciprocate  every  si/ntiment  of  kindness  and 
sympathy  to  which  he  h*a  given  utterance,  on  behalf 
01  that  church  and  other  sisier  ctiurches  abroad. 

We  bhai  e  in  the  hope  ."O  eii-iquent)y  expresst-d  by  our 
esteemed  brotlier,  that,  ihe  vurious  Evangeliciil 
Presbyterian  bodies  ot  Europe  and  America  may 
soon  be  brouglic  into  a  cloier  and  more  beneficent 
fellowbhip.  Kespoiiding  to  tile  invitation  now  pre- 
sented to  us,  we  are  jjrepared  to  enter  into  an  ar- 
rangement with  the  General  Asseuibly  ot  the  Free 
Churcli  ot  Scotland  f)r  an  auDiial  interchange  of 
delegates.  Ou  Ihe  absurance  o''  our  brother  that 
such  a  measure  will,  as  he  believes,  ri-ct-ive  the 
prompt  approval  of  that  venerable  body,  we  wi!l 
send  a.  representative  ti  mt-et  them  at  their  next  an- 
nual session,  as  we  will  welcome  any  delegate  whom 
they  may  appoint  to  tlie  Assemolv  ot  our  own 
Church— leaviug  al)  matters  of  detail  pertaining  to 
this  coire^poDi'lence  to  be  adjusted  hereaiter. 

This  General  Assembly  again  express  the  pleasure 
they  have  derived  from  the  visit  of  the  liev.  Dr. 
McCosh.  We  thank  him  in  the  fraternal  and  in- 
structive addresses;  and  we  afl'ectionateiy  comoiend 
liimto  the  C9,re  of  a  gracious  Providence,  that  he 
may  be  shielded  from  all  peril  ou  the  land  and  on 
the  tea,  and  that  his  life  may  long  be  spaied  to  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  minutes  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Kev.  Dr.  McGosh. 

The  paper  was  accepted  and  adopted. 

Mr.  Clark,  from  Indiana,  called  for  the  special 
order — the  appeal  from  the  vVheeling  Synod 

Ou  motion  of  Dr.  Montfort,  tce  special  order  was 
postponed. 

Dr.  Lowrie,  from  the  Committee  on  Bills  and 
Overtures,  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  ot  a 
Uniou  with  the  New  School  Assembly,  presented 
the  following  report : 

The  Oomaiittee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  report 
Overture  No.  10,  on  the  suliject  of  the  re-union  of 
the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  from 
the  Presbyteries  of  Leavenworth,  Muncie,  New 
Lisbon,  Madison,  Erie  and  Oxtord.  These Prestiy- 
teries  ask  the  Assembly  to  take  measures  at  this 
session  to  secure  at  an  early  day  the  organic  union 
of  the  two  bodies,  whose  General  Assemblies  are 
now  iu  si  ssion  in  this  city. 

1.  This  Assembly  expresses  its  fraternal  affec- 
tion frr  the  other  branch  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  its  eainest  desire  for  re-uuion 
at  the  earliest  time  consistent  with  agreement 
m  doctrine,  order  and  policy  ou  the  basis  oi  a  com- 
mon standard  and  the  prtvaltBce  of  mutual  couti- 
dence  ana  love,  which  are  so  necessary  to  a  hapny 
union  and  to  the  permaneut  peace  and  prosperty  of 
the  united  Church. 

2.  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  Churches  and 
Church  courts  ana  to  all  ministers,  ruling  elders 
and  c  immunicants  to  cherish  fraternal  feelini:s,  to 
cultivate  ctinsrim  intercourse  in  the  worship  of 
God  and  in  the  promoiion  of  the  cause  of  Christ, 
and  to  avoid  all  neidiess  control ersies  and  conteu- 
lions. 

3.  That  a  committee  of  nine  (9)  mini  ters  and  six 
(fi)  ruling  elders  be  appointed,  provided  that  a  sind 
lor  committee  be  appointed  by  the  other  Assembly 
new  in  session  in  thi-.  city,  f  r  the  purpose  of  c>n- 
ferriug  in  regard  ti»  desirableness  and  practic»bility 
of  reunion;  and  i',  after  conferenee  and  I'jquiry, 
guch  (!eci--iou  shall  STem  to  be  desirable  and  i)rac- 
ticable,  to  suggest  suitable  measures  lor  its  ace  ini- 
plishment  and  I'ejiort  to  the  lext  General  Asseuibly  . 

Kev.  Dr.  Van  l>yke.  I  confess  I  would  like  to  hear 
an  ameudment  io  that  report,  so  that  we  might  in- 
clude anott)or  body  of  Presbyterians,  and  consult 
on  theii-  soundness  in  the  Faith.  There  certainly  is 
as  good  reason  why  we  shou  d  have  conference  with 
them  SLt  we  should  have  a  conference  in  the  tounii- 
neas  m  the  Faith  of  the  other  branch.  There  are 
fight  hunnred  and  fifty  Presbyteriaa  minister*  in 
the  Southern  Stages — a  body  of  m^n  as  large  as  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotl»nd,  wnd  a,  body  whose  sound- 

0  s— a 


ness  in  the  Faith  this  General  Assembly  has  readily 
indoived  within  six  years. 

Dr.  McLean.  Has  tbe  m- mbcr  a  right  to  speak 
without  a  motion? 

the    Moderator.    There  is   a  motion  to  adopt. 

Dr.  Vm  Dyke.  I  confess  it  struct  my  miad  palo- 
fully  that  amid  all  these  inrercUanges  of  iraternal 
uffection.  while  we  are  slrftc'dng  out  our  hands 
acosH  the  ocean  to  rho-e  brethren  of  trie  Free 
Churchof  Scoiland,  lo  our  brethren  in  Ireland,  and 
to  oui- brethren  of  lue  New  School  Assemolj  ,  aiid 
while  we  are  talking  about  a  marriage  union  with 
them,  there  has  not  been  said  on  this  floor  a  single 
word  of  kindness  or  atl'ection  for  our  own 
brethren  wi^h  whom  we  took  sweet  coun- 
sel and  went  to  the  House  of  God 
in  company  until  live  years  ago— not  a  sin- 
gle word,  except  those  precious  words  that  tell  fiom 
the  lips  of  a  stranger  coming  among  you  from  a 
Dutch  Church. 

Mr.  Heioboth.  Tlip  ministers  ti  whom  he  Cills  at- 
tention have  seceded  and  declared  that  they  don't 
wish  to  have  anything  to  do  with  us. 

Mr.  Hiues  The  brrttren  to  whom  he  refi-rs  in  the 
Soiiih  are  iu  no  way  inclu  led  in  the  paper  before 
this  house,  and  theref  re  he  is  speaking  to  no  point 
covered  by  thatpapi  r 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.  I  move  as  an  amendment  that  the 
brethren  toruifrly  c  mn'Cted  ^viththis  General  As- 
sembly in  the  Southern  States  be  included. 

Kev.  Mr.  Heckman.  I  suggest  the  gentleman  to 
give  the  coljporate  title  ot  that  bony. 

Dr.  X&ii  Dyke.  The  General  Assembly  of  the 
Soulhein  Preribyteriau  Church. 

Kev  Mr.  West.  I  wish  to  know  if  it  is  compe- 
teiit  for  a  member,  in  the  middle  of  his  speech,  lo 
make  a  motion,  if  it  is  not  equ-liy  competent  f ■  r 
any  memlter  to  move  to  lay  it  on  trie  table. 

T'je  Moderator.  I  understana  that  Dr.  Van  Dyke 
piop  ses  to  speak  to  his  umendment.  As  a  matter 
of  courtesy  1  think  the  huuse  should  permit  him  to 
do  so. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.  Moderator,  I  did  not  intend  to 
occupy  the  attention  ot  this  house  two  minutes 
wnen  I  arose,  and  I  did  not  intend  to  intrude  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  which  I  entertained  upon  the 
attention  of  the  Assembly,  seeing  they  are 
reluctant  to  receive  them,  but  I  cannot 
discharge  my  conscience  to  God  and  the  brethren 
who  -sent  me  here,  and  wtjflt  1  believe  to  be  the 
Christian  sentiment  of  ihe  Church,  without  pursu- 
ing tiie  subject  which  I  have  mentioned.  I  am 
among  the  number.  Moderator,  who  do  not  feel  so 
exultant  in  regard  to  ttie  present  uosition  of  the  Old 
School  General  Assembly.  Wliile  I  should  be  sorry 
to  indulge  in  aoything  that  would  be  esteemed, 
even  by  the  most  fastidious,  a;  disrenpectful  to  this 
body,  the  feeling  of  my  luart  is  expressed  in  the 
deeliirati  in,  '"how  are  the  uiighcy  fallen." 
Eight  hundred  and  tifty  —  nearly  one  third 
ol  he  minist-rs  of  ihis  Church— are  to  day  out 
of  this  house,  and  the  General  As-einbly 
is  occupied  with  a  c  ise  in  which  they  propose  to 
cm,  olT  another  part  of  the  body  of  This  Church, 
and  we  have  been  warned  that  the  General  A.>sem- 
bly  propose  to  pr  ceed  in  this  b  isiness  till  it  is 
purged  rf  what  some  gentlemen  seem  to  consider 
the  old  leaveu.  No>v,  1  believe  ia  tbe  doctrine  of 
the  jjersecuiion  <  f  the  S  iuts.  Yon  have  on  record 
within  tea  years,  the,  hi(ihe.-t  po-tible  in- 
dorsement of  tiiC  orthodoxy  ot  these  e^ht  hundred 
and  lifiy  brethren  tin  tbe  Southern  States.  In  re- 
gard lo  this  question  of  Ireedmen,  a  representative 
from  the  Church  of  Scotland  lias  well  declared  this 
to  lie  an  unsolved  question.  Vou  h.ive  put  \  our  in- 
dorsement upon  the  r?e(ird  in  regar  i  to  the 
zeai  !,nd  f<iith  '  f  these  Somi  em  brethren  in  a 
way    which  you   can   nei»-r   td  t   o  it  (n    iha' 

record  j  ou  Kive  a  dercriptioo  of  the  labor*  of 
the  breiher"  lo  the  Souibero  States  m  behalf  nf  tm-! 
nefjro  population  of  those  Stat»is.  You  d' clare  in 
that  Deliverance  provision,  ample  aad  estraordi 
nary,  is  made  iu  all  their  churches  ihit  th"-  colored 
man  may  uctir  the  pure  Gosoei.  You  declare  fur- 
ther tuat  men  are  enjjaged  i  i  preaching  to  nese 
colored  men,  not  ot  infeii  o  talents,  but  the  tirsi^ 
men  Ml  the  Ciiurch.  I  do  not  ^ive  exA't  lioKUiipp, 
bwt  that  is  the  one.  thai  W-»8  adopt^d  only  twelve 
yearji  ttgo,  na;l  u  .W  when   we  Ma  borv  i.\  >i  gr»i«l 


Love  Feast,  and  proDOS"  to  inarry  ourselvea 
T. itn  an-ithn-  brancb  of' the  Pie.^byteran  Cliurch — 
wliKU,  in  our  Clinsllan  fjroearauc:*,  chanty  and 
love,  vvH  art^  preparing  ro  swallow  or  be  swallowed 
by  It,  aod  wliicii  only  a  few  years  a^o  we  pro- 
nounced her-iticiii.  It)  the  midst  ot  this  exercinie  of 
Christian  chiirity  there  is  no  man  to  say  one  word 
lor  these  850  men  down  South,  who,  in  the  midst  of 
poverty  aud  suffering,  are  grappiina;  with  this  great 
tiuesiiou:  and  tlie  only  re[iort  we  have  f com  them 
in  regard  to  tneii-  connection  with  this  gi-eat  prob- 
lem, is  what  yuu  will  lind  in  the  report  ot  the  Oom- 
niiciee  on  Freedmen,  (.n  wnich,  if  the  Assembly  en- 
large, I  shall  talce  the  liberty  to  say  something 
when  the  question  comes  uu.  The  only  way  in 
which  we  have  recognized  iheiK-  laOsrs  tor  the  ne^ro 
pox->ul:it)oa  id  by  Camiog  in  cocflict  with  them 
iinuer  Military  Commissions  to  tnlje  posse»=sijn 
of  one  vt  iheiV  Churches,  and  hold  it  from  those 
Mho  lue  scknowUdgtd  to  be  the  iiearo  owni-rs.  I 
do  not  wi:^h  13  pursue  the  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject, but  1  canuoC  sic  still  and  discbarge  my  con- 
science and  tiie  feeling  o!  my  heart  towa  ds  men 
whom  you  have  taught  me  to  honor,  and  men  that  I 
Was  brought  up  to  honor,  without  intimating,  at 
least,  that  iQat  report  ought  to  be  atnended. 

Kev.  Mr.  West.  I  mo?eto  lay  the  amendment  on 
the  cable. 

Kev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  call  lor  the  ayes  and  noes. 

The  ivioderacor.  1  had  begun  to  lake  the  ques- 
tion. 

Rev.  Mr.  Heckman.  I  desire,^  to  know  if  the 
names  01' ihese  83U  ministers,  and  the  Presbyteries 
auu  S.yuods  lo  which  tney  belong,  have  been  struck 
iiom  inv  lisz. 

Tne  M'jderaior.  The  gentleman  is  not  in  order. 

The  anieudmeiit  was  luid  on  the  taole,  iiud  the  re- 
port was  iheu  adopted. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.  1  give  notice  of  a  protest  against 
the  vote  that  lu;s  just  been  taken. 

Kev.  Mr.  Waller  then  presenied  the  following  re- 
port iroia  trie  Committee  on  Xbeologicai  Semina- 
ries : 

REPORT  OF     COMMITTEE   ON    THEOLOGICAL     SEMINA- 

NAKIES. 

The  Committee  on  Iheological  Seminaries  respect- 
fulty  repoit  to  trie  General  Assembly  that  full  re- 
ports Irom  the  Trustees  and  Boaras  of  Directors  of 
the  lour  Seminaries  under  the  care  of  the  General 
Assemoly  have  beea  placed  in  their  hands,  and 
louud  i'j  order,  and  are  recommended  to  be  read 
and  pub.ished  in  the  appendix  to  the  minutes 

JMibCfcliineous  pipers  ha»  e  also  been  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  Committee,  and  received  appro- 
priate cynsideration.  The  flnaacial  affairs  of  each 
of  these  lustiiuciond  appear  to  have  beer  carefully 
todministered,  and  to  be  in  a  prosperous  condiiioa. 

The  Danville  Seminary  has  been  injuriously 
affecied  by  the  great  national  convulsion  of 
the  last  live  years  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
awaken  detp  solicitude  lor  its  continued 
prosperity  and  usefulness.  The  number  of 
studei/ts  has  b(  come  so  small  that  three  of  the  four 
Professors  have  resigned.  The  resignation  of  Kev. 
Dr.  E.  P.  Humph  rey  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  Yorkef 
tiave  been  accepted,  and  that  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  R.  L. 
Scttuton  has  been  tendered,  and  jour  committee 
recommeiid  iis  accepiauce  by  the  Assembly,  while 
the  Kev.  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  nas  signified  his 
readiness  and  wish  to  resign,  ihas  the  question  of 
the  teruporaiy  suspension  of  the  Seminary  has  be- 
come one  of  aerious  import.  But  alter  mature  de- 
liberation, and  in  view  of  posrsible  litigation  and 
loss,  your  committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly 
that  Dr.  BreciiiuriDge  be  requested  to  retain  his  pro- 
fessorship and  look  aiter  the  intorests  of  the  Semi- 
nary, ana  endeavor  to  prosecute  its  more  peritct 
endowment. 

He  18,  ajso,  authorized  to  confer  with  the  Trustees 
ot  the  college  aiid  with  the  Synod  of  Iventucky  as  to 
the  condiiitno  upon  which  they  will  agree  to  the  re- 
moval ot  the  seminary  from  Danville,  and  report  to 
the  next  General  Assembly. 

In  view  otthe  provision  in  the  charter  of  this  in- 
stituri'  n  wiiicti  empowers  tee  General  Assembly  to 
el>  ct  rrustt-es,  when  silling  wihia  the  limits  of  the 
8l*ie  of  Kentucky,  your  committee  would  call  the 
attention  of  the  Asteiublj  to  the  importance  of  hold- 


ing a  pps'ion  within  that  State  at  the  earliest  practi- 
C'li  period. 

The  following  persiris  are  nominated  jor  filling 
the  vHcancies  in  the  Board  of  Directors,  which  oc- 
cur by  hmitarion  during  the  present  sessions  of  the 
Assembly,  viz: 

Minister.".  Elders. 

W.L.  Breckiuride.D.  D.,B.  M.  Penick. 
J.  F    CoonSj  O.  Beaty, 

J.P.Hendricks,  William  Prather, 

N.  C.  Burt,  D.  D.  Glass  Marshall, 

J.  B.  Condic,  James  Barbor, 

H.  H.  Allen,  A.  F.  Avery, 

R.  W.  Landis,  D.  D.,      T.  T.  Alexander, 
R.J.  Breckinridge, D.  D.,.JohnG.  Barret, 
S.  D.  Crothers,  A.  E.  Chamberlain. 

D.  D.  Dickey  in  place  of  J.  A.  Lyle,  deceased. 

E.  Anson  Moore  in  place  of  G.  W.  Lewes,  de- 
ceased. 

The  report  of  the  Board  ot  Directors  of  the  West- 
ern Theological  Seminary,  shows  the  reception  of 
twenty-nine  new  students  and  a  total  attendance 
during  the  year  of  eighty-four.  Nineteen  candi- 
dates have  passed  the  required  examinations  and 
received  the  diplomas  of  the  institution. 

The  request  of  tbis  Board  for  a  revision  and  re- 
issue of  '  'the  plan  of  the  Seminary, ' '  '  'under  which 
all  our  theological  seminaries  have  been  organ- 
ized," is  commended  to  the  consideration  of  the 
Assembly  The  report  of  the  trustees  that  the  sum 
of  thirty  thousaud  dohors  has  beed  added  to  the  en- 
dowment lund  otthe  ^eaiiuary,  and  two  scholar- 
ships have  been  ecdowtd  by  tne  gro-<s  sum  of  live 
thousand  dollars,  deserves  the  gratelul  acknow- 
ledt'meut  of  the  Assembly. 

Your  committee  would  respectfully  nominate  for 
re  election  the  member  of  the  Bdard  of  Directors 
whose  term  of  service  expires  during  the  present 
tession  of  the  Assembly,  viz: 

Mini-iters. 
Samuel  Watson,  D.  D., 
Oorge  Marshall,  D.  D., 
William  D.  Iluward,  D.  D. 
Elliott  E.  Swift, 
L.  R.  McAvi.y,  D.D., 
Robert  Dickson, 
David  H.  Riddle,  D.  D. 

\nd  to  supply  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death 
of  Rev.  D.  D.  Clark,  D.  D.,  D.  J.  Waller. 

And  that  occ  sioned  by  the  resignation  of  Sara'l 
McGlung,  A lexan^^er  Donaldson,  D.  D. 

The  Trustees  of  Princeton  Seminary  report  "the 
net  sum  of  $06,405  15, "  as  raised  within  the  year 
fi.r  payment  of  debt  and  endowment.  This  cheer- 
ing token  of  favor  to  this ,  the  oldest  Seminary  of 
our  Church,  will  be  hailed  with  gratitude  by  the 
Assembly. 

The  Board  of  Directors  report  fltty-four  new  stu- 
dents within  the  year,  and  .an  attendance  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty -seven.  Of  these,  fil'y-four  sus- 
tained the  usual  examinations  and  received  certifi- 
cated of  having  completed  the  three  years  course. 

The  Faculty  of  the  Seminary  afford  the  gratifying 
information  that  the  Seminary  has  shared  with  the 
(jotlcges  and  Churches  in  the  town,  in  a  special 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  wuile  at  the  same  time 
the  regular  studies  have  been  prosecuted  with  in- 
creased punciuality  and  diligence. 

Your  C')mmittee  would  recommend  the  re- election 
of  the  loilowing  members  otthe  Board,  whose  term 
expires  during  this  Assembly,  viz: 

Mini-ters.  Elders. 

Joseph  H.  James,  D.  D.  SebbensB.  Ward, 
John  McLean,  D.  D.  Ira  C.  Whitehead, 

Wm.  B.  Sprngue,  D.  D.  James  Robin.-oii^  in  place 


Elders. 
Alexander  Laushlin, 
Francis  G.  Baiii-y, 
B.  Rush  Bradlord. 


Ebeuezer   Piatt,  de- 
ceased. 


JohnM.  Dickey,  D.  D. 

K.  L.  Rice,  D.  D. 

J.  E.  Rockwell,  D.  D. 

W.  M.  Paxton,  in  placeof  Rev.  D.  Magie,  D.  D., 

deceased. 
Alexander  Reed,   in    place  of  G.  W.  McPhail,  D. 

D  ,  resigned. 

The  Directors  of  tae  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Northwest  report  the  reception  of  fifteen  new  stu- 
dents during  the  pa-it  session,  and  tne  conierringof 
the  Uhual  certificate  upon  four  young  gentlemen 
who  have  completed  their  course  in  the  institution. 


59 


No  return  is  made  of  the  total  number  of  students 
owina  the  Seminary. 

TheJarge  addition  to  the  librarv  of  the  institu- 
tion, thrfiugli  the  liberaMtv  of  tiie  widow  of  the  laie 
Rev.  W.  B.  riuilips,  D."D..  of  NfW  York  city, 
consisting  of  nis  library,  to  the  DUiuVK.'r  of  854  vol- 
umes, is  desei'ving  of  tlie  tppcial  ard  grateful  no- 
tice of  ihis  Asseiubly  The  Board  oi  IJirect'TS  re- 
solved, by  a  vote  ot  11  to  9>  to  request  trie  Assem- 
bly to  transfer  Dr.  Lord  to  Mr  Cytin  H,  McCor- 
mick.iProfesfiorship  of  Didactic  and  Polemic  'fheol- 
ogy,  and  also  to  till  the  fourth  Proles-orship  by  an 
election.  The  Board,  however,  inform  the  Assem- 
blv  that  the  opposition  to  those  acts  is  vei"y  firm 
and  VP eighty. 

The  friends  of  the  Seminai-y  present  in  St.  Louis 
from  all  parts  ot  the  Northwest,  includiug  a  larire 
number  of  the  Directors  of  the  Seminary,  have  had 
frequent  conferences  on  this  fubject,  anrf  have  ar- 
rived at  a  good  degree  of  unanimity.  Their  views 
having  been  communicated  to  your  comrnirtee,  it 
has  been  our  unanimous  canclusion  that:  both  the 
comfort  and  usefulness  of  Dr.  Lord  will  be  best  se- 
cured by  retaining  his  valuable  services  m  his  pres- 
ent department. 

Your  committee  therefore  recommend  that  thl* 
Assembly  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  Professor  of 
Didactic  and  Polemic  Theology;  and  we  would  re- 
ppectfiiiiv  ask  leave  to  nominate  for  this  chair  the 
Rev.  JB.  D.  McMaster,  D.  D. 

The  terin  of  service  of  ten  members  of  the  Board 
expires  during  the  session  of  the  present  Assembly; 
anil  your  commi'tee  would  rpspec^fuUy  report  the 
following  nominations  to  fill  the  vacancies,  viz: 

Ministers.  Elders. 

S.  T.  Wilsou,  Samuel  Howe, 

F.  N.  Ewirg,  John  Woodbridge,  Jr., 

J.  P.  Saffoid,  D.  D.,         Henry  Phelps, 
F.  T.  Blown,  D.  IJ  ,         J.  McKee  Peeples, 
J.  G.  aionlbrt,  D.  D.,      J.  C.  Walker, 
J   D.  Mason,  in  place  of  Jas.  M.  Ray,   in  place  of 

A.  A.  E.  Taylor,  res'd.     Win.  Shuts,  resigned. 

The  subject  of  an  adftitional  year  to  the  course  in 
Princeton  sifminary,  which  has  been  brouaht  to  the 
"Notice  of  your  coiiifiiittee.  by  the  reference  ot  the 
last  Assembly,  and  by  a  modification  of  the  request 
from  the  Faculty,  this  year,  ard  Jilso  by  reniou- 
scrisrces  from  several  Presbyteries,  has  been  delib- 
erately coBsiderfd,  and  the  committee  recommend 
that  the  Assembly  sanction  the  adoption  by  any  or 
all  of  our  seminaries,  of  a  course  of  studies  to  lie 
pursued,  purely  at  the  option  of  students,  during  a 
fourth  year  (not  impairing  the  three  years  course 
as  heretolore  pursued);  provided,  no  increase  of 
the  number  of  te-ichers  shall  be  asked  on  this  ac- 
count. And  no  distinctive  degree  or  title  shall  be 
conferred  on  those  electing  to  nursue  the  fourth 
year's  course,  save  a  certificate  similar  to  that  now 
authorized  for  the  three  years  course. 

All  of  whieh  i-i  most  respectfully  submitted. 
D.  J.  WALLER,  Iba'rman  of  Committee. 

Rev.  Mr.  Crozier  moved  in  reference  to  the  4th 
resolution  that  the  subject  be  left  to  the  faculty. 

R  V.  Mr.  Finley  thought  that  the  clause  in  regard 
to  the  first  course  should  be  struck  out. 

Rev.  Mr.  Milhr  said  that  this  clause  had  been 
iriserted  on  the  suggestion  of  the  Princeton  Semi- 
nary. 

Rev.  Dr.  Backus  moved  to  amend  the  resolution 
by  inserting  the  words  "not  impairing  the  three 
yenrs'  course  as  heretofore  pursued." 

Rev.  Mr.  Riggs  said  it  was  ihe  opinion  of  his 
Presbytery  that  the  additional  year  dul  not  accom- 
plish 'any  great  erood — that  if  it  vvfes  necessary  to 
have  more  than  three  terms  they  hadjbetter  lengthen 
those  terms  than  add  another  year. 

Dr.  Humphrey  mov^d  that  the  whole  matter  be 
referred  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

Dr.  »lcLeaM  thought  it  would  hardly  be  wise  to 
pass  the  resolufion  just  now.  He  cjucurred  with 
the  motion  of  Dr.  Hunmhrey. 

Rev.  Dr.  Keinpshall  moved  to  lay  ihe  motion  to 
relerontbe  tat)Ie.  Agreed  to.  He  then  moved  to 
place  the  report  on  the  docket. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ray  moved  to  lay  that  motion  on  the 
table.    Agreed  to. 

The  amendment  offered  by  Dr.  Backus  was 
agreed  to,  and  the  motion  to  strike  out  was  loat. 


Mr.  Clarke  thought  the  action  of  the  coromittee, 
in  nominating  officers,  was  exfra  jiiriicial.  He 
hopea  it  would  be  remembered  that  there  was  no 
bindingeffi.-,<icy  of  tb<"  report  la  th-.t  regard.  The 
report  was  then  wAlopted. 

MominatioD.'*  beintc  in  ordc,  Mr.  McKnicht  T.oai- 
inated  Alexander  Donsild-sou,  D.  D.,  for  the  Board 
of  the  Allegheny  Seminary. 

Rev.  Mr  Waller  desired  to  state  tuat  thev  h^d 
conferred  wiihtiiemernbers  of  the  Board  ot  Direc- 
tors ot  the  f'ilferent  seminaries  .and  h^id  their  re- 
ports and  verbal  statements  before  them,  mid  in 
making  these  nomiiiations  they  cotictiv-'d  'hey  weie 
doing  precistlv  what  thev  were  autbcrized  to  do. 

Mr.  GdUoway  nominated  Dr.  Thomas  for  the 
Western  TheologiCil  Sem'narv. 

Mr.  Clark  nominated  Dr.  Willis  Lord  fn-  the 
Chair  of  Theology  in  the  Seminary  of  tlie  North- 
west. 

Mr.  Day  nominated  Dr.  N.  L.  Rice,  of  New  York, 
for  the  same  position. 

Dr.  Stonerode  nominated  Dr.  McLean  for  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Princeton  Seminary. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Waller  the  elections  were  made 
the  special  order  for  Monday  at  12  o'clock. 

The  Assembly  then  adjourned  till  Monday  at  9 
o'clock. 

Speech  of  I>r.  TSiomas  on  tbe  Keport 
Btelatingr  to  the  liouisville  Pres- 
bytery. 

The  question  being  on  the  report  in  regard  to  the 
Louisville  Presbytery. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  then  obtained  the  floor, 
and  sijoke  as  follows:  Mr.  Moder.ator,  allow 
me  to  say  in  introducing  the  remarks  which  I  have 
to  make  this  evening  in  regard  to  the  report  be- 
fore u^,  that  I  symnnf'ize  verv  sincerely  with  the 
sentiment  of  our  admirable  Secretary  of  Foreign 
Missions.  The  sentiment  which  he  expressed 
yesterday  or  the  day  before  in  reference 
to  spending  time  in  the  discussion  of  que.stions  be- 
fore us,  while  the  great  interests  of  a  dying  world 
seemed  to  be  neglected.  I  do  not  winder,  sir.  that 
a  brother  whose  position  and  opportunities  enable 
him  to  serve  six  hundred  millions  of  heathen,  should 
leel  oppressed  with  the  thought  that  in  such  an 
Assembly  as  this,  whijh  represents  so  larce  and 
important  a  body  as  thePresbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  these  local  interests— these  in- 
terests of  an  hour,  should  engross  so  much 
time,  employ  so  much  thought,  and  awaken 
so  much  interest,  while  for  the  time  we  seem  to  for- 
get both  Home  and  Foieign  Missions.  I  sympathize 
with  the  sentiment  of  my  friend;  and  yet  while  he 
uttered  it,  mv  mind  reverted  to  the  tirst  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  of  the  Living  God  that  was 
ever  held  upon  earth.  While  I  thougbt  upon  it,  this 
whole  scene,  a3  if  touched  with  the  waud  of  an  en- 
chanter, was  transformed.  I  was  sitting  in  Hie  up- 
per chamber  at  Jerusalem,  for  there,  perchanc^ 
that  council  was  held  of  which  the  record  is  foucd 
in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Acts.  You,  sir.  became 
St.  James,  the  presiding  offlcer  of  that  council— 
the  Moderator  and  the  Secretary  represented 
the  beloved  Apostle.  The  gentleman  who 
is  not  indeed  upon  the  floor  of  this  house 
—the  tirae-hon<.red  leader  of  this  house,  and  of  thi# 
Church,  but  who  comes  to  present  in  the  way  of  an 
appeal,  the  very  question  that  is  now  to  be  discus- 
sed, seemed  to  be  Sr.  Pout  with  his  eagle  eye  and 
iron  will.  1  will  not  say  who  St.  Peter  was  in  this 
Assembly,  but  1  seemed  to  be  sifting  in  the  House 
at  Jerusalem.  It  was  in  the  uoper  chamber,  I  sup- 
pose, for  they  liad  no  Church  in  Jerusalem,  tirst  or 
second,  to  wonsbip  in.  Out  of  one  wiudow  we 
looked  on  the  depths  of  Getuaemane,  atid  out  of  tiie 
other  we  beheld  Calvary.  It  was  the  very  chamber 
in  which  the  Master,  now  risen,  had  broken  to  theiu 
the  first  time  that  sacramental  oread,  which  we  re- 
joiced to  break  in  nis  name  vesierday.  It  was 
in  the  very  chamber  where'  the  Holy  Spirit 
descended  upon  theni— coming  as  the  ras'hingofa 
mighty  wind,  and  sitting  m  cloven  tongues  of  fire 
upon  every  one  of  them.  Sir,  no  Assembly  on  earth 
was  ever  gathered  under  circumstances  so  solemn, 


60 


or  iu  a  place  so  sacred  as  that  of  the  first  Council  of 
JerusHleui.  Ih-rc,  sir,  was  the  Apostle  Paul,  and 
ihrre,  wa,-^  Bavriabas— a  man  lull  oi  t'ai'li  and  of  the 
Holy  Gliosi.  They  haa  come  lr^>ni  Ai-ii'  cli,  the  Ihot 
Gentile  church  ill  the  ^'oi'd.  Paul  and  iJarnuU^s 
had  S«oue  oij  mistioiiaiy  lalii.r-i  toijetlier,  uiid  we 
oimutd  iia'urall>  suppose,  sk,  that  ia  such  an  As- 
►  enibly,  H:  der  buoh  circuQiftiaiices  the  entire  but-i- 
iiess  of  the  raeelin^  would  be  that  which  apitt^r- 
taius  to  a  missionary  raeeiiiijj.  One  wiuld 
Dbturaliy  suppote  that  when  Paul  rise^  to  Fpeak  it 
iSjio  tell  how  he  bus  carried  the  hery  banner  of  the 
cross  ironi  AntJoch  round  about  linto  Jliyricuui 
One  would  hiipp;se  he  comes  to  tell  how  he  has  laid 
the  corner  ►  tones  of  a,  hundred  churches  iu  ttie  most 
influeuti*lcear,ers  of  the  Gentile  world.  Ana  yet, 
tir,  it.  so  hs^iritrs  that  we  possess  the  minures  (.1' 
thai,  meeting.  In  the  i5th  chapter  of  Acts  we  have 
the  record  oi  the  proceedings  of  that  first;  General 
Assembly.  St.  Paul  has  turneil  aside  from  his  mis- 
hion^vy  labors  St.  Paul,  with  Barnabas,  has  come 
from  ttie  church  of  Anticch,  to  inform  the  Gen^ral 
Assenjblv  tliat  a  wtrife  has  arisen  in  the  Presbytery 
ot  Aniioch.  I  read  in  tbe  minutes  ot  that  pioceeeu- 
iu:j  that  the  qutsCion  under  discussion^  having  been 
taken  uo  in  the  Presbyiery  of  Antioch— toi*  you 
)<g,d  of  i hat  Presbytery  in  the  13th  ctiapfer  of  Acts 
"fbat  there  was  no  small  dissentions  and  disputa- 
tions among  th.  m."  And  when  they  came  to  tiie 
toui'Cil;>f  Jerusalem,  iney  were  not  gathered  to- 
t!  a  tier  thoush  the  Apostles  were  there  ami  the 
elile;s  Of  ihe  chureh  to  consider  the  que^i  ions.  They 
were  I'Ot  gatiiered  tofiethcr  ihtr*  lo  discusS  tiiat 
question  without  signs  of  mucb  lin-puting.  Ye^, 
sir,  when  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  was 
the  Moderator;  when  Paul,  witn  his  c  'mmissiuu 
from  Heaven  was  the  Repre.-eur.ijJive;  when 
Peter,  who  had  received  a'^solution  from 
the  lips  of  his  Master.  was  one  of 
the  speakers;  when  the  ht  loved  dis- 
ciple was  present  who  had  stood  at  the  foot  of 
the  cross ;in  such  an  Assembl"  as  tuat,  we  are  told, 
there  was  much  disputing  as  to  the  hrst  case  that 
was  ever  appealed  from  a  Presbytery  to  a  General 
AHuembly.  Mr.  Moderator,  let  us  be  encourageil. 
I  know  how  good  brethren  feel  in  regard  to  such 
matters— I  feel  so  myself— that  were  it  permissible 
iu  the  Providence  of  God,  they  had  ten  thousand 
times  ratner  that  Brother  Lowne  should  discuss  the 
Claims  of  a  foreign  field.  And  yet,  sir,  I  say  let  us 
not  be  discouraged.  Let  us  remember  that  in 
this  General  Assembly,  sitting  iu  this  end 
of  the  earth,  in  1866,  we  have  the  very 
scene,  and  it  may  be  the  identical  spirit 
that  was  manifested  in  the  first  Assembly  that  was 
ever  gathered  together.  Why,  sir,  to  look  a  mo- 
ment at  the  nature  of  the  controversy,  that  then 
existed;  what  was  it?  In  the  Presbytery  of  Antioch 
there  haa  arisen  a  taction  that  is  CGmmunly  de- 
nominated in  these  days,  the  Judaiziug  party. 
Paul  was  there  and  Barnabas  was  there — men  in- 
spired, men  honored  with  Apostolic  commissions — 
and  j'et  in  the  Church  where  there  was  an  effusion 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  by  the  laving  of  the  hands  of  the 
Apostles,  strife  and  faction  and  party  spirit  mani- 
fested themselves.  And  what,  sir,  was  the  nature 
of  that  party  spirit?  Why,  sir,  first  and  foremost, 
this  Judaizing  uarty  was  a  party  of  the  past.  They 
believed  in  "  the  Union  as  it  was,  and  ilie  (Jewish) 
Constitution  as  it  is."  They  fought,  as  Michael  and 
the  Uevil  once  fought  for  the  dead  body  of  Moses; 
just  as  some  among  us  are  fighting  lor  the  dead 
carcass  of  rebellion  and  slavery.  We  may  easily 
infer  who  it  was  that  desired,  and  lor  what  end,  the 
body  of  Moses.  As  a  party  of  the  past  ihey  were 
Incapable,  de>ipite  the  extraordiuary  providences  of 
that  day,  of  discernin.?  that  a  new  era  had  daw^ued 
upaa  the  world.  Thpy  wished  to  fuid  the  world  ia 
the  old  bonds  of  leg^ilism.  They  could  not  under- 
stand the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  was  making  his 
people  free,  and'  yet  the  Master  had  said  to  ihem, 
"  Can  ye  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times?" 

So,  sir,  these  Declaration  and  Testimony  men,  in 
the  plentitude  of  their  wisdom,  sneer  at  the  Assem- 
bly of  1864,  beciu.'ie  it  undertook  to  interpret  the 
lessons  of  God's  word  in  the  light  of  God's  provi- 
dences! Have  thfy  forgotten,  sir,  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Scriptures— the  whole  prophetic  record 
— Cin     never    be    interpreted    until    the    provi- 


dence of  God  shall  throw  a  flood  ot  light  on  tho 
pages  of  Scriptuie?  But  tuis  party  •  f  the  past,  de- 
spite the  Master's  inst'uction  and  cjinmaiid,  were 
ucaVile  to  detect  the  error  in  «hich  tney  had  beeu 
nurturird.  More  than  this  sir,  they  were  a  small 
party,  nuraeiically  lu.^ignificant,  yet  esceedinjiiy 
iictivc;  but,  above  all,  th'-y  were  possessed  with  an 
intense  persuasion  of  a  divine  coiumissit  n  respect- 
ing''Cbri-t's  Crown  and  Covenant."  1  said  jmt 
now  that  Paul  was  there,  sent  nut  ot  man  nor  by 
mau,  but  by  the  Laid  Jenus  Christ.  He  was  tnere 
with  his  commi  eion,  not  oiily  from  Heaven, 
but  written  iw  the  third  Heavi'ns,  anil  bearing 
the  broad  seal  of  the  ethereal  Heavens;  bearintf 
the  sign  manual,  the  very  autograpn  of  the 
crowned  King  of  Saints,  whom  ail  "the  angels  of 
God  v^orstiip.  In  that  Presbytery  of  Arrtiocu  there 
stood  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  yet  there,  sir,  could 
be  found  it  certain  sect  of  the  Pbar iseen- a  certaici 
party  of  the  past — certain  men  thai  clung  to  Mo-.es, 
and  that  weiv  willing  to  give  up  Chrisi,  I'or  Moses; 
Certain  men  th  Jt  defied  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
even  whire  it  rested  iu  the  hands  of  the  Apos'les; 
certdin  men  that  cared  rothing  for  the  power 
ot  tiie  keys  of  Heaven,  even  in  the  presence  ot  those 
,  into  whose  living  hands  the  living  Master  had  given 
.he  keys  of  his  kingdom  Such  is  bumau  nature, 
that  v\  nile  Paul,  inspired  by  the  pow>r  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  not  one  whit  less  than  the  very  crdefest  of 
the  Apostles — wh"u  Paul  stood, in  that  As- 
sembly and  made  a  motion  and  Bar- 
uaoas  stCoudtd  it,  this  sect  of  the  Pbari-ees 
stood  ui>  in  the  Church  and  defied  the  Apostles. 
They  Said, ^sir,  as  that  Dec!  i».i  at  ion  and  Ttstimony 
says  to  tnis  Church,  you  are  not  apostles,  but  apos- 
tates. They  claimed  that  they  too  bad  receivtd  a 
commssion.  What  was  i(?  Per  that  glorious  Gospel 
of  the  blessed  Gwd  which  Paul  would' have  preached 
to  every  creature,  they  would  substitute  a  pair  of 
shear.s  to  circumcise  tne  whole  Gemile  world.  Now, 
sir,  it  might  have  been  a  local  qunstion,  and  it  was 
confined,  as  fur  as  we  know,  to  tht- very  city  of  An- 
tioeh,  and  I  suppose  ;some  good  congregational 
b.'Other  would  say,  "better  never  to  have 
had  a  General  Assembly,  hut  let  the  thing 
die  where  it  was  born."  Yet  the  case 
came  up  by  appeal  from  the  Presbviery 
of  Antioch  to  the  (jeueral  Assembly  at  Jerusalem. 
And  now  they  wer.i  gatuered  there;  and  if  you  will 
read  the  account  in  the  I5th  chapter  of  Acts,  you 
will  see  a  very  singular  similitude  between  that 
meeting  and  our  meeiiug.  They  had  in  the  first 
place,  as  we  had  before  opening  this  Ai-sembly,  de- 
votional exercises,  for  we  find  in  that  chapter  of  Acts 
how  the  whole  Church  met  together  to  welcome 
Paul  and  Barnabas.  I'l  the  next  verse  we  have  an 
account  of  the  next  day's  meeting;  and  then  came 
much  disputing.  Then  followed  another  mi-sionaiy 
meeting,  such  as  we  have  had.  Ttie  l-2th  verse 
tells  us  that  all  tiie  people  gave  audience 
while  Paul  and  Barnabas  declared  what  great  thinns 
Ciod  had  done  fur  them.  Bretirren,  let  us  not  only 
not  be  discouraged,  but  let  us  Itarn  wisdom.  This 
was  Gods  providence;  the  beginning  oi  the  his- 
tory of  his  church;  an  eihibition  of  the  truthful- 
ness of  Htm  who  said,  I  come  not  to  s^nd  peace 
upon  earth,  but  a  sword.  It  is  illustrative  cf  the 
fidelity  of  those  whom  He  commissions,  not  only  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  but  to  coniute  and  silence  gaio- 
sayers.  There  might  have  been  i-neu  wuo  thuuicht 
that  an  insignificant  question.  Paul  thought  differ- 
ently. He  gathered  his  whole  apostolic  force, 
and  threw  the  power  of  his  transcendanc 
mind  into  that  controversy.  I  suppose  if  some 
charitable  brother  of  our  day  could  have  looked  into 
tnat  church  at  Antioch  and  have  seen  the 
Apostle  engaged,  day  after  day  in  his  coutess  with 
the  Pnarioees,  about  this  shears  question,  they 
would  have  said.  "Paul,  let  them  alone  aod  go 
preach  the  Gospel."  (iiit  Paul  knew  his^commis- 
sion  belter.  He  acted  according  to  the  advice  the 
Duke  of  Wellingtou  gave  to  a  young  minister  who- 
inquired  of  him  if  he  thougiit  the  world  would,  ever 
he  converted:  "Sir,  look  to  your  marching  orders; 
go  ye  into  aU  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel." 
The  holy  spirit  of  truth  set  his  scdi  upon  the 
wisdom  of  the  Apostle,  if  we  had  reason  to  question 
it.  In  this  little  volume,  ho vv  smill,  and  yet  how 
large,  how  easily,  perused,  and  yet  _how  hard  to 


61 


understand  in  all  its  hiffbt  and  depth,  lengtH  and 
breadth.  In  thia  conttitution  of  the  New  Testaoent 
Church,  aijd  guide  of  a  dying  world  to  Heaven, 
scarcely  as  larjje  as  our  form  of  government  anU 
discipline,  one  wholn  book,  the  epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tiaii.s,  writteu  by  P^ul,  is  devoted  to  this  shear 
q lies, ion, to  prove  that  the  doctrine  of  this  JudaiziDg 
party  was  anotner  Gospel  which  is  roc  a  Gospel.  I 
trust  that  Banie  ''spirit  who  indicted  that  epiatle, 
looks  down  Jtindly  and  beDisnamly  upon  us,  to 
(ii)ide  our  discusnions  io  this  prest?nt  couiroversy. 

I  pass  to  anotricr  tonic.  Mj  friend  from  Philadel- 
phia, Dr.  Boardnian,  was  pleased  tj  give  me  what 
he  ihoui-ht  no  doubt  a:  merited  casiisratlon;  and  I 
fiel  myself  periDiited  to  allude  to  Ins  remarks  sim- 
plv  because  I  understood  thtm  at  the  time,  and  still 
understaud  them  as  spolsen  in  a  PickwicKian  teniae. 
He  tnouulit  proper  to  castigate  me,  however,  for 
my  facetioui>uea#,  because  when  faome  young 
tiiethren  were  pressin/jf  forward  to  seek  a 
crown  of  martyrdom,  I  interuo^td  with  fcuch 
remarks  as  occuireil  to  me  to  prevent  this  B<lf-im- 
molatirin.  But  my  good  brother  thinks  that  in  such 
circumstances  as  tnese  it  is  not  well  to  indulge  m 
pleasantries;  that  we  ouyht  to  be  very  grave  and 
solemn  m  fcucii  sei-ious  cjncerns.  Very  good.  I 
will  try  and  be  serious  to-night;  and  yet  I  remembei 
ou  one  oi  the  most  solemn  occasions  io  Israel's  his- 
tory, when  all  the  kingdom  of  Israel  v/ere  on  the  top 
of  Oariiiiel,  save  Jezeuil,  who  took  good  care  not  to 
be  there,  the  quet  tion  was  to  be  attiled  whether  Baal 
or  ihe  Lord  Jehovah  was  I  he  G  d  of  the 
Covenant  people.  When  that  question  was 
raised  and  the  prophets  of  Baal  were 
cutiini,'  themselves  with  knives,  and  callmg  upon 
their  God,  that  brave  ola  jidtnarch,  that  noblest  of 
the  Old  Testament  propheis,  who  was  too  good  to 
live,  and  for  whom  GoU.  sent  his  chariots  of  tire,  and 
took  him  home  to  glory  witOuut  death.  That  old 
prophet  stood  up  and  said  in  a  sneering  way,  "Cry 
aloud  ye  prophets;  perhaps  he  is  asleep,  or  perhaps 
he  is  on  a  journey."  That  was  sharp  sarcasm  on  a 
very  solemn  occasion;  yet  1  presume  it  was  right. 
Yes,  sir,  there  is  a  pUce  for  irony.  I  will  advert  to 
one  thing  luither  in  this  connection:  My 
good  brother  charged  me  with  being  wanting 
in  instincts  of  a  certain  character.  He  IranUly  ad- 
mitted, however,  thi.t  the  lack  was.incapaole  of  be- 
ing supplied,  that  it  was  congenital.  You  remem- 
ber how  he  introduced  in  that  connection  the  story 
of  the  idiot  asylum.  Djes  the  brother,  when  he 
vifeiis  that  asylum,  sneer  at  its  Inmates  because  God 
has  not  allowed  them  a  full  modicum  oi  sense.  If 
the  brother  intimates  that  there  is  a  lack  in  my 
c imposition  of  some  instincts,  convenient  at 
least  in  social  intercourse,  he  ought  not 
to  tauDt  me  with  the  absence  of  that  which 
it  is  beyond  my  power  to  su))ply.  There  was 
another  Philudelphian,  born  in  Boston  to  be  sure, 
but  who  lived  and  died  in  Philadelphia,  and  my 
good  brother  can  walk  along  tlie  streets  of  that  city 
and  read  the  inscriotion  upon  upon  his  grave— Ben- 
jamin Franklin — who,  when  he  was  a  bit  ot  a  boy, 
read  that  passage  of  Pope,  wherein  the  great  master 
01  song says: 

"Indecent  words  admit  of  no  defense, 

For  want  of  decency  is  want  of  sense , '  ■■ 
Benjamin    Franklin   preferred   to  read  it  in  this 
way: 

"Indecent  words  admit  but  this  defense, 

That  want  of  decency  is  want  of  sense. ' ' 

I  hope  my  good  brother  will  allow  me  the  benefit 
of  the  American  amendment. 

[The  speaker  then  proceeded  to  analyze  the  char- 
acter and  relate  the  history  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony,  and  to  discuss  the  question  of  the  con- 
stitutional power  of  the  Assembly  to  act  in  the 
premises.  As  the  main  points  of  his  argument 
were  recapitulated  on  the  following  day,  wheu  be 
.was  permuted  to  conclude,  we  omit  ihemiathis 
connection.  Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour  he 
gave  way  to  a  motiou  lor  adjournment,  and  the  next 
morning  resumed  and  concluded  <ii,  follows  :] 

Moderator,  I  am  well  aware  that  1  have  severely 
tried,  if  not  already  exhausted,  the  patience  ot  this 
House;  and  I  wish  simply  to  say  in  proceeding  to 
the  cio^e  of  my  remarks,  that  I  occupy  the  posiiion 


in  which  I  stand  this  morning  at  the  req^uest  of  the 
commiitee  whose  report  we  are  cousideiing.  As  I 
do  not  expect  again  to  ask  the  attention  of  the 
house  upon  this  subject,  let  me  beg  you  to  consider 
carefully  the  closing  part  of  the  argument  pre- 
sented last  evening.  Now,  sir,  I  am  persuaded 
that  there  is  not  a  member  ot  thn  House  who 
is  not  determined  to  proceed  in  an  orderly  and  con- 
stitutional wav  in  this  whole  business;  that  there  is 
not  a  member  who  has  any  disposition  to  evade  the 
law  or  to  prevent  the  law  even  to  the  accomidish- 
ment  of  the  purpose  which  he  feels  ought  to  be  ac- 
complis.hed.  We  are  not  of  those  who  believe  that 
the  end  sanctities  the  means.  It  was  my  purpi  se, 
therefore,  in  the  argument  presented  la&t  evening, 
to  show  that  we  have  not  ouly  the  clear  wairant  of 
tne  constitution,  but  we  have  the  obligation  laid 
upon  us  by  the  constiiution  of  cur  Church,  to 
preserve  the  very  course  that  is  pursued  in  this  rt- 
porf. 

Let  me  for  a  moment  call  your  attention  to  the 
points  that  I  presented  in  the  course  of  my  argu- 
ment upon  the  subject  of  constitutional  law  in  this 
matter,  I  will  not  dwell  upon  them,  but  lecapitn- 
late  them  fcr  the  purpose  of  putting  the  whole  sub- 
ject distinctly  in  the  possession  cf  this  house. 

First,  Having  this  case  before  us.  the  merits  of 
which  I  pass  over  now,  because  enough  has  been 
said  upon  them  lor  my  purpose — having  this  case 
belV.re  us,  I  said  that  it  comes  in  the  wa^  of  Keview 
and  Control. 

The  second  point  made  was  that  it  comes  substan- 
tially upon  the  record.  Review  aud  Control  may 
adopt  the  method  of  prosecuting  ou  common  fame, 
or  upon  the  record,  lu  this  case  we  are  receiving 
the  case  on  the  record.  The  third  point  already 
made  is  this,  that  the  ordinary  course 
pointed  out  by  our  book  in  cases  of  this 
kind  is  neither  advisable  nor  practicable.  The  or- 
dinary course,  as  our  book  shows,  in  Review 
and  Control,  is  that  the  judicatory  |next  above 
shall  cite  the  inferior  judicatory;  but  in  this  case 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  as  the  report  states,  has 
either  relused  or  declined,  or,  at  least,  has  failed  to 
act  in  the  ijremises.  \nd  I  atk  you,  sir,  that  the 
lil'id  page  of  the  records  of  the  Sjnod  of  Kentucky 
shall  be  read.  I  will  simply  state  lo  the  hnuse  it  is 
the  record  of  the  action  of  members  of  the  Presbyte- 
ry of  LouisvlUe  when  this  cuse  was  brought  before 
them. 

[The  extract  was  then  read.] 

Dr.  Wm.  Breckinridge.  I  am  far  from  wishing 
lo  intenupt  the  brother,  but  I  think  the  Assembly 
Wuuld  get  the  impression  that  it  was  the  voici'  of 
the  majority  of  the  Synod  that,  he  is  reading.  1  wish 
to  ask  him  to  read  the  names  of  the  persons  who 
made  that  utterance. 

Dr.  Thomas.  Very  good,  sir.  What  I  want  is 
the  facts.  The  first  name  is  Samuel  R.  Wilson; 
then  S.  P.  McPheeters,  C.  A.  Wickliffe,  &c. 

It  IS  a  matter  of  little  consequeuee— in  fact  no 
consequence  at  all,  as  far  as  the  argument  is  con- 
cerned— except  as  the  ar(/Mmen/«m  ad  hominun.  It 
is  simply  to  put  in  possession  of  this  house  the 
judgment  of  some  of  those  who  were  concerned  in 
the  question  before  us.  Now,  sir,  if  in  point  of 
fact  the  Sj-nod  of  Kentucky  have  lailed  to  act  m. 
these  premises,  then  I  proceed  in  the  fourth  place  to 
show  that  this  Assembly  has  the  power  to  take  im- 
mediate cognizance  of  the  case.  I  proved  that  by 
showing  that  in  the  dissolution  of  the  Third  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia — as  recorded  in  the  digest — the 
Assembly  stepped  over  the  Synod  and  rendered  its 
judgment,  and  carried  it  into  execution.  Now, 
whatever  may  be  the  ground  on  which  they  acted,  it 
is  of  no  conseouence  to  us,  because  we  are  simply 
ascertaining  the  fact  that  they  exersistd  the  power, 
and  that  in  the  exercise  of  that  power  the  Assembly 
acted  upon  what  it  believed  to  be  its  constitutional 
right. 

In  the  second  place  the  Assembly  has  the 
power  in  this  to  step  over  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
from  the  fact  that  in  another  case  it  cited  an  offend- 
ing Presbytery  to  appear  befure  it,  and  in  that  case 
applying  the  principle  of  the  rule  in  chapter  five, 
section  nine,  they  excluded  the  parties  that  were 
cited  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  the  next  Assembly 
from  representation  until  their  case  was  decided. 
And  here  I  have  simply   in   mind   the  fact  that  the 


62 


Assembly  has  twice  exercised  this  right  to  pass  over 
the  intermediate  judicatory  and  lay  hold  upon  the 
BUbordiuate  ju  icitories.  And  I  referred  "on  the 
7;i^^h  page  or  the  digest  ro  the  answer  wliich  the 
Assembly  gave  to  those  who  protested  against  the 
exercise  of  the  right  on  the  ground  that  the  Assem- 
bly could  nor  touch  the  Presliytery,  except  through 
the  Synod.  That  was  one  of  the  points.  The  an- 
swer of  the  Assembly  was  that  any  supposea  re- 
striction of  the  right  of  the  Assembly  m  a  case  of 
tbis  kind  is  explained  by  the  comprelieusive  nature 
of  that  section  of  Review  and  Control.  Well, 
sir,  I  presume  this  will  he  admitted, 
and  I  pass  on.  I  think  I  have  shown, 
however,  that  if  it  be  necessary,  the  Assemblv 
has  the  clear  right  to  pass  over  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky,  and  act  on  the  i'resbytery ;  but,  taen, 
I  am  mi  t  here  with  an  oujection  to  which  I  ask  the 
particular  atteution  of  some  of  the  bi'etiiren  who 
tiave  spoken  to  me  on  the  subject.  We  adajittbe 
Assembly  has  the  power  to  go  over  to  the  Presbyiery 
of  Loui^ville,  but  they  say  you  must  tirst  cite  ihem 
to  your  bar.  1  refer  to  page  720  of  the  Digest,  where 
the  Assembly  resolves,  flrst,  to  ctte  the  Presbytery; 
and  secoad,  that  a  committee  be  appointed  "to  in- 
vestig.^te  the  case;  and  third,  that  as  a 
citation  on  the  toi'egoiug  plan  is  the  commencement 
of  a  process  involving  the  right  of  membership  in 
an  Assembly;  therefore, 

Resolved,"  Ttiat  agreeably  to  a  principle  laid  down 
in  chap,  v  section  ix  of  mir  form  of  government,  the 
members  of  said  judicatory  shall  be  excluded  from 
a  st^at  in  the  next  Assembly  till  their  case  is;decided. 
The  whole  question  lies  here  in  a  nuttheil.  Tlie 
Assembly  says  tbat  as  citation  on  the  foregoing  plan 
is  the  Commencement  of  a  process,  the  dilhcuity 
on  the  minds  of  some  brethren  is  whether 
a  process  can  btgiu  without  citation.  They 
take  the  meaning  of  this  language  to  be  that  m  all 
cases  process  begins  with  citation.  I  dirtct  the 
attention  of  the  house  to  tbe  fact  that  tbat  is  very 
far  from  being  the  meaning  of  the  Assembly.  First, 
the  Assembly  choose  a  particular  plan  by  which 
they  can  prosecute  their  case.  Second,  they  aflirm 
that  on  tbe  Ibregoing  i^lan,  in  the  way  which  they 
have  have  clio^en  to  proceed,  citation  is  the  com- 
mencement of  u  process  involving  the  right  of  mem- 
bership. The  plan  they  had  chosen  to 
pursue         was         to         cite         the  offending 

Presbytery  before  the  bar  of  the  next  General  As- 
sembly;  and,  ot  course,  in  that  plan  it  was  the  be- 
ginning of  process.  But  there  are  other  ways  in 
■which  to  begin  a  process  besides  that  of  citation. 

Now  let  me  ask  the  attention  of  the  house  for  a 
moment  to  the  reasons  lor  citations  given  in  the  sev- 
enth cbapt+r  of  our  Book  of  Discipline.  It  is  the 
sixth  paragrajih. 

The  assumption  of  the  brethren  is  that  if  the  judi- 
catory next  auove  must  taKe  this  as  the  lirst  step, 
then  a  higher  judicatory  is  bonnd  to  do  the  same 
thing.  And  What  is  the  reason?  They  say  the  As- 
sembly is  directed  to  cit«  the  ofleuding  judicatory 
to  show  what  it  has  dons  or  failed  to  do.  Now, 
sir,  there  are  three  proofs  that,  in  arguing  the  case 
before  this  house,  that  rule  is  inapplioaole  because 
the  reason  of  the  rule  ceases.  First,  we  have  be- 
fore u-.,  as  I  have  said,  the  record.  \Ve  are  dealing 
virtually  with  the  record;  and  the  provision  of  the 
book  expressly  is  that  in  a  case  of 
record  you  cannot  go  beyond  that 
record  for  information .  I  here  is  no  reason ,  there- 
fore, for  citing  a  judicatory,  because  the  whole 
case  lies  iu  the  compass  of  this  record.  There  is 
no  need  at  all  of  citing  a  judicatory  to  show  what 
they  have  done.  The  record  shows  that.  And  once 
more,  the  reason  of  the  rule  is  iuapplieable,  because 
this  Louisville  Presbytery  comes  itself  and  asks  an 
investigation. 

Now,  sir,  the  General  Assembly  of  1837, 
cited  distant  Presbyteries  to  appear  at 
the  next  Assembly,  beeause  it  was  im- 
possible io  the  nature  of  the  case  tbat  they  should 
appear  at  that  Assembly.  They  cited  ttiem  to  ap- 
ptar  because  they  were  absent" and  their  records 
also.  But  what  is  the  use  of  the  rule  here?  Is  our 
system  a  system  of  red  tape?  When  a  niin  comes 
into  the  house  and  ^■ays,  "Brethren  of  the  Presby- 
tery here  I  stand  to  be  tried  and  I  challenge  investi- 
gation, "  is  it  necessary  to  cite  that  man  to  appear? 


There  he  is.  He  brings  his  record  without  citation. 
When  he  oiTers  it,  and  distributes  It  in  your  seats, 
and  presents  it  to  the  country,  is  it  necss^iry  ?  And 
if  the  reason  of  the  rule  ceases,  then,  obviously,  the 
rule  is  inapplicable. 

Now,  in  the  third  place,  there  is  no  application  ot 
the  rule  in  this  case,  because  ihe  ASremblv  has  set 
aside  the  rule  iu  a  measure  of  far  more  questiona- 
ble character  than  that  recommended  to  us.  I'he 
General  Assembly  of  1S37  dissjlved  the  Third  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia.  Members  of  that  Assem- 
bly nrofesied  against  the  action  as  unoonsiiiutional, 
not  only  because  the  Assembly  had  no  power  to 
pass  over  a  .Synod  »nd  act  on  a  Presbytery,  but  he- 
cause,  as  they  say,  it  was  condemned  "wiihout  be- 
ing accused,  cited,  or  trien— condemned  unheard." 
(See  Baird  s  Dige.st,  p.  758.) 

Now,  sir,  the  history  of  that  case  is  presented,  I 
presume,  correcUv.  "l  have  not  Bere  the  minutes  of 
the  Assemblv  of  1837,  but  I  presume  the  protestants 
against  the"  action  of  the  Assembly  were  wide 
awake,  understood  the  facts,  and  would  not  state  m 
their  protest  what  was  positively  false.  They  pro- 
tested against  this  rule  because  of  its  unconstiiu- 
tionality  in  dissolving  a  Presbjtery  without  cita- 
tion 

Well,  >\r,  if  that  were  true,  and  the  Assembly  did 
not  deny  it,  then  the  General  Assembly  has  express- 
ly decided  that  in  a  case  of  this  kind  it  may  step 
over  the  Synod,  and  that  ia  an  extreme  case  it  need 
not  be  bound  by  tbe  rule  of  citation.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  circumstances  of  that  case,  I  think  I 
have  shown  in  the  circumstances  of  our  case  the 
rule  for  citation  ceases,  beeause  the  reason  tor  it 
ceases.  Rationelegis,  cessante,  lex  ipsa  cessat  m  a, 
maxim  of  law. 

Now  for  tlie  next  slep  in  this  argument.  How 
does  this  affect,  supoosing  it  be  true  so  tar,  thr, 
rights  ot  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  ro  a  seat  in 
this  nouse?  It  will  be  admitted,  I  presume,  on  the 
ground  of  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1847;  that 
if  we  should  cite  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  to  ap- 
pear at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly  we  might  then  ex- 
clude them  from  a  seat  until  their  case  was  dis- 
posed of. 

Moderator.    The  same  reason  and  the  same  riiie 
for  exclusion  applies  in  one  case  as  in  theotrier;  tor 
when  the  Assembly  ot  1837  cited  the  Pi-eso^tery  to 
appear  at  its  bar,  and  then  saui  this  judicatory  snail 
be  excluded  from  representation  in  the  next  Assem- 
bly, why  did  they  do  it?    Was  it  because  tl'.ev  were 
cited  to  appear,  or  was  it  bec-iuse  they  were  on  triaU 
No  man  will  contend  that  the  real  ground  »i  their 
exclusion— the  ground  on  which  the  Assembly  had 
the  right  to  exclude  them— was  Uie  mere  tact  that 
they  cited  them  to  appear.    No,  sir,  it  was  the  Ux 
more  signiScant  fact  ih.it,  being  cited  to  appear, 
thev  were  on  trial,  and  being  on    trial  they  were 
under  process;  and  that  the  principle    which  a u- 
plies     to    an    individual   minister    in    his      Pres- 
bytery       applies       to       tue        Presbytery       in 
its   synod,    or   in  the  General  Assembly;  that  un- 
til his  case  be  decided  it  is  at  the  i)leasure  o»  the 
house,  according  to  the  circumstancos  ot  tbe  case, 
to  decide  whether  tba.  body  shall  retain  its  seat  or 
not.     We  must    inquire,  then,   in  tbe  next  place, 
whether  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  is  on  trial  on 
its  records.    Now,   I  will  not;  repeat    the  remarks 
made  last  night  indirectly  on  tbis  subject,  tbat  re- 
view and  control  brings  up  all  sorts  oi  cises,  from 
those    of  the    least   signiticMce   to  those    ot    tn=! 
Tcry  highest  moment;  but  I  simply  rnnn-rU  here  that 
in  any  case  of  review  and  control  upon  tbe  record, 
it  will  depend  upon  the  magnitude  of  the  offense  and 
the  character  of  the  facts  on  the  record  wheitier  the 
body  whose  records  are  reviewed  be  on  trial  or  not. 
'   If  it  is  simply  a  question  how  they  spelled  the  word 
Presbytery,  or  some  mere  incidental  oversight  or 
neglect  of  a  trivial  matter,  or  irregularity  ot  pro- 
ceeding, we  should  not  say  they  were  on  triil  and 
should  go  out  of  the  house.    But  if  an  extreme  case 
comes  up— if  a  case  comes  up  on  which,  as  I  sup- 
posed last  night,  the-  Pr.sbytery  has  avowed  infidel- 
ity—has  denied  tlie  doctrines  of  the  Contest  ion  ot 
Faith      in      toto      and      put      it      on      rccDrd-— 
I  say,  sir,  that  in  view  of  the  magnuuae  ot  the 
offf-nse,  when  you  sit  in  judgment  on  their  records, 
they  are  on  trial.    In  such  a  case  as  that,  review 
and  control  brings  up  everything   that  an  appeal 


n3 


conkl  bring  up  and  accomplish,  and  it  is  a  question 
ot  the  most  viral  cMaracrer  thit  is  decided.  Now, 
wiitn  you  tiave  Iliem  on  their  records,  if  it  be  a  case 
of  this  magnitude  and  criminality,  it  is  your 
duty  to  say  fo  ihem,  brethren,  this  is  not  an  ordi- 
nary O:\st;;  stand  you  on  your  trial  until  this  case  is 
decided,  we  (.'o  not  condemn  you  unheard,  but  we 
do  propose  to  invi'jtigateyour  case;  in  the  course  of 
the  investigation  to  acquit  you  if  you  be  innocent, 
and  to  conuemn  you  if  you  be  guilty;  and  until  that 
sencenct!  he  reached,  brethren,  you  must  stand 
aside  as  ucworthy  to  share  in  the  duties  and  re- 
sijoosibiliries  of  this  higher  court. 

We  tell  these  commissioners  that  they  must  be  re- 
nidVed  aa  incompetent,  to  use  the  language  of  this 
article,  to  sit  in  such  a  court  and  pronounce  in  such 
a  case.  It  tliey  are  on  trial,  then  they  are  under 
process  from  the  moment  that  this  Assembly  passes 
toe  Older  for  investisatton. 

For  what  is  process?  There  are  lawyers  here  who 
can  t=U  what  it  is,  technicallv,  inlaw  courts.  It  is 
the  ^rit  of  the  magistrate,  perhaps.  But  a  process 
in  our  ecclesiastical  courts  has  not  that  narrow  lim- 
itation of  the  statutory  Jaw.  It  is  the  simple  Eng- 
lish we  are  talking  now — ^ur  mother  tongue. 
"VV'eli,  the  proce-s  by  which  you  secure  a  har- 
vest of  wheat,  means,  fencing  in  the  field,  plow- 
ing the  ground,  scuttering  the  seed,  gathering 
the  hftrvest  and  putting  it  in  your  garner — then  ihe 
process  is  complete.  Process  is  that  whole  system 
ut  means  from  beginning  to  end  by  which  a  court 
reaches  the  eixis  ol  discipline.  I  ask  if  the  first  step 
tow-ird  those  ends  be  not  the  beginning  of  process  ? 
This  Assemhly  might  have  taken  another  way.  We 
chose  to  take  this.  If  we  choose  to  cice  that  citation 
it  is  the  commencement  Ota  process.  If  we  choose 
to  appoint  a  committee  to  investigate  the  records  of 
a  puny,  then  ihe  appointment  of  that  committee 
With  au  order  to  investigate  is  the  beginning  of  pro- 
cess. 

Tlie  constitution  has  already  settled  the  rule, 
thut  when  a  minister  is  under  process  ic  shall 
be  at  the  pleasure  of  'the  house  whether 
he  vote  in  auy  other  case  besides  his  own  till  his  case 
is  decided  or  not.  (Oitap.  V.  IX  )  And  the  As- 
serahly  has  decided  that  the  principle  of  that  i-ule 
rtpplies  to  feuch  a  Ciise  as  this  Xne  Assembly  ap- 
plied the  rule  in  such  a  case  as  this.  The  case  is  as 
nlain  aa  the  light  of  day,  and  I  do  not  mean  in  the 
use  of  that  expression  to  allude  to  my  iriend,  the 
gentleman  from  New  York. 

Now,  I  have  but  one  ivord  more  to  say  on  this 
point,  acdthat  is  this:  I  aiu  not  arguing,  Mr.  Mod- 
erator, hut  simply  uresentinsr  the  naked  letter  of  the 
law.  I  think  I  may  say  thrit  this  report  can  be  sus- 
tained not  only  without  iniringing  upon 
any  provision  of  the  constitution,  for  the  very 
object  the  law  is  to  guai-d  the  rights  of  the  minority . 
I  fully  accede  to  that;  the  majority  can  get  along 
without  rules.  It  is  the  minority  that  need  rules, 
and  I  know  it  is  not  the  temper  of  this  house  to  In- 
fringe upon  the  privileges  of  the  minority;  nor  is  it 
the  niitid  of  tuis  house  to  fail  to  execute  the  power 
which  God  has  conferred  upon  them,  andenioined 
them  to  exercise  in  the.government  ot  his  house. 
The  course  pointed  out  in  the  report  of  this  com- 
mittee is  the  law  of  God'a  house,  and 
the  written  latv  of  our  Church,  and 
above  us,  not  above  all,  but  with  all, 
and  added  to  all,  tuere  is  this  fact,  that  when 
in  the  areat  Presbyterian  Church  case  of  thirty  years 
ago,  this  question  of  the  validity  of  the  very  acts 
which  I  have  cited  as  precedents  was  made  the  basis 
of  the  decision,  the  Suprem'i  Court  of  Pennsylvania 
decided  in  our  favor  on  the  ground  thit  the  General 
Afsemhlj',  in  these  acts,  had  not  transcended  its 
constitutional  authority.  The  question  with  that 
court,  speaking  through  Chief  Justice  Gibson,  was 
not  whether  the  As-embly  did  right  or  wroag,  in  a 
m;)ral  point  of  view,  for  that  they  were  answerable 
to  God;  but  when  they  ajipeared  to  Ciesar,  under 
the  laws  of  the  commonwealth,  the  simple  question 
was,  "Has  your  Assembly,  that  is  charged  with 
having  done  these  acts,  the  power,  bv  the  provision 
of  its  constitution,  to  do  what  it  has  done'?' '  Well, 
sir,  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  affirms  the 
fact;  bur,  I  wili  not  take  time  to  read  it.  By  virtue 
of  that  decision  this  Asseaibl.y  is  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 


States.  By  virtue  of  that  decision  we  hold  our 
property,  and  have  our  records;  and  brethren 
familiar  with  the  history  of  those  times  will  remem- 
ber how  very  important  and  decisive  an  influence 
this  order  to  exclude  certain  bodies  from  a  seat  had 
upon  the  composition  of  the  next  Assembly;  how 
vital  that  ac'iun  was  in  the  whole  process  bv  which 
the  conclusion  was  reached.  Let  me  come  now  to 
the  last  part  of  the  report.  I  have  investigated  the 
law  of  our  Church  applicable  to  the  case. 

I  come  to  consider  the  method  by  which  the  As 
sembly  shall  reach  the  ends  of  jnslice.  It  is  indeed 
a sumiuarj' method;  yet  tometimes  short  roads  are 
the  best.  It  was  a  verj'  gh^rt  method  bv  which 
Puaroah  and  his  hosts  were  put  out  of  the"  house, 
when  God  moved  upon  the  sea;  a  very  summary 
process  by  which  the  liffutnmg,  fire  and  brimstone 
came  down  from  Heaven  upon  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah; and  if  yu  think  the  cises  too  far-fetched, 
then  it  was  a  v^ry  summary  process  by  which,  in 
the  presencie  of  a  Church  Court  in  Jerusalem,  Ana- 
nias and  Sapphira  were  sent  to  the  Supreme  Court 
in  Heaven,  to  answer  for  their  crimes.  The  speed- 
iest remedies  are  commonly  the  best.  But  what 
is  this  remedy?  We  propose  that  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  be  dissolved.  Can  any  man  question,  in 
view  of  the  decisions  I  have  pre-^ented,  that  this  As- 
sembly has  a  perfect  ritjht  to  dissolve  the  Presby- 
tery ?  But^  brethren  will  say,  though  we  have  the 
power,  it  is  inexpedient  to  exercise  it.  In  regard 
to  that  I  have  simply  to  say  that  the  justice  of  the 
rebuke  in  this  case  can  hardly  be  questioned.  Dr. 
Humphrey,  it  I  understood  (he  tenor  of  his  brief  pa- 
per, admits  substantially  the  guilt  of  the  parties, 
the  iniquity  of  the  action  and  the  criminal  character 
of  the  whoJe  proceeding.  Sueh  a  pwper,  such  acts, 
such  a  pertinacity  of  rebellion,  such 
systematic         organization  of  conspiracy 

lor  the  overthrow  of  the  Church  of  the  living  God, 
deserve  rebuke,  if  ever  iniquity  deserved  rebuke 
from  men.  There  is  not  only  justice  in  the  court 
proposed,  but  necessity  for  it,  Mr.  Moderator, 
when  mortiflcition  ensues  in  some  part  of  the  body, 
remote  from  the  heart  and  ttie  vital  centers,  then,"  I 
teljyou,  a  wise  surgeon  is  not  long  in  laying  hold 
of  the  amputating  knife.  The  apostle  Paul,  in  the 
Church  of  Corinth,  was  not  long  in  purging  out  the 
old  leaven.  He  did  not  give  them  two  months  no- 
tice, I  think,  sir,  much  less  refer  them  to  the  next 
General  Assembly.  When  he  wrote  bis  sacred  epis- 
tle he  had  to  bathe  his  page  with  tears  of  sympathy 
lor  them,  beCiUse  in  the  energy  of  their  zeal  to  do 
right,  they  had  instantly  obeyed  his  apostolic  in- 
junction. They  amputated  the  gangrene  limb  that 
they  might  save  the  body.  I  know  the  impossibility 
of  foreseeing  the  future.  I  know  in  these  changing, 
troublous  times,  the  wisest  statesman  may  fail 
when  he  undertakes  to  predict  what  sixty  or  ninety 
days  may  bring  for'h ;  yet  we  must  act  according  t"o 
the  probabilities  of  the  case.  What  are  they?  If 
you  leave  the  Presb'tery  recognized  and  defiant, 
with  revenues,  v,iih  friends,  with  inlluence, 
with  a  society  instituted  tor  the  very  pur- 
pose of  coBgregdCiQg  friends  around  this 
nucleus— if  you  leave  them  there  in  the 
midst  of  a  Synod  which  is,  to  say  the  least,  hesitat- 
ing, (and  I  do  not  impugn  tbeir  motives;  I  do  not 
know  how  I  might  have  acted  under  the  influences 
tliey  may  have  felt,)  can  we  hope  for  a  safe  issiae  of 
events  to  the  Church  in  Kentucky.  Will  the  inter- 
ests of  PresDyterianism  be  secured  if  we  leave  this 
Presbytery  to  the  control  of  a  Synod  that  has  seen 
this  evil  festering  since  last  September?  What  may 
we  reasonably  expect,  what  new  complications, 
what  aggravated  evils,  if  we  leave  this  matter  in 
this  condition?  No,  Moderator,  there  is  a  necessity 
laid  upon  us  that  we  shall  do  justice  vi  this  case. 

But  then,  sir,  we  temper  justice  with  mercy. 
What  do  we?  We  select  from  this  Presbytery  the 
men  who  have  sii^ned  this  act  and  testimony,  and 
who  have  recorded  on  its  books  their  votes  "in  its 
favor.  There  is  the  overt  act  of  rebellion.  Such 
brethren  as  were  present  and  voted  in  the  negative, 
or  such  brethren  as  were  absent  from  the  Presby- 
tery, or  such  as  have  declined  for  various  reasons 
to  put  their  names  to  this  document,  these  we  gath- 
er together  and  say,  brethren,  we  know  some  of 
you  do  not  agree  with  us  in  this  matter;  some  of 
you,  it  may  be,  approve  of  this  document,  and 


64 


pomeofyou  utterly  condoma  it;  but  we  suy,  you 
have  the  right,  to  your  private  opinions.  We  gather 
you  togeth-,r  who  have  stood  faitntul  to  the  Church 
in  tliis  trial,  and  organize  you  into  a  Presbytery. 
We  take  you,  brethren,  "faithful  among  the  fuiih- 
less  found,  "  and  we  commit  to  you  the  watch  and 
care  of  those  Churches,  and  of  those  precious  souls 
belonging  to  this  Presbytery.  We  go  further  than 
that,  and  honor  the  most  faithful.  That  report  ap- 
points a  young  man,  the  solitary  brother  who  stood 
up  in  that  Court,  and  in  the  presence  of  Christ  and 
his  enemies  in  the  Presliytery,  said:  Brethren, 
No,  I  cannot  vote  to  adopt  this  Declaration  and 
Testimony.  That  '"No"  stands  recorded,  and  we 
honor  it.  We  tell  him  to  be  the  Moderatfir  of  that 
new  Presbytery,  to  Breach  the  sermon,  and  receive 
the  rewdrdot'  his  lidelity .  Then  we  turn  to  the  other 
brethren  in  this  report,  and  .say  :  Bretnren,  we  will 
see  to  it  that  our  ju-tice  is  tempered  with  mercj'. 
Here  is  the  open  door;  you  may  enter  if  you  please. 
After  the  organization  of  this  Presbytery,  we  give 
you  two  mouths  for  deliberation.  We  do  not  touch 
your  pastoral  relations  for  two  months.  You  have 
seen  the  act  of  this  house,  and  yon  know  the 
temper  ot  this  Churcti.  You  can  review  your 
proceedings  and  you  can  come  to  this  Presbytery  and 
say  to  tnem,  what?  Now,  I  beg  brethren  "to  look  at 
that  formula  prescribeii  in  the  report  and  see  if  it  be 
not  the  very  mildest  thing  this  house  could  ask  of 
such  offenders.  We  ask  them  to  say,  "1  repent  of 
my  sin  in  reviling  the  Church  of  Christ  aud  in  bid- 
ding detiance  to  her  legitimate  authority,  and  prom- 
ise, henceforth,  obeaieuce  to  my  brethren  in  the 
Lord." 

We  do  not  require  them  to  subscribe  to  all  the  de- 
cisions of  the  General  Assembly,  but  we  do  require 
each  of  them  to  say,  ''1  regret  my  error  in  having 
suoscribed  to  this  document.  I  e.xpress  my  disap- 
proval of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  and  prom- 
ise fulure  obedience."  Is  not  that  mercy  mingled 
with  Justice? 

Moderator— I  will  close  this  argument.  I  have 
trespassed  too  long  upon  the  patience  of  this  Assem- 
bly. The  great  want  of  our  age,  sir,  is  a  spirit  of 
obedience  to  law;  of  reverence  for  constituted  and 
legititnate  authority;  of  respect  for  those  who  exer- 
cise authority,  whether  in  the  family,  the  State,  or 
the  Church.  Let  me  illustrate  the  temper  and  hab- 
its of  Young  America,  sir,  by  an  anecdote  respect- 
ing the  late^Hon.  B.  F.  Butler,  whose  soubriquet  of 
"Sandy  Hill"  was  familiar  to  politicians  of  twenty 
years  since.  He  was  invited  to  a  Mission  Sunday 
School  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  Superintend- 
ent introduced  him  to  the  boys  as  the  Attorney  Gen- 
eral ot  the  United  States,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished citizens  of  their  native  State,  and  an  active 
friend  of  friendless  youth;  adaing,  while  he  pointed 
to  the  clock,  that  Mr.  B.  would  limit  his  speech  to 
hfteen  minutes. 

Well,  sir,  they  listened  with  fixed  attention,  but 
they  kept  an  eye  on  the  clock.  The  orator,  warm- 
ing with  hH  theme,  lorgot  the  limitation  of  uis  time, 
and  had  passed  the  bound  only  a  few  seconds,  when 
a  tatlerea  urchin,  probably  a  news-boy,  ana  so  fa- 
miliar with  political  slang  terms,  suddenly  sprang 
up,  and  pointing  to  the  clock,  exclaimed,  "Sandy 
Hill,  your  time  is  out!"  That,  sir,  is  an  illustration 
ol  our  respect  for  those  iu  authority. 

Our  politic  J.1  papers  practice  anrt  chsrish  this  per- 
nicious and  degrading  habit.  Our  people  spenk 
familiarly,  coutemptuously  of  the  President  of  the 
Uaited  states  of  America,  the  highest  dignitary  on 
earth,  as  "Old  Buck,"  or  "Abe  Lincoln,"  or 
"Brandy  Johnson."  Is  it  in  the  use  of  such  epi- 
thets that  we  "fear  God  and  honor  the  king"?  Is 
not  this  the  conduct  of  those  that  "despise  govern- 
ments"? of  whom  St.  Peter  says,  "presumptuous 
are  they,  self  willed;  they  are  not  afraid  to  speak 
evil  of  dignities." 

Sir,  the  tendency  of  our  times,— perhaps 
it  may  be  a  natural  abuse  of  the  nature 
of  our  free  institutions — is  to  despise  govern- 
ment, to  cultivate  'a  spirit  of  Insubordination. 
Why,  sir,  if  you  will  pardon  me  for  relating  it,  I 
had  once  a  curious  exemplification  of  this  Young 
Americanism  in  my  own  household.  It  has  alreadj^ 
appeared  in  the  public  prints  without  my  consent, 
and,  therefore,  it  may  not  be  indecorous  to  aliude 
to  it.    I  had  a  little  Bon  about  four  years  old,  whom 


ef  curse  I  thought  a  very  bright  anl  promising  fol- 
low. During  my  temporary  absence  from  home  tor 
a  few  days  on  one  occasion,  his  mother  relieved  the 
weary  interval  with  reading  him  the  story  of  our 
revolutionary  war.  The  little  fellow  trea-ured  up 
the  s-cattered  facts  and  auecdot*s,  and  narratives  of 
batlle-tlelds,  until  his  youtnful  patriotism  was  kin- 
dled to  a  flame,  and  hi-  bf  od  began  to  boil.  I  re- 
turned home  late  in  the  night,  when  he  was  wrapt  in 
slumber.  He  rase  later  than  usual.  While  wsat  at 
breakfast  he  came  down,  and  seated  himself  by  my 
side  in  silence.  He  wi'hbeldthe  familiar  welcome 
— the  customiry  kiiS.  Evidi-ntly  his  mind  wa^  en- 
grossed wita  something.  He  sat  broioiug  bis  ropio 
for  a  lew  moments,  and  th^n,  turning  to  me,  he 
said,  "Father,  are  yon  Hiitish  ?"  "My  son,"  haid 
I,  "I  had  the  good  or  bad  fortune  to  be  boru  in 
England;  but,  like  the  Irishman,  I  was  brought 
over  heie  so  early  that  1  became  a  native."  "Well, 
sir,"  said  he,  his  childish  f*ce  all  aglow,  and 
soaking  his  little  list  at  me,,  ' '  We  whipjied  you  or^ce, 
and  we  can  do  it  again  !"  [Great  laughter.]  That, 
sir,  is  the  spirit  of  Young  America. 
Mr.  Moderator,  we  may  smile  at  so  you'hful  an 
_  exhibition  of  a  tree  and  easy  and  independent  spirit, 
■  which  lorgets  the  reverence  due  even  to 
parental  dignity.  In  the  reart  of  a 
child,  the  love  of  coiin':ry  may,  for  a 
moment  overpower  filial  affection  and  obliterate  in 
that  flash  of  jatriotism  the  sense  of  obligation  to  a 
superior.  But  when  that  momentary  spirit  of  ir- 
reverence becomes  the  fixed  habit  of  manhood; 
when  self-conceit  and  self-will  systematically  tram- 
ple in  disdaiu  the  sanctity  loai;  eurrouods  all 
authority;  when  insuoordi nation  becomes  iu8(^lent, 
rampant,  deli.Mit;  its  inevitable  result  is  Sf-en  in 
those  sanguinary  contests  whicn  have  desolated  in 
these  late  years  so  large  a  portion  of  our  ountry. 
In  a  hundred  bloody  battle  fleids,  where  some  ot 
my  dearest  fileuds  nil  patriot  graves,  where  .S00,0(»0 
of  our  best  and  bravest  oflered  life  upon  the  altar  of 
their  country,  the  civil  government  has  already 
settled  the  que-stion  of  its  claims;  settled  it  upon  the 
principles  of  the  Divine  word,  expounded  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  18 il:  "Ye  must  needs  be 
subject,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  also  for  conscience 
sake." 

The  crushing  of  this  infamous  rebellion  has  set- 
tled the  question  ot  sulyection  for  wroth's  sake. 
And  more,  when  the  civil  war  is  ended,  when 
armed  resistance  yields  to  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  national  will;  when  every  patriot  desires  to  a  - 
lay  the  passions  engendereti  by  that  war,  and  to 
bind  our  whole  land  in  bonds  of  fraternal  fellow- 
ship around  our  common  Government  and  common 
flag;  there  springs  up  this  petty  rebellion  in  the 
Churco,  this  feeble  echo  of  the  old  war-cry  that  led 
the  vanquished  hosts  of  treason.  Here  come  these 
declarations  and  testimony  now,  protesting  that 
live  years  ago  we  erred  when  we  said,  in  the  Assem- 
bly of  1801,  that,  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
before  us,  (and  every  rebellion  must  be  trie't  by  the 
circumstances  whicn  occasion  it,)  they  who  "re- 
sisted the  power  resisted  the  ordinance  of  God;  and 
they  that  resist  sh^U  secure  to  themselves 
damnation."  (Kom.  XIII,  2)  Here  tney  com", 
protesting  that  the  great  Presbyterian  Church,  witii 
all  Cnristendom,  sinned,  when  we  gave  thanks  to 
God  that  in  His  hoiy  and  unsearchable  providence, 
he  had  instant iy  emancipated  four  millions  of  poor 
slaves.  Here  comes  this  Presbytery  of  Louisville, 
which  has  planted  itself  bodily  on  this  Declaration 
and  Testimony,  aud  tells  the  General  Assembly 
and  the  wholePresbyterian  Church,  in  the  fice  of 
the  world,  Bi-ethren,  we  refuse  to  obey  you;  we 
defy  your  authority;  we  spurn  your  "  decrees  de- 
livered to  the  Caurches  to  keep;"  we  have  organ- 
ized a  resistance  to  the  supreme  ecclesiastical  court 
by.which  we  expect  to  overturn  its  influence;  and 
that  we  may  the  more  efhciently  execute  our  liostile 
purpose,  we  demand  a  seat  in  your  bodv,  a  share 
in  your  counsels,  and  the  opportunity  of  thw.^rting 
at  every  turn,  whatever  measures  you  may  adopt  to 
suppress  our  schltmatlcal  contentiens! 

Did  ever  rebellion  attain  such  a  sublime  audacity 
of  imuudence?  Sir,  in  the  providence  of  God  tiiis  Ab- 
sembiy  ei'joys  the  nigh  privilege  of  forever  establisn- 
intr  ttie  fact  that  government  ia  the  Church  means 
Bometbing;    that   it,     too,    is    an    ordinance    of 


65 


Heaven ;  that  it  is  the  delegated  authority  of  Him 
•who  holds  in  his  right  hand  the  red-hot  thunaer- 
holts  of  hell.  "Whatsoevtr  ye  shall  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  hound  in  heaven:  and  whatsoever  ye  shall 
Icose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven. ' '  ( Mat, 
xviii  18  ) 

Let  this  General  Assembly,  exercising  in  His  name 
that  ministerial  and  declarative  authority  eutrusted 
to  it;  and  yet  tempering  justice  vritli  mercy,  "for 
the  destruction  of  tbe  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be 
saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus;"  execute  this 
act  of  mf!St  deserved  discipline.  Let  us  say  to 
this  offending  body,  your  principles  are  in- 
tolerable; your  practice  unendurable.  Some 
of  you  we  love;  all  of  you  we  pity;  but  we  must 
protect   the  Chuich,    we  must  purge  out  the  old 


leaven;  we  must    « 'even  cut  off  them  who  trouble 
you."     (Gal.  v,  13  ) 

Moderator  and  brethren,  we  are  called  to  vin'^i- 
cate  ecclesiastical  anthoritv,  the  powar  of  ih? 
keys,  not  only  in  our  own  Church,  but  for  all  the 
churches  of  the  land.  This  thing  is  not  doue  in  a 
a  corner.  The  eyes  of  America  are  upon  you.  To 
every  city,  village  and  hamlet  in  the  couutry  ti^e 
news  of  your  decision  will  be  carried  on  tne  wings 
of  the  lightning.  Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
who  have  offered  prayers  for  your  guidance  by  Di- 
vine wisdom,  are  waiting  to  hear  that  ttie  Church 
has  sealed  tbe  doom  of  ecclesiastical  rebellion.  Let 
us  meet  our  responsibLlity  like  men,  like  Christians. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  expects  every  man  to  do 
his  duty.  [Applause.] 
The  Assembly  adjourned. 


NINTH  DAY  — MONDAY,  MAY  28,  1866. 


After  devotional  exercises  and  the  reading  of  the 
mi'jutes 

Dr.  McLean  moved  that  tbe  report  of  the  commit- 
tee in  the  case  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery  be  taken 
up  and  linally  acted  upon,  urging  as  a  reason  that  a 
large  number  of  the  members  were  leaving  for  their 
hdmes. 

Dr.  Lowrie  hoped  that  the  business  would  pro- 
ceed m  its  regular  order. 

Mr.  Clark,  of  Indiana,  hoped  the  motion  of  Dr. 
McLean  would  not  prevail. 

Dr.  Krehs  said  ajudicial  ca=e  had  been  made  the 
order  of  tbe  disy,  and  the  parties  were  here  ready 
lor  trial.  In  the  trial  of  this  case  he  though  a  great 
deal  of  light  might  be  thrown  upon  the  Louisville 
Pr^sbyttry. 

Rev.  Mr  Ferguson  moved  to  substitute  the  judi- 
cial case  from  the  Syuod  of  Wheeling,  urging  as 
a  reason  that  there  was  a  standing  rule  that  when  a 
judicial  case  they  had  already  begun  the  trial  of  the 
case,  and  was  taken  up  it  shouia  be  prosecuted  to 
Its  close. 

The  Moderator  decided  the  motion  out  of  order. 

The  racition  to  postpone  the  order  of  the  day  and 
take  up  the  case  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery  was 
lost. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lowrie,  from  the  Committee  on  Bills 
and  Overtures,  presented  ihefoUowiug: 

The  1  ommittee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  report 
overtuie  No.  11  from  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  viz : 

"Is  it  the  iutent  of  chapter  17th,  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment, that  a  minister  desiring  to  resign  his 
pastoral  charge  shall,  in  all  cases,  lirstmake  his  re- 
quest known  to  the  Presbytery?' ' 

The  committee  recommend  that  It  be  answered  in 
the  negative,  tor  the  reason  that  chapter  16,  section 
2,  provides  that  when  the  parties  are  prepared  tor 
the  dissolution  of  a  pastoral  relation,  it  may  be  dis- 
solved at  the  first  meeting  of  Presbytery.    Adopted. 

Overture  No.  12.  Resolved,  In  order  to  avoid  the 
errors  and  misunderstandings  constantly  occurring 
by  confounding  the  Presbytery  of  Toledo,  in  the 
Synod  of  Iowa,  with  the  Presbytery  of  Maumee, 
Ohio,  this  General  Assembly,  in  accordance  with 
the  suggestion  of  the  Commissioners  from  the  Synod 
of  Iowa  and  many  others,  hereby  change  the  name 
of  Presbytery  of  Toledo  to  that  of  Presbytery  of 
Jasper. 

Rev.  Mr. stated  that  this  subject  had  been  re- 
ferred to  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  and  that  they  had  re- 
fu.sed  to  act. 

The  motion  to  refer  to  the  next  General  Assembly 
was  agreed  to . 

The  remainmg  overture  was  read  and  adopted,  as 
follows : 

Overture  No.  13.  Being  a  request  of  Samuel  Mc- 
Cune  that  the  Assembly  would  answer  various  ques- 
tions connected  with  judicial  processes  in  the  lower 
courts, 

0  s— 9 


The  committee  recommend  the  following  answer. 
These  questions  pertain  either  to  supposed  or  to  ac- 
tual judicial  processes. 

In  either  case  it  is  not  deemed  proper  that  the  As- 
sembly should  give  specific  answers  to  them. 

Rev.  Dr.  Matthews,  from  the  Committee  on  Dis- 
abled Ministers'  Fund,  reported  that  the  Commit- 
tee had  considered  the  report  as  recommittea  to 
them,  and  had  made  one  alteration  in  the  fifth  reso- 
lution, in  accordance  with  what  seemed  to  be  the 
de.'^ire  of  the  Assembly  on  Friday. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  is  as  follows : 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  in  relation  to  the 
1  isabled  Ministers'  Fund,  would  respectfully  present 
the  toUowing: 

Your  couimittee  regret  very  much  that  tlie  renort 
gives  no  iDtormatlon  in  re;.'ard  to  the  receipts  and  als- 
burseuients  of  this  fund  during  the  year,  or  the  sources 
whence  their  income  is  derived,  but  yet  from  the  ex- 
hibit that  is  made  of  the  administration  of  relief  to  dis- 
ablert  ministers  and  their  needy  families,  the  commlt- 
lee  have  reason  to  believe  that  thtre  has  been  a  gratify- 
ing increase  In  the  fund,  and  an  efficient  ana  judicious 
management  of  It. 

During  the  past  year  somewhat  over  $22,000  have 
beau  distributed  upon  apnlleations  Indorsed  by  Pres 
byteries,  giving  timely  and  much  needed  aid  to  forty- 
rine  ministers,  813  ty  SIX  widows  and  Hfty-flve  fami- 
lies of  orplians,  comprising  among  the  recipients  more 
than  four  hundred  individuals. 

There  are  no  numbers  in  which  can  be  comnuted  the 
value  of  the  relief  thus  afforded  to  tuose  wh>,  by  reason 
of  age,  or  sickness,  or  bereavement,  have  boea  de- 
prived of  t&e  means  of  support,  and  compelled  to 
struggle  with  the  cares  of  poverty  when  least  able  to 
do  so. 

Your  committee  think  that  the  claims  of  our  disabled 
ministe^^  and  their  widows  aod  orphans  cannot  be  too 
urgently  pressed  upon  *he  attention  of  the  Church,  and 
they  wouid  hope  that  through  the  action  of  tne  Assem- 
bly, the  CO  -operation  of  the  Presbyteries  ana  the  liber- 
ality of  the  people,  such  abundant  contributions  may 
be  secured  to  this  fund,  that  this  worthy  hut  needy 
oassof  persons  may  he  assured  of  ample  provision  la 
their  tirde  of  need. 

The  t  hurch  owps  a  debt  to  Its  disabled  ministers. 
They  have  substantially  separated  themselves  from  the 
lucrative  emplovment  of  life,  which  ordinarily  secure 
to  men  not  oniya  subsistence  for  the  present  but  a  pro- 
vision for  the  future,  and  have  given  their  Dest  ener- 
gies to  the  service  of  the  Church  In  the  care  of  souls, 
and  while  in  that  service,  and  rejoicing  to  dothe'^orks 
of  the  Lord,  have  been  incapioi  iated  by  reason  of  age 
or  sickness  for  further  active  service  in  tiielr  holy 
calling. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  half  pay  or  pen- 
sion which  the  f^tate  bestows  on  the  faithful  sc  idlers 
who  have  been  disabled  In  its  service,  or  upon  the  fam- 
ilies of  those  who  have  laid  aown  their  lives  at  Its  be- 
best,  is  only  just.  And  certainly  like  justice  requires 
that  the  Church  should  make  similar  provision  for  its 
faithful  and  devoted  ministers  who  have  become  dis- 
abled in  its  service,  and  for  the  dependent  families 
who  have  shared  their  devotion  and  their  lot. 


66 


Your  fomraUtee  feel,  furtlierroore.  that  the  provision 
thus  ErTund  to  thope  who.  with  i.ncil  victe  j  a'lii.  devote; 
Thcnisfl-vcs  and  their  ajl  to  the  serviceot'  tl:.*'  L,<ird  Jesiis 
111  llie  iiiiiiistiy,  villi  lie  au  iiiip<"-tai  t  auxSIlarv  in  i.io- 
curtuj^  tt  siipp'V  of  iiiii'istrT';.  It  is  an  iiiulo  ihted  lait 
1.1  at  ii!Hi>y  <vre  dcterrc'!  from  entirtny  tJie  iiiini^lry  t  y 
the  rirosj-e  t  of  an  iiistithci-^nt  s-uptvirt  univnir  the  Tears 
of  toil  In  the  ee' vice  and  the  certainty  that  with  SDi'h 
insuflli  ler  t  i-upport  n»thinfr  can  be  provided  afialnsttlie 
tiiriH  ,.f  o!0  are,  sickness,  or  i  eath 

'I  he  filth  of  tiianj'  cannot  bear  this  strain  upon  it. 
>'tit  i>\  an  ;idcqu*.e  irovisioi>of  tliis  InvaiuabiH  fund 
theB  gloomy  apprctensi.1118  ot  tlu  lutnre  w  ill  t>e  iimi- 
Islied  and  on^^  'errlhle  oi  stacle  in  the  way  to  ent^riDjc 
ujioD  the  ni'nistry  ronioved. 

It  niif-T,  also,  have  a  happy  effect  in  iiroduclng  thit 
clieerUiln«ss  and  el;  stict)  of  spirit  with  whinh  it  is  so 
Irooort^nt  that  the  lulnister.s  of  thefiospel  should  pur- 
sue tilt  ir  work,  when  tliev  are  assured  that  the  '  burch 
Will  c  are  lor  thini  in  o  d  at.e  and  sickness  and  of  the  r 
dest  lute  !aniUles  after  their  death. 

■J  our  toniniiltee  would,  tnerelore,  hope  that  the  inte- 
rest iilre-idy  awakened  in  behalf  of  this  branch  of  the 
(bur'  h's  work  mav  increase  to  the  full  measure  of  the 
nH  essily  which  led  ta  tne  establishment  of  this  tuna. 

We  reLOinniend  to  the  Assembly  the  lollowlng  for 
a'lOption.  viz: 

Kesoive'',!.  That  it  isa  rattfr  for  devout  thankscfiv- 
intr  to  God  that  this  br.inch  of  the  beneficeuce  of  the 
<  linrch  hiiSlounri  fo  much  favor  In  the  hearts  of  (xod's 
pe  Mile  and  thjit  the^  are  thus  so  truly  apprtcia'infr  the 
claims  '  f  Its  aged  and  infirm  laborers  and  their  needy 
faiuilifs 

2.  The  G.'=iieral  Assembly  re.ioice  to  contemplate  the 
comfort  ministered  from  this  funa  to  those  who  l,y 
rca'ion  of  past  faith'ul  service  have  est^iblished  a  rlKht- 
eoiis  claim  to  asupport  from  the  Church  when  by  the 
act  of  1>  vine  I'rovidence  they  are  laid  asirie  from  ac- 
tive la' ir:  and  to  all  snch.  to  the  aped  «nd  sick  and  in- 
iirni.  and  til  ttie  widows  and  orphans  of  sucn.  the  As 
se'iitilv  send.s  this  exore^ston  of  its  sincere  svmpithy, 
and  prays  that  God  would  incline  the  hearts  of  his 
people  to  devise  still  more  liberal  tliiut.8  for  their  com- 
fort. 

3.  T'e  General  A  s^embly  nrpe  upon  all  the  rhurches 
a  continued  and  increased  liberality  in  their  contribu 
tiocs  til  tlii>  fund,  not  more  as  alieiieticeace  truly  char- 
itable, than  as  a  beneticence  truly  just,  asajJebtdue 
for  faithful  services  rendpred  In  caring  for  the  most 
important  interests  of  ruen. 

i.  hat  the  eresbyterles  be  instructed  to  adopt  such 
means  as  will  bring  the  cause  to  the  attention  oi  all  the 
cburi'hrs.  aod  they  are  also  instructtd  to  take  especini 
pains  to  discover  and  present  to  the  attention  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Fund,  the  claims  of  all  who  are  in 
need,  and  for  wtiom  the  Ohurch  desi.'us  this  provision, 
not  only  that  there  may  be  no  misappropriation  of  the 
funds,  out  also  that  none  who  arf  entitled  to  tid  be 
neglected  ana  allowed  to  suffer  for  want  of  it, 

6.  hat  the  Trustees  be  directed  In  making  their  an- 
nual reports  on  this  fund,  to  present  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  their  receipts  and  expenditures,  such  as  is  re- 
quired from  the  other  Board  of  the  Church  showing 
specifically  what  amount  of  income  administered  by 
theai  Is  from  the  funds  permanently  invested;  and 
what  from  rontributions  of  the  churches  durlner  the 
year,  and  also  what  »mount  is  annually  invesied  in 
permanent  funds,  and  ihe  state  of  sucli  permanent 
fund. 

«.  That  the  report  on  this  subject  by  the  Trustees  be 
appended  to  the  mlutites  of  the  .assembly,  and  be 
printed  for  the  use  of  ministers  and  churches. 

E.  C.  MATTHEWS.  Clialrman. 

I).  U.  SVl  lOK. 

WM.  GREP'NtiUGH 

OOHN  F  \RQUHAK, 

H.  M.  B*  N  K"). 

W.  M   FERi^USON. 

Rev  C.  C.  Riges  offered  the  following  preamble  and 
resolutions  as  amendments  to  the  comirlttee's  report, 
Which  was  read,  when,  on  motion,  the  sul'ject  was 
docketed: 

Whereas,  This  General  Assembly  recognizes  the 
principle  that  the  funds,  rontributed  for  the  relief  of 
disabled  ministers,  and  the  widows  and  children  ofde- 
ceused  ministers  corns  to  tliem  as  a  right  and  not  as 
mere  charity :  and. 

Whereas.  It  is  believed  that  some,  through  extreme 
modesty  and  backwardness,  are  unwilling  to  make 
their  cases  known,  ana  therefore  sutler  In  silence  from 
want.  In  order  to  meet  iliese  cases,  and  as  far  as  pos- 
sible to  do  just  ce  to  all ;  be  it 

Resolved",  That  it  be  and  it  hereby  is  made  the  duty 
of  each  Presbytery  under  our  care,  whf-never  any  of 
tneir  members  shall,  tor  any  cause  net  inferrlngcrirae, 
cease  to  discharge  the  functions  of  thi'  Gospel  ministry, 
w^ith  the  consent  and  approbation  of  his  Presbytery  to 
Immediately  inquire  Into  the  pecuniary  circumstances 
of  such  ministt-r,  so  far  as  to  satisfy  them- 
selves in  regard  to  the  necessltv  and  acceutl- 
bility   of   aid   I'lom    this   fund,    and    if     desirao.e, 


to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  procure  It  for  him,  and 
cOQtinue  it  to  him  fr.im  year  to  year,  so  long  &-,  the  ne- 
cessity exi'its,  without  waiting  tor  his  personal  appli- 
cation Ann  further,  u;.(>n  the  death  oi  any  minister, 
lu  good  ami  letu'ar  standing  in  bis  Presbytery,  the 
1  ame  course  sli  ill  be  pursue!  by  the  Prestiy'tery  In  re- 
tard to  his  surviviiif;  family. 

Resolved,  I  hat  this  .  sseiub'y  Impressed  with  the 
desirableness  and  iioportance  of  increasing',  as  rapid- 
ly as  possile,  the  Permanent  Fund  for  this  Oraiich  of 
the  I  hurch's  benefactions,  <io  hereby  renew  tluir  ear- 
liest solicitaiiou  of  donations  and  legu'les,  small 
as  will  as  l.irge.  to  this  fund,  not  only  from  the 
wealthy,  but  also  fro  n  tlio.se  in  more  moderate  cir- 
cunibtan'-es  And  they  would  ur>;e  all  our  ministers 
™.nd  elders  and  private  meruberB  to  exert  their  in- 
fluence ana  employ  their  elforts,  by  every  menus  in 
their  power,   to  secure  such  donations  and  legacies. 

Rev.  Mr.  Riggs  oflered  the  foilowiDg  aiuendiuents 
to  the  report: 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  of  Baliimore,  the 
complaint  was  docketed. 

The  Moderator  announced  the  order  of  the  day  to 
be  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Domestic  Mis- 
sions. 

Kev.  Dr.  Thomas  stated  that  the  Committee  were 
not  prepared  to  report. 

Rev  Dr.  IJrowii,  of  Chicago,  stated  that  the  Com- 
mittee OQ  tile  Narr.iiive  were  prepared  to  report. 

On  motion  of  Kev.  Dr  Mason,  the  report  was 
made  the  order  of  the  daj'  daring  a  part  of  the  de- 
votional exercises  t.>-morrow  morning. 

The  Moderator  annouticed  the  appeal  and  com- 
plaint oi  Dr.  Robert  Breckinridge,  against  the  Sy- 
nod of  Kentucky,  as  ne.\t  in  order.  He  wished 
before  vacating  the  chair,  as  it  would  be  his  duty 
to  do,  to  annouoce  the  committee  on  the  subject 
of  a  reunion  with  the  New  School  Church.  In  se- 
lecting this  coaimitiee,  he  had  endeavored  to  com- 
bine all  the  variou.s  shades  ot  opinion,  as  lar  as  he 
uuaerstood  their  views  on  the  subject.  He  had  also 
tikeu  them  from  all  sections  ot  the  Church,  without 
taking  any  two  members  from  the  same  Synod. 
Some  of  the  persons  named  were  not  members  of 
this  Assembly.  He  believed  it  was  usual,  when 
C'liniuittess  were  appointed  to  consider  business 
after  the  using  of  the  Assembly,  to  select  persons 
who  were  not  of  the  Assembly,  as  he  had  done  iu 
this  case.  The  committee  was  then  announced  as 
follows: 

MINISTERS. 

J.  M.  Krehs,  D.  D.,  Syncdof  New  York. 
C.  C.  Beatty,  D.  D.,  Synod  of  Wheeling. 
J.  T.  Backus,  I).  D.,  Synod  of  Albany. 
P.  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  Synod  of  Baltimore. 
J.  G.  Monfort,  D.  D.,  Synod  of  Cincinnati. 
W.  D.  Howaid,  D.  D.,  Synod  of  Pittsburg. 
W.  E.  Solienck,  D.  D..  Synod  of  Pnilad-lphia. 
Villesvy  D.  Reed,  D.  D. ,  Synod  of  New  Jersey. 
¥.  T.  Brown,  D.  D.,  Synod  of  Chicago. 

ELDERS. 

James  M.  Ray,  Synod  of  Northern  Indiana. 

Robert  McKnighr,  Synod  ot  Alleghany. 

Sam'l  Galloway,  Synod  of  Ohio. 

H.  K.  Clarke,  Synod  of  Sandusky. 

Geo.  P.  Strong, 'SvDOil  of  Missouri. 

Proi.  Ormond  Beatty,  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

The  Moderator  then  vacated  the  chair,  stating 
that  he  had  requested  Dr.  Lowrie,  the  last  Modera- 
tor, to  till  it,  but  that  gentlemen  had  declined,  and 
suggested  tlie  Rev.  Dr.  lirebs.  Rev.  Dr.  Krebs 
was  then  selected  to  act  as  Moderator  pro.  tem. 

The  Moderator  pro  tern,  then  said:  It  is  my  duty 
to  remind  the  Assembly  that  they  are  about  to  sit  in 
a  judicial  capacity,  and  to  enjoin  members  to  re- 
member their  high  character  as  a  Court  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  first  bu'-ioess  is  to  hear  the  reading  of 
the  sentence  appealed  from. 

Rev.  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckitirldge  desired  to  say  as 
one  ot  the  parties  interesied  in  this  case,  that  there 
were  preliminary  matters  which  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  settle  before  Jentering  upon  a  trial  of  the 
case.  They  desired  to  know  lirst  who  were  the  par- 
ties to  respond,  because  it  wimld  very  materially 
affect  their  mode  of  proceeding  in  opening  and  con- 
tinuing the  case.  The  proceedings  were  in  their 
nature  double,  and  it  was  as  much  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  Court  as  for  the  substantial  admis- 
tration  of  justice  that  tlie  two  cases  shouhl 
be       tried     together.       In      the      first      aspect 


67 


of  the  case  they  coraplainea  of  a  tribunal  anrt 
the  manDer  in  whicli  they  conducted  business, 
and  be  desired  to  say  he  iutendtd  to  press  the 
severe  ctnsure  ol  tliis  house  upon  that  tribunal. 
The  Synod  of  Kentucky  was  the  parly  complained 
of.  In  regard  to  the  bigners  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testim-jny,  also  complained  ayainst,  their  declina- 
ture ot  further  artetidance  upon  this  house  would 
not  prevent  either  ot  them  from  appearing  here 
during  the  trial  of  the  case,  just  as  much  as  though 
ttiey  were  meiubers.  Wbat  he  now  desired  was,  to 
know  wiio  ot  ilie  nietnbtrs  of  the  Synod  appear  tor 
tlie  Synod.  The  majority  and  minority  ot  the  Sjnod 
wire.botb  entitled  to  be  heard,  and  he  desired  to 
know  who  and  how  many  on  each  side  of  the  ma- 
jority and  niiuority  were  present.  He  knew  of  no 
way  ol  getting  at  it  exct  pt  the  house  deciding  it. 

The  ftJoderator  pro  teiu.  stated  the  question  was 
whether  the  house  would  consent  to  try  tlie  several 
appeals  together,  according  to  the  recoaimtndatioii 
of  the  .ludicial  lommittee. 

Mr.  Davidson  moved  that  they  be  tried  together. 

Rev.  Dr.  Breckinridge  said  there  was  another 
parry  to  the  case — the  parties  who  signed  the  Decla- 
ration and  Testimony.  The  thing  had  all  through 
a  double  aspect — first,  leveled  against  the  Synod  for 
its  mode  of  proceeding,  and  against  the  parties  for 
their  course  of  conduct,  suggestions  had  been 
maileto  coerce  these  trials  to  the  alternative  ot  either 
being  appeals  or  complaints.  He  resisted  it  and  he 
would  say  now,  as  he  had  said  before,  that  there 
were  other  points  that  were  in  doubt.  He  would 
say  now,  for  tlie  purpose  of  dif abusing  the 
minds  of  the  brethren,  that  it  he  and  his  colleagues 
were  not  allowed  to  try  this  case,  so  as  to  get  sub- 
stantial justice,  and  so  that  it  would  be  lloal  when  it 
was  tinished,  he  did  not  care  about  trying  it  all.  At 
his  time  ot  life,  he  had  no  idea  of  runuiug  about 
troin  Kentucky  and  back  again  to  try  fancy  cases. 
If  the  Assembly  should  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  could  not  be  tried  in  the  manner  indicated,  then  it 
was  tantamount  to  protecting  parties  who  would 
ruin  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  if  let  alone. 

Rev,  Dr.  Humphreys  said  he  wished  to  speak  for 
a  moment,  as  to  whether  these  two  cases  should  be 
tried  together.  He  wished  to  say— first, 
that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  neglect- 
ed, by  an  oversight,  he  sujioosed, 
to  appoint  a  committee  to  defend  them  against  this 
coniolaict;  it  was  theretore  left  wi'h  tne  majority 
here  to  defend  the  action  of  the  Synod  as  bnsc  they 
might.  Whether  they  shall  be  heard  as  the  original 
parties,  or  whether  they  would  he  heard  when  the 
members  of  the  inferior  judicatory  were  called  on, 
was  an  important:  question  which  he  desired  to  sub- 
mit. They  expected  to  contend,  that  in  the  tirst 
place  the  appeal  could  not  lie;  in  the  second  case 
I  hey  admitted  that  these  brethren  had  a  right  to 
bring  the  matter  by  way  of  appeal  and  oonipiaiiit. 
There  were  some  of  them  who  were  in  the  majority 
in  the  lirst  case  in  rejecting  Dr.  Breckinridge's  pre- 
liminary motion,  but  were  in  the  minority  in  the 
second  case.  He  (the  speaker)  voted  against  the 
resolution  of  Dr.  Breckinridge,  and  therefore  would 
be  boundjio  answer  to  this  venerable  court;  but  he 
voted  also  against  the  motion  of  which  he  complains 
and  was  wttn  him  in  the  minority.  They  wouid  see 
from  this  statement,  that  if  these  two  cases  were 
tried  together,  he  and  others  would  be  placed  in  an 
anomalous  condition. 

Dr.  Breckinridge  obtained  the  floor. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  raised  a  point  of  order.  On 
last  Friday,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Boyd  stood  be- 
tOre  them  in  an  appeal  case,  and  they  would  not  al- 
low him  to  speak.  To-day,  a  man  named  Breckin- 
ridge was  beiore  them,  and  he  was  allowed  to 
tpeak. 

The  Modtrator,  pro  tern.  The  appellant  has  a 
right  to  explain  the  state  ot  the  case. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  It  was  not  permitttd  in  the 
otoer  case. 

The  Moderator,  pro  tern.  The  Chair  knows  noth- 
ing of  that  case. 

Rev.  Dr.  Breckinridge  said  he  had  not  a  word  to 
say  ihat  was  disagreeable,  but  he  would  decline  a 
trial  of  the  case  unless  it  could  be  tried  in  a  way  by 
which  a  decision  would  be  a  decision  vfheu 
it  was  reached.  This  case  was  be- 
fore   the    Synod    of   Kentucky    in    thi'ee    forms. 


and  there  he  moved  in  making  up  the  roll  that  these 
gentlemen  should  not  be  allowecf  to  constitute  a  part 
of  tliat  body.  His  object  was  that  when  the  parties 
were  tried,  and  convicted  in  the  face  of  the  Synod, 
it  should  carry  with  it  a  decihion  that  they  were  no 
longer  either  competent  or  lit  to  periorni  any  func- 
tions in  the  (Prtfebyterian  Church.  That  was  the 
first  appeal,  and  exactly  what  this  court  had  to  de- 
cide, and  that  was  what  Dr.  Humohrey,  with  ereat 
candor,  had  acknowledged  he  had  voted  against. 
Then  there  came  up  an  Inlermediate  ca.se  upon  the 
motion  of  another  minister,  in  reference  to  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony ;  this  the  Synod  refused 
to  touch,  'ihe  paper  was  ruled  out  butsulit-eqtiently 
came  up  in  another  way  and  was  passed,  condemn- 
ing in  extremely  gentle  terms,  compared  with  what 
was  deserved,  what  these  gentlemen  had  done.  All 
who  were  complainants  here  voted  for  ti>at  paper, 
and  by  reason  ot  this  it  was  passed  by  a  small 
majority.  It  was  a  combination  of  what  were 
called  loyal  men  and  middle  men  against  the  ex- 
treme Southern  sympathizers;  and  the  latter  were 
beaten.  When  the  trial  was  gone  into  of 
McMillan  ugain.'-t  the  Bresbytery  of  Louisville 
lor  adopting  this  thing,  the  gentleiuen  who  were  on 
trial,  drew  up,  signed  and  lited,  a  paper,  in  which 
they  dtnied  the  jurisdiction  of  the  body  in  that  case. 
From  that  he  (the  speaker)  made  a  second  appeal 
and  complaint  against  them,  on  the  ground  that 
they  had  shown  the  animus  of  the  acts  complained 
of  in  the  Hist  appeal;  whereupon,  the  Synod,  alter 
a  little  while,  broke  the  trial  od'  In  the  liiidst  of  it, 
and  i^ostponed  it  for  anolier  year.  They  had  gone 
so  far  as  to  begin  to  be  ready  to  call  for  the  deci- 
sion of  the  body  by  the  votes  of  the  members.  On 
that  vote  Dr.  Humphrey  now  states  that  he  voted 
ajiainst  the  postponement,  and  might  have  been  one 
of  the  appellants  but  is  not.  He  did  not  see  that  the 
g(-Dtiem<in's  objection  altered  the  case  at  all,  even  if 
ir  did  put  him  and  other  gectli  men  in  an  awkward 
lix.  There  was  no  incongruity  in  the  Synod  hav- 
ing gentlemen  to  defend  her,  in  those  matters 
wherein  they  agree  with  her,  and  other  gentlemen 
defend  her  wherein  the  first  disagree  with  her.  The 
difficulty,  however,  would  have  been  more 
easily  removed  if  Dr.  Humphrey  had 
taKen  the  same  view  with  the  rest  otjthem.  He  re- 
peated that  the  ends  of  substantial  justice  could  not 
be  reached  unless  the  cases  could  be  tried  together. 
It  they  were  to  separate  them,  and  force  a  trial  of 
one  part  and  then  another.  It  might  only  end  in  a 
decision  that  the  lirst  case  is  a  grave  ofleuse  but  not 
adequate  to  the  punishment  winch  both  offenses 
committed  by  the  same  men  before  the  same  Imdy 
and  under  the  same  proceedings  would  reude r  it 
necessary  to  impose  upon  them.  So  with  the  second 
one;  though  a  very  grave  oHense,  it  is  more  grave 
when  it  is  considered  as  a  part  of  a  premeditated 
c  mrse,  and  not  as  an  isolated  transaction.  The 
whole  of  this  thing  was  about  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony,  and  the  gentlemen  who  issued  that 
paper,  and  also  theaction  of  the  Synod  on  the  va- 
rious parts  of  it.  He  contended  further  that  it  they 
separated  the  cases  it  would  put  them  in  a  position 
where  their  judgment  would  be  rendered  by  juece- 
nieal,  and  no  such  judgment  would  cover  the  ques- 
tions involved  in  the  sum  total.  They  miaht  say 
these  gentlemen  had  done  nothing  more  than  to 
deserve  simple  condenwiatiou  ;  if  so, 
that  wes  the  end.  But  if  they  put  the  whole  to- 
gether, it  would  amount  to  a  grave  offense,  requir- 
ing grave  censure.  He  did  not  desire  that  this  As- 
sembly should  bljw,  and  then  burn  and  burn  and 
then  blow,  and  keep  this  thing  vacillating  from  year 
to  year,  and  never  reaching  anythinsr  deflnite.  He 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  such  proceeding 
as  that.  For  example,  it  would  be  plead  here  that 
the  complaint  did  not  bring  the  parties  to  the  bar  of 
the  house  in  any  form.  If  they  would  look  at  the 
Digest,  under  Appeals  and  Complaints,  they  would 
find  that  a  negative  decision  could  be  appealed 
Irom.  Alter  citing  various  decisions  from  the 
Digest,  the  speaker  concluded  by  saying  that  if 
they  limited  the  motion  of  appeal  to  purely  per- 
sonal questions,  then  they  would  deny  that  any  one 
hdd  a  right  to  appeal  in  a  personal  question  except 
he  were  a  party  to  the  transaction ;  and  if  they  gave 
that  cast-iron  form  of  iuterprciation  to  this  matter, 
then  it  would  be  wholly  irregular;  but  he  imagined 


C8 


there  was  not  a  decision  in  the  existence  of 
the  Church  that  bore  out  the  urlnciple  of  the  de- 
cision in  the  Metcalfcaso  in  1839,  iiud  that  hundreds 
of  CHses  could  be  found,  wliere  appeals  had  been 
allowed  and  tried,  where  the  thing  was  in  no  sense 
personal.  He  appealed  to  them  again  to  settle  this 
question  decisively,  and  not  begin  the  business  by 
ciittiug  off  tlie  hair  of  Sampson  and  then  tying  him 
with  wjthes. 

Rev.  Dr.  Smith  desired  to  know  whether  it  would 
not  be  better  to  refer  the  matter  buck  to  the  Judi- 
cial Committee,  and  ask  these  parties  to  rppear  be- 
fore them,  whereby  they  could  agree  upon  some 
form  by  whicti  both  cases  coula  be  brought  before 
the  house. 

Rev.  Dr.  West  said  he  did  not  understand,  that 
in  the  trying  of  these  cases  togettier,  any  violation 
would  1)e  inflicted  upon  the  parties.  As  he  under- 
stood Dr.  Humphrey's  objfciion,  it  was  simply  as 
to  the  interi>retation  of  tlie  law,  'and  whether  an 
appeal  could  come  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lniis- 
vilie.  A  motion  was  made  in  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  that  certain  breturen 
were  unqualitied  to  sit  in  the  house, 
An  appeal  was  taken  thereirom,  and  it  was  argTied 
by  Dr.  Humphrey  that  this  appeal  could  not  lie  be- 
cause it  was  not  judicially  tried.  In  reference  to 
that  matter  the  decision  in  the  Metcalf  case  had 
been  alluded  to,  but  in  the  minutes  of  ISll,  and  for 
years  afterward,  they  could  find  a  counter  decision 
of  the  General  Assembly  atiirming  the  very  opposite 
what  was  reported  in  the  Metcalf  case,  namely,  that 
appeals  can  lie  where  there  has  not  been  a  formal, 
forensic,  judicial  trial.  As  to  the  original  parties 
in  this  question,  it  struck  him  that  one  of  the  orig- 
inal parties  was  left  out;  that  really  the  Presbytery 
of  Louisville  and  Dr.  Breckinridge  were  the  orig- 
inal jsarties. 

Dr.  Boardmau  said  he  had  no  particular  objection 
to  the  view  of  the  brother,  but  it  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  was  one  of  the  original  parties,  they  were 
absolutely  bound  from  the  adjudication  of  this  case, 
for  they  had  no  right  to  send  one  of  tne  original  par- 
ties out  of  the  house,  and  then  take  up  and  try  any 
issue  with  which  they  were  concerned. 

Rev.  Dr.  West  said  the  parties  were  not  out  of 
the  house  in  reference  to  this  case.  That  sophism, 
if  he  might  be  permitted  to  use  the  expression,  was 
argued  and  answered  a  hundred  times  in  1837,  and 
what  amazed  him  was,  that  the  brethren  who  fought 
in  those  days  for  the  principles  advocated  in  this 
conflict,  were  the  brethren  who  are  now  turning 
r«)uud  and  making  use,  as  he  would  have  opportu- 
nity to  sQow,  of  every  argument  that  was  made  by 
the  opposition  in  1837. 

Mr.  Clark,  of  Detroit,  said  that  he  understood 
from  Dr.  Humphrey's  objection  that  these  two  ap- 
peals C'Uld  no(.  be  Heard  together,  because  some  of 
the  parties  would  occupy  a  dillerent  attitude  in  the 
one  from  what  they  would  in  the  other. 

Rev.  Ur.  Humphrey  said  he  was  not  here  as  an 
appellant,  buc  merely  to  say  what  his  personal  rela- 
tiou  was  to  the  Cise  appealed. 

Mr.  Clark  said  he  should  be  sorry  to  have  this 
house  decide  that  it  cannot  do  what  any  court  of 
la'.v  can  do.  In  a  court  of  law,  when  two  cases  are 
substantially  the  same,  together  with  the  parties 
and  the  questions  to  be  tried,  it  was  a  common  rao 
tiou  to  move  that  the  court  consolidate  the  two 
ca~e8.  His  theory  of  the  government  of  the  Church 
was,  that  this  Generiil  Assembly  had  every  power 
whica  any  Ciiurt  could  execise,  except  so  far  as  it 
was  restrained  by  tile  Book  ot  Discipline,  and  they 
were  not  restrained  from  uniting  cases.  One  of  the 
original  parties,  it  was  said,  was  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville,  and  tliey  could  not  try  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville,  if  was  said,  because  they  were  out  of 
the  house.  Was  the  Preabytery  of  Louisville  any 
more  out  of  the  house  than  Or.  Breckinridge. 

Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  desired  to  explain.  These 
gentlemen  were  arguing  the  point  on  the  tneoreti- 
cai  aspect  of  the  c^se,  derived  from  the  purview  of 
the  minutes.  If  they  would  careluUj'  examine  the 
complaint,  it  would  be  seen  that  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  never  occurs  without  an  explanation. 
It  was  distinctly  understood  at  the  time  that  these 
gentlemen  were  a  minority  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville;  but  it  was  alleged  that  it  was  a  casual 
minority.    That  did  not  prove  to  be  true,  but  that 


was  his  understanding,  and  in  consequence  of  that 
it  was  carefully  torborne  to  assail  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville,  as  believing  that  it  was  not  involved  in 
the  case.  They  never  were,  in  point  ot  f»ct,  what- 
ever they  might  be  in  jjoiut  of  law,  on  trial. 

Mr.  Clark  said  perhaps  he  would  have  done  better 
if  he  had  fully  understood  mis  part  of  the  question 
at  tirst. 

Dr.  Breckinridge  said  he  ought  to  have  made  the 
statement  when  Dr.  Boardmau  alluded  to  it,  but  he 
fVlt  sheepish  about  it,  and  did  not  do  it.  [Laugh- 
ter.] 

Mr.  Clark  Whether  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville should  be  held  as  a  party  or  not,  their  minds 
ought  to  oe  clear  on  this  point;  thit  if  that  Presby- 
tery should  be  called  befoie  the  house  for  Haunting 
their  declarations  before  them  in  a  defiant  manner, 
there  was  no  reason  why  that,  Presbytery  cjuld  not 
come  to  the  bar  and  answer  the  same  as  Dr. 
Breckinridge  or  any  other  party. 

Mr.  Cain  desired  to  know  in  reference  to  the  con- 
solidation of  cases  in  Court,   whether  it  was  ever 
done  without  consent  of  paities. 
Mr,  Clark.    Often. 

Mr.  Cain.  Suppose  the  parties  state  in  Court 
their  interests  will  be  prejudiced.  Is  it  a  rule  for 
the  Court  to  consolidate  ? 

Mr.  Clark  said  in  that  case,  the  Court  would 
hear  the  arguments,  and  cons  jlidate  or  not,  as  ia 
its  judgment  it  mi^ht  deem  best. 

Mr.  Cam  asked  if,  upon  the  aflidavit  of  the  party, 
the  Court  would  not  grant  a  sever .iuce. 
Mr.  Clark  said  it  was  often  done. 
Mr.  Cain  desired  to  know  what  the  difference  was 
between  carrying  a  cas-^  from  the  Legislature  to  the 
Supreme  Coviit,  and  the  carrying  "a  case  trom  a 
subordinate  Court  to  the  Supreme  Court— by  what 
process  did  they  bring  a  case  from  a  subordinate 
Court  to  a  superior  Court?  The  simple  question  in 
this  case,  as  he  apprehended,  was  whether  the  Sy- 
nod of  Kentucky  was  acting  in  its  judicial  or  legis- 
lative capacity.  If  acting  in  a  legislative  capacity, 
then  the  nianer  in  wliich  they  would  bring  ihe  ac- 
tion of  that  body  into  this  Court,  would  be'by  com- 
plaint; but  if  they  tvere  acting  m  a  judicial  capacity, 
then  by  appeal,  and  he  aiiprchcnded  that  iiere  the 
issue  between  the  parties  was  joined,  and  that  this 
should  have  been  in  the  form  of  a  complaint.  An 
appeal  clearly  implied  judicial  functions,  and  how 
was  it  possible  to  carry  by  an  appeal  anything  to  a 
hii; her  Court,  which  is  not  traversed  Ijy  the  Court 
below?  An  appeal  carries  with  it  an  idea  of  the 
exercise  of  judicial  funcii 'US ;  tuerefore,  if  this  was 
an  appeal,  they  had  before  them  clearly  the  idea 
that  that  Synod  had  been  actiag  as  a  Court. 

Mr.  Clark  desired  to  say  that  in  all  the  Constitu- 
tions of  tne  United  Sttne-Tand  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  itself,  the  Supreme  Court  and 
Legislature  are  every  wcere  declared  to  be  co-ordi- 
nate powers,  and  therefore  a  case  could  never  go 
from  a  legislative  body  to  a  court.  It  was  not  so  .n 
this  case.  Synods,  Presbyteries  and  sessions  to 
some  extent  have  powers  that  can  be  allied  to  legis- 
lative powers,  but  the  system  of  review  and  control 
comes  m  here,  and  the  Presbyterian  courts  can  do 
that  which  cannot  be  done  in  a  court  of  common 
law. 

3Ir.  Day  doubted  much  whether  the  mode  under 
which  they  were  pr.^ceeding  was  a  proper  and  con- 
stitutional mode,  although  he  would  acknowledge 
this  was  a  vile  thing  that  was  done  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville. 

Rev.  Mr.  Sharon,  as  one  of  the  Judicial  Commit- 
tee, stated  tne  manner  in  whicti  ihe  case  came  up. 
He  did  not  see  anything  to  prevent  the  consolidation 
ot  the  cases  and  trying  them  together.  The  moment 
they  commenced  to  trace  analogies  between  civil 
and  religious  courts  they  would  get  into  diHiculty. 
All  there  was  to  govern  a  case  of  appeal  and  com- 
plaint must  be  regulated  by  the  action 
and  custom  of  the  General  Assembly  a* 
a  court.  As  to  the  idea  that  the  Louisville  Presby- 
tery was  out  of  tlie  house,  if  he  might  be  permitted 
to  use  the  expression,  it  was  an  arrant  humbug. 

Mr.  Day  olfered  as  an  amendment,  that  the  evi- 
dence taken  shall  apply  to  both  cases,  but  that  when 
the  roll  IS  called  parties  shall  have  the  right  to  ren- 
der judgment  separately.  The  amendment  was  not 
seconded. 


89 


The  vote  was  then  taken  nn  the  question  as  to 
whetner  the  two  cases  should  be  tried  together,  and 
it  was  agreed  to. 

A  discussion  then  arose  as  to  who  were  properly 
the  detendants  in  the  case,  and  finally 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean  moved  thac  ihe  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky be  legaided  as  the  othor  party. 

At  the  request  of  Dr.  Gurley  the  appeals  in  the 
cases  were  then  read  lor  miormation,  as  follows  : 

In  Synod  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  j 
October,  18(!5.      S 

This  appeal  and  complaint:  of  Kobtit  J.  Breckin- 
ridge au<l  others,  against,  the  several  acts  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  the  matters  appearing  on 
the  records  of  thel'i'esbytery  of  Louisville  at  its 
recent  .session,  and  in  matters  contained  in  a  cer- 
tain printed  and  published  paper  entitled  ' '  Decla- 
ration and  feotimouy"  &c,  is  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  before  the  Ueuerjil  Assembly  ol  the  Church 
all  the  acts  and  doinirs  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
and  tlie  Presbytery  of  L'/iiisville,  and  the  makers, 
signers,  and  publishers  of  the  said  Declaration,  and 
Memorial  in  the  premises,  in  the  fullest  aod  most 
ample  manner,  that  all  the  subjects,  and  all  the 
partiea  be  brought  betore  the  said  General  Assem- 
bly. And  the  object  of  doing  this  is,  that  tne 
General  Assembly  may  redress  the  wrongs  done, 
and  the  neglects  of  duty  deliberately  comuiitted 
by  the  said  Synod,  and  by  a  casual  majority  of  said 
Presbytery — and  that  it  may  censure,  as  its  right- 
eous judgment  may  deem  proper,  the  sintul  acts 
of  the  parlies  brought  before  ihe  Synod  by  a  minute 
proposed  to  it  by  the  sail  Robert  J.  Breckinridge, 
and  rejected  by  the  t-jnod,  in  part  by  the  votes  of 
theparties  engaged.  And  the  reasons  of  this  ap- 
peal and  complaint,  are  the  same  reasons  f^tated  in 
the  papifT  above  mentioned  of  Robert  J.  Breckin- 
ridge oflered  to  Synod,  together  with  the  furiher 
reasons  that  the  purity,  peace  and  continued  pros- 
perous existence  of  Presbyterianism  in  the 
bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  demands 
the  early  and  eflective  interposition  of  the  General 
Assembly,  in  ttie  way  of  direct  action  Doth  upon 
the  individual  office  bearers,  who  are  in  avowed 
contempt  and  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the 
Church  and  against  its  teachings,  and  upon  "Church 
courts  who  not  only  neglect  to  censure  such  rebel- 
lion, disorder,  heresy  and  schism,  but  openly  con- 
nive at  the  existence  thereof;  wherefor  tnis  appeal 
and  complaint  in  open  Synod. 

Signed  by  ROBERT  J.  BRECKINRIDGE, 

And  others. 

This  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  undersigned 
members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  against  certain 
acts  of  thai  court,  in  the  matter  of  the  appeal  and 
complaint  of  J.  P.  McMillan  against  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville,  then  defending  before  the  Synod, 
is  for  the  purpose  ot  bringing  belore  the  General 
Assembly  the  said  Synod  and  in  said  acts  of  i-ecorJ 
in  the  premises,  and  of  bringing  likewise  before  the 
Assembly  the  conduct  of  certain  members  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  acting  in  Synod  m  the 
name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  which  con- 
duct the  Synod,  instead  of  censuring  as  it  de- 
served, gave  efficacy  to  by  allowmg  it  not  oidy 
to  pass  without  any  disapproving  notice,  but 
by  immediately  po.stponing,  till  the  next  annual 
meeting  of  the  Synod^  the  case  of  McMillan  against 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  ihtn  already  advanced 
to  ttie  fourth  stage  of  actual  trial  prei^cribed  in  the 
standards  of  the  Church.  The  members  ol  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  desiiined  to  be  reached  by 
this  proceeding,  are  those  twenty  individuals  whose 
names  are  signi-d  to  a  paper  laid  before  the  Synod, 
When  the  Presbytery  complained  of  was  called  on 
to  respond  to  the  complainant  of  McMillan — which 
pauer  is  part  of  the  record  in  this  case,  and  is  made 
part  of  tnis  anpeal  and  complaint.  And  the  effect, 
as  to  those  twenty  persons,  of  this  proceeding  on 
their  part,  and  tne  censure,  if  any,  proper  to  be  in- 
flicted on  them;  therefore,  the  Assembly  is  prayed 
10  determine  atid  adjudge.  And  the  nature  and  de- 
serts ot  the  conduct  of  the  Synod  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  in  bieajjing 
up  the  trial  in  the  midst,  upon  the  fliiog 
of  said  written  declaration  by  said  twenty  persons — 
thus  giuQg  a  year's  further  time  for  the  working  of 
mischief  in  our  Church  and  all  our  congregjtions, 

0    S— 10 


by'the  heretical  and  rebellious  "Declaration  and 
Testimony,  &c  ,"  against  which  McMdlan's  coin- 
plttint  was  being  tried,  is  vvtiat  the  At— 
serably  is  also  prayed  to  determine,  adjure 
and  correct.  The  Synod  refused,  in  tbe 
first  place,  to  do  anything  touching  the  jjersons  <.f 
thf  parties  engaged  in  organized  disturbance  ot  the 
Churcti  and  rebellion  ag^iinst  its  authority;  aud  <iie 
appeal  and  complaint  ol  RibwrtiJ.  Ureokinridg'* 
and  others  was  taKen  from  that  action,  as  is  pUCfd 
to  be  tried  by  the  Assembly,  in  Counectiou  vvitii 
this  appeal  and  complaint  against  the  third  pro- 
ceeding of  the  Synod,  in  reiusing,  as  hereinbeiore 
!-et  forth,  to  try  and  adjudge  the  matters  contained 
in  said  "Deliverarce  and  Testimony."  In  the 
second  action  of  the  Synod  in  the  matter  of  the  gen- 
eral disrubance  creaieil  oy  ihat  "Deliverance  an  I 
Testimony,"  its  authors,  though  it  coudemut-d,  by 
the  aid  of  those  making  this  and  ihe  lOiUler  appeal 
and  complaint,  acts  an^i  proposals  of  tliat  heretical 
aud  rebellious  publiCition  aud  us  authors.  It  re- 
fuses to  do  even  this  much,  unless  m  connection 
Willi  such  measuies  of  siuiuitaoeous  action  agaiiipt 
the  acts  ot  the  General  Assembly  lor  live yenra  past, 
as  was  clearly  indicative  of  the  vieivs  and  intenrioni 
which  c;  nirolledthe  ai!ts  of  the  Synod,  wnich  are 
the  special  ground  of  this  appeal  and  complaint,  and 
for  the  reasons,  and  with  the  objects,  and  to  correct 
the  great  evils  t  ereinbefore  set  forth  in  this  appeal 
and  complaint  to  the  General  Assembly. 

In  Synod  at  Louisville,  Ky  ,  Oct.  2  i,  1865. 

ROBERT  J.  BRECKINRIDGE  aud  others. 

Dr.  William  Breckinridge  said  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  but  he  had  never  been  n 
party  lo  this  matter,  further  than  that,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  thai  Synoii,  he  voted  against  a  single  resolu- 
tion The  Book  of  Discipliu"  declared  that  thev 
should  hear  the  original  parties  to  an  appeal.  He 
had  nothing  to  do  with  tne  original  parties,  and 
there  were  none  here  except  the  appellants.  He 
hoped  the  unreasonableness  of  the  motion  to  make 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  an  original  party  would  be 
understood. 

Without  coming  to  any  decision  on  the  motion  the 
Assembly  adjourned  to  three  and  a  half  o'clock. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

The  Moderator  called  the  Assembly  to  order. 

Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  from  the  conimirtee  to  convey 
salutations  from  the  Assembly  to  the  New  School 
Assembly,  made  the  following  report: 

The  committee  appointed  to  convey  the  saluta- 
tions of  this  body  to  the  Assembly  holding  its  ses- 
sions in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  report  that 
they  have  discharged  the  duty  assigned  them;  that 
their  reception  by  that  Assembly  was  eminently 
kind  and  fraternal;  and  that  the  response  made  to 
the  salutations  of  this  Assembly  was  of  a  character 
suited  greatly  to  encourage  the  hope  that  at  no  very 
distant  day  these  two  brauchea  of  the  great  Presby- 
terian familv  will  become  organically  one;  all  which 
is  respectfully  submitted.      P.  D,  GURLEY, 

LINCOLN  CLARK, 
Committee. 

The  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Synodlcal  Rec- 
ords reported  the  following  as  approved:  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Northern  Indiana  and  VVisconsin — save  a 
few  pages  of  the  latter,  where  there  is  a  neglect  to 
state  that  the  Synod  adjourned  «  ith  prayer. 

Mr.  Galloway  moved  that  the  judicial  casein  re- 
gard to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  be  recommitted  to 
the  Judicial  Committee,  with  in**tructions  to  report 
a  fuller  and  clearer  statement  of  its  nature  and  con- 
dition, and  especially  to  describe  the  parties  in  the 
case. 

Or.  Gurley  hoped  the  motion  would  not  prevail. 
There  weie  two  appeals  and  complaints.  On-i 
originated  in  the  Synod  of  Keiitu(;k\  ;  in  the  other 
Dr.  Breckinridge  introduced  a  p^per  touching  he 
status  of  gentlemen  wno  had  .-.igutd  the  Dec:axi- 
fion  and  Testimony, which  he  had  urged  the  Synod 
to  adopt.  They  refused,  and  from  that  decision  he 
appeals.  There  c*n  be  no  doubt  but  that  Dr 
Brei'.kinridge  and  the  Synoi  of  Kentucky  are  the 
parties  in  tnat  case,  inere  i^  auorhei.  appeal  or 
complaint.  Mr.  McMillan  appeals  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  in  me  Syu  d  of  KeLiucfey,  au4 


•^o 


the  matter  of  that  appeal  is  very  much  the  same  as 
iscontftiiicd  in  the  paper  of  Dr.  lireckinridge.  The 
SyiioU  towards  the  cloae  of  its  session,  alter  they 
had  refused  lo  adopt  Dr.  Breckingridge's  pa- 
per, and  after  iliey  had  adopted  a  paper 
ot  th.ir  own  ou  tlie  same  "suhject,  took 
lip  thi^  case  and  deferred  aajiidicating' 
ir,  until  tlie  next  meetiu;^  of  the  Synod.  l)r.  Jlreck- 
inridge  ajipetfled  from  that  decision.  The  simple 
issue  m  tins  case  is  between  Dr.  Urcckinridge  and 
tlie  Synod.  The  Judicial  Committee  has  thou<rht 
that  the  parties  in  ttiis  case  are  manifestly  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky  and  Dr.  Breckinriilge,  and  that  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  has  no  connection  with  tlie 
issue  now  (o  be  tried.  Their  case  is  sail  pemling 
before  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

Mr.  Galloway  said  that  was  a  clear  statement, 
and  if  it  had  been  made  sooner  it  would  have  saved 
much  speaking.  He  tbought,  however,  the  case 
should  be  referred.  The  issues  involved  were  sub- 
sianiially  the  same.  The  oflending  party  was  ihe 
Louisville  Presbytery.  Dr.  lireckinridge  desired 
to  have  the  Synod  ui  iieutucky  visited  with  proper 
condemnation  for  not  acting  as  tUey  ought  to  bave 
done.  His  sympathies  were  with  Dr.  H.,  but  they 
had  bad  anoiit  enougti  of  Kentucky  before  ihe  As- 
sembly and  he  wanted  to  dispose  of  one  case  before 
they  cookuij  another.  He  believed,  if  the  report  of 
the  committee  in  reference  tu  the  Louisville  Presby- 
tery Was  adopted,  the  house  woula  be  satished. 

Dr.  Boaraiuan  said  there  was  another  con- 
sideratiDu  why  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Loui.-ville  Presbytery  should  hrst  be  taken  uu,  viz: 
That  in  all  deliberate  bodies  questions  pertaining  to 
the  personal  rights  of  the  members  of  the  house  had 
precedence. 

Dr.  15!  eckinridge  asked  to  be  permitted  to  make  a 
personal  explanaiion. 

The  Moderator  decided  th-..t  he  was  not  in  order, 
nor  being  a  member  of  the  Assembly. 

Dr.  Breckinridge  remarked  that  the  Moderator 
had  a  singular  facility  of  deciding  one  way  at  one 
time  and  another  way  at  anocUer  time. 

Kev.  Rr.  Andereou.  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order. 

Dr.  Br<  ckinridge.  I'ou  rise  to  a  point  ot  .  rder ! 

The  M'jderaior  .■stated  tiiat  he  bail  already  decided 
that  Dr.  Breckinridge  was  not  entitled  to  the  flocr. 

Dr.  Breckinridge.  Well,  sir,  when  lam  hrow- 
beateo  in  the  Assembly,  first  by  the  Moderator,  and 
then  by  a  traitor,  1  have  nothing  more  to  say. 

Tne  Moderator.  Ishouluhave  made  this  uecision 
in  respect  to  any  other  member. 

Mr.  Day  moved  that  Dr.  Breckinridge  be  allowed 
to  make  his  statement.  It  was  due  to  bim  on  account 
of  Uis  age  and  reputation  ttiat  he  should  be  allowed 
to  state  his  objections  at  being  thus  turned  out. 

Tlie  Modei-ator.  There  is  no  disposition  to  turn 
him  out.  Tne  question  is  simply  ou  instructing  the 
comtnitiee  on  certain  points. 

Mr.  Day.  I  meant  by  turninghimout,turninghim 
over. 

Kev.  Dr.  West  inquired  whether  or  not  Dr.  Krebs 
ought  to  be  in  the  chair. 

'Ihe  Moderator  Slated  that  if  the  Assembly  were 
sitting  in  a  judicial  capacity  Dr.  Krebs  would  occu- 
py the  cnair. 

Kev.  Mr.  Grimes  said  ordinarily  he  would  vote 
for  the  motion,  but  as  Dr.  Breckinridge  had  insulted 
the  Moderator  and  then  branded  one  of  the  mem- 
bers as  a  traitor,  he  should  oppose  it,  believing  tne 
dignity  ot  the  bodv  required  it. 

l>r.  McLean  said  no  one  desired  to  hear  Dr. 
Breckinriuge  more  than  himself,  and  by  referring 
this  to  the  Judicial  Committee  they  by  no  means 
jiut  an  end  to  this  matter;  it  was  simply  a  matter 
of  convenience.  They  were  now  in  a  position  to  go 
on  with  a  report  of  tne  committee,  and  when  that 
was  disposed  of  they  couJd  take  up  this  case  and 
finish  it. 

Kev.  Mr.  Ferguson  felt  that  they  should  not  grant 
Dr.  Breckmridge,  with  ail  his  aignity,  power  and 
greatness,  aheadug  on  this  occisiou.  If  brethren 
were  very  anxious  tj  hear  him,  they  could  hear  liim 
fro'u  the  steps  of  the  ctuircii.  He  made  a  motion 
tbis  morning  ib'it  they  should  not  hear  him  in  the 
half  hour  tuat  they  did.  It  was  ihrougb  tbe  courte- 
8V  of  tbe  house  that  be  spcke,  and  he  thought  tbat 
he  traaSfjressed  on  their  iiatici.ca. 

Key  I  Dr.   Anderson.  J  riae  to  a  priyileged  ques- 


tion. I.  sir,  when  the  Moderator  was  informed  by 
a  person  not  of  this  body  that  he  had  a  facility' lu 
deciding  lir.-t  on  onesidi;  and  then  on  the  other,  rose 
to  a  point  of  order,  and  the  v>oiut  of  order  I  aimed 
to  make  was,  th  it  our  Moderator  could  not  be  in- 
sulted, either  by  a  member  or  liy  oik^  who  was  here 
as  an  appellant.  The  answer  to  that  was  a  repeti- 
tion ot  the  insult  to  our  presiding  oftlcer,  and  the 
application  to  me  of  an  epithet  which  I  will  not 
bear.  I  was  called  a  traitor.  1  stand  here,  sir,  to 
say— and  1  wi.sh  to  be  heard  by  every  person  in  this 
Assembly — that  I  hereprououce  that  statement  as 
false  and  slanderous. 

The  Moderator.  I  am  requested^  to  state  on  be- 
half of  Dr.  Breckinridge  that  he  wished  to  make  a 
personal  explanation.  The  vote  was  taken  and  the 
motion  to  permit  Dr.  Breckinridge  to  make  a  per- 
sonal explanation  was  lo.it. 

Tbe  Moderator  then  vacated  the  Chair.  Dr. 
Krebs  took  possession  of  it,  and  the  judicial  case 
in  regard  to  the  Sy  nod  of  Kentucky  was  taken  up. 

In  response  to  a>i  inquiry  of  Dr.  Hun'iphrey,  tbe 
Moderator  pro  tein.  decided  that  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky could  be  beard  as  members  of  an  inferior  ju- 
dicatory. After  tlie  reading  ot  the  papers  in  the  case 
according  to  the  Book  of  Dicipline,  the  Moderator 
pro  tcm.  said  t'le  next  stage  in  the  proceed- 
ings was  to  inquire  who  were  the  jiar- 
ties.  There  being  no  response.  Dr.  Stanton  came 
forward  and  said  there  was  an  arrangement 
on  the  pare  of  the  appellant,  by  wiiich  he  should 
speak  hrst.  He  cominued:  I  have  concluded,  sir, 
as  there  are  four  persons  present  as  appellants',  be- 
side myself,  to  take  no  part  in  the  case  for  reasons 
whi(;h  may  apjiear  obvious. 

Dr.  Breckinridge.  I  bave  an  explanation  which  I 
would  like  to  maue,  if  I  am  at  liberty  to  do  so.  By 
an  arrangennnit  by  three  appellants  ot  this  Cdse,  the 
work  mutually  assigned  to  them  was,  as  it  regards 
Dr.  Stanton,  that  which  he  now  refuses  to  perform 
and  says  it  IS  tor  reasons  tbat  are  obvious.  Of  that 
each  one  may  judge  for  hmiselt.  For  my  part  I  am 
not  surprised  that  he  does  so.  1  had  my  doubts 
always  Whether  he  would  do  it.  His  having  tailed 
to  do  tbe  part  assiirned  him,  renders  it  impossible 
lor  anybody  else  to  do  it,  because  it  was  the  devel- 
oijment  of  the  testimony  and  the  settling  of  the 
question  as  to  which  is  the  te.-timony,  which  is  an 
extremely  dilHcult  question.  Three  days  were  spent 
in  reading  the  papers,  but  there  was  no  part  of  it 
tbat  was  in  a  proper  sense  testimony,  except 
the  reading  of  the  Declarati(m  and  Testimonv.  It 
occurred  to  me  tbat  it  would  be  a  very  great  burden 
upon  the  Assembly  to  spend  six  or  stven  hou  s  up- 
on this  work;  and  1  therefore  personally  requested 
Dr.  Sianton,  who  agreed  to  it,  to  mtike  an  analysis 
of  it,  bodi  as  to  maiters  that  fall  under  the  head  of  a 
general  rebellion  against  the  Church,  and  as  to  mat- 
ters that  were  ex  delictoe,  wrong  in  themselves  and 
to  lay  that  paper,  as  a  part  ot  tbe  case,  before  the 
Assembly;  which  paper  I  think  was  drawn  up  for 
1  know  1  had  a  copy  of  it.  It  did  nut  occur  to  me 
that  when  a  man  was  tried  tor  tbe  contents  of  a 
book,  as  for  example,  Mr.  Barnes,  on  which  trial 
I  happened  to  sit,  that  the  whole  book  had  to  be 
read.  Some  boots  are  very  large  as  well  as  very 
empty.  I  supposed  that  the  order  of  the  court 
would  be,  that  having  the  pamphlet  betore  it  any 
part  of  it  cuuld  be  read  that  was  demanded  and 
then  having  a  syllibus  of  thejipomts  relied  on  the 
book,  it  would  be  like  a  demurrer.  In  one  respect 
it  Would  coniess  they  had  notiung  to  allege  agamst 
the  beaiiUKS  of  the  paper.  If  ibey  did  not  choose  to 
take  it  in  that  lorni,  it  was  their  ovmi  option  that 
they  have  tbe  piper  read.  We  decided  that  was 
ttie  best  we  could  do— put  them  in  possession  cf  the 
things  complained  of.  Dr.  Stanton  has  declined  to 
do  bis  part,  and  I  think  for  very  obvious  reasons 
but  not  the  reasons  that  he  alludes  to.  It  is  obvi- 
ous to  you  that,  with  a  perfect  understanding  of  so 
many  signers  of  that  part  of  tne  complaint,  having 
had  anytniug  to  do  with  it,  nobody  is  prepared  to 
tupply  this  deficiency.  Dr.  Landis  was  to  do 
another  service  in  the  case  as  one  of  its  ori  'inal 
complainants,  and  I  w^s;to  do  uuother,  ortieruigit 
ID  such  a  Wdy,  that  while  we  pr-seuled  the  caoo 
fully,  we  might  not  weary  the  patience  of  the  body. 
All  tne  balance  that  was  read  as  testimony,  as  far 
as  my  memory  now  serves  me,  was  law— an  atttmpt 


71 


on  our  part  briffly  to  ]fly  down  the  law  from  the 
books  of  the  Church.  The  case,  for  instance,  of 
the  original  protest  in  1861,  in  which  yo<i.  will  find 
the  seeds  of  nearly  all  the  Mreuments  that  have 
been  brought  against  the  acti'.n  of  the  Church 
from  ih^t  day  to  this ;  and  which,  as  U,  has  bpen 
most  elaborately  and  with  unprec-iiented  ability 
discussed,  in  a  series  of  articles  by  Dr.  West  in 
the  Presbytt.iian,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  analyze 
here,  even  it  I  were  soiug  into  the  ease,  which  I  am 
not.  My  judgment  is,  that  by  rpadiiig  the  sylabus 
that  has  been  mad6,  and  having  the  pajjer  before  as 
accessible  to  the  house,  it  is  all  suflicieut  for  justice 
to  both  sides. 

I  wish  to  make  one  slight  explanation  here,  on  the 
action  of  1861,  and  my  connection  with  it.  I  liad 
made  ao  explanation  upon  a  protest  against  that 
action,  which  was  drawn  up  with  great  ability,  and 
which  contained  all  the  heresy  and  all  the  treason 
that  has  been  preached  in  the  Church  on  that  sub- 
ject, in  its  germ.  I  do  not  Mean  to  say  who  are 
traitors.  In  regard  to  my  brother  who  took  such 
high  dudgeon  in  regard  to  a  plain  truth,  there  are 
some  other  small  matters  of  much  more  recent  date, , 
which  I  may  take  occasion  to  allude  to  hereafter.  I 
unde;stand  that  fighting  mrans  death,  and  there- 
fore I  never  fight  if  I  can  helij  it,  and  I  never  give 
unnecessray  offense,  which  everybody  will  tell 
yon  that  has  quarreled  with  me,  and  that 
Hint  a!  few.  [Laughter.  1  Dr. r  Humphrey  and 
myself  and  two  elders  that  are  here  present  on 
this  floor,  ajreed  upon  a  report  to  the  f^yncif., 
which  was  adopted  with  an  amendment,  that  the 
Synod  did  not  approve  of  that  act.  Neither  did  I, 
and  1  gave  my  reuse  ns  for  it  in  my  report  to  Synod. 
Therea-iOn  was  this:  I  attempted  to  supply  a  de- 
fect iu  the  act  of  1862,  which  1  drew  up  in"  the  As- 
sembly of  1862.  My  judgment  is  that  the  duty  of 
loyalty  is  a  relative  duty,  and  the  Govern- 
msnt  is  as  much  bound  to  protect  the  man 
of  whom  it  requires  loyalty,  as  the  man  is 
to  be  loyal  to  the  Government  whose  protection  he 
seeks.  The  act  of  1861  mdiscriminattly  laid  upon 
the  whole  ctiurch,  the  duty  of  a  day  of  prayer  tor 
the  Government, — a  dory  of  patriotism,  but  a  duty 
in  the  performance  of  which,  every  man  in  the  se- 
ceded States  was  bound  to  lay  down  his  life  in 
obedience  totlie  General  Assembly.  I  knew  it,  and 
the  A.''sembly  might  have  known  it.  If  they  did 
not  do  this  tiiev  were  liable  to  have  their  property 
conflscnted  and  their  lives  torfeited.  Well,  I 
thought  It  was  a  case  which  the  Assembly 
ought  to  have  remembered,  and  there- 
fore, in  drawing  up  the  minutes  of 
1862,  I  endeavored  to  see  to  it  that  every  man  had 
distributed  to  him  things  new  and  old  according  to 
his  proportion.  As  for  loyalty,  if  there  was  any 
man  in'this  world  that  was  loyal,  I  recKonI  ought 
to  be  counted  in  that  category.  God  knows  I  have 
suffered  out  of  the  Church  and  in  tlie  Church,  and 
to-day  I  have  the  indignity  heaped  upon  me  of  be- 
ing refustd  to  make  a  personal  exi.ilana'ion,  for 
that  was  all  I  wanted  But  I  was  speaking  in 
deference  to  that  minute.  I  have  been  charged 
from  that  day  to  this  with  being  disloyal,  and  two 
people  have  done  it  on  this  platform  since  I  have 
been  here.  I  had  compassion  on  their  ignorance 
and  said  nothing.     VVheu  it  was  Drought  into  this 


house  brother  Humphrey  moved  to  amend  thii 
laoguagp,  which  he  said  was  contrary  to  reason 
and  the  Word  of  God,  I  was  extremely  anxious  to 
l)reserve  that  Synod  in  peace,  so  that  wh'-ii  we  we.'-e 
done  with  War  "we  might  go  and  do  our  work,  no 
matter  which  party  triumphed  I  reol<0'x  1  erred 
in  that  respect,  for  I  stood  where  I  out'bt  not 
to  have  stood.  I  found  I  had  rtnally 
to  perish  or  fight  somewhere;  then  as  far  as  T  could 
by  myself,  I  commenced  this  fight  which  I  see  i.-^ 
being  lost  here  to-day,  and  which,  if  lost,  I 
shall  hold  this  Assembly  responsible  to  the  coun- 
try and  God  for  its  being  lost— lost  by  the  misman- 
asement  of  its  friends,  acd  by  the  betrayal  of  its 
cause  by  the  Moderator.  Now  interrupt  me  if  you 
like  [audressing  Dr.  Anderson.] 

Kev.  Dr.  Ander-son.  I  do  not  intend  that  the  dig- 
nity of  this  house  shall  be  insulted. 

Dr.  Breckinridge.  I  beg  pardon,  I  would  as 
soon  think  of  boxing  the  jaws  of  my  venerAbie 
mother,  after  calling  her  back  trom  the  grave,  as  to 
insult  this  As.sembly. 

The  Moderatori>ro  tern.  It  is  the  7)rovince  of  the 
Chair  to  restrain  any  member  from  personal  reflec- 
tions. 

Dr.  Breckinridge.  I  have"  said  the  worst  I  in- 
tended to  say. 

Rev.  Dr.  Anderson.  I  am  prepared  for  any  reve- 
lations that  may  be  made  here  or  elsewhere. 

Dr.  Breckinridge.  Well,  sir,  I  think  you  are  pre- 
pared for  most  anything,  by  what  you  have  done 
heretofore. 

The  Moderator.  The  gentleman  must  not  indulge 
iu  personal  reflections. 

Dr.  Breckinridge.  Well,  sir,  I  want  to  go  on 
with  what  little  voice  I  have  left.  I  am  a  vei-y 
bad  subject  to  be  browbeaten.  I  am  done,  and  will 
now  tase  back  as  much  as  possible.  I  only  desire 
to  say  tbat  is  the  history  of^ that  act  of  1861  in  con- 
nection with  me.  Now  you  will  find  these  papers 
beariiiK  clear  back  to  the  act  of  1861.  Therefore,  on 
that  I  have  nothing  further  to  say.  So  fa,r  as  this 
case  is  concerned,  as  I  understand  it,  it  is  now  in  a 
posture  that  it  cannot  be  issued.  It  has  been  put 
into  the  hands  of  a  court  which  has  been  sworn. 
It  is  not  io  the  possession  of  the  house  as  a  legisla- 
tive bod  J'.  It  has  been  made  the  special 
order,  and  was  directed  to  be  iiroceeded 
witn.  I  suggested  to  the  Moderator  that  we 
had  better  go  on  with  our  business.  He 
said  it  was  the  habit  to  do  so  Then  somebody 
brought  up  this  other  case  which  had  no  right  to  su- 
persede this  case.  This  case  had  been  delivered  to 
the  court;  the  court  had  been  sworn,  and  there  was 
another  presiding  officer,  and  yet  the  other  business 
was  proceeded  with,  and  when  I  got  up,  merely  to 
make  a  personal  explanation,  I  was  told  I  could  take 
no  part  in  the  case  in  that  condition  of  it.  I  did  not 
recognize  it  to  be  before  the  tribunal  in  that  form. 
I  think  clearly  and  manifestly  it  was  not,  and  what 
astonished  me,  when  I  rose  to  say  this  much,  I  was 
ordered  to  sit  down;  and  what  surprised  me  still 
more  was,  that  the  brother  before  me  should  jump 
up  and  help  the  Moderator  with  a  point  of  order. 

Dr.  Breckinridge  continued  at  some  length  in  vin- 
dication of  his  course,  and  at  the  coaclusion  of  his 
remarks,  the  Assembly  adjourned. 


72 


TENTH   DAY— TUESDAY,   MAY   29,    1866. 


The  ARseaibly  met  at  the  ntnal  hour. 

The  minufes  of  yesterday  were  read. 

Rf-v.  Dr.  Weslmovfd  to  amend  the  minutes  po  as 
ton^nke  it  Hjipear  that  urder  trie  decision  oftlie 
Hi>ii!-f,  as  to  who  the  oriKinal  parties  were  of  the 
judiciiii  ca-e  from  Kentiicky,  Dr.  Breckinridge  de- 
clined to  plend 

Rev.  Dr.  Nevins  moved  an  amendment  to  the 
nnienflniei  t.  He  liappened  to  remember  the  very 
wordH  with  which  Dr.  Breckinrid{;e  closed'  liis 
Kpeech,  which  were  tliat  on  account  of  the  form  in 
which  this  matter  was  presented  before  the  Asi-em- 
iily  liii  self-respect  would  not  permit  him  to  argue 
tiie  merits  of  the  case.  He  (Dr.  H.)  moved  to  in- 
t-ert  that  he  declined  to  argue  the  case  on  accouut 
oi  the  form  io  which  it  was  presented  betore  the  As- 
t-emhly. 

R«-v.  Dr.  West  desired  that  this  house  should  not 
assume  the  responsioiliry  of  driving  Dr.  Breckin- 
ridKe  from  the  case,  as  the  minutes  would  seem  to 
imply. 

Mr.  Swallow  moved  that  the  amendments  be  laid 
upon  the  table.     The  motion  was  lost. 

Mr  Swallow  then  said  be  hoped  the  motion  to 
amend  would  not  prevail.  He  thought  if  they  as- 
signee! all  the  reasons  given  by  Dr.  Breckenridge 
why  be  did  nor-  prosecute  the  case,  they  would  have 
to  a.'isiirn  e  gut  or  ten  which  were  given  in  the  course 
of  his  spei  ch. 

During  tiie  remarks  of  Mr.  Swallow  a  demand 
■was  made  for  the  question,  whereupon  a  member 
arose,  an<i  said  be  hoped  the  speaker  would  not  be 
interi  upted,  as  he  was  t'dking  as  good  sense  as  any 
other  L'entleiuan. 

Mr.  Swallow  resumed  his  remarks,  saying  there 
were  Certain  gentlemen  who  took  it  upon  themselves 
ta  be  the  teachers  of  the  Assembly — that  he  had 
said  all  that  he  desired  to  say,  and  he  was  perfectly 
willing  those  gentlemen  who  were  so  fond  6t  teach- 
ing the  Assembly,  should  go  on  and  instruct  them 
to  the  end. 

Dr.  McLean  desired  to  know  if  it  was  in  order  to 
refer  ttie  mat tir  to  a  committee.  He  moved  to  re- 
fir  the  matter  to  prepare  a  minute. 

Mr.  Day  thought  the  clerk  was  able  to  keep  the 
minutes  properly,  and  he  thought  the  minute  in  the 
case  was  proper.  It  did  not  attempt  to  assign  all 
the  reasons,  and  the  reasons  could  not  be  assigned 
without  a  reference  to  the  whole  speech.  It  would 
not  be  fair  to  emit  one  reason  and  insert  others, 
and  it  was  not  proper,  he  thought,  to  give  all  the 
reasons  that  Dr.  Breckinridge  gave.  The  old  gen- 
tleman was  in  some  respects  under  excitement,  and 
they  might  well  pardon  him;  but  he  said  things 
which  the  speaker  thought  were  censurable,  and  if 
compelled  to  do  so  he  should  be  obliged  to  vote  to 
that  eff<ct. 

A  motion  was  made  for  the  previous  question, 
which  was  aereed  to. 

The  question  then  being  on  approvinsr  the  min- 
utes as  read,  a  vote  was  taken  and  the  miuutes  ap- 
proved. 

The  following  report  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Narrative  was  adopted : 

Fatliefs  an<l  Brethren:  Yonr  Committee  on  the  Nar- 
rative of  the  state  of  religion  In  tne  «  hurch,  made  the 
followinfr  report: 

\V  e  have  received  narratives  of  relfgioa,  more  or  less 
fill)— =!onie  far  too  extended  and  dllfuse,  otljergmuch 
too  meagreand  unsatisfactory,  i'rom  9()of  the  130  Pres- 
byteries connected  -wltn  the  Genend  Aesemnlj ,  includ- 
iLg  one  of  tlie  Presbs  teries  in  (ulni,  the  Presbvtery  of" 
Califoruia,  within  whose  b  muds  are  many  thousand 
(  lunese,  aim  the  yynod  of  northern  India:  and.  having 
examined  Iheui.  leel  that  the  (liurch  has  most  abun- 
dant reason  to  thank  God  and  take  courage.  iS  ojwhere 
does  the  word  of  the  Lord  s«=em  to  be  jrolng  backward, 
and  in  many  places  it  is  evidently  jLOlng  forward  nlori- 
ouslj . 

From  the  reports,  and  from  other  sources,  we  lejirn 
that,  notwithstanding  the  embarrassments  and  in- 
creased expenses  consequent  upon  the  high  price  of  ex- 
change, the  Church  has  abandoned  no  work  In  heathen 


lands  for  the  want  of  either  men  or  nirrfiy,  and  that 
detachmect  of  faithful  men  and  women  have  constant  - 
ly  been  Koii  e  forward  t j  lake  the  places  of  those  who 
have  fallen  at  their  posts,  or  have  been  withdrawn  be- 
caufe  of  fiiilicfi  heuitli  J>  nd  tlitre  are  eacourat'n:;  in- 
dications throughout  the  heatlien  world  thalheathet- 
Ism  is  helnK  shaken,  and  will,  ere  long,  he  shaken  to 
pieces  and  restroyed.  What  shall  then  follow  we  can- 
noteay.  There  is,  thereto!  e,  a  loud  call  to  the  f  burih 
to  send  forward  soeedily  more  men  to  take  advantage 
01  tnese  auspicious  evenis  for  Jtsiis  Christ. 

Our  frontier  Presbyteries  report  (iro/ress-  Not  in- 
deed such  projrress  as  we  could  wish,  for  but  few  of  them 
report  revivals,  and  all  of  them  need  much  more  money 
and  many  more  men;  but  progress  In  the  plimtlug  of 
new  ch  irches,  in  the  strengthening  of  those  already 
planted,  and  ii  the  preaching  of  the  Go^pel  in  many 
new  pioueer  settlements  in  the  wilderness 

In  the  olderStates  the  older  Presbyteries,  with  scarce- 
ly an  excention,  speak  of  revivals;  many  of  them 
of  revivals  of  greit  power,  in  which,  in  the 
aggregate,  thousands  of  ptecious  souls  have  b»en 
converted  to  Christ.  Of  the  nlnetv-one  Pres- 
hyierlts  tnat  have  seut  up  narratives  seventj  -two  re- 
port revivals,  and  f  o-ue  of  them  state  that  nearly  every 
one  01  their  churches  have  snaieo  In  the  blessed  w-  rK 
Your  committee  believes  tha6  outside  of  our  gre.it  cities 
the  revival  of  the  past  ecclesiastic  1  ye»r  exceeds  in 
universality  ami  power  that  of  1857  and  1858.  In  the 
Preshytertes  <if  Donegal,  t  larion,  Washington,  New 
Brunswick  Nevi  Castle.  \\  est  Jersey.  Northumber- 
land, fu'^quehannf  h.  Red  Stone,  Chillicothe  ar  d  M. 
Clatisviil  the  power  of  the  Spirit  has  been  manifested 
inan  especial  and  ex  Inordinary  manner  lu  ihese, 
and  in  some  otter  Presbyteries,  the  additions  to  many 
of  the  Churches  have  already  beeu  from  fifty  up  to  more 
than  a  iiundred  perEons,  and  in  a  number  of  them  the 
ge>od  work  is  still  going  forwarii  la  these  revivlngs 
our  schools  and  colleges  and  our  female  seminaries 
have  shared  argely.  Hundredi-  of  young  men 
and  young  women  in  them  have  been  converted,  and 
it  is  reported  that  many  of  these  Christian 
young  men  have  devoted  tiiems  elves  to  the 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry;  not  a  few  of 
them,  including  in  thei'  consecration  the  purpose, Gol 
willing,  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen.  In 
this  connection  your  committee  would  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  nearly  all  of  these  revivals— certainly 
nine- tenths  of  them— began  with  or  onginated  In  the 
week  of  prayer  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  or  the  day 
of  prayer  for  schools,  colleges,  etc  ,  on  the  last  ihurs- 
day  of  February. 

Itwasfeared  by  somethatourdlsbanded  and  retujned 
Soldiers  would  bring  with  them  to  their  homes  and 
communities  so  many  of  the  vices  of  tlie  camp  and  the 
army  as  to  make  them  the  polluters  of  society  and  the 
scourges  of  the  t  hurch.  But  this  fear,  thank"God  I  has 
not  been  realized  to  any  conslderatle  extent  -ome  of 
the  bad  have,  indeed,  returned  worse,  and  someof  the 
good  have  be.ome  corrupted;  but  to  counterbalance 
this,  and  far  more  than  countertalauoe  it,  hundreds 
aye,  thousands,  who  went  Into  the  army  sinners,  have 
returned  from  It  Chrisjians.  ani.  others  have  sim  e  be- 
come Christians,  and  others,  in  their  increase i  manli- 
ness and  a  spirit  of  obedience,  give  better  promise  than 
before  of  becoming  good  tolaiers  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Another  evidence  of  the  presence  of  the  sprit  of  God 
in  the  Church  we  see  in  this  go.ng  fo'th  of  the  hearts  of 
our  people  toward  visible  union  wlih  other  .  fcrlstians, 
especially  with  those  ot  our  own  faith  and  name.  J  here 
seems  t)  be  a  growing  and  strengthening  desire  with 
our  people  to  get  n- ar  to  and  Into  closer  communion 
with  those  of  other  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
(  hurch  who  hold  with  us  tlie  form  of  sound  woi  us  i  he 
strong  c  nviction  oi  tens  of  thousanrts  in  tlie  (hurch 
seems  to  be,  that  In  the  great  light  in  which  we  are  en- 
gaged, and  the  greater  tight  Deureus  with  rltuilism, 
rationalism,  worUiline^s  and  unpod  Iness,  those  whose 
faith  Is  the  same,  and  whose  Presbyterian  banner  is  the 
same,  should  comb  ne  and  ma  e  common  cause  for 
Jesus  Christ.  And  the  fact  that  we  do  uot  feei  thus  to- 
ward our  aforetime  bretliren  in  the  South,  who.  ''iiart- 
ly  by  ilsclpline  and  party  by  their  own  act,  have 
been  removed  from  us.'"  ia  not  to  be  interpreted  other- 
wise than  in  accordance  with  this  conclusion;  lor  our 
hearts  go  out  warmly  tiward  them,  and  could  we  see 
tliem  cordially  abandoning  their  two  darling  delusions 
—  (shall  we  not  say  sins?)— slavery  and  rebellion,  we 
Would  gladly  welcome  them  back  as  brethren  dearly 
beloved  In  the  Lord, 

Other  grounds  for  encouragement  and  thankfulness 
we  see  in  the  facts  that  many  of  our  churchss  have  paid 


73 


offold  Church  de'Dtg;  that  many  have  largely  Increased 
the  salaries  of  their  pastors:  that  many  are  entering 
■with  Increaseo  zeal  in  the  work  cf  Sabbata  school  ana 
Bible  class  lustruetion ;  that  many  are  awaklnf?  to  a 
duty  of  a  stricter  observance  of  the  Sabbrtti,  and  of 
a  more  determined  resistance  to  the  encroachments 
of  profanity,  intemperance,  -worldlniess  In  prolessing 
Christians,  and  other  cryinir  evils  of  the  times. 

t)t  course  tliere  are  discouragements;  but  these  are 
patent  to  tlieevesof  all. 

Upon  the  whole,  in  the  judgment  of  your  commit- 
tee, the  (..'hurch  liss  reason  lo  be  devoutly  grateful  to 
the  preat  Head  of  tlie  ('Uurch.  and  to  stir  up  ht-rself 
to  renewed  consecration  to  Him,  and  to  fresh  energy 
and  zeal  lu  His  Dlessed  work. 

So  few,  comparatively,  of  the  Tresbyterles  have 
sent  In  reoorts  on  tlie  subject  of  moneys,  that  your 
committee  have  nothing  to  say  on  the  suiijtct,  save 
only  as  a  nio^t  Important  ma4ter  to  commend  it  to 
the  consideration  of  the  Church 

FKEl'ERIOK  A.  BEOWN.  Chairman. 

Jtfr,  Lowln  read  the  report  o:'  the  Coonmlttee  on  Bills 
ana  Overlurps. 

Overture  No  14.  Being  a  paper  from  the  Presbyte- 
ries oi  Kiohlano,  Marion  and  Chh  ago,  and  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  T.  1>.  Harris  and  L.  J.  Haird,  i).  1)  ,  relating 
to  the  general  object  of  juaicial  cases. 

The  committee  recoiutueno, 

1st,  That  the  iTcaeral  Assembly  appoint  a  i  ommlttee 
of  three  ministers  at\d  three  elders,  to  whom  shall  be 
Intrusted  the  duty  of  preparing  a  new  IJonk  of  Dis- 
cipline, lo  be  submitted  to  the  General  Assemblj-  at 
such  time  as  its  careful  and  tliorough  prepiralion  may 
require;  the  reportsof  I'ornif  rcmamlttef  s  of  the  General 
Assembly  on  tnis  suhject  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
this  couiii  ittei  lor  tlielr  consideration. 

2d.  That  in  the  meantime,  until  this  new  Book  of 
Discipline  ^haU  have  r-re  ved  the  approval  of  the  I'res- 
b\terie9,  provisi  m  be  made  for  the  adjudication  of  iu- 
dicial  cases  bv  the  General  -  ssenjbly,  by  sending  to  the 
Presbyteries  for  their  approval  or  otherwise  the  fol- 
lowing overture,  viz: 

1.  The  General  Assembly,  on  the  nomination  of  its 
standing  Judicial  •  ominittee,  mav  appoint  from  the 
members  of  the  Assembly  a  judicial  comniissicu  or  ju- 
dicial commissions  as  maj  lie  required  to  try  during 
Its  sessions  the  judicial  ca-es  wliich  mav  coniebtfore 
the  Assembly;  thoT  proceedings  and  decisous  to  be 
subject  to  the  approval  of  tue  Assembly. 

2.'  I  hese  judicial  conimissiont  shall  la  their  proceed- 
ings be  governed  by  the  constitutional  piovis.ous  re- 
P4)ecting  judicial  processes  in  fo  far  as  thete  may 
apply. 

3.  Khe  change  in  the  method  of  trying  judicial  cases 
heretofore  in  use  which  this  Overture  purposes.  If 
adopted  by  a  suilicient  number  of  the  Presbyters,  shall 
govern  the  General  Assembly  of  ISOT  and  its  successors. 

Rev.  Dr.  Pratt  thought  there  should  be  appended 
to  the  piiper  the  reaeon.s  for  it,  put  in  clear  and 
forcible  light.  , 

Dr.  Humphrey  oflered  the  amendment  that  after 
the  words  ^'beotdo^n  to  the  Presbyteries,"  the 
■wiirLls  "  for  their  advice,"  in  ordt  r  to  show  the 
Presbyteries  that  it  is  not  sent  down  lor  their  ap- 
proval, so  that  by  their  approval  it  may  become  a 
part  of  the  Con.stitution,  but  simply  for  their  advice 
to  the  next  Assembly. 

Dr.  Luwrie  ihougiit  Dr.  Humphrey's  amendment 
ought  rather  to  be  in  the  form  of  a  substitute,  and 
had  better  take  that  shape.  This  was  intended 
merely  as  a  provisional  system,  to  be  in  force  only 
until  the  -new  book  of  discipline  is  finished. 

Dr.  Humphrey  was  pained  to  differ  from  Dr. 
Lowrie,  but  considered  that  a  provisional  auieiid- 
ment  to  our  system  was  something  unnatural  It 
was  to  be  remembered  that  there  was  before  the 
Assembly  the  proposition  for  a  permanent  change 
in  the  system — the  establishment  of  a  Judicial  Com- 
mission.   He  objected  to  any  provisional  changes. 

Dr.  Lowrie  would  deter  very  much  to  Dr.  Hum- 
phrey's views,  but  it  was  understood  that  the  prop- 
osition of  Dr.  Craven  last  year,  alludeil  to  by  hioi, 
has  not  been  adopted  by  the  Church,  it  having  been 
voted  down  by  a  vote 'more  than  two  to  one.  He 
had  no  objection  to  sending  it  down  for  advice,  but 
he  thought  it  well  to  adopt  it  as  a  provisional  meas- 
ure until  the  book  of  discipline  was  completed. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Overture  was 
adopted. 

Dr.  Lowrie  then  read  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Overt'ire,  No.  1.5,  as  follows: 

Overture  15.  Like  Presbytery  to  the  General  As- 
sembly.   ILxtractfrom  the  minutes,  April,  1866: 

Keeolved,  that  this  Presbytery  do  overture  the 
next  General  assembly  requesting  answers  to  the  fol- 
lowing questions,  via: 


M'hat  Is  the  duty  of  a  church  session  in  a  case  where 
a  member  of  the  church  has  married  andconiinues  to 
live  with  a  person  who  has  been  divorced  from  a  hus- 
band or  w^ile,  ou  grounds  other  than  of  adultery  or 
willful  desertion. 

A  true  extract.       H.  L.  VANNESS,  Stated  Clerk. 

The  Assembly  cannot  give  any  other  answer  to  this 
question  than  toat  contained  in  chapter  XXIV,  sec. 
VI,  of  the  <  !onfession  of  Faith,  and  chapter  XIX,  9, 
11.  ot  the  Gospel  of  Mitthew.  !N or  does  it  think  any 
further  an-.wer  necessary. 

Report  adopted. 

Dr.  Lowrie  then  read  report  of  Committee  on 
Overture  No.  16,  as  fallows: 

Overture  No.  IC.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  of 
f  hurch  extension  within  the  bounds  of  the  t'rtsoy  ery 
of  Potomac,  held  May  S,  ISort.  it  was,  on  motion  of  fiev. 
A    A.  E.  '  aylor,  in  anistously 

Resolved.  That  this  commttee  overture  the  Genersl 
Afsembly  to  traneier  the  property  ( i  the  Metropolitan 
Church  in  this  city  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fotoma",  to 
be  bv  said  Presbyt  ry  applied  to  tliepurposts  of  •  uurch 
extension  in  this  city.  LOUIS  R    if  OX, 

Secretary  pro  tern. 

The  committee  recommend  that  'his  matter  be  re- 
ferred to  a  committee  01  three  members,  to  repoitto 
thenext  General  Assembly.    Adopted. 

Dr.  Gurley  stated  that  property  to  the  amount  o 
$20,000  had  been  acquired  for  the  piiipot-e  of  erect- 
ing a  Metropolitan  Church  in  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton. When  the  war  came  on  the  subscriptions  from 
the  South  amounted,  as  it  was  supposed,  to  a  sum 
sufficient  to  erect  the  Church,  and  the  first  steps 
were  taken  in  the  erection  of  a  lecture  room.  The 
war  came  on,  and  of  course  the  enterprise  was  ar- 
rested, and  aU  the  subscriptions  which  were  expect- 
ed from  the  Souih  were  lost.  The  property  now 
laid  there  useless.  There  was  a  loud  demand  for 
church  extension  in  the  ci'y  of  Washington.  There 
were  three  new  enterprises  on  foot;  two  of  these 
enterprises  were  greatly  iu  need  of  larger  houses  of 
worship,  and  what  the  Committee  on  (/hurch  Erec- 
tion desire,  i",  that  it  it  be  possible,  this  mouey  col- 
lected lor  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  Metropolitan 
Church  may  be  transferred  to  the  Presbytery  of  the 
Potomac,  and  used  for  the  work  of  church  exten- 
sion in  Washington  City.  What  was  desired,  was 
that  a  committee  be  appointea  to  inquire  into  the 
whole  matter,  and  report  as  to  the  practicability 
of  making  such  a  transfer,  and  also  as  to  Us  de- 
sirableness, in  their  estimation,  when  all  the  facts 
were  set  forth.  He  hoped  the  rt?port  ot  ttie  commit- 
tee would  be  adopted. 

Dr.  Smith,  of  lialtimore,  stated  that  he  had  taken 
a  great  deal  of  time  in  soliciting  the  money  that  had 
been  collected  for  this  object,  and  wis  acqiiMio'ed 
with  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  h.,ped  that  the  ic,  o:l 
of  the  committee  would  he  adopted. 

Dr.  Anderson  reminded  the  Assembly  that  it  was 
touching  a  matter  of  great  delicacy.  The  law  de- 
manded integrity  on  the  part  of  trustees.  He  knew 
how  the  money  was  given,  at  least  some  of  it,  and 
he  thought  the  Assembly  bad  no  right  to  approiiriate 
that  money,  even  for  a  better  purpose  than  that  f(  r 
which  it  was  given.  The  trustees  were  bound  to 
confine  themselves  to  the  purposes  for  which  the 
trust  was  created.  He  desired  to  call  the  attention 
of  tho-ie  who  were  appointed  upon  the  proposed 
committee  particularly  to  that  jjoint. 

The  committee's  report  and  recommendation  upon 
this  overture  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Thomas  read  the  report  of  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee on  Domestic  Missions.  The  report  was  ac- 
cepted and  placed  on  the  docket  for  cdusideratiou, 
and  was  as  follows : 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  annual  re- 
port of  the  Koard  of  Domestic  Miss  ons,  respectfully 
present  to  the  General  Assembly  the  result  of  their  in- 
quiries into  the  great  ^ntere^t  intrust  jc  to  their  consid- 
eration. 

This  sixty-fourth  report  suggests  reflections  and  awa- 
kens emotions  of  a  mingled  character.  On  'he  one 
hand  it  occasions  gratituoe  to  God  that  He  has  given  us 
such  an  agency  for  spreading  the  glorious  Gospel 
througtout  our  country;  that  He  has  permitted  it  to 
reach  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  its  uperttions;  that  He 
has  allovcd  us  so  large  a  measure  of  success  in  the  pros- 
ecution of  our  work ;  and  especially  that  He  has  gra- 
ciously revived  many  of  our  ml'sion  churches. 

The  Board,  its  officers  and  missionaries  seem  to  have 
discharged  their  duty  according  to  the  standard  ot  for- 
mer years.  To  the  338  m  ssionarles  in  commission  in 
Jaarch,  1865.  201  CO  laborers  have  been  added,  makln/; 


74 


the  whole  number  of  home  missionaries  S'S,  or  3fi  more 
thacin  the  former  year.  These  missionaries  supply 
tiearly  800  churches  or  mission  stations,  embraciiifr 
22,500  communicants;  of  wlium  2.;i'.o  were  ailileU  duriiin 
the  year  by  letter,  Aua  l,»i02  ou  (!Xaioinutlon.  Three 
bundled  anrl  nineteen  Sabhath  schools  are  connected 
with  these  elmrches,  including,'  :i  2iO  teachers  and  23,000 
scholars.    The  ajrf.'re{rate  receipts  are: 

From  church  collections $68,031  20 

From  lejracies 65, 2t;?.  .IS 

From  ludivlaual  Conors 10.9y3  70 

In  all $144. 291  34 

Or  $20,915  li;  al)Ove  the  receipts  of  any  lormer  rear. 
The  facts  afford  matter  (if  sincere  tiiauklnneEs;  yet, 
on  tlie  other  liand,  the  aspect  and  refuits  of  our  liome 
mifsionarj  work,  when  couinared  with  the  ability  of 
tlie  Presbyterian  <liureii,  and  with  tlie  sinfrularly  in- 
viting and  important  field  which  Divlte  Protidence 
has  called  her  to  occupy,  cannot  nut  occasion  sorrow 
and  humilijition.  Tnis  sixty-fourth  annual  report  ex- 
hibtts  the  sad  and  sliameful  tact  that  our  churcli  col- 
lections for  BO  noble  a  cause  amount  only  to  the  paltry 
sum  of  $ri,>-,000;  that  Is,  to  an  average  coutribntion  of 
^/Y«('y. 7 /«f- cents  a  member  per  annum.  If  we  add  the 
almost  $11,' 00  received  from  individual  donors,  the 
avera^re  is  still  hut  thirty-fuin-  ceots  a  year  for  each  co.j^- 
municant.  Of  the 2,630  cburelies  in  our  connection, 
1, 20.>i, or  nearly  oni  A"'/,cont,  ibutednothin.etothislSoard 
(luring  the  past  year.  •  ell  may  the  report  sat , in  view 
of  sue  1  statistics  that  the  resources  of  oar  denomiua- 
tion  are  as  yet  very  ioipprfectly  developed 

Another  surprising  and  painful  fact  is  tills:  that  of  onr 
800  Mission  t  (mrclies  or  Stations— fewer  tlian  lialt,  3i9 
— report  tlie  existence  of.  ^abbath-schools;  and  45  of 
these  t  hurches  report  that  tiiey  have  made  no  contri- 
butions toany  of  our  Boards.  "We  may  add,  in  this 
connection,  that  the  average  increase  of  our  Mission 
('iiui-chls.  notwithstanding  reuorted  revivals,  is  la- 
mentably small.  The  aKf.'re;,:ate  adcitions  ot  the  last 
\eir  were  3, 9.'f2  communicants;  2,330 on  profession,  and 
1,603  ou  cert'ticate.  Diviaing  these  ligures  by  the  :vi9 
home  missionaries,  we  have  an  average  of  «i"i  persons 
bniught  into  tlie  Imri'h  by  a  year's  labor  of  each  mis- 
sionary—four ou  profession,  and  three  by  transfer  of 
membership. 

This  result,  indeed,  must  he  modified  by  another 
statement  of  like  painful  character,  viz:  that  143  of  our 
miss)<>nartes,  or  considerably  more  than  one-fourth  of 
the  whole  number,  send  the  Hoard  no  report  what- 
ever of  their  yearly  iabors  surely  this  is  uu  evil 
winch  demands  a  ve  y  prompt  and  decisive  remedy. 

The  last  Assenibly  diiected  special  etforta  to  be  made 
in  behalf  of  freedinen,  ana  to  secure  a  footing  among 
our  seceded  i^outhern  rturches  The  r>o«rd  mav  have 
done  all  that  was  in  its  power  in  accordance  wiih  this 
direction,  but  tliC  result  is  far  from  satisfactory  Tf)!r« 
teen  Mif-slnnaries  are  reported  as  coir  missioned  during 
thf  year  to  labor  in  the  tiouth;  whether  among  freed- 
men,  the  white  population,  or  both,  this  report  does 
not  enable  us  to  say  J»ine  of  these  are  employed  in 
Nortli  Oaioliua,  Tennessee  and  Floiida;  two  in  I  ou'si- 
ana;  two  in  vdssissipp;  and  Texas.  Apparently,  the 
only  direct  tffort  to  reach  our  Southern  Churches  was 
male  is  Tennessee.;  but  the  attempt  was  a  complete 
fdiiure. 

The  suggestion  of  the  last  Assembly  to  sulistitute  the 
term  Home  for  nomestic,  in  the  title  of  the  Board, 
seems  to  have  been  overlooked  or  net  lected. 

I  his  brief  survey  of  the  defects  connected  with  our 
system  of  Home  Missions  recalls  an  inquiry  presented 
in  the  repoirt  itself— •'Caunjt  we  attempt  someenUrged 
movement?"    (p   21.) 

1  he  Assembly  of  1865,  in  considering  overtures  "ask- 
ing tlie  removal  of  the  Hoard  of  JUomestic  Missions  and 
theiSoard  of  Education  to  points  furtlierWesi, "  re 
commeioed  "thatfinal  action  be  postponed  until  the 
next  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly."  (minutes, 
p.  550  ]  In  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  the  time 
lor  •  an  enlarged  niovem»iit"  h*a  faliy  come,  and  we 
respectfully  suggest  whetlier  a  removal  of  the  Hoard, 
not  to  tie  West,  but  towards  the  center  of  <  ur  vast 
JVatlonal  domain,  may  not  afford  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity for  such  a  movement 

The  old  geographic  classitication  and  nomenclature 
of  cjfates,  6t  11  adopted  in  the  report  of  our  Boarc, 
which  looks  from  a  Pliiladelphia  standpoints  is  unnat- 
ural and  unmeaning.  Keceut  events,  and  especially 
the  alTolitiou  of  slavery,  have  removed  former  distinc- 
tions. The  sectional  distribution  of  States,  as  North- 
ern and  Southern,  should  be  "liliterated.  Our  people 
should  be  taught  to  conteniD''ate  our  vast  Emjiireas 
one;  to  be  regarded  geographically,  only  in  its  grand, 
natural  features.  The  territorial  center  of  these 
United  States  is  n^ar  Topeka,  Kansas  Why  sliould 
Ohio,  which  is  a  thousand  miles  east  of  that  center,  be 
styled  a  Western  >•  tat eV  True,  it  lies  west  of  Pennsyl- 
v*Qia,  but  It  also  lie^  east  of  the  eight  great  States  of 
lodiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Colorado,  'itah, 
iJevada  and  Calilornia. 


Consider:  d  in  its  natural  outline,  our  country  com- 
prises three  grand  groups  of  states— the  Pacilic,  the  At- 
lantic, ami  tlie  Central  or  Valley  States  Anticipating 
some  territorial  division  SDon  to  be  made,  and  over- 
looking the  t' mpomr?  differcmce  of  Slates  and  terri- 
tories, we  have  eight  Pin  i lie  States,  sixteen  Atlantic, 
and  twenty-four  tentral—lorty- eight  in  ail 

The  eight  Pacilic  Statts  liave  one  million  square 
miles  and  half  a  million  of  iiopulat.on  ;  llie  Atlantic 
States  have  half  a  million  ot  squire  miles  and  fi'teen 
and  a  half  millions  of  population;  and  the  twenty- 
four  Central  states  have  one  and  a  half  millions  of 
square  miles  aud  ttfteea  and  a  quarttr  millious  of  pop- 
ulation. 

Juf;eneral  terms,  tiie  twenty-four  ('entral  States  In- 
clude one  half  our  territory;  almost  iine  hilf  of  our 
population,  and  more  than  tlireeUfths  of  our  home 
missionaries. 

The  sixteen  Atlantic  States  have  one-sixth  of  our  Na- 
tional terrlt;>ry;  almost  one-half  of  our  population, 
and  over  three- tenths  of  our  mij^sionary  force. 

The  elRht  Pacific  .-tatbs  have  one-tiiird  our  terrl- 
toiy;  one-s'xtieth  of  our  population,  wiih  oue-fortieth 
of  our  home  missionaries. 

Sixty  five  years  ago  (say  two  generations) 
these  Central  states  did  not  contain  half  a 
million  of  white  inhibitants.  Mow  their 
population  exceeds  fifteen  million.  Thirty  years  since 
lliinols  had  100,0110  people;  n<  w  she  numoeis  t,70li,iiii0. 
ihfc  four  States  of  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  iowaand  Miu 
nesota  have  risen  in  the  last  thirty  years  from  200  eOO 
to3,2.')0,000.  We  have  now  40,000,000  of  people  in  the 
United  States.  Within  the  ilfet'.me  o*  the  younger 
members  of  th:s  A.ssembly  we  shall  have  10ll,000,000,  of 
whom,  according  to  past  statist'cs.  I0.0ii0,(.i00  will  he 
men  of  cohr.  And  the  vast  majority  of  thewhite  popu- 
lation, at  l;ast,  will  occupy  ih.-se  central  states.  This 
vast  and  rapidly  growing  p'lpulation  speaks  one 
language;  is  everywhere  ;;,c^.essible;  obeys,  and  shall 
ol)ey,  our  G»verniueut,  which  protects  and  fosters  re- 
ligious worship  and  Christian  labor  In  the  midst  of 
such  a  nation  Chi  1st  has  placed  his  Church— our  Pres- 
byt(:riiu  eeinent  no  insliiiiiticaiit  part  of  it— blessed 
with  ample  wealth  and  the  highest  facilities  lor  co- 
operative Christian  work:  is  He  not  gathering  here  in 
a  lair  field  from  all  lands  and  of  all  religions  a  mighty 
mass  of  souls  to  try  his  Chuivh.  whether  she  wiil  jirove 
worthy  of  her  sublime  con:  mission.-' 

»  ontrast,  U'^w,  with  sucli  a  teiritory,  and  with  such 
statisticsof  present  and  future  population,  an  agency 
on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  raising  less  than  $80,000  from 
230  000  living  Presbyterians,  and  ask  whether  we  ought 
not  to  attempt  an  ''enlarged  movement!" 

It  is  needless  to  present  to  such  a  body  as  this  the 
many  other  considerations,  derived  from  the  kindred 
laiors  of  sister  churches,  the  vas'  and  threatening  tide 
of  foreign  emigration,  the  wide  diffusion  of  Romanism, 
and  like  oistinctive  errors, the  prevalence  of  intidelitv, 
itc,  which  present  tbeiuselves  to  every  intelligent 
mind  as  reasons  t  jr  a  great  Invlgoratiou  of  our  mis- 
sionary operations. 

But  the  question  is  raised.  Why  must  the  seat  of  the 
Hoard  be  removed  to  e'lect  that  invigoration?  We  an- 
swer that  if  one  chief  agency  can  supervise  and  control 
the  Home  Missienary  work,  it  would  seem  rational 
that  its  center  of  opera,tion's  should  be  near  the  center 
of  the  wide  region  upon  vvhich  it  must  operate:  that 
the  influence  of  sucir  an  agency  may  be  felt  alike  iu 
every  fiart  of  the  Meld,  ihe  immediate  directors,  espe- 
cially the  principal  executive,  must  be  bjcought  into 
personal  aud  vital  contjct  with  all  subordina'e  inrtru- 
mentallties  The  Secretary  should  have  personal  and 
constant  intercourse,  at  least  with  all  the  provincial 
<enter8  of  support  and  co-operation.  This  indispensa- 
ble influence  can  never  be  exerted  while  the  seat  of  di- 
rectors IS  plactd  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  laud. 

It  may  be  said,  indeed,  whatever  be  the  territorial 
position  of  the  hoard, it  is  all-important  that  it  occupy 
the  mouey-ceuter  of  the  <  I  iir.n.  Now,  it  is  true  that 
the  five  Synods  of  Albany,  l>altimor-'.  New  York,  JNew 
Jersey  and  Philadelphia  contributed  to  our  home  mis- 
sions last  year  almost  $15,000,  or  two-thirds  of  the 
whole  amount  from  church  collections,  wliile  the  re- 
m*iniiig  twenty  Synods  gave  le.ss  ihau  $J4  000.  B''t  l«t 
it  he  couBldereu  that  of  the  Slo,i  OU  from  the  live  >  astern 
Synods  nearly  $15,000,  or  one- third  of  the  sum,  came 
from  four  churches  in  the  city  ol  New  York.  If  the 
money  argument  is  ccnclusive,  then  this  Board  should 
center  in  New  York  City.  1  he  proper  answer  is  this: 
First,  that  our  country  and  church  are  one:  the  aim  of 
«ur  Church  is  to  fill  our  countrv  with  the  institutions 
of  a  pure  Christianity,  a  pure  Peesbyterianism  Wliat- 
ever  means  may  most  etficientl.v  promote  that  end 
should  command  the  resources  and  energies  of  our  en- 
tire body.  The  center  of  population  ii  the  most  natu- 
ral location  of  the  power  whicii  is  to  reach  thai  popu- 
lation; and  tiiat  center,  at  present,  lies  tietweeu  Jones- 
ville  and  Columbus,  Ohio.  The  money,  come  from 
where  it  may,  will  be  most  abundantly  bestowed  upon 
whatever  agency  is  found  to  be  the  most  efficient. 
Besides,  as  a  regard  for  the  interests  of  civil 
liberty      locates      the      eeat      of      our      National 


n 


Oovprnmtnt  aw.ay  I'roni  tlie  mofUitary  center  of  (lie 
country,  so  sliould  a  wise  concern  fm-  the  welfare  of  ec- 
clesuisticyl  liberty  dissever  the  power  of  weulth  from 
the  (Hreution  of  Clmrcliaffairs 

Your  committee  are  further  pfrsuaded  that  the  con- 
duct of  the  work  now  entr«st*d  to  the  Freedmeii's 
Committer  properly  iicloni;a  to  the  Hoard  of  Missions. 
The  colored  element  is  but  one  constituent  of  our  hole- 
ro^'eiieous,  v)opiil 'tiopi.  We  see  no  more  reason  for 
dealing  w) til  it  throuah  an  independent  organization 
than  lor  a  similar  course  toward  the  foreign  elements 
amoiiK  us.  "We  have  no  Irish  Board,  iio  German  i^oard; 
why  have  a  Board  for  colored  Americana  ?  Divine 
Providence  has  identified  them  with  us.  They  will 
soon  compose,  as  has  been  paid,  one-tenlli  of  our  peo- 
ple. We  can  best  secure  their  sympathies  by  treating 
them  as  we  treat  other  men . 

K our  committee,  therefore,  recommend: 

1.  T'liat  liio  Freedmen's  Committee  be  dissolved,  and 
Its  work  ti  aiislerred  to  the  Hoard  of  Home  Missions 

2.  Thit  the  se;vt  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  be  re- 
moved to  <  ijiciuuati.  as  soon  after  the  ribiner  of  the  As- 
sembly as  it  can  be  done  without  prejudice  to  vested  In- 
tf  rests  in  •  hilaUelphia  or  elsewhere 

3.  That  the  Board,  at  its  first  meeting  In  t  Incinnatl, 
be  directed  to  revise  our  whole  system  of  home  Mis- 
sions, and  devise  and  adopt  such  measures  as  shall  re- 
double the  etUcleiicy  of  our  operaUons. 

4  That  a  committee  be  appointed  by  the  Assembly 
to  secure  a  new  ch;irter  for  our  iJoard  of  Missions  from 
the  l-egis)ature  of  Ohio. 

5.  We  recommend,  that  durlnp;  the  eomiug  year  all 
the  Churchts  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly 
endeavor  to  raise  for  this  Board  a  sum  amounting  to 
Ht  least  tiffv  cents  for  each  member;  aud  we  most  ear- 
nestly recommend  that  each  pastor  and  stated  supply 
shall  not  only  see  that  an  opportunity  is  aflorded  every 
member  of  his  (jhurch  to  coiitribnte,  but  that  he  also 
urge  upon  every  member  the  duty  of  bearing?  his  part. 
Dr.  Thomas.  I  beg  leave  now  respectfully  to  re- 
new a  motion  that  was  made  yesterclay,  that  the 
unfinished  business  of  yesterday — 

Moderator.  It  is  not  open  yet,  sir.  I  did  not 
know  what  you  were  about  to  i>ropoHe  Arc  there 
any  other  reports  from  standing  committees? 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  were  rec- 
ommended to  be  approved,  liecouimendatiou 
adopted.  , 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  were 
recommended  to  be  al3p^ov^d  with  certain  excep- 
tions.    Ado)ited. 

The  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises  recom- 
mended that  Rev.  F.  P.  Jirown  be  appointed  to 
preach  this  Tuesday  evening  at  eight  o'clock. 

Rev.  Mr.  Sliiland  moved  that  the  Assembly  sit  this 
evening  and  every  evening  until  the  business  was 
completed;  it  was  nece^ saiy  the  ABSembljr  should 
finish  its  business  and  adjourn  this  week,  if  possi- 
ble. 

Dr.  Thomas.  I  hope  we  shall  not  sit  this  evening. 
We  are  not  bound  to  kill  ourselves,  and  we  t^ball  ar- 
rive at  burer  conclusions  if  we  take  time.  Tlie 
Church  has  sent  us  here  and  given  us  time  enough  to 
do  our  work,  and  let  us  take  the  time. 

Mr.  Herron  offered  a  sulistitute  for  the  motion  of 
Mr.  Shilaud  which  was  accented,  and  was  as  fol- 
lows: 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  reconsider  the  vote 
by  which  the  time  for  closing  the  afternoon  session 
was  fixed  at  .5  Ja  o'clock,  and  that  i.\H  o'clock  be 
fixed  as  the  hour  for  afternoon  adjournment. 

An  amendment  to  this  substitute  was  made,  that 
the  morning  session  commence  at  half  past  eight  in- 
stead of  nine. 

The  amrndment  was  objected  to  for  the  reason 
that  it  would  interfere  with  the  elders'  prayer  meet- 
ing which  commenced  at  eight  o'clock  and  con- 
tinued until  nine. 

A  member  thought  if  they  attempied  to  cheat  God 
out  of  His  jiart  of  the  proceedings  'of  this  Assembly 
they  would  fail  of  His  blessing;  that  if  one  half  of 
the  time  ol  the  Assembly  was  spent  in  prayer  to 
Almighty  God  for  his  guidance,  it  would  but  take 
half  as  long  to  do  the  work  as  it  does  now. 

Dr.  Boardman.  I  should  not  have  opened  my 
lips  on  this  question  if  a  remark  had  not  been  made 
upon  the  alleged  or  assumed  necessity  of  tlie  As- 
sembly adjourning  the  present  week.  I  hope  this 
Assembly  will  adjourn  when  its  work  is  done,  and 
not  before.  We  are  here  not  to  look  alter  the  inter- 
ests of  our  own  pastoral  charges  specifically,  much 
less  to  attend  to  any  private  or  personal,  or  domes- 
tic matters.  We  are  here  to  care  for  the  interests 
of  the  whole  Presbytery   Church,   confided  under 


God  to  our  care  and  administration,  and  this  is  rio 
ordinary  session  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  | 
conseauences  of  our  deliberations  and  measures  ' 
here  will  reach  far  and  wide,  and  I  regret  exceed- 
ingly to  notice  indications  of  impatience  on  the 
part  of  any  member  ot  the  Assembly,  when  it 
must  be  pt  rtectly  apparent  to  every  meinljer  who 
Knows  anything  about  ii,  that  we  have  only  thi.-  day 
leacl'.ed  the  very  threshold  of  the  great  questions 
upon  which  we  are  to  pass.  We  have  been  en- 
grossed— I  take  no  part  of  the  responsibility  of  that 
state  of  things  upon  myself— we  have  been  engross- 
ed wilh  preliminary  matters,  with  questions  of 
method  aud  order.  We  have  had  but  one 
speech  as  yet,  sir,  on  the  merits  of 
the  groat  questions  whicli  in  several  distinct  forms 
are  proposed  to  be  submitted  to  us  for  the  interests 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  all  time  to  come, 
to  be  pussed  uoon  by  this  General  Assembly,  aud 
what  are  fiur  peisonal  aflairs,  our  domestic  claims, 
the  interests  of  our  particular  congregations,  when 
put  into  the  scales  against  the  mlahty  issues  which 
are  devolved  upon  this  General  Assembly. 

The  lines  have  fallen  to  us  in  pleasant  places.  I 
cou'.d  imagine  our  being  so  siiuated  as  to  afford  oni; 
great  motive  for  a  jirompt  and  early  adjournment, 
but  in  our  jiresent  circumstances,  ei.joying  the 
great— may  I  not  say— the  unprecedented  hospitality 
of  this  community — for  1  have  seen  nothing  like  it — 
there  is  eveiytliing  in  our  external  circumstances 
to  conspire  to  the  paramount  obligations  we  owe  to 
Christ  and  His  Church,  to  sit  here  until  our  busi- 
ness is  done;  until  these  great  principles  have  been 
thoroughly  discussed  and  settled,  for  in  no  way  can 
the  V  be  satisfactorily  reviewed  hereafter. 

Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry  remarked  that  Dr.  Board- 
man's  advice  to-day  Jvas  a  little  diflVrent,  from  that 
given  bv  him  to  Mr.  Galloway  yesterday,  when  he 
told  hiiii  that  we  could  part  with  his  company  just 
as  soon  as  he  could  leave  us;  and  that  given  to  him, 
when  he,  the  speaker,  in  conversation  with  Dr.  B. , 
said  that  he  wished  the  Assembly  would  hurry 
through  with  its  business,  as  he  wished  to  take  a 
little  trip— for  Dr.  B.  then  said  he  could  part  with 
him  as  soon  as  he  saw  fit  to  leave,  and  be  had  re- 
plied that  though  anxious  to  go,  he  should  remain 
until  the  business  of  the  Assembly  was  completed, 
though  he  might  be  induced  to  go  if  Dr.  B.  himself 
woui<l  leave:  asserted  that  he  should  not  leave  the 
Assembly  if  It  continued  in  se-^sion  until  the  4th  of 
Julv ;  it  might  do  some  of  the  Assembly  a  great 
good  to  celebrate  the  4th  in  this  city.  He 
did  not  see  how  any  of  the  Assembly  could  go  home 
to  their  constituents  leaving  the  business  of  tbe  As- 
sembly incomplete. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  hoped  the  Assembly  would 
continue  here,  without  change  in  the  times  of  meet- 
ing, and  in  a  calm,  dispassionate,  and  Christian 
mai.ner,  attend  to  tiie  business  before  it. 

The  Assembly  then  voted  to  meet  half  an  hour 
earlier  in  the  morning,  and  to  extend  the  aiternoon 
session  one  hour. 

The  Moderator  announced  that  Dr.  Brovrn  would 
preach  in  the  evening. 

Dr.  Thomas.  I  move  a  postponement  of  the  un- 
finished business  of  yesterday  in  order  to  take  up 
the  consideration  of  the  Committee's  report  upon 
the  case  ot  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville.  My 
intention  is  to  bring  the  house  to  an  early 
decision  upon  what  I  consider  the  vital 
question  of  the  Assembly.  We  had  been  conside'-- 
ing  that  report,  and  its  consideration  was  arrested, 
because  of  the  wish  of  the  larger  part  of  the  house, 
to  hear  an  appellant  connected  with  the  case  which 
had  just  been  before  us,  supposing  that  tlie  discus- 
sion of  that  case  would  throw  some  light  on  the  re- 
port. It  is  very  obyious  to  this  house,  from  the 
proceedings  of  yesterday,  that  we  are  not  to  look 
for  light  trom  tliat  quarter,  and  therefore  I  hope  this 
house  will  resolve  to  take  up  the  main  question — that 
question,  which,  when  decided  settles  all  tliese  ques- 
tions, and  the  whole  principles  upon  which  these 
matters  are  to  be  settled.  I  hope  the  house  will 
postpone  this  interjected  matter,  and  take  up  the 
main  question. 

The  motion  of  Dr.  Thomas  prevailed. 

The  Moderator  stated  that  Dr.  Wm.  Breckinridge 
was  entitled  to  the  floor,  his  speech  having  been 
interrupted  by  the  hour  of  adjournment. 


T6 


Dr.  Wm.  Breckinridge.  Mr.  Moderator;  Allow 
mc- ta  say,  if  you  please,  before  I  proceed  to  any 
more  serious  matter,  that  I  have  been  taken  to  ta'sk 
a  number  of  times  since  I  had  the  privilege  of  ad- 
dressing this  body  on  this  subject,  by  persons  of 
various  shades  of  opinion,  and  especially  by  those 
whom  I  would,  witliout  disrespect,  call  the  holders  of 
extreme  opinions  on  this  subject.  I  have  been  taken 
very  gravely  to  task  for  the  kindness  of  feeling  I 
expressed  towards  my  brethren  on  all  sides;  the 
eflect  of  which,  in  my  mind,  is  to  convince  me  more 
and  more  that  I  am  right.  One  iinds  very  serious 
fault  wiih  me  for  speaking  a  single  kind  and  loving 
word  towards  my  brother  Thomas,  whom  I  nave 
known  lonaer  probably  than  the  person  who  rebuked 
me  nad  lived;  and  anotlier  finds  fault  with  me  for 
speaking  a  kind  or  charitable  word  towards  my  dear 
brethren  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  wing, 
many  of  whom  I  have  known  for  a  long  time.  I  am 
not  in  sympathy  witli  either  of  thebe  parties,  but  I 
thank  God  1  can  love  them  all  as  my  brethren,  and 
when  I  am  rebuked  lor  expressing  kindness  of  feel- 
ing towards  them  on  both  sides,  I  thank  the  Lord 
and  take  courage,  because  it  convinces  me  more 
and  more  perfectly  that  the  middle  ground  is  the 
true  ground. 

If  I  understand  the  posture  of  the  business,  the 
repoit  of  the  committee  on  the  matter  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville  is  on  its  passage.  The  motion 
before  the  Assembly  is  the  adoption  of  the  report  of 
the  select  committee,  on  the  matter  of  the  Louisville 
Presbytery,  the  "Declaration  and  Testimony," 
and  so  on— which  is  a  very  long  document:,  too  long 
to  be  read  again  without  necessity, especialiyas  it  has 
been  printed  in  this  form,  and  in  the  daily  papers, 
which  are  in  the  hands  of  all  the  members,  and, 
therefore,  it  need  not  be  repeated.  I  shall  not, 
therefore,  attempt  either  to  read  any  large  portions 
of  it,  or  go  over  the  whole  of  it — it  is  too  long. 

In  what  1  said  in  the  presence  of  the  Assembly,  by 
year  leave  some  days  ago,  I  attempted  to  touch  but 
a  single  point — that  was  the  question  of  the  consti- 
tutional nower  of  this  Assembly  to  do  the  thing  pro- 
posed by  this  committee,  the  sum  of  which  is  to 
dissolve  the  Louisville  Presbytery  and  immediately 
organize  another.  I  will  not  rehearse,  sir,  all  that 
I  said  at  that  time,  but  with  your  leave,  I  will  as 
briefly  as  possible  pursue  the  line  of  thought  in 
which  I  was  trying  to  present  the  subject.  So  that 
if  it  be  of  any  value  in  the  discussion  of 
this  subject,  I  may  put  it  again  fiirly  be- 
lore  the  minds  of  my  brethren,  that  I  may 
recall  it  to  those  who  may  have  torgotten  it,  or 
if  any  may  have  been  absent,  that  I  may 
slate  for  their  information  as  to  the  views  1  ex- 
pressed, and  my  reasons  for  so  dotng.  The  ground 
I  took  was  that  the  General  Assembly  does  not  pos- 
sess the  constitutional  power  to  do  this  particular 

ing,  and  in   this  way.    It  will  be  conceded  by  all 

at  this  body  possesses  very  large  power,  but  this 
is  the  point  I  make  that  it  does  not  have  the  consti- 
tutional power  to  do  the  thing  as  it  is  proposed  to  be 
done  by  the  rejiort  of  tiie  committee  before  you. 
And  now  it  seems  to  me,  just  here,  that  after  con- 
scientious scruples,  constitutional  scruples  are  the 
most  sacred  with  all  men  who  govern  each  other 
under  Constitutions,  as  we  call  them.  Under  well 
defined,  written  Constitutions,  there  are  no  scruples 
that  are  more  worthy  of  respectful  deference  and 
kmd  treatment  from  one  to  another,  especially 
among  brethren,  than  constitutional  scruples,  ex- 
cept it  be  conscientious  scruples,  and  in  a  court  of 
the  Lord's  house,  under  the  government  of  the 
Church,  of  which  our  blessed  Lord  is  the  head,  a 
constitutional  scruple  becomes  a  conscientious 
scruple,  so  that  the  smallest  constitutional  scruijie 
rises,  ss  it  seems  to  me,  to  the  dignity  of  aconscien- 
tious  scruple. 

The  speaker  continued  to  say  that  he  hesitated  to 
take  a  single  step  in  the  direction  of  adopting  this 
report,  for  the  lack,  as  he  firmly  believes,  of  the 
coQStitutional  power  on  the  partot  this  Assembly  to 
do  it.  There  was  a  very  large  minority  who  held 
that  opinion,  who  in  sincerity  and  with  deference  to 
others,  whose  intelligence  cannot  be  questioned  at 
all,  and  whose  views  were  entitled  to  the  most 
serious  and  respectful  consideration  by  their 
brethren.  He  argued  from  the  general  scheme  of 
church  government,  which  consisted  of  a  series  of 


courts,  embodied,  so  to  exprs>s  It,  in  a  series 
of  courts,  in  a  regular  gr.tdaiiou,  from  the 
session  up  to  the  General  Assembly.  He  affirmed 
that  m  the  chapter  granting  powers  to  the  General 
Assembly,  not  one  solitary  word  could  be  fouod 
about  Presbyteries,  except  as  they  were  the  con- 
stituency of  the  Assemoly.  The  chapter  stated 
what  the  General  Assembly  dad  to  do  wiuu  Synods, 
their  proceedings  and  their  records,  but  not  one 
word  about  Presbyteiies,  clearly  with  the  idea  that 
Presbyteries  were  to  be  dealt  with,  and  only  dealt 
with,  by  Synods.  It  seemed  plain  that  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Church,  drawn  out  of  the  word  of  God 
by  wise  and  goodly  men,  intended  to  take  all  these 
matters  respecting  Presbyteries  and  hand  them  over 
to  the  Synods,  declaring  that  these  things  were  not 
things  that  belonged  to  the  General  Assembly. 

This  lack  of  (Jonstitufi  >nal  tiower  was  confirmed 
to  the  mind  ot  the  speaker  by  the  fact  that  there,  had 
been  no  course  of  siandicg  decisions  and  precedent 
to  the  contrary.  Examples  of  the  interference  of 
the  General  Assembly  with  Presbyteries  may  doubt- 
less be  found;  the  third  Presbytery  of  Philadelpliiit, 
for  instance,  but  that  Presbytery  had  oeen  organized 
by  the  General  Assembly,  under  the  doctrine  of 
elective  affinity,  which  the  General  Assembly  had 
afterwards  utterly  reiiudiated,  and  this  action  was 
afterwards  set  aside  aud  disowned.  I'here  wite 
none  but  exceptional  cases,  when,  for  instance,  the 
Pi'ejbytery  was  not  attached  to  any  Synod  in  which 
the  General  Assembly  had  ever  dealt  with  a  Presby- 
tery. 

Dr.  Krebs  called  the  speaker's  attention  to  the 
acts  of  the  Assemtjly  in  1816,  witb  regard  to  the 
erection  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wisconsin. 

Dr.  Breckinridge,  in.  continuing  his  remarks, 
claimed  that  the  case  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wiscon- 
sin was  one  of  the  exceptional  cases;  that  action 
was  then  taken  according  to  the  expediency  of  the 
case,  as  the  General  Assembly  erected  a  Missionary 
Presbytery,  or  the  other  day  dealt  with  the  Presby- 
tery in  East  Tennessee,  which  was  the  proper  ac- 
tion, for  the  reason  that  there  was  no  Synod  to  deal 
witn  it.  Hoped  this  Assembly  would  connect  that 
Presbytery  with  the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  Claimed 
that  such  action  had  no  resemblance  to  what  was 
proposed  to  be  done  by  the  report  of  this  committi^e. 
This  question  of  the  lack  of  constitutional  power 
would  not  interfere  with  the  plan  proposed  by  Dr. 
Humphrey.  Even  if  it  be  granted  that  the  Assembly 
had  the  constitutional  power  to  do  tnis,  it  would 
certainly  not  follow  that  it  had  the  power  to  take 
men  up  in  so  summary  a  way,  and  declare  them  in 
Court  and  proceed  to  try  them.  The  Presbytery 
could  not  be  dealt  with,  wittiout  dealing  with  the 
men,  and  the  men  could  not  be  dealt  with  except  by 
giving  them  a  trial.  But  no  Court  had  been  organ- 
ized lor  their  trial;  no  charge  had  been  pronounced 
requiring-  the  Assembly  to  remember  their  high 
character  as  a  court  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  they  were 
tiled  as  a  Presbytery  they  ought  to  have  been  cited 
here  as  as  a  Presbytery.  (Read  from  page  JOI  of  the 
Book  of  Disciples.)  The  proper  course  was  to  re- 
mand the  whole  matter  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 
If  the  Synod  has  been  negligent,  give  it  to  under- 
stand that  the  Assembly  regard  it  as  having  been 
negligent,  and  demanding  that  it  shall  do  its  duty. 
In  that  way  the  Ganeral  Assembly  would  set  itself 
right  before  the  Church  aud  the  whole  world,  in  that 
it  was  proceeding  according  to  law.  If,  after  that  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  fchould'not  do  its  duty,  it  could 
justly  be  called  to  account  for  not  doing  its  duty  and 
settle  the  question  wiih  the  Synod.  He  thought  this 
would  be  the  wisest  aud  be.-st  method  of  dealing 
with  this  matter,  and  \^  ould  have  been  from  the  be- 
ginning. Denied  the  assumption  of  the  report  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  had  been  cited  to  this 
Assembly.  The  records  were  not  here;  the  records 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  were  not  here  when  this 
report  was  made.  Questioned  whether  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky  had  been  guilty  of  negligence  in  this 
matter.  Th.e  meeting  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery 
happened  in  September,  and  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky met  towards  the  middle  of  October — some  five 
weeks  afterwards,  and  this  paper  was  not  made 
public  for  sometime  alter  the  meeting  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville.  He  himself 
never  saw  the  paper  until  he  saw  it  at 
the   meeting  of  the   Synod.    Had    this   Assembly 


Tf 


no  charity  for  men  who  hesitate  what  they  ought  to 
do — who  want  to  take  time  to  consider  wnat  snould 
be  done  in  an  extieniely  diiliculc  case  on  vvtiich  very 
many  results  hang?  The  Synod  would  have  acted 
hastily  to  have  proceeded  at  that  time.  Admittiuir 
triat  the  Synod  wai  whoJly  wrong,  it  should  be  re- 
buked, and  required  to  do  its  du(y ;  but  (he  Assem- 
bly ought  not  to  do  it  in  an  uiicousticucional  and  ir- 
rejiular  way,  in  order  to  make  up  for  the  neglect  of 
the  Synod.  Had  the  proper  time  come,  and  the 
cause  a  sufficient  one  the  Synod  ought  to  have  cited 
tue  Presbytery,  but  that  rule  applies  equally  to  the 
Assembly",  and  it  ought  not  to  proceed  without  cita- 
tion. 

He  denied  the  statement  that  tlie  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky had  ever  ••refused  "  to  tiy  these  men,  but 
stated  that  it  was  impossible  to  say  whether  they 
would  neglect  or  fail  to  do  it  if  it  was  required  of 
them  by  ttie  Assembly.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky 
had  never  "declined,"  because  to  say  they  had 
declined,  supposes  that  they  had  been  asked  to  do 
something.  They  had  been  asked  to  do  something 
which  tliey  wouldn't  do,  and  although  it  may  ap- 
pear in  the  judgment  of  the  Asseiiibly  aud  the 
Church  that  the  Synod  did  wrong  therein,  it  didn't 
appear  wrong  to  the  speaker  yet.  Ttie  Synod  of 
Kentucky  was  asked  to  exclude  these  men  from 
the  Synud,  disfranchising  them  as  ministers,  to 
exclude  them  from  the  whole  Presbyterian  boay, de- 
clare ihem  incouqjetent,  unlit  for  sitting  in  that  or 
any  other  Court  ot  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
to  declare  all  thit  by  a  simple  resolution  on  mak- 
ing up  the  roll,  before  even  the  Moderacor  was 
chosen.  That  was  what  the  Synod  would  not  do, 
and  most  properly.  That  was*,  the  head  and  front 
of  the  otlending  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and 
that  was  what  the  report  of  the  committee  con- 
demned, and  asked  the  Assembly  to  condemn.  It 
might  come  out  that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  would 
take  this  matter  up  for  itself,  and  no  man  had  a 
right  to  affirm  the  opposite,  and  douoly  had  no  man 
the  right  to  assume  such  a  thing  as  that  for  the  nur- 
pose  of  doing  anything  that  was  clearly  uuconsti- 
lutional.  The  Presbyterian  Church  could  stand  a 
great  deal.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky  could  stand  a 
exeat  deal ;  but  to  "stand  this,  tnat  to  the  General 
Assembly  belongs  the  power  to  do  all,  everything, 
because  it  la  the  General  Assembly,  is  more  than 
they  could  stand. 

At  this  point  in  Dr.  Breckenridge's  speech,  the 
Assembly  adjourned  until  afternoon. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Rev.  Dr.  Van  Dyke  oflfered  the  foUowlDg  pro- 
test: 

The  undersigned  respectfully  protest  against  the 
action  of  the  General  As^embiy  in  rejecting  a  pro- 
posal to  extend  to  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and 
churches  in  the  Southern  States,  the  same  expres- 
sions of  fraternal  affection  and  of  desire  for  organic 
union,  which  have  been  so  treely  extended  to  that 
other  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  commonly 
known  as  the  New  School.  Without  expressing  anv 
opinion  as  to  the  practicability  of  consummating 
the  jjroposed  re  union  with  the  last  named  body 
'•upon  the  basis  of  a  common  standard,"  the  un- 
dersigned desire  to  declare  their  solemn  conviction 
that  the  commands  of  our  Divine  Master  and  the 
exigencies  of  i-he  times  m  our  country,  fo.'oiil  the 
ontiuuaoce  of  division  an<l  strife  between  brethren 
who  maintain  a  common  fiith,  and  upon  whom 
Providence  has  imposed  a  common  work  for  the 
extension  of  the  Gospel.  And  we  are  lurther  per- 
suaded that  every  consideration  which  can  render 
Christian  union  desirable  in  any  case,  has  a  pecu- 
liar and  pre-eminent  force  in  the  relations  we  sus- 
tain to  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and  churches  in 
the  Southern  States ;  we  are  therefore  constrained, 
by  our  regard  for  charity,  truth  and  peace,  to  pro- 
test against  the  aforesaid  action  of  the  Assembly 
upon  ihe  ground  of  its  minifescioconsiitency.  This 
ineoasistency  appears  to  us  the  m  jre  glaring,  in 
View  of  the  following  iuontestiole  facts: 

1.  The  soundness  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and 
churches  in  the  Southern  States  in  regard  to  the  dis- 


0  S— 11 


tinctive  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  and  the  fundamental 
principles  of  ecclesiastical  order,  has  never  been 
questioned  bv  uh,  and  indeed  their  title  to  our  con- 
ndence  and  affection  on  these  high  grounds,  cannot 
be  impugned  by  this  Assembly  without  denying  no- 
torious facts,  revoking  our  own  most  solemn  testi- 
monials in  their  favor,  and  involving  ourselves  in 
condemnation  for  naving  so  long  and  so  penitently 
held  cemmunion  with  them. 

2.  The  questions  in  regard  to  civil  government 
and  domestic  servitude  which  have  separated  them 
from  us  during  the  continuance  of  the  late  civil  war 
(questions  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  undersigned, 
ought  to  be  held  subordinate  and  inierior  to  the 
great  doctrines  of  the  (iospel) ,  have  been  practi- 
cally decided  by  the  result  of  the  war,  in  accordance 
with  the  views  of  this  Assembly,  and  to  that  deci- 
sion they  have  unanimously  su  mi'teil.  Slavery  has 
been  abolished;  and,  so  tar  as  we  have  any  mtorm- 
ation  of  the  subject,  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Churches  at  the  South  who.expects,  or  de- 
sires its  re-establishment  In  regard  to  the  duty  of 
Christians  to  obey  civil  magistrates,  to  submit  to  the 
powers  that  be  and  to  be  subject  to  every'  ordinance 
of  man,  not  only  tor  wrath  but  for  "cjnscience 
sake,"  there  never  has  been  any  fundamental  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  between  them  and  us.  The 
only  ground  of  dispute  between  tnem  and  us  in 
reference  to  this  subject  has  been  the  prac- 
tical and  political  question,  ' '  who  are  the 
powers  that  be,  having  jurisdiction  over 
the  Southern  States?"  This  question,  also, 
has  been  practically  decided  by  the  results  of 
the  war  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  this  As- 
sembly; and  to  this  decision  the  Presoyterian  min- 
isters and  churches  in  the  Southern  States  have 
unanimously  submitted.  Their  representatives  in 
General  Assembly  met,  have  solemnly  decUred  and 
put)lished  to  the  world,  that  "the  higher  powers 
now  bearing  rule  over  us  are  confessedly  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  and  those  existing  in 
the  States  wherein  we  reside."  To  these  higner 
powers  they  solemnly  profess  their  allegiance,  and 
exhort  all  under  their  care  to  submit  "with  scrupu- 
lous fidelity."  There  is,  therefiire,  no  practical 
dilference  between  them  and  us,  even  in  regard  to 
the  subordinate  questions  of  freedom  and  loyalty. 

3.  The  inconsistency  of  the  Assembly's  action  is 
further  apparent  when  we  consider  the  relation 
which  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and  Churches  in 
the  Southern  States  sustained  to  the  great  unsolved 
problem  in  regard  to  the  evangelization  and  eleva- 
tion of  the  negro  population.  The  fidelity  with 
which  they  have  prosecuted  this  good  work  in  for- 
mer years,  and  the  blessed  fruits  of  their  labors  in 
this  field  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  narrative  on  the 
state  of  religion  adopted  by  the  Assembly  in  1854, 
an  extract  from  which  document  may  be  found  ou 
page  818  of  Baird's  Digest.  That  the  same  spirit  of 
love  and  fidelity  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
negro,  which,  according  to  the  testimony  of  our 
Assemblv,  actuated  them  in  185f,  still  animates 
them,  and  is  greatly  increased  in  view  of  the  pecu- 
liar miseries  and  temptations  to  which  the  negro  is 
now  exposed,  there  is  abundant  and  notorious 
proof.  It  is  the  firm  convction  of  the  undersigned 
that  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and  Churches  iu  the 
Southern  States  have  done,  and,  if  they  shall  be  left 
free  to  cultivate  their  own  field  without  interference 
from  strangers,  that  they  will  sail  do  more  for  the 
conversion  and  salvation  of  the  negro,  than  can 
ever  be  done  by  any  body  of  Christians  not  residing 
in  the  Southern  States;  and  for  this  good  work,  if 
for  no  other  reason,  they  are  entitled  pre  eminently 
to  the  expression  of  our  fraternal  confidence  and 
affection. 

4  The  inconsistency  of  the  Assembly  action  is 
further  apparent  in  the  opinion  of  the  undersigned, 
when  we  consider  the  influence  which  it  is  likely  to 
exert  iu  retarding  the  permanent  pacification  of  the 
country  and  the  restoration  of  good  will  among  all 
the  people;  and  our  apprehensions  on  this  point  are 
rendered  stronger  by  the  fact  that  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Southern  Churches  have  "declared  con- 
cerning other  Churches,  in  the  most  explicit  man- 
ner, that  we  would  willingly  hold  fellowship  witQ 
all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity; 
and  especially  do  we  signify  to  alt  bodies,  mini?-' 
ters  and  peoole  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  strug- 


is 


glinpf  to  maintain  tho  true  principle's  of  thctime- 
l.oiiored  confihsion,  our  desire  is  establish  the  most 
Ultimate  reluti  lus  with  them  which  may  be  fiiuud 
mutually  edilying,  and  for  the  glory  of  (ioU . ' '  (See 
jiasioral  letttr  of  tDe  General  Assembly ,  which  met 
ittMucon.  iiii.,  Dec.  11,  lS6o. 

Ileniy  J.  Van  Dyke,  S.  J.  P.  Amlerson,  R.  K. 
SniQot,  W.  M.  Ferguson,  P.  Ihompson,  L.  P. 
liowtu,  J.  M,  i'ruvid,  L.  J.Yantis,  R.  L.  McAfee, 
L.  A.  Brakeri,  Geo.  W.  Buchanan,  R.  S.  Clark, 
Glass  Alarshall,  R.  Buchanan,  G.  U.  Swallow,  A. 
P.  Foriutm,  J.  f.  Heudrick,  Ldward  Budell,  James 
II.  tirosUes,  G.  N.  Ganit,  Isaac  D.James,  Aug.  X. 
Dubson,  R.  VV.  Allen,  D.  0.  Brown. 

Aittrihe  reading  oi  me  protest,  the  Moderator 
fcaiii,  .shall  a  comiimtee  be  aopoiuteU  to  answer  this 
}  roitst. 

Dr.  McLean.    No  answer  is  required,  sir. 

Mr.  CiarU,  of  Detroit,  moved  tuat  it  be  admitted 
to  ilie  rtcoitl. 

Rev.  jlf.  ifergu.son.  Do  I  understand  Dr.  Mc- 
Lean as  saying  it  bhall  noc  be  I'lilered. 

•JLlie  Mi«!eraior.  Wait  a  moment, Jif  you  please. 
I  suppose  n  js  right  to  admit  the  protest,  unless 
mere  is  something  pll'cnsive  in  it. 

Tne  mutiou  to  aduiic  the  piotebt  to  the  record  was 
agreed  to. 

jjr.  McLean.  My  motion  was  simply  that  there 
■was no  neee.ssity  for  an  answer. 

RfcV.  Dr.  We-t.  I  move  that  it  be  the  sense  of 
this  Asbtinbli  [hat  no  answer  is  required  in  this 
case. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  move  to  amend  that  by 
sayicg  no  answer  is  isossible  to  be  presented. 
[Launhttr.] 

J. heuioii>.u  of  Rev.  Dr.  West  was  agreed  to. 

Mr.  DftV  said  he  made  a  motion  tins  morning  to 
lay  on  tlie"tabie  an  ametiUmeut  to  the  minutes.  He 
understood  lint  Dr.  Breckinridge  felt  aggrieved  at 
the  minu.eb  as  th^y  stand,  as  ic  puts  hiiu  in  awroug 
posuicn  before  tUc  Assembly.  He  is  in  the  light  of 
bringing  ;in  a(iijiai  irom  Kentucky  on  an  important 
metier,  and  he  appears  now  on  the  record  in  a  cliild- 
loti  position.  H«-  (Mr.  D.)  was  the  last  man  to  do 
anyihuiK'  to  iijurK  lue  ItehnHSOfDr.  Breckinridge. 
He  luovfd,  iiierefoiv,  to  reconsider  the  vote  by 
whicu  the  uiiuures  were  auopted.  The  amendment 
be  d<  sired  lo  ■■Her  was  as  loiiovvs  : 

'•The  Assembly  then  called  lor  the  original  par- 
ties in  the  case,  when  Dr.  Stanton  appeared,  and 
oecliued  to  proceed  with  the  case;  Dr.  Breckin- 
ridge thereupon  declined  to  proceed,  and  gave  as  a 
fuiitier  rensou  for  (ttclinlng  to  plead,  ihat  the  As- 
sembly had  coniined  the  case  to  Dr.  Breckinridge 
and  otheis,  and  tlie  Synod  of  Kentucky,  as  the 
original  parties. ' ' 

Rcv.  Dr  Auder.son  wished  to  say,  that  all  that 
Was  uui'>rtunate  ui  ihe  position  of  the  venerable 
fa  ner  was  ot  his  o  vn  selection,  and  therefore  he 
thought  tiiey  Were  not  specially  bound  to  help  him 
o  .c  of  that  (liliiculiy.  He  had  always  thought  he 
Was  able  to  take  care  of  himself. 

Mr.  Day.  He  is  not  on  tnis  floor,  and  is  not  able 
to  lake  care  oi  himself  where  he  is  not  allowed  to 


I'ne  moiian  of  Mr.  Day  to  reconsider  was  agreed 
to,  and  his  aiiieudment  to  the  mmutes  was  adopted. 

The  following  committees  were  announced  : 

Revising  the  Book  of  Discipline:  T.  L.  McGill, 
David  Ji,lliult  and  ,)ohu  Krebs,  ministers;  H.  K. 
Clark,  H.  H.  Leavitl,  Geo.  Shearsworth,  elders. 

Merropolitan  CtiUich  matter  at  Washington:  P. 
D.  tiuriey  and  John  Chase,  ministers;  Edward 
Myers,  elder. 

The  uKiiuished  business  was  then  taken  un— the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Louisville  Presby- 
tery. 

Cir.  Wm.  L.  Breckinridge  resumed  his  remarks. 
He  began  by  sayiuB'  they  had  his  most  profound 
sympathy  in  being  obliged  to  listen  to  him  lonaer, 
but  he  would  make  his  remarks  as  short  as  he  could. 
At  the  lime  ef  ihe  aiijourumem,  be  was  speaking  of 
the  statement  made  by  the  committee  that  the  Synod 
ol  Kentucky  hadrefuceo,  Ueclintd,  or  tailed  to" take 
acti  )ii  of  this  riit'ject,  in  the  way  of  the  discipline 
of  that  Presbytery,  and  ne  was  showing  exactly 
what  the  S^nou  of  KemucKy  did,  namely:  That  ic 
re  uked  ana  severely  censured  the  Presbytery  of 
jtipuiijviUe,    and  if  not  in  ttrms,  yet  impliedly,  all 


Who  sigred  the  Declaration  and  Testimony.  He 
conceived  that  under  all  the  circumstances,  this 
Assembly  ouuht  not  to  put  a  stigma  upon  tne  Synod 
for  not  having  d'>iie  nioie  than  that  at  that  time.  If 
tne  Assembly  requires  the  Synod  to  go  further,  and 
the  S.^  nod  will  not,  then  win  be  the  lime  for  the  As- 
sembly to  lay  its  hand  on  that  body. 

In  immediate  connection  with  the  report  of  the 
coiiiniittee,  he  wished  to  call  attention  to  one  re- 
mark. The  report  says,  beside  the  injury  to  the 
(;hnrches  in  the  infecied  regions  from;the  settlement 
of  80  grave  a  question,  additional  complications 
may  arise,  and  the  leaven  of  rebellion  become  more 
widely  dill'nsed.  He  did  not  understand  what  was 
meant  by  infected  regions.  It' it  meant  there  were 
persons  who  had  not  stood  by  the  Government,  and 
lor  which  this  Assembly;-*hoald;call  them  to  an  ac- 
count, oi  persons  who  had  not  stuod  by  the  Church, 
then  he  would  asii  respectruUy  if  there  were  not 
such  people  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  It  this 
stigma  was  to  be  puc  on  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
might  it  not  be  nut  on  every  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church?  It  was  said  addiuonal 
comulications  might  arise.  He  washed  to 
know  what  that  meant.  Did  it  mean  that 
political  atfairs  might  take  a  sudden  turn? — if  so, 
then  it  should  be  struck  out.  But  wnat  he  wished 
ptirticularly  to  reler  to,  was  the  point  urged  that  all 
these  evil  influences  would  result  from  the  delay. 
He  did  not  desire  to  argue  the  question,  but  simply 
to  exnress  an  opinion,  that  this  hurrying  of  niarters 
to  a  onclusion,  as  was  here  proposed,  was  what 
involved  danger  and  not  delay.  If  this  region  was 
infected,  it  was  lar  more  likely  to  be  infected  by 
the  passage  of  such  a  probosiiion  as  this,  than  by 
delay.  If  it  were  left  to  him  to  say  what  should  be 
done  for  the  repose  of  the  Church,  he  woubl  say 
without  hesitation,  that  the  best  thing  that  could  be 
done,  was  to  let  tnis  matter  alone  for  the  presput, 
bei'ause  the  more  it  was  disturbed,  the  more  atten- 
tion would  be  c-iUed  to  it,  whereas  it  would  die  out 
ii  left  alone.  It  was  a  peculiarity  of 
human  nature  to  sympathize  with  men 
m  trouble,  and  who  are  supposed  to  tje  mis- 
used, and  if  they  took  this  proposed  acrioD,  so  as  to 
impress  upon  the  mind-' of  some  people  that  they 
hail  been  rashly,  unjustly  and  unconstitutionally 
pursued,  it  would  give  them  a  sympathy  which  they 
could  not  otherwise  obtain. 

Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  Irom  Baltimore,  desired  the 
speaker  to  give  way  for  a  moment,  in  order  that  he 
might  say  tiiat  he  had  received  four  letters  from 
Baltimore  to-day.  which  fully  conhrmed  what  Dr. 
Breckinri()>re  had  said. 

Dr.  Breckinridge  continued  :  He  next  referred  to 
the  proposed  rlissolutionot  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville. W  ith  all  respect  to  the  gentleman  who  pro- 
posed it,  it  apcart  d  to  him,  not  only  unconstitu- 
tional, but  undignilied  and  unworthy.  Ko  doubt  the 
design  was  to  exclude  certaia  persons.  Ic  was 
taking  what  might  be  called  snap-judgment  unou 
them,  but  even  that  course  did  not  help  the  maiter, 
because  he  knew  ot  nothing  to  prevent  those  very 
men  from  seeking  application  in  some  other  Pres- 
bytery. 

There  was  another  matter  to  which  he  wished  to 
allude.  The  brethren  whom  they  proposed  to  take 
in  and  form  a  new  Presbytery  were  just  as  bad  as 
those  they  proposed  to  leave  out.  He  submitted 
whether  that  was  tlie  right  way  of  doing  things — 
making  fish  of  one,  fowl  of  another,  and  flesh  of 
another.  It  has  been  declared  that  this  course 
would  prove  inoperative,  but  no  attention  had  been 
paid  to  it,  yet  he  hrinly  believed  it;  and  in  this  con- 
nection he  desired  to  speak  of  a  subject  which  was 
painful  to  nim — that  was  in  reference  to  the  brother 
selected  to  preach  the  openius  sermon.  He  had  the 
utmost  respect  for  him.  He  was  a  good,  honest 
man,  but  he  was  among  the  youngest  of  the  Presby- 
tery. The  custom  of  the  Church  had  been,  in  ev- 
ery part  ot  the  country,  that  in  a  case  of  this  kind 
the  oldest  minister  orusent  should  preach  the  open- 
ing sermon,  and  do  the  work.  But  in  this  case, 
the  rule  would  be  violated,  and  the  venerable  Dr. 
Matthews  and  other  worthy  brethren  would  be 
passed  over,  and  this  young  brother  called  upon  to 
preside.  The  reason  assigned  was  that  the  brother 
referred  to  had  stood  faithful  among  the  faithless. 
He  defied  any  man  to  make  it  plain  that  Dr.  Mo- 


79 


Millan  was  any  truer  to  the  Church,  on  the  views 
that  the  Church  hold,  than  was  Dr.  Matthews.  He 
believed  that  Dr.  AlcMillau  would  decline  the  whole 
thing  and  request  some  one  else  to  take  nis  pl.ice. 
The  speaker  closed  by  sav  ing,  that  one  of  the  most 
solemn  duties  eiicuuibered  on  tliia  Assmibly  w.is 
the  exercise  ol  universal  pacification.  He  alluded 
to  the  remarks  of  Rev.  Dr.  Th  <nias,  and  the  plea  of 
that  gentleman  for  sum  uiary  action  iu  this  case,  and 
he  was  exceedingly  paintd  when  that,  gentleman 
cited  as  an  illustration  for  their  actioo  in  ihis  ci^e, 
with  Goo's  method  of  dealing  with  Faraoh  and  hts 
hoBts,  wiih  Softom  and  Gomorrah,  and  Ananias 
and  Saphira.  Did  he  mean  to  saj'  that  tlie  men  who 
adhere  lo  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  were  like 
the  people  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah?  It  was  not  for 
l»im  to  reWuke  any  of  his  brethren,  but  he  did  en- 
treat them  to  disclaim  all  such  sentiments  as  that 
kitid  of  liguralive  speech  implied. 

At  tne  corclusion  of  Dr.  Breckinridge's  remarks, 
Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey  obtained  the  floor,  and  spoke 
at  lengtl)  in  opposiTion  to  the  report.  He  was  lol- 
lowed  by  Mr.  Clark,  of  Detroit,  in  support  of  the 
report. 

Dr.  Humphrey,  in  the  course  ot  his  remarks, 
offered  the  following  umenUmenf,  substantially  tlie 
same  as  that  which  he  gave  notice  of  on  a  former 
occasion: 

iSirike  out  the  resolutions  of  the  committee,  and 
inseri  "  ine  Declaration  and  Testimony  adopted  by 


the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  in  the  terms, 
spirit  and  intent  thereof,  in  derogatory  tj 
the  just  auth.iritv  ot  the  Geupr  il  A^s'-mbly, 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  Churci),  deotruc- 
tive  to  the  peace  of  the  penple,  and  fruitful  m  ochis- 
niiitical  dissensions  and  disputations;  wherelVire, 
tliis  General  Assi'mbly  express  its  grave  "i-iapuro- 
bation  at  the  action  of  this  Presbytery,  as  unoecom  ■ 
ing  alower  Judiciatory  of  the  Church.  Tiie  Assem- 
bly enjoius  upon  ihe  Presbytery  to  leconsider  wtiar, ■ 
ever  it  has  done  tendiug  to  a  separatioa  from  the 
institutions  of  the  Church,  andtoi.ike  such  ac'i>n 
at  Its  next  meeting  as  wilt  show  th-it  It  did  not  in- 
tend to  defy  the  authority  of  the  General  Ass'-mbly 
or  disparage  the  institutions  of  the  Church.  Fur- 
thermore, the  General  Assembly  requires  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville  to  appear  by  its  commissioners 
before  the  next  General  Assembly  to  show  what  it 
has  done  in  these  premises,  and  the  next  General 
Assembly  is  required  to  take  up  and  issue  the  busi- 
ness. Furihermore,  the  Assembly  directs  all  the 
various  Presbyteries  to  urge  upon  the  brethren  who 
have  signed  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  to  dis- 
own the  intention  ot  setting  the  General  Assembly 
at  defiai  ce,  and  these  Presbyteries  are  directed  to 
report  at  the  next  Assembly.  All  this  to  the  end 
that  the  whole  Church  may  have  quietness  and 
repose," 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  remarks  ot  Mr.  Clark 
the  Assembly  adjourned. 


ELEVENTH  DAY  — WEDNESDAY,  MAY  30,  1866. 


MORNING  SESSION. 

First  half  hour  spent  in  devotional  exercises. 

Minutes  read  and  approved. 

Dr.  Lowrie,  of  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Over- 
tures, reported  the  following  overtures:  Overture 
No.  17.  To  Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  Old 
School,  in  session  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  May  17, 
1865: 

1.  Has  any  Church,  or  any  part  of  a  Church,  in 
our  connection,  the  Constitutional  right  to  with- 
draw Irom  a  J'resbytery,  without  its  consent,  and 
unite  with  another  body? 

2.  Can  any  communing  member  of  the  Church  be 
rightly  debarred  from  voting  in  such  a  case  by  a 
vote  of  the  congregation,  without  some  measure  of 
discipline  regularly  administered  by  the  session  of 
the  Church?  R.  CONOVER, 

Stated  Clerk. 

The  committee  recommend  that  the  first  of  the 
overtures  be  answered  in  the  negative. 

To  the  second,  that  the  vote  of  a  congregation  of 
a  Presbyterian  Church  cannot  affect  the  rights  of  a 
communing  member  as  such;  all  such  power  is 
vested  in  the  session.     Adopted. 

Overture  No.  18.    Put  upon  the  the  docket. 

Overture  No.  19.  Request  of  Rev.  F.  J.  Collier, 
asking  the  General  Assembly  to  decide  whether  it  is 
right  tor  a  clerk  of  a  Presbytery,  recording  the  li- 
censure of  candidates,  to  use  any  other  form  than 
that  prescribed  iu  the  book? 

The  committee  recommend  that  an  answer  be 
made  in  the  affirmative.  (See  Form  of  Govt.  ch. 
14,  sec.  8.)  And  record  shall  be  made  of  the  licen- 
sure in  the  following  or  like  form.    Adopted. 

Overture  No.  20.  The  Committee  of  Bills  and 
Overtures,  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  and 
memorial  of  Benjamin  F.  Avery,  D.  McNoughton, 
James  A.  Leich  and  Thomas  J.  Harkney,  Ruling 
Elders  in  the  Walnut  street  Church  in  Louisville, 
praying  fur  such  redress  as  in  the  wisdom  of  the 
General  Assembly  may  seem  tit  and  necessary  to  re- 
dress the  grievance  of  said  Church  as  set  forth  in 
said  memorial  and  petition. 

Report,  that  they  have  considered  the  matter  re- 
ferred, and  recommend  the  adoj)tion  of  the  follow- 
ing: 


Whereas,  On  the  second  day  of  January  last,  D. 
McNoughton,  Benjamin  F.  Avery  and  James  A. 
Leich  were  duly  elected  Ruling  Elders  by  the  con- 
gregation of  said  Church,  and  on  the  sixth  day  of 
January  the  said  D.  McNoughton  was  installed, 
and  Ber'jamin  F.  Avery  and  James  A.  Leich  were 
dulv  ordained  and  installed  Rnling  Elders  in  sbid 
Chuich:; 

And  whereas,  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  after 
the  election  of  said  elders,  with  the  apparent  de- 
sign of  discrediting  said  election,  deoitd  to  one 
of  this  number  a  scat  in  said  Presbytery,  not- 
withstanding he  had  been  duly  elected  to  represent 
said  Church,  at  a  meeting  of  saiit  Presbytery. 

And  whereas,  it  is  evident  that  the  peace  of  said 
Church  and  this  congregational  rights  are  in  great 
danger  uidess  this  Assembly  shall  interpose  its 
authority;  therefore,  this  General  Assembly,  by 
virtue  of  its  authority  and  obligation  to  give  advice 
and  instruction  in  all  cases  submitted  to  them,  does 
hereby  declare  that  the  said  D.  McNoughtou,  Ben- 
jamin F.  Averv  and  James  A.  Leich  are  to  be  re- 
cognized and  acknowledged  as  Ruling  Elders  in  the 
said  Church,  and  all  Church  couris  and  pastors  sub- 
ject to,  or  under  the  care  of  this  Assembly,  are 
solemnly  enjoined  to  respect  and  maintain  their 
authority  as  such. 

Rev  Mr.  Hickman  moved  to  accept  the  report 
and  place  it  tipon  the  docket. 

Amendment  made  to  adopt  the  report. 

It  appcartd  from  the  remarks  of  Drs.  Krebs  and 
Lowrie,  and  Mr.  Clark  and  others,  that  this  matter 
was  before  the  Assembly  in  a  two-fold  aspect. 

An  appeal  from  the  P^^bytery  of  Louisville, 
which  refused  to  rtcogaisi'e  the  eiders  named  in 
the  Overture,  and  which  appeal  was  referred  to  the 
Judicial  Committee;  and  in  the  form  of  a  memorial 
on  the  ]>art  of  said  Elders  had  been  handed  to  the 
Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures.  The  Judicial 
Committee,  as  Dr.  Gurlev  stated,  could  not  pass 
upon  ihe  appeal  for  the  reason  that  the  records  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  were  not  before  them. 
Consequently,  the  matter  came  befoi'e  the  Assem- 
bly upon  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Bills  and 
Overtures  with  regard  to  the  memorial. 

Dr.  Krebs  favored  the  adoption  of  the  recoanncn- 


80 


dation  of  thp  Committee.  It  appeared  by  the  rec- 
ordrt  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  that  a  committee 
had  hnen  apnointid  by  that  body  to  gr,  to  the  Wal- 
nut street  Church  in  Louisville,  to  inquire  into  its 
aflfHirs.  allay  <liffertijCfn,  and  cause  EMern  to  be 
elected.  It  was  api>arent,  from  an  examination  of 
the  case,  thit  the  Elders  mentioned  iti  the  memo 
rial  hi  i  lioeu  duly  elected  and  ordained. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ilickmau  hopea  the  report  would  be 
adopted— he  hart  made  the  motion  to  docket  it  iu  or- 
der til  prevent  discu.ssion  at  this  time. 

Rfv.  Mr.  TJracken  wa-<  mit  sullicieutly  acqu«iated 
with  the  historv  of  the  case  to  stale  all  the  tacts  in 
connection  with  it;  knew  that  the  case  was  an  ex- 
cedinsly  coraulicated  one;  that  it  was  still  pend- 
ing befufe  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville;  and  knew 
that  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  being  shut  out  from 
this  Assembly,  could  not  bring  the   facts  before  it. 

Dr.  Ander.ion.  1  was  informed  by  Hon.  George 
Wiekliffe  that  this  was  a  foul  wrong  attempted  to 
be  jierpetrated  upon  this  Church  in  Louisville.  I 
do  not  Know  the  facts  myself,  but  I  say  this  Assem- 
bly is  compromising  its  dignity  by  proceeding  by 
a  process  like  this,  in  this  case,  without  hearing 
the  facts.  I  say  that  this  body  cannot  afford  to  set- 
tle a  question  of  property  and  ot  right,  without  at 
least  hearing  the  parties  who  are  adverse  to  the 
claim  which  now  appears  to  be  so  favorably  con- 
sidered. I  say  this  Assembly  is  now  at  the  bar  of 
r  nblic  opinion. 

A  ^lember.    Ijrise  to  a  point  of  order. 

^Moderator.    The  gentleman  is  in  order. 

Dr.  'Vnderson.  Then  I  proceed,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  bro'her  who  interrupted  me,  and  all  like  him — 
1  say  tiie  eyes  of  the  country  are  directed  to  the  de- 
cisions of  this  body,  and  that  we  are  at  the  Dar  of 
public  opinion,  and  it  we  want  to  go  before  the  peo- 
ple oi  this  country  with  the  clean  hands  and  fair 
reputations  we  have  heretofore  had,  we  must  be  ex- 
ceedingly careful  what  we  do.  This  matter  is  be- 
fore the  courts  ot  Kentucky.  I  amjinformed  that  at 
this  time  the  Judge  of  that  District,  a  very  eminent 
man,  has  the  case  in  hearing.  Are  we  prepared, 
when  the  matter  is  in  his  hands,  we,  a  body  not 
knowiDg  the  facts,  and  when  the  facts  are  not  know- 
able — are  we  prepared  to  take  any  such  action?  I 
protest  against  it,  notlknowing  the  facts  myself.  I 
wish  to  know  them  before  I  vote,  and  I  suppose  ev- 
ery man  in  this  house  wishes  to  know  the  facts  be- 
fore he  votes. 

Dr.  Safford  stated  that  living  upon  the  ground  he 
knew  the  facts,  and  had  known  everything  about 
it  from  the  buginntng.  Ic  was  a  simple  election, 
and  the  difficulty  had  been  brought  about  by  those 
who  sympathized  with  Dr.  Robinson  and  his  party. 

Rev.  Mr.  Bra  cken  asserted  that  it  was  not  a 
simple  question  of  the  election  of  Elders.  These 
aifflculties  came  up  in  the  Louisville  Presbytery, 
and  from  them  were  taken  to  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  from  the  Synod  to  a  committee  which 
met  with  the  Church,  and  without  definite  instruc- 
tions nroceeded  to  elect  Elders. 

Mr."KempshaU  moved  to  lay  the  motion  upon 
the  table.    Lost. 

It  was  then  moved  to  recommit. 

Dr.  Krebs  said  there  was  no  reason  for  recom- 
mitting. The  whole  matter  had  been  investigated. 
What  was  to  he  gained  by  recommitment?  A  mem- 
ber upon  the  floor  sail  it  was  a  very  complicated 
case,  but  it  was  very  clear.  There  were  documents 
here  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  recording  the 
election.  He  held  a  certified  copy  of  the  records, 
and  the  records  themselves  were  in  the  house.  The 
committee  appointed  by  that  Synod  to  cause  the 
i-lection  had  made  their  report  and  published  it. 
They  ha  1  proceeded  to  cause  an  election  of  Elders, 
an  election  was  made,  and  the  Elders  proceeded 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  but  were  denied 
admission  on  the  ground  tfiat  they  were  not  known 
there.  It  was  true  that  a  committee  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  pass  upon  the  matter;  and  that  it  wao 
btfore  the  civil  courts;  and  the  man  in  whose  hands 
it  was, desired  that  the  matter  should  be  thrown  over 
until  alter  the  decision  by  this  house. 

Mr.  Bracken  Cilled  for  the  reading  of  the  minutes 
appointing  this  committee  in  regard  to  the  election 
otEiders;  affirming  it  as  his  belief  that  there  was  no 
buch  record. 


Dr.  Krebs  read  a  certified  copy  of  the  record — 
stating  that  the  original  record  wa^  in  the  bouse. 

Rev.  Mr.  Jones  claimed  that  action  upon  the 
memorial  in  this  form  would  be  an  ex  parte  pro- 
ceed inir,  and  irregular. 

Mr.  McKniglii  stuted  that  not  only  the  records  of 
the  Presbytejy  of  Louisville  were  i.ot  here,  but  the 
appeal  as  taken  from  the  decision  of  that  body  was 
not  here.  Would  not  say  that  the  records  were  de- 
siKuedly  absent,  in  order  that  this  case  might  not  be 
tried  a.  d  U*  cided — would  he  s^rry  to  f-aj  sd — but  yet 
it  had  bomexvhat  that  appearance.  Would  like  to 
a^k  if  this  General  Cnurt  ot  the  Church  hadn't  the 
right,  upnn  any  memorial,  if  tUey  were  sa'islied 
with  the  facts,  to  take  up  any  overture  and  send  aa 
answer  to  the  question.  The  tacts  were  that  when 
this  committee,  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
after  due  notice  proceeded  to  the  church  tor  the  elec- 
tion of  the  Elders,  in  accordance  with  instructions 
and  the  noiice,  they  tbund  the  church  lucked.  Alter 
organizing  on  the  pavement  in  Inmt  oi  the  c>iurch, 
they  adjourned  to  the  jiublic  school-house  in  the 
neigliborhood,  in  order  to  carry  out  the  very  order 
that  was  sent  to  them  Dy  the  Synod. 

Rev.  Mr.  Smoot.  I  want  to  ask  Mr.  McKnight  jf 
this  was  not  the  s-taie  of  th^"!  case,  that  those  Elders 
and  other  Elders  appeared  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  both  parties  claiming  to 
be  Elders;  that  the  Presbytery  did  not  receive  or 
condemn  them,  but  appointed  a  committee  to  ascer- 
tain which  set  of  Elders  were  eutitlea  to  a  sear,  and 
that  that  committee  has  not  yet  reported,  and  that 
that  committee  are  to  report  at  tlie  adjourned  meet- 
ing of  the  Louisville  Presbytery  next  month. 

Mr.  McKnight.  My  recjliection  is  that  when  they 
made  their  apijearauce  on  the  floor  of  the  Presbyte- 
ry, the  Moderaror  said  "We  don't  know  you.  sirs;" 
instead  of  having  their  certificates  examiiied,  or 
allowing  them  an  opportuuity  of  explaining  their 
condition,  they  were  met  witn  "We  don't  know 
you,"  and  they  were  compelled  to  take  their  seats. 

Mr.  Smoot.  Does  the  committee  ask  the  General 
Assembly  to  take  tnis  action  simply  upon  newspa- 
per statements? — and  do  thev  ask  the  Assembly  to 
decide  this  question,  thus  taking  it  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  to  iuvesligate  it,  before  they  have  re- 
Ijorted? 

Dr.  Krebs.  Does  the  gentleman  deny  that  the  min- 
ute I  read  is  authentic? 

Mr.  Smoot.  I  didn't  deny  any  statement  made  by 
Dr.  Krebs. 

Mr.  Wilson  desired  that  all  the  papers  in  the  case 
be  read. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke  said  there  were  two  questions  in- 
volved in  this  matter — flrst.  whether  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky  hadaright  to  oider  an  election  of  Elders, 
and,  second,  w^hether  the  committee  ot  the  Synod 
had  performed  1  heir  duty.  There  was  no  evidence 
that  the  committee  performed  its  duty  correctly. 
The  committee,  had  never  reported  to  the  Synod, 
nor  had  the  Synod  approved  of  its  action.  It  was 
affirmed  that  the  committee  ot  the  Synod  did  not 
hold  a  lawful  election;  that  the  congregation 
was  never  called  together;  that  a  portion  met  on 
the  pavement,  and  adjourned  from  thence  to  some 
ether  place,  with  regard  to  wnioh  due  notice  had' 
not  been  given;  that  when  they  came  to  claim  their 
seats  the  "Louisville  Presbytery  declined  to  admit 
them  without  investigation.  Under  tuch  circum- 
stances what  right  had  the  Assembly  to  decide  this 
matter,  when  the  evidence  only  of  one  side  was  be- 
fore them? 

Dr.  Krebs.  The  committee  has  reported,  and  pub- 
lished their  report  over  their  signatures. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.  Has  the  Synod  approved  ofthetr 
action? 

Dr.  Krebs.    It  needs  no  approval. 

Mr.  Clark  asked  Dr.  Van  Dvke  if  an  approval 
was  needed  to  the  report  of  a  committee  appointed 
to  ordain  a  minister. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke  claimed  that  they  were  not  anala- 
gous  cases. 

Dr.  McLean.  I  ho)ie  there  will  be  no  recommit- 
ment, but  that  there  will  be  an  immeiliate  adoption 
of  that  report.  We  see  here  some  ot  the  tictics,  of 
some  of  these  Kentucky  gentleman,  to  put  off,  de- 
lay and  complicate  matters  so  as  to  reach  their  par- 
ticular aims.    Here  is  a  valuable  Church  at  stake. 


81 


We  ought  to  find  out  whether  they  will  know  men 
elecr-ed  in  their  own  city.  You  are  called  upon, 
upon  the  very  best  evidence,  to  say  that  these  men 
are  Eldi/r9,and  tlien  tie  whether  the  brethren  of  the 
LoiiiKvi  le  Presbytery  will  know  it  the  next  time. 
The  next  Synod  of  Kentucky  meets  in  October;  if 
you  tie  up  things  in  this  way  and  hold  matters  in 
abeyance  until  next  October  infinite  mischief  will 
be  done.  The  absence  of  the  minutes  and  appeal 
looks  wonderfully  like  an  effort  to  force  such    a  re- 

bUlt. 

A  motion  was  made  for  theprevlous  question,  and 
witbdravvn. 

The  Moderator  stated  the  original  motion  to  be 
upon  docketing  ihe  report,  with  an  amendment  to 
adopt  the  report,  and  was  proceeding  to  take  Che 
vote  when 

Kev.  Mr.  Ferguson  rose  to  a  point  of  order,  say- 
ing,Trie  state  ot  feeling  in  this  house  is  such  that  we 
are  not  ready  lor  any  ciueslion. 

Moderator.  What  is  the  point  of  order? 

Mr.  i'erguson.  The  point  of  order  is  that  the  gen- 
thmtn  keep  order. 

Kev.  MrXvIcAfee.  I  ask  to  be  excused  from  vo- 
tiog,  for  I  do  not  nnoerstand  euou;jh  of  this  case  to 
cast  a  vote  here  satisfactorily  to  myself. 

Mr.  Bracken.  I  will  add  that  we  have  not  only 
failed  to  bring  out  the  facts,  so  as  to  enable  any  one 
to  Vote  intelligently,  but  that  tliese  facts  cannot  be 
had  without  having  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Louis "illn;  and  as  to  itie  insinuations  made  against 
that  Presbytery,  gentlemen  can  well  afford  to  make 
them  after  chat  Presbytery  has  been  put  out  of  the 
house. 

The  amendment  to  adont  the  report  prevailed,  the 
motion  to  docket  tailing  by  the  aOoption  of  tae 
amendment. 

Mr.  Bracken  gave  notice  of  a  protest  against  the 
vote  just  taken. 

Dr.  Walker  then  read  the  following  report  of  the 
Committee  on  ITreedmen: 

'  'The  committee  to  Avhoni  was  referred  the  First 
Annual  Report  of  the  Assembly's  Committee  on 
Freedmen,  respecrfuliy  submit  the  following  re- 
port. The  minutes  of  the  committee  and  of  the 
executive  ccmmiitee  have  been  submitted  for  in- 
spection, and  with  these  certain  papers  asking  for 
the  action  of  the  Ai-esmbly.  The  minutes  aie  full 
and  well  kept.  The  committee  have  done  a  good 
work.  They  have  raibed  funds  to  the  amount 
of  $25,000 — have  lifty-tive  missionaries  in  com- 
missions; over  o,0(!0  pupils  iu  their  schools, 
and  over  2,000  in  Sabba(h  School.  Their  Held  of 
labor  is  one  of  Z  paramount  importance  and 
of  deep  interest.  The  condition  of  those  whom 
they  seek  to  benefit  is  one  of  depression  and  de- 
pendence, and,  iu  many  instances,  of  deep  degrada- 
tion. If  they  are  not  to  become  a  disturbiiig  and 
dangerous  element  in  so'jlecy  they  must  be  educated 
to  take  care  of  themselves.  They  must  have  the 
BiDle,  the  school,  and  the  Gospel  with  all  its  purify- 
ing and  elevatiug  influences.  They  imploringly 
appeal  to  our  sympathies  as  the  weaker  to  the 
stronger  and  wiser  race.  We  cannot  neglect  them 
wiiLout  auilt  before  God.  They  are  immortal  be- 
ings. We  must  do  what  we  can  to  save  them  or 
God  may  require  their  blood  at  our  hands. 

One  of  the  papers  referred  to,  relates  to  the  occu- 
pancy of  Zion's  Presbyterian  Church  iu  Charleston. 
S.  C,  under  the  adjudication  of  the  post  command- 
er, and  asks  for  the  approval,  or  iustructious  of  the 
Assembly. 

Your  committee  recommend  this  answer:  The 
General  Assembly  regard  the  avoidance  as  far  as 
possible  on  the  part  of  the  committee,  of  all  un- 
(ileasant  collision  with  the  Southern  churches,  as 
wise  and  judicious,  anrt  inasmuch  as  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  civil  authorities  has  been  re-establisbeul 
in  South  Carolina,  the  question  as  to  the  occupancy 
of  said  house  in  the  fntuie  is  a  question  of  law,  aid 
must  be  left  to  the  adjudicition  ot  the  civil  courts. 
Two  other  papers  are  Overtures  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Freedmen  by  the  iast  Assembly,  to 
be  reported  upon  at  the  present  Assembly. 

The  first  of  these  overtures  is  from  the  Synod  of 
Kansas,  and  has  regard  to  the  establishment  of  a 
chair  of  Biblical  Instruction  for  the  recognized 
ministers  of  the  freedmen.    The  committee,  in  their 


report,  Ptate  that  an  eflfort  to  give  such  a  course  o  f 
instruction   had   been    made,   hut  entirely  failed. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  noth- 
ing more  be  dwiie  in  the  case. 

The  second  Overture  relates  to  the  establishment 
of  a  "  Memorial  University , "  in  honor  of  the  fallen 
President. 

Upon  this  the  committee  reuort  that,  inasmuch 
as  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
charier  of  the  Ashman  Institute  has  been  etdarged, 
and  its  name  chanaed  to  that  of  Lincoln  University, 
and  as  the  insiitution  is  under  the  <5are  of  one  of  our 
own  Presbyteries,  no  efloit  should  be  made  to  fore- 
stall it,  or  hinder  its  usefulness.  In  this  judgment 
your  committee  recommend  ihe  coneurreuce  of  the 
Assembly.  The  committee  in  their  annual  report 
bring  to  the  notice  of  the  Assembly  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Freedmeu's  College  of  Nortu  Caroliua — 
intended  lor  the  education  of  freeanien,  and  for 
training  a  Calvinistic  ministry  for  the  colored  race. 
By  the  limitation  of  the  chu,rter,  al!  the  members  of 
tlie  Board  of  Trustees  are  required  to  be  members 
of  tome  branch  of  the  Preobyserian  Church.  Your 
committee  recommend  that  liev.  Willis  L.  Miller, 
01  North  Caroliua,  the  general  agent  of  this  institu- 
tion, be  heard  by  the  Assembly  in  its  behalf. 

Upon  the  memorisl  referred  to  your  committee  by 
the  present  Assembly,  they  report  that  it  consists  ot  a 
paper  from  Kev.  James  St.  Clair,  of  North  Caro- 
lina, stating  his  suspension  and  excumniunication 
on  political  grounds  by  the  Presbytery  of  *  ayette- 
ville,  and  asking  assistance  for  the  people  of  color; 
and  also  ot  a  petition  from  some  iwenty-eight  per- 
sons cf  color  in  North  Carolina,  declaring  their  ad- 
herence to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Bettiog  forth 
their  grievous  wrongs  andjpereecutions,  and  asking 
tbs  Assembly  to  assist  them  iu  securing  for  them- 
selves and  their  children,  schools  and  the  means  of 
grace.  Your  committee  recommend  tnat  these  pa- 
pers be  referred  to  the  Assembly's  Committee  on 
Ireedmen . 

Your  committee  respectfully  offer  for  adoption 
the  following  resolutions,  viz:    Resolved 

1.  That  the  rejjort  be  approved  and  printed  for 
circulation  in  all  our  churches. 

2.  That  in  the  success  which  has  attended  the 
labors  of  the  committee  the  General  Assembly  re- 
cognize the  good  hand  of  God,  and  the  tokens  of  hi3 
favor  towards  the  four  millions  of  human  beings 
from  whose  necks,  He,  in  His  wonder-working 
providences,  has  broken  the  yoke  ot  bondage. 

3  That  the  Assembly  commend  this  blessed  cause 
to  the  sympathies  and  prayers  and  benefactions  of 
all  our  churches,  and  asks  ior  their  liberal  contri- 
butions; that  thus  our  people  may  share  iu  the  hap- 
piness of  that  "man  that  considereth  the  poor," 
and  that  upon  them  may  come  "the  blessing  of  tlim 
that  was  ready  to  perish.'' 

Your  Committee  also  offer  for  adoption  the  follow- 
ing paper,  prepared  al  their  r»  quest  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Reed: 

Your  Committee  cordially  bear  testimony  to  the 
fidelity,  zeal  and  elficiency  of  the  Assembly's  Com- 
mittee on  Freedmen,  and  especially  to  the  taithlul 
and  successful  work  of  their  Secretary  during  the 
past  year.  The  thanks  of  this  Assembly  are  due 
and  are  hereby  tendered  to  these  breti-ireu  for  the 
successful  prosecution  of  the  work  to  the  present 
time. 

From  no  want  of  confidence  in  their  ability  to  car- 
ry it  forward,  but  on  account  of  the  great  impor- 
tance of  simplifying  as  far  as  possible  our  benevo- 
lent operations,  and  ultimately  reducing  the  num- 
ber of  appeals  to  our  congre^'ations  for  pecuniary 
contributions;  and  believing  that  this  is  a  legiti- 
mate part  of  the  work  of  one  of  our  Boards— it  being 
understood,  also,  that  the  change  contemplated  is 
favored  or  cordially  acquiesced  iu  by  those  who 
have  heretofore  had  this  matter  in  charge — the  com- 
mittee recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions,  viz: 

1.  That  as  soon  as  practicable  the  work  ot  the  As- 
sembly's Committee  on  Freedmen  be  transferred  to 
the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  with  the  special  in- 
junction tnat  that  Board  give  immediate  and  earnest 
attention  to  this  department  of  labor,  empioj'ing 
such  additional  executive  force  as  may  be  necessary 
to  render  it  efficient  and  successful. 


82 


2.  The  Committee  on  Freedmen  are  earnestly  re- 
quested to  couiinue  their  labors  until  the  Board  of 
Uomfstic  MiHsious  are  ureparod  to  take  up  the  work 
an'l  the  iraiisttT  can  he  made  without  derangement 
to  the  plans  already  adopted;  and  that  the  teachers 
and  other  liiborers  already  employed  be  continued 
iicoordiii";  to  the  contracts  of  the  committee  until  the 
Board  discover  satisfactory  reasons  for  a  chantce. 

3-  That  in  view  of  the  magnitude  and  importance 
of  the  worii  among  the  free(unen,|the  immediate  de- 
mand for  the  expeiiditure  of  large  sums  on  their  be- 
hali,  the  Assembly  renews  the  injunction  that  tor 
the  presect  an  annual  collection  he  made  for  this 
specitic  object,  and  that  the  lirst  Sabbath  in  October 
be  designated  for  such  collection. 

It  wiis  moved  to  accept  and  docket  the  report. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke  jrave  notice  or,  and  read  the  fd- 
lowmg  auienamcnc,  which  he  desired  to  have  cun- 
sidered  when  the  matter  comes  up  again: 

Whereas,  Xhe  Assembly's  Committee  on  Freed- 
men, by  virtue  of  authority  derived  from  a  military 
commander  of  the  United  States,  did  take  possession 
of  the  church  edifice  belonging  to  Zion  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  Charleston,  S.  0.,  and  hold  the  same  in 
the  name  of  this  Assembly:  and, 

Whereas,  The  grotmds  iipon  which  the  claims  of 
said  committee  to  the  control  of  the  atoresaid  church 
property  were  urged  and  recognized  before  the 
militii'y  tribunal,  were,  by  the  acknowledgement  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  a  misapprehension 
of  the  lacts  in  the  case;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  xVsseinbly  regret  the  error  into 
which  the  zeal  of  the  Committee  on  Freedmen  has 
led  them  iu  this  instance,  and  CDJoin  upon  them  to 
do  all  in  their  poTer  to  rectify  said, error  and  pre- 
vent the  evil  consequences  it  IS  calcQlated  to  pro- 
duce. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  prosecution  of  this  great 
work  of  evangelizing  the  negro  population  of  the 
Southern  States,  this  Assembly  has  no  desire,  nor 
intention,  to  infringe  upon  the  vested  rights  of  any 
individual  or  Church  in  those  States,  nor  in  any 
wise  to  disparage  the  wisdom  and  zeal  of  those 
Chri-tian  brethrea  at  the  South  who  are  engaged  m 
the  same  great  work,  and  to  whose  fidelity  and 
success  the  General  Assembly  has  borne  repeated 
and  explicit"testimony. 

The  repurt  was  accepted  and  docketed. 

Several  nominations  were  then  made  to  fill  vacan- 
cies in  Theological  Seminaries. 

Dr.  Saflford  reported  the  consent  of  Dr.  McCosh 
for  the  publieaiion  of  his  sermon,  and  asked  that  an 
order  be  drawn  on  the  treasury  to  the  amount  of 
$1.5  to  pay  for  pamphlet  copies  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Assembly  to  be  given  to  Dr.  MeCosh.    Voted. 

A  motion  was  then  made  to  take  up  the  unfinished 
business  of  yesterday. 

An  amendment  was  proposed  that  speakers  be 
limiced  to  twenty  minutes. 

A  motion  was  made  to  lay  the  amendment  on  the 
table. 

A  standing  vote  was  taken  upon  the  latter  mo- 
tion, and  the  Moderator  announced  that  it  was  car- 
ried. 

It  appearing,  however,  that  some  had  voted  not 
understanding  the  question  before  the  house,  an- 
other standing  vote  was  taken,  and  the  announce- 
ment was  made  that  the  motion  to  lay  on  the  table 
was  lost. 

The  question  then  recurring  upon  the  amendment 
of  limitation  to  twenty  minutes, 

Mr.  Neiusofiered  to  amend  bj'' limiting  the  time 
to  thirty  minutes. 

Dr.  Boardman  reminded  the  Assembly  mo^t  re- 
spectfully that  in  The  course  of  the  session  it  had 
bten  heard  many  times  over  from  gentlemen  under- 
stood to  reiiresent  the  majority  ot  the  house, 
that  they  were  strenuous  ad"vocates  of  free 
speech,  and  that  absolute  liberty  of  dis- 
cussion, whenever  the  Assembly  should  come 
to  the  discussion  of  the  princii)le9  involved  in  the 
isrues  now  before  the  house,  would  be  allowed.  He 
protested  against  any  such  restrictions  upon  free 
discussion  as  the  motion  would  make,  and  con- 
tended that  it  wa*  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the 
question  now  before  the  house  in  the  space  of  twenty 
minutes.  The  vital  iniei-ests  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  were  involved  in  ihe  question.  The  General 
Asecmbiy  did  not  stand  by  reason  of  the  action  of 


the  first  or  second  day's  sessions  in  a  very  enviable 
position  before  the  country  in  respect  to  the  fiind*- 
meotal  liberty  of  discussion.  If  he  was  of  the  ma- 
jority on  this  question  he  would  vote  against  lim- 
iting the  time  of  debate. 

Dr.  Anderson  remarked  that  not  a  sinttle  argu- 
ment had  been  heard  from  any  of  the  simiers  of  the 
"Declaration  and  Testimony.""  Can  say  so  because 
he  he  did  not  b'^long  to  that  class.  Was  the  As- 
sembly unwilling  to  hear  these  gentlemen,  whose 
head.s'wi-re  at  stake,  with  the  loss  of  all  their  eo- 
clesiasticul  ri^nts,  longer  thaii  twenty, 
thirty,  forty  or  even  sixty  minutes.  If  those 
gentlf-men  were  allowed  to  speak  the  Assembly 
would  hear  tnings  they  were  not  prepared  for  from 
anythintr  that  had  heretofore  been  made.  It  had 
been  said,  and  he  feared  lest  the  Assembly  had  and 
might  then  act  upon  the  belief,  that  these  men  were 
in  favor  of  a  disruption  of  the  Church;  that  they 
were  maneuvering  to  rend  the  Church  asunder. 
But  he  stood  there,  thougn  not  of  them,  knowing 
their  counsels,  to  say  that  that  was  an  entire  mis- 
represension.  It  was  not  their  plan  when  tne 
"Declaration  and  Testimony"  was  signed,  and  was 
not  their  plan  to-day. 

Mr.  Clark  made  an  amendment,  the  precise  terms 
of  which  we  did  not  understand. 

Mr.  Nevius  asked  leave  to  withdraw  his  amend- 
ment. He  was  not  in  favor  of  any  restriction,  but 
desired,  if  any  were  matle  that  it  should  be  thirty 
rather  than  twenty  minutes. 

Rev.  Mr.  Stewart  was  iu  tavor  of  free  speech; 
had  voted,  and  probably  should  vote,  with  the  ma- 
jority; but  was  opposed  to  any  restiictioo. 

Mr.  Nevias  was  granted  leave  to  withdraw  his 
amendment. 

Dr.  Krebs  moved  to  lay  all  pending  amendments 
on  the  table,  which  motion  prevailed 

The  Moderator  announced  the  subject  matter  be- 
fore the  Assembly  to  be  the  report  of  the  Committee 
upon  the  case  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  and 
that  Mr.  Clarke  was  entitle'd  to  the  floor. 

With  Dr.  Lowrie  in  the  Chair. 

Mr.  H.  K.  Clarke  proceeded  with  his  argument, 
f-tating  that  he  would  endeavor  to  respect  the  impa- 
tience of  the  house,  but  was  free  to  say 
that  this  matter  ought  to  have  a 
full  hearing;  that  we  stood  at  the  bar  of  public 
opinion,  and  by  that  he  meant  the  bar  of  the 
Church;  would  deprecate  nothing  more  than  to  have 
a  vole  taken  and  the  measure  carried  through  solely 
by  a  majority;  to  have  tlie  Church  concur  with  the 
action  of  the  Assembly,  the  principles  of  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution  upon  whico  aciion  was 
taken  must  be  the  true  principles .  It  would  not  do  to 
trust  to  majorities.  If  any  one  wanted  to 
go  home,  leaving  the.se  principles  unde- 
cided, lee  him  go.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  any 
man  whether  agreeing  with  him  or  not,  unless  he 
was  willing  to  stand  by  his  principles  to  a  vote, 
particularly  upon  this  most  important  question  of 
the  session. 

Rev.  Mt.  Sharon  interrupted  the  speaker  with  the 
question  as  to  what  he  would  do  in  cise  of  sickness 
injhis  family,  &c.,  when  the  Moderator  suggested 
to  Mr.  Clark  that  he  was  not  speaking  on  the  ques- 
tion under  discussion. 

Mr.  Clark  proceeded  to  say  that  he  hid  felt  dis- 
tracted somewhat  by  the  eloquent  oration  of  Dr. 
Humphries,  when  he  commenced  his  si,eteh  at  the 
last  session,  and  doubted  not  thit  thts  As.-eoibly  had 
been  also,  and  asked  the  indulgence  ol  the  Assembly 
while  he  briefly  read  the  points  he  had  endeavored 
to  make  as,  follows: 

The  General  Assembly,  in  the  exercise  of  any  of 
the  administrative,  legislative  or  jiidiciiil  functions 
with  which  it  is  invested,  may  adopt  any  method 
which  in  its  discretion  it  shall  deem  expedient,  un- 
less some  mode  is  specifically  prescribed  by  the 
book. 

That  though  a  proceeding  may  be  essentially  judi- 
cial in  its  nature^  that  is,  may  be  followed  by  a  de- 
cision or  a  judgment,  which  parties  aflected 
are  bound  to  obey,  yet  a  ju<iicial  process 
by  citation  and  complaint  is  not  necessary,  unless 
required  by  some  positive  enactment.  Equity  re- 
quires that  the  party  aflfeoted  shall  have  a  fair  chance 
to  be  heard.    That  secured,  the   whole   subject  is 


fairly  before  the  Court  for  adjudication—both  upon 
coiifetitutioual  and  equitable  grounds. 

Xiie  liisr  s)x  cliispterH  of  the  book  ot  discipline  re- 
late exclusively  to  individual  offenses.  There  Is  not 
one  v^ord  which  prescribes  or  contemplates  pro- 
ceedings against  a  Ciiurch  Court. 

The  entire  absence  of  any  oirectory  enactment 
leaves  this  court  free  to  exercise  its  discretion  as  to 
the  mode  of  exercisinjf  its  juri>dictIon. 

In  this  C'lse  the  commissioners  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Louia^iiUe  have  heard  the  charge,  they  have  put 
in  a  wriltf-n  answer;  tney  have  been  oflered  tne 
privilet^es  of  niembera  of  this  Assembly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  defense,  and  they  have  refused  to  accept 
ttie  offer. 

The  duty  to  exiimme,  deliberate  and  judge  in  the 
wholt)  niarter  is  explicitly  declared  in  ch.  vii,  sec.  1. 

He  argued  itiat  tne  siniple  defiance  of  the  Louis- 
ville Presbytery  was  not  the  matter  before  the  As- 
sembly; tiiere'was  something  vastly  greater  and 
more  important  than  that.  Tlie  question  put  in 
issue  by  that  Presbytery  was  this:  Tlie  Church 
had  declared  thaCjithe  rebellion  was  a  sin,  it  did 
not  declare  ibat  all  those  who  participated  in  it 
were  charged  witii  the  guilt  ot  it.  The  Presbytery 
of  Louisvil'e  had  denied  the  first  of  these  proposi- 
tions and  affirmed  the  second.  A  member  of  this 
body  had  saiil  it  was  noD  their  purpose  to  create  a 
seism  in  the  Church,  but  they  were  to  he  held  ac- 
countable for  the  reasonable  consequences  of  their 
ac's 

Uev.  Sir.  McAfee  rose  to  a  p^int  of  order,  asking 
if  it  was  in  order  to  take  for  granted  a  ijroposition 
that  had  been  expressly  denied. 

Moderator.  The  member  is  in  order,  as  the 
Moderator  thinks. 

Mr.  Clarke  cited  the  acts  of  the  Presbytery  in 
thtir  manner  of  combination;  sending  records  of 
their  acts  broadcast  through  the  land;  in- 
viting others  thereby  to  combine  with 
them  Tas  evidence  of  their  intent,  and 
ptoceeded  to  argue  from  the  action  of  the  Assembly 
in  1861  and  IStis')  that  the  intention  of  the  Church 
was,  as  already  stated,  to  declare  the  rebellion  a 
sin.ar-d  only  those  who  had  been  leaders  in  foment- 
ing the  rebellion,  or  had  voiunt  irily  and  without 
external  constraint  taken  part  in  it,  as  guilty  of  that 
sin.  Affirmed  that  the  Assembly  was  right  in  so 
declaring  by  the  confession  ot  faith  and  tne  cate- 
ctiism'j  of  the  Churcn.  Ic  had  been  asserted  that 
the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  last  year  was 
unconstitutional  because  it  imposed  a  new  test  of 
communion.  It  that  were  true  he  granted  that  it 
could  not  hive  been  so  established;  thouiih  even 
then  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  would  still  have 
deserved  censure  for  their  act^.  Insisted  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  every  man,  and  certainly  ot  every 
Christian,  to  obey  tt;e  constituted  authorities;  that 
it  was  the  law"  of  tue  i^hurch  that  the  people 
bhould  "pray  for  magistrates,  honor  their  persons, 
pay  them  tribute  and  their  dues,  obey  their 
lawful  commands  and  be  subject  to  authority  for 
conscience  sake. ' '  He  then  read  Irom  the  2d  section 
of  the  chapter  on  Synods,  &c.,  directiug  Synods, 
&c.,  ministerially  to  Uetermiue  controversies  of  faith 
an<l  cases  of  conscience,  to  set  Oown  rules  and  di- 
rections for  the  better  ordering  of  the  public  worship 
of  God  and  tne  government  of  His  Church,  whose  de- 
crees and  determinations,  it  consonant  to  the  vvord 
of  God,  were  to  be  received  with  reverence  and  sub- 
mi8-.ioD. 

The  Assembly  of  '65  was  right,  then,  in  its  action, 
it  that  action  was  consonant  VFith  the  word  ot  God. 
That  was  the  next  question.  Asked  to  know 
Whether  there  was  anybody  in  the  Assembly  who  de- 
nied that  the  Larger  and  shorter  CatechiMm  were  in 
accoriSance  wi'h  the  word  of  God.  Read  from  the 
Catechism  :  '  'Fifth  commandment.  Honor  thy  lather 
and  mother.  Who  are  meantV  Not  only  natural 
parents,  but  all  superiors  in  age 
and  rights,  and  esiiecially  such  as 
by  God's  ordinances  are  over  us,  in  the  place  of  au- 
tiionty,  whether  in  the  family,  ^yhurcU  or  common- 
wealth." That  was  an  authoritative  exposition  of 
the  word  of  God,  "What  is  the  honor  that  inferiors 
owe  to  bUperioiB?"  &e.,  (reading  from  the  Cate- 
chism.) could  there  be  any  doubt  then  tha'-  if  any 
person  set  up  a  rebellion  against  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  in  the  month  of  November  or 


December,  1860,  that  that  person  was  violating  not 
only  the  law  of  the  State  but  the  law  of  the  Church? 
If  there  were  no  such  person  or  persons,  then,  per- 
haps, the  Assembly  bad  been  taking  an  unneces- 
sary step  in  proviiling  for  their  examination  uuou 
their  applying  for  re- admission  to  the  privileges  of 
the  Church.  He  insisted  that  there  were  such  per- 
sons, and,  moreover,  that  they  were  thooe  v^tio  had 
been  the  most  influential  persons  in  the  Church  aad 
those  that  had  exerted  the^greatest  influence. 

Dr.  Palmer,  on  the  tJ9th  day  of  Noveni  ier,  1800— 
three  weeks  before  the  first  overt  act  had  been 
taken  against  the  Governmeut  of  the  United  States 
by  any  State  Government — three  weeks  before  any- 
body had  any  right  to  say,  or  any  authority  or  rea- 
son to  say,  that  the}-  were  constrained  by  their 
State  Government,  a>cended  the  steps  of  his  pulpit 
in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  and  there  exhorted  liis 
people  in  the  most  violent  harangue  to  reViellion, 
when  he  called  upon  them  to  strike  lor  their  rights, 
when  be  likened  their  po.sition  to  the  position  of 
their  fathers,  during  the  reign  of  George  III; 
when  he  appealed  to  them  to  strike  for  rights, 
plainly  invited  them  to  maintain  their  rights  by  acts 
of  wai — when  Dr.  Palmer  did  that,  I  insist  that  he 
was  a  rebel  against  State  au:(hority — a  rebel  aaainsc 
Federal  authority — a  rebel  against  our  confession  of 
faith  and  the  catechism,  and  a  rebel  against  the  lasv 
of  God.  The  iuiluence  of  th  it  sermon  was  im- 
mense— it  was  published  and  circulated  by  the 
thousands  and  sent  broadcast  over  the  land. 
And  this  sermon  was  preached  three  weeks 
belore  the  secesssion  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  and  two  months  i)efore  the  seces- 
sion of  the  State  of  Louisiana.  Now  when  you  bear 
in  mind  that  that  act  was  committetl  by  a  mau  who 
had  the  vows  of  your  Church  upon  him,  who  was 
occupying  a  position  of  influence,  which  the  or- 
dination ot  this  Church  gave  him,  can  it  be  possi- 
ble that  this  Assembly  will  do  its  duty  it  it  does  not 
require  that  man,  should  he  ever  come  Irack  to  the 
Church,  to  come  back  to  it  through  the  door  '^f  re- 
pentance, and  not  that  of  defiance.  The  speaker 
contended  that  the  rebellious  influence  proceeded 
pre-eminently  if  not  mainly  from  those  whu  were 
at  the  time  acting  under  the  authority  ot  the  Church, 
and  who  slioiild  be  held  indue  suiyection  to  its  au- 
thority, citing  further  the  resolution  of  the  Synod 
of  South  Carolina,  passed  in  November,  1880,  be- 
fore the  action  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  by 
which  it  sought  to  take  itselt  out  of  the  Union : 

"Resolved,  The  Synod  has  no  hesitation,  there- 
fore, in  expressing  tue  belief  tliat  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  are  now  solemnly  called  on  to  imi- 
tate their  Revolutionary  forefathers,  and  stand  up 
for  their  rights.  We  have  an  luimole  and  abiding 
confidence  that  that  God,  whose  truth  we  represent 
in  this  conflict,  will  be  with  us;  and,  exhorting  our 
churches  and  people  to  put  their  trust  in  God,  and 
go  forward  in  the  solemn  path  of  duty  which  his 
Providence  opens  before  thein,  we,  elders  and  mem- 
bers ol  the  Presbjtetiau  Courch,  m  South  Carolina 
Synotl  assembled,  would  give  them  our  benedic- 
tion, and  the  assurance  that  we  shall  fervently  and 
unceasingly  implore  for  them  the  care  and  protec- 
tion of  Almighty  God. ' ' 

Those  men  were  urging  forward  rebellion,  pre- 
senting it  as  a  solemn  Christian  duty  to  rebel 
against  the  powers  that  be.  Upon  what  authority 
could  the  Assembly  be  held  free  from  guilt  if  it  al- 
lowed such  enornious  wickedness  as  tiiat  to  pass 
uncensured?  He  supposed  that  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  were  among  the  8iO  ministers  whom  the 
Assembly  was  asked  to  include  in  the  effort  of  re- 
union. He  had  some  other  authorities  to  read. 
That  the  duty  to  obey  the  Government  was  a  doc- 
trine that  the  Church  was  bound  to  obey  and  en  ■ 
force  had  been  proclaimed  from  one  of  the  most  in- 
fluential pulpits  in  our  land;  that  sermon,  too,  had 
been  circulated;  he  did  not  know  to  whom  he  was 
indebted  for  his  copy.  A  sermon  preached  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brooklyn,  (Dr.  Van- 
Dyke's,)  on  Thanksgiving  day,  November  24,  1859. 
Would  read  the  doctrines  presented  in  the  sermon 
before  he  adverted  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  delivered,    lie  then  read  as  follows : 

"Government  is  a  divine  ordinance.  We  do  not 
mean  that  this  or  that  form  of  government  is  di- 
vine.   But  it  is  a  divine  ordinance  that  tbemagis- 


§4 


trate,  under  ■whafe\«'r  form  or  title,  sballbear  the 
wword  for  the  terror  of  evil  doers  and  the  uraise  of 
thetn  thiit  d(»  well.  Audit  i.s  a  divine  command 
that  Christians,  wherever  their  lot  may  be  cast,  and 
under  whatever  governmeut  they  may  live,  shall 
sustain  human  law  whenever  it  does  not  violate 
Divine  law,  a,x\(l  submit  to  it  when  it  does.  Chris- 
tianity does  not  seek  toaccompiish  its  benign  and 
glorious  ends  by  seditious  and  revolutions.  It 
comes  to  aanctif/  the  individual.  Through  the  in- 
dividual it  will,  no  doubt,  ultimately  accomplish 
the  social  and  political  regeneration  "of  the  world. 
I5ut  the-c  ends  csn  be  most  speedily  and  effcctuallv 
attained  by  ii'Ciilcadng  a  respect  for  magistrates 
and  a  SDirir  of  obedience  to  law. ' ' 

I  wi.-ih  this  .sermon  had  been  sent  to  Dr.  Palmer. 

Dr.  Van  D}  lie.    It  was  sent  to  him. 

Mr.  Clarke,  after  stating  that  the  enormity  of  the 
crime  of  instigating  the  rebellion  was  aegravared 
by  the  ftict  that  the  government  aa-ainst  which  they 
had  rebelled  had  been  in  their  hands  for  sixty  years; 
that  at  the  very  time  of  the  rebellion  they  had  a  ma- 
jority in  the  Senate  and  the  Supreme  Court,  and  that 
the  only  occasion  for  it  then,  was  the  fear  that  in 
the  future  they  could  not  maintain  the  asserted  right 
of  secession,  "and  fjr  that  cause  Dr.  Palmer  had 
started  the  ball  from  his  pulpit  in  New  Orleans.  He 
then  read  further  from  Dr.  Vau  Dyke's  sermon,  as 
follows: 

■'It  was  the  policy  as  well  as  the  d-ufy  of  the  Apos- 
tles of  Christianity  to  array  themselves  on  the  side 
of  law  and  order,  to  incuicate  obedience  to  civil  ru- 
lers as  a  Christian  duty,  and  to  cultivate  among 
their  disciples  a  spirit  of  reverence  for  magistrates. 
I'hey  tVlt  that  even  a  faulty  government  was  better 
for  their  cause  than  the  social  upheavmgs  of  sedi- 
tion and  revolutioo;  for  so  long  as  the  preacher 
might  travel  from  one  end  of  the  empire  to  the 
other,  under  the  broad  protection  of  the  Roman 
eagle,  the  leaven  of  the  Gospel  would  work 
Irs  quiet  way  into  the  hearts  and 
homes  of  men.''  "Let  every  soul  be  subject 
unto  the  higher  powers,  for  there  is  no  power 
biitof  God;  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God. 
Whosoever,  therefore,  resisteth  the  power,  resist- 
eth  the  ordinance  of  God;  and  they  that  resist  shall 
receive  to  themselves  damnation.  Wherefore  ye 
must  needs  be  subject  not  only  for  wrath  but  also 
for  conscience  sake.  Kender,  therefore,  to  all  tneir 
dues ;  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due;  custom  to 
whom  custom;  fear  to  whom  fear;  honor  to  whom 
honor.'  "     (Rom.  XIII,  1-2-5  ) 

'  'The  law  of  God  iLCUlcates  an  ooedient  and  sub- 
missive spirit  in  the  state  as  well  as  in  the  house- 
hold. An  insoired  Apostle  gives  us  a  true  comment 
en  the  fifth  cimmandaient,  when  he  says,  (I  Pet.  11. 
17.)  'Honor  all  men,  love  the  brotherhood, 
fear  God,  honor  the  King.'  The  tierce 
spirit  of  independence  that  chafes  under  all 
restraint,  and  is  not  willing  to  pay  respect  to  the 
person  and  office  of  those  in  authority,  does  not  de- 
rive its  inspiration  from  this  Holj'  liook.  Its  origin 
and  inspiration  is  earthly,  sensual  and  devlish,  and 
it  is  donbly  wicked,  when  in  a  country  like  ours, 
where  both  the  law  and  the  ruler  can  be  changed  by 
the  popular  will  legally  expressed,  it  incites  to  pop- 
ular violence,  plots  treason,  or  threatens  revolu- 
tion." 

In  the  fall  of  1859  resistance  against  the  civil  Gov- 
ernment was  in  violation  of  the  law  of  God.  If 
there  were  any  persons  who  had  been  guilty  ol  such 
violation,  had  not  the  General  jVssembly  the  ri<rhr, 
and  must  it  not  maintain  the  position,  that  for  wick- 
edness so  enormous  they  could  not  come  back  into 
the  Church  without  penitence? 

The  time  for  adjournment  having  arrived,  Mr. 
Clark  yielded  the  floor,  and  the  Assembly  adjourned 
until  afternoon. 


AFIEENOON  SESSION. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brangle  moved  that  so  much  of  the 
Overture  as  related  to  the  detaching  of  the  Synod  of 
Southern  Iowa,  and  uniting  it  with  the  Synod  ot 
Kansas,  be  reconsidered,  and  the  matterrccom- 
mlttedto  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures. 
The  motion  to  reconsider  Avas  agreed  to,  and  the 
matter  was  recommitted. 


Rev.  J.  D.  Wylie,  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  was  then  formally  received  by  the  Assem- 
bly. He  stated  that  he  had  been  delegated  from  the 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  to  ap- 
pear before  ttds  .\ssembly,  and  that  it  was  the  de- 
sire othis  Synod  that  steps  might  be  taken  whereby 
the  whole  brotherhood  ot  Presliyttrians  misrht  stand 
together  more  unitedly  than  they  had  before.  His 
Clmrch  subscribed  to  the  same  confession 
of  fiiith,  and  used  the  same  catechism,  and 
nearly  the  same  religious  books  as  did  the  Old 
School  Presbyterian  Cliurch;  and  tiie  Synod  of  h i.s 
Church  had  declared  its  readiness  to  respond  to  any 
action  which  might  be  inaugurated  looking  to  a 
union.  He  thought,  in  retc^rence  ta  a  common  book 
of  praise,  commiitees  could  be  appointed  in  all  the 
Churches  who  would  be  able  to  secure  a  versioo  of 
the  Scripture  Psalms  ^hich  would  be  acceptable  to 
the  Church  at  large. 

The  Moderator  responded  hy  saying  that^he  felt 
when  they  received  delegates  from  the  variou.-) 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  they  were  re- 
ceiving members  belonging  to  the  same  household. 
This  Assembly  recognized  the  soundness  of  tne 
Faith  of  the  R-formed  Chusch,  and  when  they  spoke 
'  of  a  union  of  the  two  branches,  he  believed  there  was 
a  svmpathetic  response  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly . 
While  there  was  a  hesiration  as  to  an  organic  union 
with  the  other  Assemblj'  he  did  not  think  there  wa.-* 
any  objection  t)  a  full  and  cordial  union  with  the 
Reformed  Church.  He  concluded  by  alluding  to  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Reformed"  Church — Rev; 
•  George  H.  Stuart — as  a  perfect  model  ot  a  Christian 
gentleman.  He  bad  been  told  that  before  the  war 
commenced  he  s.iug  only  psalm-';  but  he  had  been 
been  at  the  head  oi  that  great  philanthropic  enter- 
prise, the  Christian  Commission,  and  he  thought  be 
had  made  progress,  and  had  sunghymn-i  as  well  as 
psalms,  not  only  on  the  battle  tleld  but  in  the 
Church.  He  hoped  tlie  time  would  come  when  they 
would  all  meet  on  common  ground  in  their  devo- 
tional exercises. 

The  Assembly  then  proceeded  to  ballot  for  officers 
to  fill  vacancies  in  the  isoards  of  the  several  Theo- 
logical Seminaries. 

A  committee  was  apuointed  to  count  the  ballots, 
and  retired  for  that  purpose. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Mr.  Raffensperger,  the  mutter 
ot  changing  the  name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Voledo. 
of  Iowa,  was  taken  up.  He  stated  that  the  brethren 
of  Iowa  had  agreed  to  the  name  ot  Vinton  for  their 
Presbytery,  and,  if  the  change  were  made,  it  would 
avoid  all  further  confusion  between  this  Presbytery 
and  others  in  Ohio. 

The  motion  to  change  the  name  was  agreed  to. 

The  unflnished  business  was  then  taken  up — the 
report  of  the  committee  iu  regard  to  the  Louisville 
Presbytery. 

Rev.  Mr.  Stewart  desired  to  make  a  motion  that 
no  gentleman  representing  the  affirmative  side  of 
question  be  allowed  to  speak  until  two  gentlemen 
whom  he  underztooil  wished  to  obtain  tt>e  floor  on 
the  side  01  the  Declaraiion  and  Testimony,  were 
allowed  to  speak.  He  had  understood  thatDrs. 
Van  Dyke  and  Brookes  had  desired  the  floor,  but 
could  not  get  a  chance  as  there  were  so  many  on  the 
affirmative  side  who  desired  to  speak.  He  thought, 
as  Chief  Justice  Marshall  once  said  to  a  young- 
lawyer,  that  he  might  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
court  knew  some  things,  and  so  he  thought  that  the 
gentlemen  m  the  allirinative  mivrht  tate  it  for  grant- 
ed, that  they  did  not  represent  all  the  eloquence 
and  jirofundity  in  this  body.  He  thouahr  no  more 
speeches  were  requited  on  the  affirmative  side,  and 
thht  after  they  heard  the  negative  side  they  could 
linish  the  bus'iness  and  go  home. 

Mr.  Galloway  moved,  as  an  amendment,  that 
then  the  debate  close.    Lost. 

Dr.  Wm.  Breckinridge  moved  to  l&y  the  motion 
on  the  table. 

Mr.  Clarke  then  resumed  his  argument.  He  said 
he  W0uld  detain  the  Assembly  but  a  few  moments 
longer.  He  was  fully  av.are  that  this  Assembly 
embraced  a  great  amount  of  the  wisdom 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  still  it  might 
happen,  on  certain  points,  even  as  humble  a 
member  as  himself  might  be  able  to  give  informa- 
tion. The  only  remaining  points  he  desired 
to    dUcusa,     were,       what       was       the    power 


8S 


of  tbe  Assembly  as  to  the  judgment 
that  should  be  pronounced  and  what  that  judgment 
Bbould  be.  He  referred  to  the  chapter  on  tlie  power 
of  the  Assembly  in  the  Digest  and  claimed  that  un- 
der that  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  power  of  this 
Assembly  to  dissolve  the  Louisville  Presbytery.  In 
regard  to  the  two  measures  that  iiad  been  proposed, 
he  confessed  that  at  first  he  was  favorably  inclined 
toward  a  plan  similar  to  that  proposed  by  Dr. 
Humphrey,  but  upon  further  examination  he  had 
become  fully  convinced  that  such  a  plan  would  be 
wholly  ineUVctual.  He  had  listened  with  interest  to 
the  eloquent  tones  of  Dr.  Humphrey,  which  moved 
all  hearts  with  emotion,  and  some  to  teats,  in  his 
earnest  plea  for  mercy.  Dr.  Humphrey  had  said 
that  the  Kentuekians  were  a  fiood  people.  Mr.  O. 
conceded  that  there  were  many  great  aud  good  men 
in  Kentucky,  but  it  is,  also,  true  tlial  if  there  were 
mischievous  men  anywhere  they  were  to  be  found  in 
Kentucky.  Andif  tney  leftthesettlewent  of  this  af- 
fair in  the  hands  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  as  at 
present  constituted,  he  felt  sure  that  they 
would  be  greatly  disappointed.  He  did  not 
"believe  the  churches  of  Kentucky  would  have  peace 
until  they  were  subjected  to  the "  administration  of 
the  power  of  the  Assembly.  It  was  not  the  ques- 
tion of  loyalty  or  disloyalty  to  the  government  that 
was  involved  in  this  matter,  but  loyalty  to  the 
Church ;  and  there  was  every  indication  that  the 
Church  in  Kentucky  would  be  ruined  by  the  spirit 
of  contention  at  present  prevailing  in  it,  unless  the 
power  of  the  Assembly  was  put  forth.  And  he 
claimed  that  in  the  report  of  the  committee,  this 
power  had  been  put  forth  lirinly  and  yet  kindly,  and 
in  a  manner  that  would  prove  to  be  for  ttie  best 
interests  of  the  Church.  He  believed  that  if  they 
withheld  the  settlement  of  this  question  uutil  the 
next  General  Assembly  the  Churcli  of  Kentucky 
would  swing  from  her  moorings,  and  there  would 
be  contentions  vastly  greater. than  those  they  were 
called  upon  to  consider  now,  and  unless  they  were 
now  arrested  the  Church  would  never  cease  "to  re- 
gret the  neglect  to  seizt  the  present  opourtimity. 

Kev.  Dr.  West  obtained  the  floor,  out  gave  way 
for  Rev. Dr.    Van  Dyke,  of  Urooklyu. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke  addressed  the  Assembly  for  nearly 
two  hours  in  opposition  to  the  report.  His  argu- 
ment was  mostly  written.  He  begged  them  to  lay 
aside  all  prtjuciice  which  they  might  have  formed 
against  him,  and  to  hear  him  speak  for  himself. 
He  was  no  rebel  to  the  State  or  to  the  Cnurch.  He 
tbanked  the  gentleman  (Mr.  Clark)  for  reading 
from  his  declarations,  and  he  wished  he  had  read 
more,  wherein  he  spoke  of  the  right  of  revolution, 
and  concerning  the  obedience  ot  servants  to  their 
masters.  He  had  always  obeyed  human  law,  ac- 
cording to  the  Divine  command,  and  he  had  never, 
in  thought,  word  or  deed,  so  far  as  he  was  con- 
scious, beiore  God,  been  guilty  of  resistance  to  the 
luwiui  authority  ot  the  Church;  and  he  had  never 
entered  into  any  plans  with  men  who  intended  to 
divide  the  church.  He  claimed  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony  men,  whatever  might  have  been 
their  errors,  never  intended  to  divide  the  Church. 

At  the  conclusion  ol  Dr.  Van  Dyke's  remarks, 


Rev.  Dr.  Gurley  offered  the  following  substitute 
for  the  resolutions  of  the  Committee: 

Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  does  here- 
by condemn  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  as  a 
slander  against  the  Church,  schismatical  in  its  char- 
acter and  aim,  and  its  adoption  by  any  of  our  church 
courts  is  an  act  of  rebellion  against  the  authority  ol 
the  General  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  the  whole  subject  contemplated  iu 
this  report,  including  the  report  itself,  be  reterred 
to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony,  and  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisvilie  who  voted  to  adopt  that  paper,  be  sum- 
moned and  they  are  hereby  suaimoned  to  appear 
before  the  next  General  Assembly  to  answer  for 
what  they  have  done  in  this  matter,  and  that;  uutil 
their  case  is  decided  they  shall  not  be  permitted  to 
sit  as  members  of  anj^  church  court  higher  than  the 
Session. 

Resolved,  That  if  any  Presbytery  shall  disregard 
this  action  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  at  any 
meeting  shall  enroll  as  entitled  to  a  seat  or  seats  in 
the  body  one  ur  more  persons  designated  in  the  pre- 
ceding resolutions  and  summoned  to  appear  be- 
fore the  next  General  Assembly,  then  that 
Presbytery  shall  ipso  facto  be  dissolved, 
and  its  ministers  and  elders  who  adhere 
to  this  action  of  the  Assembly  are  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  in  such  cases  to  take  charge 
of  the  Presbyter  ial  records  and  retain  the  name  and 
exercise  all  the  authority  and  functions  of  the  orig- 
inal Presbytery  until  the  next  meeting  ot  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

Resolve  I,  That  Synods,  at  their  next  stated 
meetings,  in  making  uo  their  rules  shall  be  guided 
and  governed  by  the  action  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. 

Dr.  Gurley  said  this  Presbytery  had  committed  a 
grave  offense,  which  they  could  not  pass  by  and  for 
which  they  must  be  and  ought  to  be  called  to  ac- 
count, and  he  was  free  to  say  that  if  this  General 
Assembly  should  decide  to  pass  by  that  otfense 
without  calling  these  brethren  to  account,  then, 
much  as  he  loved  the  Presbyterian  Church,  long  and 
faithfully  as  he  had  endeavored  to  serve  her,  he 
should  feel  obliged  to  seek  a  home  in  some  other 
connection.  He  was  not  willing  to  retain  his  con- 
nection with  a  Church  which  would  suffer  brethren 
to  flaunt  such  insult  and  abuse  in  the  face  of  its 
highest  judicatory  and  then  let  that  offense  pass 
unrebuked.  He  proposed  in  his  substitute  to 
give  these  brethren  ample  time  to  consider 
what  they  had  done,  and  to  say 
whether  they  will  retract.  He  did  not 
doubt  the  authority  of  the  Assembly  to  do 
just  what  was  prooosed  in  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee, but  he  recollected  that  while  all  things  were 
lawful,  all  things  were  not  expedient.  He  believed 
it  would  be  better  to  defer  the  matter  as  he  had  pro- 
posed, as  there  was  no  extreme  necessity  for  tbeir 
passing  immediately  on  the  case  of  these  brethren. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  Gurley's  remarks  the 
Assembly  adjourned. 


0  S--12 


TWELFTH  D AY  —  THUESDAY,  MAY  31,  1866. 


MORNIKG  SESSIGN  ■ 

T'oe  assembly  met  at  8H  o'clock. 

A  Iter  devotional  exercises  fend  the  reading  of  the 
minutes. 

Me.  Gtilloway,  of  Otiio,  rose  to  a  privileged  ques- 
tion and  read  trom  a  letter,  written,  as  he  alltged, 
hy  tUe  Rev.  Mr.  Ferauson,  a  member  of  the  Assem- 
bly, find  published  in  the  Onio  Statesman. 

[ i'iie  extracts  contain  seveie  T'ersonal  strictures 
uiionAir.  GaUov\'ay,  and  also  rtfleci  upon  the  char- 
actpr  oi  the  Assembly.] 

After  reading  the  extracts  Mr.  Galloway  said  he 
had  no  retvarks  to  offer,  but  wtjuld  leave  ihe  matter 
vvHh  the  Assembly. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs.  I  wish  to  move,  after  making 
theioquiry,  "was  that  letter  written  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Ferguson — 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  hope  the  house  wiil  per- 
mit roe  to  explain. 

Dr.  Krebs.  I  wish  to  make  a  motion  and  then 
you  can  have  an  opportunity  to  explain. 

Rev.    Mr.  Feiguscn.    I  wish  to  be  permitted— 

Dr.  Krebs.  Doe?  the  gentleman  acknowledge him- 
Belf  to  be  the  author  of  tuat  article. 

Rev.  Xvlr.  Ferguson.  I  asK  the  privilege  of 
making  an  explanation.     I  do  not  cteny  it. 

Mr.  Galloway.     1  say  he  is  the  author,  I  know  it. 

Dr.  KieDS.  1  move  that  urless  he  forthwith  re- 
t.tacts,  au'l  apologizes  to  this  bouse  in  the  most 
ample  manner,  he  oe  forthwith  expelled. 

Rev.  Mr.  Orozier.  I  move  that  he  be  referred  to 
his  Presbytery  dS  a  slauderer,  to  be  tried, 

R-.v.  Mr.  Riggs.  I  thmfe  before  we  pass  this  mo- 
tion we  ought  to  give  Mr.  Ferguson  the  liberty  to 
make  his  exulanation. 

Toe  Moderator,     Of  course  he  will  be  heard . 

Mr.  Day.  1  move  that  Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  be  re- 
quested to  make  any  explanation  he  oesiies  to  mase, 
and  let  us  have  it  now,  so  that  it  shall  not  beunder- 
Btood  that  he  has  bt  en  shut  off. 

Dr.  Paiterson.  I  move  that  he  be  permitted — not 
requested. 

The  Mcderator,  No  one  has  tried  to  nrevent  him. 
J  do  not  think  the  motion  should  be  to  permit.  I 
wish  10  make  ttiis  statement.  Mr.  Ferguson  is  of 
Course  allowed,  and  It  is  his  privilege  and  right,  to 
speak  without  any  such  motion,  and  1  wish  him  and 
evi-ry  member  of  the  Assembly  to  understand  that 
he  has  not  been  debarred,  in  a  privilege  or  right 
To  soeak  I  only  called  hiiu  to  order,  uatil  Dr. 
Krebs'  motion  could  be  heard.  It  is  nis  right  to 
speak. 

Mr.  Day.  I  wish  to  take  away  every  excuse  he 
may  urjje  that  he  was  not  allowed  to  speak,  and  to 
show  that  he  was  requested  to  speak. 

The  Moderator.  My  design  was  to  show  that  no 
attempt  had  b^en  made  to  debar  his  rigfit. 

Rev.  Mr.  Htcsman.  lass  tliat  he  be  permitted, 
I  do  not  want  to  request  him.  Will  the  gentleman 
accept  that  as  an  amendment? 

Mr.  Day.  I  will  not  accept;  I  wish  to  request 
him,  and  if  he  will  not  respond,  let  him  be  forever 

Bdelit. 

Mr.  Clarke.  Upon  Mr.  Day's  motion  I  move  the 
previous  question. 

Dr.  Krebs.  My  motion  affords  an  opportunity  of 
explanation,  and  demands  an  explanation.  I  wish 
to  read  it. 

Resulyed,  That  unless  Mr.  Ferguson  immediately 
retract  'be  statements  in  this  ofl'eijsive  pubUcatiou, 
and  make  ample  apology  to  the  satisfaction  of  this 
house,  he  be  immtdiately  exoelled. 

Rtiv.  Dr.  SiODe  ode  moved  that  the  motion  for 
the  nrevious  questir)n  be  put  upou  the  table  in  or- 
der to  give  Mr.  Fersuson  an  opijortuuity  to  be 
beard.    Motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Moneratof,  Mr.  Ferguson  can  nowbe  heard 
if  hB  wishes. 

i>r.  Krebs.  I  hope  Mr.  Ferguson  will  be  heard.   I 


am  ready  to  hear  Wivthing  he  may  have  to  say  by 
way  of  apology  or  n-traction. 

l»r.  Humphrey.  I  move  that  this  whole  matter  be 
referred  to  a  select  commiitee.  [Voices — no,  no.] 
With  the  agitated  condition  in  which  we  are,  prob- 
ably some  advantage  mi;ihf  be  gained  to  ourselves, 
and  we  might  be  able  to  come  to  a  satisfactory  con- 
clusion, if  this  were  referred  to  a  committee.  This 
is  a  serious  and  important  matter,  audi  think  we' 
should  have  the  advantage  of  such  a  ctmmiitee  as 
could  conler  wi'h  all  the  parties. 

Mr.  Willis.  That  would  be  more  appropriate  after 
the  gentleman  is  heard. 

The  Moderator.  Mr.  Fergu^'ou  is  now  requested 
to  make  an  explanalion.  [After  a  pause.]  if  Mr. 
Ferguson  does  not  speak  I  shall  put  the  question .    • 

The  question  was  put,  on  the  motion  of  Dr.  Krebs, 
and  carried  by  an  overwhelming  vote. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke  wa'*  understood  to  prote.=t. 

The  Moderator.  The  motion  is  adopted,  ami  un- 
der It  Mr.  Ferguson  is  expelled  from  the  General 
Assembly.     [Applause  in  the  galleries.] 

Mr.  Ferguson  came  forward  and  attempted  to 
speak,  but  was  interrupted  by  cries  of  order. 

Dr.  Krebs.  I  move  to  reconsider  the  vote  just 
taken  in  order  to  affurd  the  genileman  an  opportu- 
nity to  be  heard. 

The  Moderator.  Before  putting  the  question,  I 
paused  m  order  to  afford  Mr.  Ferguson  the  oppor- 
tunity to  explain,  which  he  declined  to  use. 

Rf  V.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  did  not  understand  it  so,  if 
5'  u  will  excuse  me  from  saying  so. 

The  Modera'or.  I  waited  long  enough,  in  my 
judgment,  and  ia  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  for 
iiim  to  speak. 

Mr.  Wil'^on.  I  hope,  Moderator,  that  even  though 
the  brother  had  an  opportunity  and  declined,  that 
an  opportunity  may  again  be  afforded.  Our  disci- 
pline requires  that  alter  we  have  cited  a  man  and  he 
declines  or  refuses,  that  we  shall  cite  him  again. 
[Voices.    Hear  him] 

The  question  was  put,  and  the  motion  to  recon- 
sider was  agreed  to  with   but  one  dissenting  voice. 

The  Blodt-rator.  Mr.  Feiguson  now  has  an  oppor- 
tunity to  explain. 

Rev,  Mr.  Ferguson.  In  regard  to  the  article  which 
Mr.  Galloway  read,  I  acknowledge  that  I  wrote  it. 
I  wrote  it  under  excitement,  shortly  after  Mr.  Gal- 
loway spoke.  My  attention  was  afterwards  called 
to  one  tact,  which  was  a  mistake — that  the  matter 
was  stated  hypothetically  in  regard  to  Dr.  Board- 
m-in;  tuat  it  was  stated  "if  so  and  so  occurred," 
&c.  The  manuscript  had  gone,  and  I  was  sorry  I 
had  stated  it  ia  that  particular.  In  regard  to  the 
other  fscts,  X  can  state  that  they  are  all  true;  Ihat 
members  on  the  side  of  the  house  to  which  Mr.  Gal- 
loway belongs,  said  those  things  to  me,  and  that 
they  were  very  sorry  that  he  had  done  so;  and  as 
for  the  exhibition  he  made  of  himself,  in  regard  to 
posture,  this  house  is  my  witness.  I  had  heard 
Mr.  Galloway  before,  but  I  had  never  seen  him 
make  snch  an  exhibition  of  himself;  and  I  con- 
fess, under  the  umlue  excitement  of  sorrow 
that  my  friend  Galloway  had  acted  so,  I  wrote 
with  a  greater  strength  than  perhap.s  was  judicious 
or  proper  for  a  Christian  minister,  aud  if  1  had  had 
the  manuscript  afterwards,  of  course  it  would  have 
been  a  great  deal  modified.  Bus  the  very  things  re- 
ferred CO  in  that  letter  have  been  spoken  of  either  by 
citizens  of  this  town  or  members  of  this  house,  ia 
both  the  street  cars  and  on  the  steps  of  the  church. 
I  regret  exceedingly  that  these  things  should  have 
gone  forth,  to  the  injury  of  Mr.  Galloway,  and  under 
other  circumstances,  if  done  over  again,  I  should 
not  write  them  just  in  that  lorm.  My  apology  for 
this  18,  I  expected  Mr.  Galloway  to  be  a  conservative 
man  on  this  subject.  He  and  I  were  in  discussion 
last  October,  in  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  when  a  resolu- 
tion was  brought  up  to  cordially  indorse  the  General 
Assembly,  and  he  arose  in  his  seat  and  said;    "| 


87 


move  'cordially'  be  struck  out— that  I  do  not 
cordially  indorse  the  General  Assembly  in 
all  particulars."  I  respected  the  brother's 
conscience  and  feelings,  and  hence, 
when  he  came  out  that  day  in  ttie  extreme  radical- 
ism of  the  hour,  I  mas  imdoulitodly  thrown  off  iny 
bearings,  and  wrote  these  things  under  the  spur  of 
the  moment,  and  hope  that  if  iu  so  doing  I  have  in- 
jured the  dignity  of  tlie  house,  and  the  character  of 
that  brother  -whom  I  greatly  respf  ct,  I  will  be 
excu-ied  for  this,  and  tliat  tnere  will  be  noui'due 
severity  or  advantage  taken.  For  Mr.  Galloway, 
personally,  I  have  kind  fi^elings  towards  him,  and 
my  heart  is  right,  however  ruy  tiead  may  h^ve  erred. 
Under  the  excitement  of  the  hour,  and  the  remark- 
able excitement  of  ttiis  Assembly,  with  tiiese  nerves 
of  mine  that  are  not  entirely  stable,  I  may  have 
pe>ined  things  derogatory  somewhat  to  the  decorum 
of  the  house,  and  hope,  so  far  as  I  have  injured  the 
decorum,  I  may  be  excused,  and  that  all  the  mem- 
ber-i,  individually  and  conjointly,  may  be  more 
careful 'f  theaignityof  the  house  than  they  have 
been;  or  if  there  is  a  committee  appointed,  and  fur- 
ther explanation  necessary,  1  am  willing  to  meet 
with  them.  I  have  no  hard  feelings  against  any 
man  or  individual.  I  rep:  at  again  that  I  wrote 
under  the  spur  of  the  moment.  It  is  my  lirst  error 
in  this  particular,  and  I  ask  theref  )re  that  you  will 
not  visit  me  with  that  censure  tliat  this  house  seems 
widxrgfovote — or  the  great  majority  of  them.  I 
will  Siiy  as  far  as  that  statement  about  Dr.  Board- 
min  is  concerned,  I  did  not  hear  Mr.  Galloway 
aright.  He  did  use  the  language  that  was  there, 
but  it  was  iu  a  hypothetical  sense,  and  not  positive- 
ly. This  is  the  explanation  I  have  to  make,  and  if 
a  committee  is  appointed  to  hear  any  further  ex- 
planation, and  Brother  Galloway  wishes  it,  I  am 
willing  to  appear  before  them,  and  if  I  have  erred 
I  am  willing  lo  be  forgiven.  I  will  not  be  so  severe 
hereaiter,  but  will  tell  the  truth  in  another  way. 

Mr.  McKnighr,  desired  to  offer  an  amendment 

Mr.  Day.  I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Firgus<m  if  he 
wrote  this  letter  for  publication — expecting  it  would 
be  published  •• 

Mr.  Ferguson.  I  expected  extracts  would  be 
published  giving  an  account  of  the  matter.  As  far 
as  I  knew  the  letter  was  to  be  all  published. 

Mr.  Diiy.  I  would  like  to  know  what  the  gentle- 
man has  to  say  of  his  statement  in  regard  to  the 
character  of  this  house. 

Mr.  Ferguson.  That  was  designed  merely  as  a 
quotation— that  I  had  heard  men  make  these  state- 
ments. 

Mr,  Day.  I  would  ask  the  gentleman  if  he  in- 
tendea  to  state  it  as  his  views. 

Mr.  Ferguson.  No  more  than  as  a  report — that 
it  was  the  belief  of  many  in  this  city  that  this 
General  Assembly  under  an  excited  state  of  feelins, 
was  doing  more  injury  to  the  cause  of  religion  than 
the  horse  races,  because  of  their  iiosition,  and  I 
have  heard  many  brethren  say  that  here. 

Mr.  McKnight  then  offered  the  following  as  an 
amendment: 

Kesolved,  That  the  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Ferguson,  a 
commissioner  to  this  General  Assembly,  because  of 
a  gross,  abusive,  and  scandalous  libel,  published 
in  the  Ohio  Statesman,  on  members  of  this  body. 
Which  he  has  now  qualified  in  the  presence  of  the 
Assembly  is  entitled  to,  ana  does  hereby  receive 
the  grave  censure  of  this  Assembly. 

Rev,  Dr.  Brown  said  he  was  opposed 
to  the  amendment,  simply  because  this  was 
not  the  first  offense  of  the  brother.  They 
bad  seen  statements  in  the  Eastern  papers,  ta- 
ken from  the  Ohio  Statesman,  extracted  Irom  the 
correspondence  of  that  paper,  written  by  a  member 
of  this  General  Assembly,  in  which  the  same — 

Mr.  Ferguson.  I  never  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Ohio 
Statesman  bifore.  This  is  the  lirst  communication 
1  ever  t-ent  for  publication. 

Dr.  Brown.  Are  you  not  the  author  of  that  letter 
describing  the  manner  in  which  the  Moderator  was 
elected? 

Mr.  Ferguson.  No,  sir. 

Dr.  Brown.  It  has  been  attributed  to  you. 

Mr.  Ferguson.  No,  sir;  lama  new  coiTespond- 
ent  of  that  paper. 

Dr.  Krebs.  We  have  all  heard  Mr.  Ferguson,  and 
1  am  willing,  I  repeat,  to  hear  him  in  lull,  iu  way 


of  explanation,  apology  or  retraction— the  last  be- 
ing an  indispensable  requisite.  I  think  this  Assem- 
bly needs  no  words  from  me,  or  anvbody  else,  to  be 
thoroughly  convinced  that  this  is  one  of  the  grossest 
ou'rages  ever  offered  to  a  deliberative  body.  It  is  a 
aross  insult  *o  this  Assembly,  and  to  "the  whole 
Presbyterian  Church.  I  am  Mr.  Ferguson's  friend. 
He  has  been  mv  guest,  and  a  very  pleasant  anri  ac- 
ceptable one — but  I  know  no  maa  atter  tbe  flesh.  I 
shall  move  you,  sir,  if  it  be  in  order,  and  if  nor,  in 
order  now,  I  shall  move  it  bereafter,  that  there  be  a 
record  to  this  effect — 

Rev.  Mr.  Herron.  Ii  there  not  now  a  motion 
pending  bef  :)re  this  body? 

Toe  Moilerator.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Herron.  Then  is  it  right  that  we  should  en- 
tertain another  motion  on  the  top  of  that? 

The  Moderator.  I  understand  the  gentleman  is 
reading  this  for  information,  as  a  jiart  of  his 
speech. 

Dr.  Krebs.  My  motion  is  that  the  records  shull 
state  what  has  occaired  as  follows,  and  I  offer  it  as 
a  substitute  for  Mr.  HcKnight's  motion : 

[The  paper  will  be  found  elsewhere,  as  subse- 
quently offered  by  Dr.  Kjebs,  in  a  more  complete 
lorm.] 

Rev.  Dr.  West.  I  rise  to  ask  the  house  to  permit 
me  to  read  the  commission  of  Rev.  Mr.  Ferguson  to 
this  Assembly  and  what  he  says  was  ilie  object  for 
which  he  came  to  this  body.  It  is  a  public  docu- 
ment with  some  notes  and  declarations  of  Mr.  Fer- 
guson attached.  It  is  addressed  to  the  chiiirmtiu  oi 
the  Committee  on  Hospitality  and  Entertainment. 

Dr.  West  then  read  as  follows : 

COMMISSIONER  TO  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  FROM  THE 
PRESBYTERY  OF  ZANESVILLE,   SYNOD  OF  OHIO. 

Washington,  O.,  April  26,  18C6. 

DearBro:  I  think  I  know  you  personally.  Did 
you  not  once  publish  the  St.  Louis  Presbyterian? 
if  so,  I  saw  you  when  on  my  way  to  Gene'ral  A.8- 
serably  in  New  Orleans  some  years  ago.  I  also  wrote 
you  some  articles  for  your  paper  against  ultralsra. 
Politically,  I  am  the  same  yet,  and  am  sent  tiy  my 
Presbytery  to  oppose  the  radical  measures  that  may 
come  up  at  our  meeting  in  yi^ur  city. 

Please  let  my  dear  Bro.  Brookes  see  this,  and  to 
you  and  him  1  would  say  that  my  wile  is  to  be  with 
me  at  the  Assembly,  and  I  ask  as  a  special  favor  to 
furnish  her  as  well  as  myself  a  good  place  to  stay. 
I  am  to  report  to  two  or  three  papers,  (Ohio  States- 
man, Cincinnati  Enquirer  and  Presbyterian,  of 
Philadelphia,)  and  any  favors  shown  me  or  wife 
shall  be  thankfully  receivea  and  faithfully  recorded 
and  published  to  the  hooor  of  your  great  city. 
Please  answer  soon  on  the  receipt  of  this.  Address 
me  at  Washington,  Guernsey  county,  Ohio. 

W.  M.  FERGUSON. 

Rev.  Dr.  Schenck.  I  desire  to  make  an  explana- 
tion. I  wish  to  say  in  behalf  of  the  editor  of  the 
Philadelphia  Presbyterian,  that  I  understood  from 
him,  before  I  left  there,  that  Mr.  Ferguson  was  not 
employed  to  report  for  that  paper. 

Mr.  McKnight  raised  a  point  of  order  that  this 
was  all  extraneous  to  the  question  pendiug. 

The  Moderator  said  that  he  considered  the  paper 
was  a  part  of  the  speech  of  Dr.  West,  and  it  was 
common  for  persons  to  read  documents  as  parts  of 
their  speeches  on  questions  pending. 

Mr.  Day  said  he  had  no  sympathy  with  the  polit- 
ical feelings  or  status  of  Mr."  Ferguson,  but  be  sym- 
pathised with  him  in  the  po.sition  in  winch  he  was 
placed.  He  believed  that  in  a  moment  of  excite- 
ment he  had  committed  an  act  which  he  would  al- 
ways regret.  He  was  sorry  for  him  that  he  had 
committed  such  a  grave  act,  and  he  did  not  stand 
here  to  ask  that  that  offense  should  be  passed  over. 
The  di?nity  ot  the  house  required  that  it  should  vin- 
dicate its  honor,  but  he  asked  the  house  that  their 
judgment  might  be  tempered  with  mercy,  otherwise 
this  gentleman  wuuld  go  out  with  a  traud  tinou  him 
which  could  never  be  wiped  away — with  the  ma'k 
of  Cain,  which  he  would  carry  to  bis  grave.  He 
was  required  to  retract  in  a  moment  of  great  excite- 
ment, and  he  believed  he  would  make  a  proper  re- 
traction, one  that  would  give  satisfaction,  if  they 
would  give  him   onportuni  y. 

Mr.  Ferguson.  If  you  will  allow  me  to  say  so  I 
will  take  it  all  back  now. 


88 


Mr.  Day  said  he  was  plad  to  see  the  gentleman 
was  ready  t'l  apologize  and  refract.  It  was  the  ex- 
ercise of  a  Christian  spirit  that  was  commendable. 
He  besought  the  whole  As^semhly  now  to  receive  the 
brother  back  again.  He  believed  he  would  make  an 
ample  ajjology,  one  that  would  be  satisfactory  not 
only  to  the  Assembly  but  to  Mr.  Galloway.  He 
would  ask  Brother  Ferguson  if  he  was  not  ready  to 
make  a  full  retraction. 

Bev.  Mr.  Ferguson.  I  confess  I  am  sorry  that 
under  the  spur  of  the  moment  I  wrote  so  hastily 
those  things  I  heard  from  other  brethren,  and  lam 
willing  to  meet  with  Mr.  Galloway  and  other  breth- 
ren and  make  feuch  exi)lanation  as  wiil  be  satisfac- 
tjry  to  them. 

Mr.  Do.y.  I  move  that  he  be  allowed  this  afternoon 
to  make  such  retraction  as  will  be  sati-tfactory  to 
this  Assembly,  in  writing.  I  thmk  it  is  no  more 
than  right  that  he  should  do  so,  and  give  it  to 
Brother  Galloway.  It  is  noble  for  a  man  when  he 
has  done  wrong  to  confess  it. 

Mr.  Ferguson.  What  do  you  want  confessed?  I 
confes.s  I  am  sorry  I  wrote  it,  anrt  when  I  wrote  it  I 
had  no  intention  of  injuring  the  dignity  of  this  body. 
I  th(,ught  what  I  said  about  Mr.  Galloway  was  se- 
vere, but  just  what  the  people  told  me,  and  what 
they  felt  on  the  subject.  In  regard  to  any  misstate- 
ments in  it  made  dogmatically,  whether  slated  by 
way  of  hypothesis  or  otherwise,  that  was  a  misun- 
derstanding on  my  part.  You  remember  what  he 
said— that  he  would  not  commune  with  Brother 
Boarilinan  till  he  washed  his  hands  of  that. 

A  Member.  Is  the  brother  willing  that  it  shall  be 
published,  that  he  here  retracts  and  apologizes  to 
this  hou«e  for-the  insult  which  he  has  given  it? 

Mr.  F^erguson.  I  am  willing  it  shall  go  to  the 
world  in  tuis  light;  that  I  am  sorry  1  ever  wrote 
these  things  on  this  subject;  but  so  far  as  there  is 
anything  tnere  that  is  a  misstatement,  it  was  alto- 
gether from  a  misunderstanding  of  the  brother's 
hypothesis.  If  you  will  look  at  the  brother's 
speech,  it  is  there  hypothetically. 

A  ni'-mber.  Will  he  acknowledge  the  charge  is 
not  true? 

Mr.  Ferguson.  I  acknowledge,  as  far  as  my 
presentation  of  it  goes,  it  is  incorrect;  but  so  far  as 
the  hypothesis  is  concerned,  it  is  correct.  Bro. 
Galloway  did  say,  if  Bro.  Boardman  did  not  do  so 
and  so.  "That  was  what  called  my  attention  to  it, 
and  after  the  latter  had  gone,  I  asked  about  that. 
"Did  you  hear  Bro.  Galloway  say  so  and  so,"  and 
the  reply  was,  hypothetically,  he  said  so.  I  was 
shocked  when  I  uuderbtood  him  at  the  time.  He 
told  us  to  go  away  and  hang  ourselves,  like  Judas. 
It  flUea  me  witii  the  electricity  which  the  brother 
spoke  of,  and  afterwards  a  brother  came  to  me  and 
asked  me  if  Bro.  Galloway  was  addicted  to  intem- 
perance, lanswered,  "No,  sir;  he  is  a  strong  tem- 
perance man. ' '  The  brother  said  he  thought  he  had 
a  "Highland  gill"  in  his  cheek.  I  said  I  disap- 
proved of  all  these  statements,  and  that  he  was  a 
strong  temperance  man.  If  I  have  erred  against 
the  brother,  I  take  the  error  all  back.  v 

Mr.  Galloway  interrupted  by  saying  this  charge 
was  false  and  scandalous. 

Mr.  Ferguson.    What  charge? 

Mr.  Galloway.    That  I  was  vulgar. 

Air.  Ferguson.    I  said  he  acted  vulgarly  here. 

Mr.  Galloway.  No  man  has  ever  charged  me  with 
being  intemperate  or  vulgar. 

Mr.  Ferguson.    I  have  not  done  it. 

Mr.  Galloway.  I  want  no  recantation  except 
that  this  charge  is  false  and  scandalous;  that  its  pub- 
lication shall  be  in  the  same  paper  as  that  in  which 
the  charges  wei'e  made—that  it  may  go  be- 
fore my  family  and  friends  as  this  libel 
hasiigone.  Sir,  1  will  not  sit  in  the  same  Assembly 
wit  a  man  who  characterizes  me  as  a  bufl'oou  and 
a  blackguard. 

Rev.  Dr.  Laws  did  not  think  there  was  any  neces- 
sity for  precipitate  haste  in  settling  this  matter,  and 
he  desired  to  oifer  an  amendment  that  DrS;  Krebs 
and  I-Iumphrejs  be  appointed  a  committee  to  confer 
with  tliese  two  gentlemen  and  propose  terms  oj 
agreement. 

Tbe  Moderator  said  the  amendment  was  not  in  or- 
der. 

Mr.  Wilson  said  that  nothing  would  be  lost  by 
taking  time  to  consider  this  matter.    He  moved. 


therefore,  that  it  be  postponed  until  this  afternoon 
with  a  view  of  affording  Mr.  Ferguson  an  opportu- 
nity to  present  his  statement  in  writing. 

Dr.  West  moved  to   lay  the  motion    on  the  table, 
which  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Mr.  tlerron  thought  the  longer  action  was 
postponed  the  more  likely  they  would  be  to  act  wiih 
deliberation  and  calmness.  I'his  brother  was  evi- 
f'ently  of  an  excitanle  temperament,  and  the  kind  of 
labor  he  had  performed  before  he  entered  the  min- 
istry had  developed  this  excitability.  He  sympa- 
thized with  him,  the  more  so  since  he  had  been  in- 
turmed  that  by  his  own  unaided  eflorts  he  secured  j| 
an  education  which  enabled  him  to  enter  the  min-  ■ 
isi;ry.  He  had  been  the  correspondent  of  a  number  ' 
of  papers,  and  sometimes  he  had  allowed  his  pen  a 
good  tteal  of  liberty.  Heretofore  he  had  been  ar- 
raigceil  only  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  as  to  the 
correctness  of  his  reuorts,  but  to-day  he 
occupied  a  different  position.  He  was 
evidently  laboring  under  intense  ex- 
citement, and  this  Assembly  was  not  whol'y  free 
from  it.  He  supposed  that  since  the  Presbyterian 
Church  was  founded,  no  such  action  had  been 
taken  as  was  here  proposed.  He  hoped,  therefore, 
they  would  not  act  rashly  or  harshly,  and  thus 
stand  before  the  world  in  a  false  attitude.  He  had 
understood  the  gentleman  had  retracted. 

Mr.  Ferguson.  I  repeat  it,  so  far  as  I  infringed 
on  31r.  Galloway.  So  far  as  my  intention  appears 
to  misrepiesent  that  biother,  Iain  exceedingly  sorry 
my  pen  run  in  that  dogmatical  way,  for  th;;  whole 
thing  is  hypothetic -il,  as  you  see. 

Dr.  McLean.  Dr.,  you  admit  that  it  is  false  and 
slanderous? 

Mr.  Ferguson.  As  reported  there,  but  it  was  not 
my  intention. 
Dr.  McLean.  Did  you  write  it  at  that  table? 
Mr.  Ferguson.  No,  Sir,  It  was  wi-itten  after  I 
went  home.  Tnen  I  was  asked  whether  Mr.  Gal- 
loway had  been  drinking.  I  said  no,  he  was  a 
strong  temperance  man. 

Dr.  McLean.  After  you  went  home  did  you  be- 
lieve Mr.  Galloway  a  fool? 

Mr.  Fisher.  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  Mr.  Her- 
ron  has  the  floor. 

The  Moderator.  I  understand  that  gentleman 
gave  way. 

Mr.  Herron  continued  by  saying  that  he  had  no 
sympathy  with  Mr.  F'erguson's  political  views, 
but  thought  in  a  case  of  so  much  im^jortance  they 
should  not  act  hastly. 

Rev.  Mr.  Shiland  suggested  fhat  Dr.  Krebs,  Mr. 
GaDoway  and  Mr.  Ferguson,  be  allowed  t»  retire, 
to  permit  Mr.  Ferguson  to  write  such  an  apology  as 
would  be  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Galloway. 
The  suggestion  was  not  entertained. 
Dr.  Boardman.  Had  not  seen  the  paper  referred 
to  in  the  remarks  of  the  members,  had  not  heard  it 
read,  and  did  not  wish  to  hear  it  read,  but  was  wil- 
ling fo  take  the  representations  made  of  it  by  the 
members  he  had  heard  speak.  Called  upon  the  As- 
sembly to  remember  the  Master's  teachings,  and 
take  heed  to  itself,  as  well  as  to  Mr.  F'erguson. 
Quoted  the  passage  '  'If  thy  brother  trespass  against 
thee,  &e."  Every  one  had  need  of  forgiveness. 
Called  to  mind  the  action  o  I  Christ  when  denied  by 
Peter,  with  cursing.  He  lurned  and  looked  on  Pe- 
ter, and  he  went  out  weeping  bitterly.  [A  voice- 
Where  are  Mr.  Ferguson's  tears?  Does  the  Bible 
teach  that  we  are  to  torgive  without  repentance?] 
Would  the  Assembly  refuse  this  erring  brother  op- 
730rtunity  to  go  out?  Would  it  pass  this  tremendous 
judgment  upon  him  in  the  excitement  of  this  hour? 
Would  it  exact  of  him  that  he  should  upon  the  in- 
stant exhibit  all  the  iiuils  of  repentance?  All  he 
asked  of  the  Assembly  was  <lelay.  That  the  mem- 
bers would  do  as  they  would  be  done  by.  He  moved 
that  the  whole  matter  be  referred  to  a  committee. 

The  reading  of  the  resolutions  with  the  amend- 
ments was  called  for,  and  they  were  read. 

Rev.  Mr.  Frazer  asked  of  Mr.  Ferguson  if  the 
communication  was  written  immediately  after  a 
certain  conversation  M'ith  a  gentleman  by  "the  name 
of  Allen. 

Mr.  Ferguson  couldn't  state  whether  it  was  or 
not. 

Mr.  Frazer  then  went  on  to  say  that  if  it  was,  he 
could  state  from  his  personal  knowledge  that  at  that 


89 


time  Mr.  Ferguson  was  laboring:  under  intense  ex- 
citement, to  that  degree  that  i(  ever  a  man  of  sane 
mind  was  not  accountable  for  what  he  said  or 
did,  Mr.  F.  could  not  have  been  then.  That 
he  told  Mr.  Ferguson  if  he  didn't  quit 
talking  in  the  manner  in  whicVi  he 
was  then  talking  he  would  utterly  ruin  himself  and 
Ibaf  ))eople  would  think  lie  was  crazy.  Thathe ut- 
terly condemned  the  article  altogether,  but  didn't 
know  that  he  himself  was  in  some  degree  accounta- 
ble for  the  result  which  followed,  by  adding,  by  his 
remarks  to  JMr.  Ferguson,  somewhat  to  the  provoca- 
tion, but  at  the  eame  time  he  did  not  regard  Mr. 
Ferguson's  exphmaiion  as  satisiactory. 

Dr.  Lowne  tuought  the  house  was  nearly  ready  to 
come  to  a  vote  on  the  question  and  wished  to  make  a 
single  suggestion.  The  ofl'ense  was  a  grave  one. 
The  oilen.-ive  article  had  been  written  and  printed 
and  sent  broadcast  through  the  country,  and  any 
explanation  or  retraction  should  come  before  the 
Assembly  in  somewhat  the  same  form — not  printed, 
perhaps,  but  wriiteu.  Thought  it  wou'd  be  wise  to 
buspend  action  until  Mr.  Ferguson  could  write  oown 
his  explanation  of  the  sunject,  and  would  say  he 
thought,  in  coming  to  a  judgment,  the  Assembly  was 
bound  to  take  into  account  the  cliaracteristics  of  the 
brother. 

Dr.  McLean.  There  bad  been  a  great  deal  of  ad- 
vice to  this  house  to  be  calm  from  a  certain  quarter, 
as  if  the  excitement  were  all  on  one  side.  Dr. 
Boardman  had  read  the  Assembly  a  very  pious  lec- 
ture; but  not  one  word  was  said  to  the  oflenders. 
Grr-at  forbearance  must  be  exercised  by  the  house, 
but  There  was  no  excitement  to  be  allayed  on  the 
other  side;  they  were  all  calm  and  undisturbed  like 
Dr.  Boardman  and  men  on  the  other  side.  He  asked 
what  sign  of  repentance  had  been  seen  on  the  part 
ot  the  oflending  brother.  He  characterized  the  let- 
ter as  the  most  monstrous  libel  on  this  or  any  other 
deliberative  body  that  had  ever  been  issued.  Since 
178S  there  never  had  been  such  an  outrage  perpetra- 
ted on  the  Assembly. 

Dr.  Montfort  rose  to  a  point  of  order,  that  Dr. 
McL.  was  not  speaking  to  the  question,  which  was 
upon  the  motion  to  reler  to  a  committee. 

Dr.  McLean  being  allowed  to  proceed,  said  th^t 
perhaps  the  Assemcly  had  not  fully  ajipreciated  the 
article  in  question;  "he  would  read  it  again;  and 
commenced  reading  the  article. 

Mr,  Day  objected  to  the  paper  being  read  again. 

Dr.  McLean  insisted  upon  bis  right  to  read  the 
article  as  a  jjart  of  bis  speech,  and  proceeded  to  do 
so,  commenting  as  he  went  along  upon  the  grosa- 
ness  of  the  libel,  and  the  great  indecency  of  expres- 
sion. 

It  was  noticeable  duringthe  reading  of  this  article, 
particularly  tbe  more  gross  and  scandalous  portions 
oi  it,  that  "there  were  persons  in  the  galleiies  who 
listened  to  it  with  much  satisfaction,  as  a  tendency 
to  merriment,  almost  breaking  out  intoapplau.se, 
was  plainly  audiule. 

Dr.  McLean  spoke  of  the  wide-spread  injury  done 
by  this  article,  both  to  the  J^ssembly  and  to  Mr. 
Galloway,  whose  reputation  was  injured  by  such 
publications,  as  it  would  go  in  the  prints,  where  uo 
retraction  or  explanation  would  follow  it.  Com- 
mented upon  the  insufficiency  of  the  explanation  of 
Mr.  Ferguson,  who  had  only  said  in  substance  that 
he  wouldn't  do  it  again  just  in  that  way,  but  hadn't 
said  he  wouldn't  doit  again  in  some  other  way. 
Maintained  that  the  resolution  offered  by  Dr.  Krebs 
spoke  the  truth  and  ought  to  be  adopted. 

Rev.  Mr.  Keinboth  moved  to  lay  all  the  motions 
before  the  house,  excepting  Dr.  Ki-ebs',  on  the 
table.     Carried. 

Dr.  Krebs  again  read  bis  resolutions  with  some 
Emendations  rendered  necessary  by  the  further 
action  of  the  Assembly,  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  whereas  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Fergu- 
son, a  commissioner  to  this  General  Assembly,  is, 
by  his  own  acknowledgment,  guilty  of  writing  ami 
publishing  in  the  Ohio  Statesuian  a  gross,  abusive, 
bcandalous  and  slanderous  libel  against  members  of 
this  Assembly  and  against  this  Assembly  itself, 
and  althoughhe  has  qualitied  it  in  the  presence  of 
this  Assembly  this  morning,  his  explanation  is  not 
deemed  satisfactory. 

Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Ferguson  be  forth- 
with expelled  as  a  member  of  this  house. 


A  motion  for  the  previous  question  was  carried. 

Dr.  Krebs'  resolution  then  pre\  ailed,  with  a  very 
light  vote  in  the  negative. 

Moderator.  I  now  announce  again  that  Rev. 
W.  M.  Ferguson  is  expelled  from  the  General 
Assembly.  I  wish  to  state,  if  lam  incorrect,  I  wish 
to  be  informed  of  it,  that  tttis  necessarily  involves 
his  being  expelled  trom  the  Tiouse,  and  from  the  ta- 
ble as  a  correspondent.  [Applause  in  the  galle- 
ries.! 

Rev.  Mr.  Shiland.  I  offer  the  following  resolu- 
tion: 

Resolved,  That  debate  on  all  proposirions  now  be- 
fore the  Assembly,  or  that  may  come  before  it  on 
the  subject  matter  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  or 
on  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  be  closed  at 
five  o'clock  this  day,  and  that  a  vote  bethen  taken 
without  further  debate. 

And  moved  tbe  previous  question- 

Dr.  Breckinridge  moved  that  the  motion  for  the 
previous  question  be  laid  on  the  table.    Carried. 

A  motion  then  prevailed  to  lay  Mr.  Shiland's  mo- 
tion on  theitable. 

The  Moderator  then  announced  that  Rev.  E.  D. 
McMaster,  D.  D.,  had  been  elected  to  the  Chair  ot 
Theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  North- 
west. 

The  Assembly  then  voted  to  take  np  the  unfin- 
ished business  of  tbe  last  session,  being  Dr.  Gar- 
ley's  substitute  for  the  report  ot  the  committee  in 
regard  to  the  Louisville  Presbytery. 

The  Moderator  announced  that  Dr.  West  was  en- 
titled  to  the  fioor. 

Dr.  West  commented  upon  the  great  interest 
which  the  public  felt  in  the  discussions  upon  this 
question.  Almost  every  whi.sper  in  the  house  was 
reijorted  not  only  in  the  religious,  but  in  the 
secular  papers;  referred  to  those  in  the  galleries  who 
honored  tne  Assembly  with  their  presence,  aud  dis- 
honored it  during  a  portion  of  the  sessions  with 
their  disorders ;  affirmed  that  the  unpleasant  busi- 
ness by  which  the  Assembly  had  been  delayed  at 
this  session  (that  gross  insult  to  the  Assembly)  was 
but  a  palpable  expression  of  what  had  been  wit- 
nessed in  the  galleries;  was  sure  that  no  lady  and 
no  gentleman,  especially  no  Christian  manor  wo- 
man, [A  voice — Are  these  remarks  to  tbe  question?] 
who  remembered  the  fact  that  they  stood  before  the 
altar  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  would  for  one 
moment  think  of  trespassing  on  the  propriety  and 
sanctity  of  this  court. 

He  characterized  the  movement  of  the  "Declara- 
tion and  Testimony"  men  as  the  continuation  in  tbe 
Church  of  God  by  ministers,  elders  and  the  people 
of  the  gigantic  rebellion  which  had  envei'  pi  d  the 
whole  land  in  mourning,  lamentation  and  woe,  and 
affirmed  that  the  aiders  and  abettors,  defenders  and 
apologists  of  these  men  are  the  aiders,  abettors, 
apologists  and  defenders  of  that  gigantic  rebellion 
through  which  the  Church  of  God  was  now 
parsing. 

Wished  it  understood  that  the  speech  of  his  col- 
league (Dr.  Van  Dyke)  did  not  represent  the  prin- 
eiples  of  any  considerable  part  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Nassau.  Read  from  a  pamphlelu  entitled  "Poli- 
tics for  Christians,  by  Rev.  H.  J.  Van  Dylie," 
being  a  sermon  preached  on  Thanksgiving  day, 
1856,  about  two  weeks  after  the  election  of  Hon. 
James  Buchanan  to  the  Presidency.  What  was 
then  Dr.  Van  Dyke's  opinion  of  the  indications  of 
discontent  in  Massachusetts  aud  other  parts  of  New 
England,  and  asked  why  the  same  opinion  was  not 
applicable  to  like  discontent  in  the  south  after  the 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  read  from  a  pubished  let- 
ter written  by  Dr.  Van  Dyke  to  some  one  in  Georgia, 
before  the  secession  of  South  Carolina,  and  before 
the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  had  taken  its  action, 
clearly  counseling  rebellion  as  a  religious  duty. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke.  Will  you  go  on  and  read  the  con- 
clusion of  that  letter? 

Dr.  West.  No,  sir,  I  won't.  Every  sentence  is 
conclusive. 

After  reading  further  extracts  from  the  letter, 
and  commenting  upon  Dr.  Van  Dyke's  jjolitical 
and  Church  relations,  he  said: 

He  audi  personallyhave  no  difficulty,  butweuuder- 
stand  each  other  most  exactly  and  distinctly  on  this 
question."  Stated  Dr.  Van  Dyke's  arguments  to 
be,  that  unless  the  injunctions  and  orders  of  the 


90 


General  Assembly  of  the  Preshyterian  Church  were 
"blifratory  on  the  inferiir  courts  the  Lf)ui8ville 
Presbytery  was  not  in  rebellion,  and  tbe  action  of 
the  General  Assembly  against  the  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery could  not"  be  sustained.  The  speaker 
admitted  ttiat  the  ^\Jlole  question  was  right 
there,  and  proceeded  to  show  that  the 
General  ;A88embly  had  not  in  ISGl  or  1865 
decided  any  iiolitical  qutstion,  but  had  affirmed  a 
point  long  belbre  decided;  that  the  acUon  of  the 
Assembly  did  rot  infringe  unwarrantably  upon  the 
behests  of  conscience;  that  it  had  not  undertaken  to 
interpret  the  will  of  Providence  without  quoting;  a 
text;  explained  from  the  report  of  the  Ass^embly  its 
action  with  regard  to  the  alleged  ditVerence  of  treat- 
ment of  Northern  and  Southern  people  ;claimert  that 
the  actions  of  the  General  Assembly  were  Dindiug, 
as  those  of  an  ultimate  linal  tribunal;  that  the  doc- 
trines in  support  of  them  were  laid  down  in  the 
confession  of  faith;  held  that  all  the  questions  raised 
in  this  matter  had  been  decided  adversely  to  the 
"Declaration  and  Testimony"  men  in  the  conflict 
from  1830  to  1838,  between  the  nevv  measure  men 
and  th»  Assembly,  which  resulted  in  the  division 
into  Old  and  New  School ;  that  it  was  then  decided 
that  there  was  no  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the 
General  Assembly;  that  men  must  either  conform 
with  these  decisions  or  go  elsewhere;  replied  at 
length  to  the  position  taken  that  the  acts  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  must  be  submitted  to  the  Presby- 
teries for  their  approval  before  they  can  become  the 
law  of  the  Church;  and  asked  if  any  one  tup;^osed 
that  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  woula  tiave 
been  any  the  more  ready  to  submit  if  chat  had  been 
the  I'ourse  taken,  and  closed  by  advocating  the  sub- 
stituteiolTered  ,by  Dr.  Gurley,  and  expressiog  his 
beliet  that  if  the  Church  of  G  id  had  djne  her  duty 
we  never  should  have  had  civil  war,  and  that  if  she 
did  her  duty  now  it  would  be  the  killing  of  this 
hydra  of  rebellion. 

Mr.  Cunninghim  obtained  the  floor,  but  gave  way 
to  Dr.  Boardman,  who,  in  turn,  allowed  Dr.  Van 
Dyke  to"  say  that  those  parts  of  his  letter  as  read 
by  Dr.  AVe»t,  separately  from  the  context,  even  if 
not  so  intended  lo  do,  gave  an  impression  in  regard 
to  his  views  utterly  unjust,  tUlse  and  injurious. 

Dr.  Yantis.  I  wish  to  know  if  it  is  not  intended 
to  let  auy  of  us  terrible  '  'Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony" men  speak. 

Moderator.  Those  who  desire  to  speak  must  ob- 
tain the  floor. 

Dr.  Yantis.  We  are  in  no  hurry,  but  we  desire 
to  be  heard. 

Dr.  Boardman,  after  offering  to  yield  the  floor  to 
any  ot  the  Declaration^and  Testimony.men  who  de- 
sired to  speak,  which  oiler  no  one  accented,  pro- 
ceeded to  state  that  if  the  Presbytery  concerned  in 
this  discussion  had  been  that  of  the  Passaic  or  of 
St.  Lawrence,  it  never  would  have  come  before  the 
Asi-embly  in  the  a-pect  in  which  it  is  now;  that  the 
individual  quarrels  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  in 
Which  States  the  war  had  been  one  of  neighborhoods, 
hid  been  brought  into  the  Assembly:  was  gratified 
that  the  appealed  case  had  collapsed;  reviewed  in 
what  seemed  to  be  intended  as  a  facetious  vein,  the 
reference  of  Dr.  Thomas  to  the  Assembly  at  Jeru- 
salem, asking  if  St.  Paul  called  together  a  caucus 
of  ministers  and  elders,  the  evening  before  the  Sy- 
nod met. 

At  which  point  the  Assembly  adjourned  tintil 
afternoon. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Dr.  Hand  moved  that  the  debate  on  the  report  in 
regard  to  the  Louisville  Presbytery  should  close  at 
six  o'clock;  that  after  Dr.  Boardman  concluded,  all 
speakers  should  be  limited  to  fifteen  minutes,  save 
those  who  signed  the  Declaration  and  Testimony, 
wno  should  not  be  restricted  as  to  time. 

He  said  the  silent  members  of  this  house  were  en- 
titled to  some  considerition.  They  were  weary  of 
this  c.iscussion.  They  felt  that  they  understood  the 
question .  They  were'willing  to  hear  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony  brethren  if  they  wished  to  speak, 
and  after  they  had  been  heard  he  thought  they  would 
be  prepared  to  vote.  They  had  yet  aTgreat  deal  of 
business  to  transact.    He  thought;  also  some  regard 


should  be  paid  to  tbe  people  of  St.  Louis.  He 
thouglit  it  would  be  an  imnosition  on  the  people  of 
St.  Luuis  to  extend  their  session  beyond  this  week. 

The  motion  of  Dr.  Hand  was  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Day  gave  notice  that  at  the  proper  time  he 
should  olier  the  following  as  a  substitute  for  Dr. 
Gurley 's  proposition. 

Whereas,  This  General  Assembly  has  had  brought 
to  its  notice  a  certain  paper  called  a  I>ec)aration 
and  Testimony,  which  it  is  alleged  was  adopted  by 
the  Louisville  Presbvlery,  Sept.  2,  1865,  and  nhich 
imports  to  be  signed  by  ministers  and  rulitig  elders 
belonging  to  other  Presbyteries ;  and  whereas,  in  the 
judgmeni  of  this  General  Assemblj',  the  said  paper 
is  a  most  flagrant  and  unwarranted  a' tack  on  the 
diarnity  and  authority  of  the  General  As-embly,  de- 
rogatory to  its  character,  teudiog  to  bring  odium 
and  disrepute  on  the  highest  judicat  )ry  of  the 
Church  and  to  increase  agitation  and  alienation  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Church,  schismatical  in  effect, 
contumacious  in  spirit,  unjust  and  untrue  in  its 
statements;  now,  therefore,  this  General  A.-sembly, 
in  defence  of  its  authority,  in  the  exercise  of  its  high 
prerogative  to  suppress  schismaticai  cmUen'ioni  aod 
disputations,  reproving,  warning  and  bearing  tes- 
timony against  error  in  doctrine  and  immorality  in 
practice,  and  in  the  fulfillment  of  its  sacred  duty  to 
secure  tne  union,  neace  and  mutual  confidence  of  all 
our  churches,  do  resolve, 

1.  That  this  General  Assembly  do  consider  the 
sUeged  action  of  the  Louisville  Presb.vCery  and  of 
the  ministers  and  elders  who  have  signed,  pub- 
lished and  disseminated  the  said  paper  called  the 
"Declaration  and  Testimony,"  as  worthy  of  the 
j;ravest  censure  of  this  body,  and  a3  an  offense 
ayainst  the  authority,  peace  and  harmony  of  the 
Church,  and  as  a  sin  against  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  great  head  of  toe  Cnurch. 

2.  That  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  are  hereby  re- 
quired, at  their  next  meeting,  to  proceed  in  an 
orderly  manner  to  try  the  Louisville  Presbytery  for 
the  said  alleged  offense  of  adopting,  publishing  and 
dessemmating  the  said  "Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony,' '  andthat  they  by  their  records  at  the  next 
General  Assembly  do  show  what  they  have  done  in 
the  premises. 

3.  That  this  Assembly  do  hereby  require  and 
enjoin  on  the  said  Louisville  Presbytery  to  recon- 
sider its  action  in  adopting  said  ' '  Declaration 
and  Testimony"  to  cease  from  disseminating 
the  same  and  from  all  agitations  ana  con- 
tentions which  tend  to  disturb  the  peace 
and  harmony  of  the  Church,  and  to  submit  them- 
selves to  the  lawtulauthoriry  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
as  exercised  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  that  by 
their  commissioners  they  report  their  action  in  the 
premises  to  the  next  Gi?neral  Assembly. 

4.  That  each  and  all  the  Presbyteries  with  whom 
any  of  the  oubscribers  to  said  Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony are  connected,  are  hereby  required  at  their 
next  meeting  to  proceed  against  such  subscribers, 
and  try  them  for  said  alleged  acts  in  siirning  and 
giving  publicity  to  said  document,  and  if  it  is  found 
that  they  have  been  guilty  of  offense  in  so  doing, 
that  eaca  of  said  Presbyteries  respectively  do  cen- 
sure their  conduct,  and  require  such  members  to 
confess  their  error,  and  to  cease  from  their  agita- 
tions; and  such  Presbyteries  are  hereby  required 
by  their  commissioners  to  ajjpear  at  i he  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  report  their  action  in  the  prem- 
ises, while  such  persons  are  under  process,  as 
aforesaid,  to  suspend  their  privilege  of  deliberating 
and  voting  as  members,  until  the  process  is  finally 
issued;  and  it  is  further  ordered  that  the  members 
of  said  Presbyteries,  who  have  nor,  subscribed  said 
"Declaration  and  Testimony,"  shall  have  the  au- 
thority of  such  Presbyteries  respectively,  t-hall 
exercise  its  proper  functions,  and  shall  have  charga 
of  tne  Pre&byterial  records. 

The  consideration  ol  the  report  concerning  the 
Louisville  Presbytery  was  resumed. 

Dr.  Boardman  spoke  at  great  length  in  opposition 
to  the  report;  reviewed  the  ^jast  action  of  the  As- 
sembly; considered  that  its  acts  for  ttie  imst  three 
years  had  beenunconslitutioual  aod  its  requisitions 
unrighteous  and  impracticable,  and  that  the  Assem- 
bly had  no  power  to  table  the  action  proiioped. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  B.'s  remarks,  Mr. 
Clarke  moved  that  the  vote  by  which  it  was  decided 


&1 


that  the  debate  on  tbe  question  should  close  at  six 
o'clock,  be  reconsidered.  Agree.*' to,  and  a  lurther 
motion  was  adopted  extending  the  time  to  eleven 
o'clock  to-diy. 

There  being  considerable  confusion  in  the  house 
in  consequence  of  a  lire  in  the  vicinity,  the  Assem- 
bly at  a  levr  minutes  past  live  adjourned  to  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening. 


EVEKING  SESSION. 

Eev.  Mr.  Cunningham  obtained  the  floor,  and  in 
reply  to  Dr.  JJoardman,  said  he  (Dr.  B  )  repre- 
Beuted  but  a  small  number  of  the  churches  and  min- 
isters ot  Pniladelphia,  and  proceeded  to  argue  the 
constitutionality  of  the  Assembly's  aciion,  when, 
by  request,  ht'.  Kave  way  to  Rev.  Dr.  Brookefl. 

Rev.  JUr,  Smith,  of  Baltimore,  spoke  a  fevF  mo- 
ments, urgm^  the  Assembly  to  considir  vphac  a  di- 
vision, not  only  of  his  own  Presbytery,  but  the 
whole  Ciiurch,  would  be  made  by  the  adoption  of 
the  committee's  report,  and  was  ioUowed  by  Kcv. 
Dr.  Brookes,  of  this  city,  in  a  lengthy,  but  elo- 
quent and  ingenious  speech  in  behalt  of  the  Louis- 
ville Presbytery. 

Rev.  Mr.  Yantis  then  obtained  the  floor,  when 
the  Assembly  adjourned. 


Speecli  of  Rev.  Dr.  Humplirey. 

The  lollowing  is  a  brief  abstract  of  the  speech  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey  on  Tuciday  : 

Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey,  alter  reading  his  amendment 
to  the  report  of  tlie  cummictee,  whicti  has  been  yno- 
lished,  said  that  wliije  other  members  of  the  Assem- 
bly would  return  to  their  various  fields  of  labor  and 
be  wholly  undisturbed  bv  the  questions  involved  in 
this  controverB3^,  ttie  members  of  the  Assembly  from 
Kentucky,  on  the  contrarj^,  would  be  more  or  less 
allVcted  by  it,  and,  therefoie,  ihose  who  were  to 
bear  the  brunt  ot  this  confruversy  hoped  that  the 
Assemljiy  would  bear  with  them  while  they  ex- 
pressed iheir  views  as  to  the  ell'ect  of  the  measure 
proposed  by  the  committee.  "Wnatever  the  action 
of  the  Assembly  might  be,  there  were  some  of  them 
wno  iutended  to  stand  by  the  Ctiurch;  and  they 
would  go  home  and  endeavor  to  repair  the  desolation 
around  them.  He  desired  to  call  the  attention  of  tue 
Assembly  to  the  dilierence  between  his  amendment 
and  the  resolutions  of  the  committee.  lu  the  first 
place,  as  to  the  substance  of  th-:!  Declaration 
end  Testimony,  and  the  judgment  which  they 
aflirmea  on  that  document,  the  report  of 
the  committee  and  his  amendment  do  not 
materittlly  difl'er.  Probably  the  dilference  between 
the  two  in  this  matter,  was  more  verbal  than  other- 
wise. There  \\  ere  three  parties  in  reference  to  this 
Declaration  aud  Testimony,  namely:  those  wlio  sus- 
tained tiiat  document,  those  who  "were  called  the 
middle-  men,  and  those  who  were  represented  by  the 
appeals  on  yesterday.  Between  the  latter  and  the 
middle-men,  as  tliey  were  called,  there  was  no  ma- 
terial difference  as  to  the  character  of  the  doctrines 
in  this  pamphlet.  He  believed  in  the  principle  that 
all  things  secular  in  their  nature  belong  to  the  State, 
ana  all  tbat  was  spiritual  belonged  to  the  Church; 
but  in  the  great  rebellion  which  ihey  had  survived 
tliere  were  moi-al  principles  involved  which 
went  to  the  foundation  of  moral  obligation.  These 
questions  belonged  to  the  Church,  and  he  thanked 
God  ttiat  this  great  Church  in  tbe  past  five  years  nad 
declared  its  Testimony,  and  attempted  to  expound 
the  word  of  God  on  all  those  principles.  He 
had  not  been  able  to  agree  with  every  part 
of  that  Testimony,  believed  that  '  some 
of  it  was  not  In  precise  accordance 
with  the  principles  on  which  these  questions  should 
be  settled.  But  the  great  body  of  that  Te-timony  as 
deduced  from  ihe  word  of  God,  he  stood  by,  and 
expected  to  stand  by  until  the  end.  He  supposed, 
therefore,  they  were  all  agreed  as  to  the  spirit  of 
this  Declaration  and  Testimony.  Until  he  read  that 
aocument  he  was  not  aware  how  rich  the  English 
language  was  in  terms  of  objurgation .  These  terms 
dauce  through  the  whole  taooK,  and  move  to  the  mu- 


sic of  Dixie.  So  far  he  proposed  in  his  amendment 
that  the  General  Assembly  should  rebuke  that 
spirit.  But  he  contended  that  the  mode  proposed 
by  tbe  committee  wns  partial,  while  his  amendment 
was  comprehensive.  As  4iad  been  declared  by  a 
gentleman  outside  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville, 
there  was  no  more  reasun  why  they  should  punish 
the  members  of  that  Presoytery  than  the  members  of 
other  Piesbyteries  who  were  involved  in  this  matter. 
There  was  a  great  deal  in  the  lorm  of  judicial  pro- 
ceedings, where  either  the  life,  liberty  or  ecclesias- 
tical relations  of  the  people  of  God  were  at  stake. 

The  forms  embodied  the  spirit  ot  justice,  and  they 
could  nor  trample  down  the  forms  of  justice  without 
trampling  down  justice  itself.  But  the  plan  pro- 
posed by  the  committee  was  anomaloin,  unprece- 
detited.  The  dissolution  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
de  phia  had  been  cited,  but  they  would  observe  that 
the  unconstitutionality  of  the  proceedings  whereby 
t bat  Presbytery  was  established  was  the  ground  of 
its  dissolution.  It  was  dissolved  because  it  never 
had  a  legal  existence.  He  contended  that  never  be- 
fore in  the  history  of  tbe  Church  had  a  Presby- 
tery been  dissolved  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
proposed  to  dissolve  the  Lowisville  Presbytery.  In 
the  disscluiion  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
there  was  a  clause  in  the  ordinance  which  saved  the 
ecclesiastical  position  of  every  minister  in  the 
bounds  of  the  Presbytery,  but  here  the  contrivance 
was  to  shut  brethren  out  of  the  Chiuxh,  and  tbere 
was  no  precedent  for  it.  He  wished  it  to  be  re- 
membered that  these  brethren  were  to  be  turned 
out  of  church  wituout  a  hearing.  It 
might  be  said  they  had  a  right  to  come  here  and  be 
heard.  But  they  vrere  turbed  out  in  the  beginning 
and  regarded  themselves — he  would  not  say  justly — 
as  precluded  from  returning  until  they  received  in- 
structions from  their  Synod.  He  next  referred  to 
the  provision  in  the  Book  of  Discipline  in  reference 
to  citation,  which  requires  that,  although  the  ac- 
cused may  declare  he  will  not  appear  on  the  first  ci- 
tation, yet  the  second  citation  must  by  no  means  be 
omitted.  These  brethren  had  been  cited  to  appear, 
but  under  circumstances  which  they  think  they  are 
not  authorized  to  respond  to;  and  the  Assembly 
could  nor  proceed  to  the  extent  of  administering  se- 
vere justice  in  the  case  which  they  might  do  if  they 
had  given  these  brethren  a  fair  chance.  He  depre- 
cated hasty  action  in  tbe  premises.  This  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  was  only  issued  in  Sejitember 
last  and  he  hoped  no  such  summary  action  would  be 
taken  as  proposed,  but  that  one  year  more  might  be 
allowed,  so  that  these  brethren,  if  they  could  find  it 
possible,  might  have  an  opportunity  to 
return  to  tlie  allegiance  of  the  Church. 
He  desired  also  that  the  matter  might  be  put  on 
such  a  looting  as  that  a  juflicial  trial  of  the  case 
could  taue  place.  The  speaker  closed  with  an  elo- 
quent plea  in  beh.alf  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Kentucky,  in  regard  to  it?'  labors  in  the  past,  and 
he  implored  the  As-.embly  to  delay  this  question  one 
year  more,  and  then,  if  that  branch  ot  the  Church 
in  Kentucky  did  not  bear  fiuit,  they  would  stand 
by  in  silence  and  see  it  cut  down. 

Mr.  McKnight  desired  to  know  of  the  speaker 
whether  he  had  any  hope  or  faith,  even  as  a  grain 
of  mustard  seed,  that  if  this  Assembly  should 
forego  the  action  now  proposed,  and  which,  to  his 
mind,  was  so  justly  merited  by  that  Presbytery, 
whether  he  thought  there  was  any  probability  what- 
ever that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  or  the  Presbytery 
of  Louisville  would  review  its  action  and  come  back 
to  the  Church. 

Dr.  Humphrey  said  he  would  answer  frankly. 
He  thought  the  measitre  he  jiroposed  was  lar  more 
likely  to  acCLimidish  that  object  than  the  measure  of 
the  committee,  and  further,  that  if  they  would 
adopt  some  such  measure  as  he  proposed,  coupled 
with  kindness  and  affection,  to  their  erring  Southern 
brethren — if  they  would  open  their  hearts  to  them 
in  some  way  he  believed  this  agitiition  would  be 
suppressed,  and  that  they  would  come  together  in 
the  unity  of  spirit  and  the  bonds  of  peace. 

Rev.  Dr.  West  wished  to  know  whether  Dr. 
Humphrey  had  any  faith  that  if  the  General  Assem- 
bly would  adopt  the  amendments  which  he  had 
offered  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  would  retract 
their  open  rebellion  against  the  injunctioBS  of  the 
last  General  As.sembly. 


m 


Dr.  Humphrey  said  he  could  not  answer  the 
question,  but  thought  they  were  far  more  likely  to 
(10  it  under  a  nieas-ure  ot  this  eort  than  under  the 
measure  jiropoaed  by  the  committee.  If  they  would 
put  this  Church  in  a  relation  in  eome  degree  anaia- 
gous  to  the  relations  which  the  churches  of  the 
South  sustained  to  the  Assembly,  for  the  present, 
he  thought,  that  under  such  a  course  the  Presbyterj' 
of  Louisville  might  be  induced  to  retract,  liut  he 
could  not  speak  positively,  as  he  did  not  reside  in 
the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  but 
eighty  miles  away;  and  besides  he  had  been  in 
some  respects  engaged  in  bitter  controversy  with 
those  brethren. 

Mr.  H.  K.  Clarke,  of  Detroit,  obtained  the  floor. 
He  began  by  alluding  to  the  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject under  consideration,  and  thought  the  Assem- 
bly might  r.ever  again  be  called  upon  to  settle  piin- 
eiples  of  such  vital  importance  as  were  involved  m 
this  controversy.  He  hoped,  iheretore,  the  ques- 
tion would  be  fully  discussed.  He  was  amazed, 
however,  a  few  days  ago,  when  he  heard  this  dis- 
cussion likened  to  a  tight,  and  with  all  due  respect 


to  the  gentleman  from  Philadelohia  (Dr.Boardman), 
he  wasj  suriiri.-ed  that  that  gnatlemau  could  not  fllld 
a  fitting  answer  to  the  remark,  "that  while  the  sol- 
diers were  for  peace,  the  ministers  were  for  war." 
Instead  ot  spending  his  powers  in  another  direc- 
lion,  he  wondered  why  the  eloquent  Doctor  did  not 
reply  that  war  is  carried  on  in  the  Church  because 
the  war  is  here.  The  rebellion  is  at  an 
end  against  the  civil  autliority.  It  is 
crushed,  but  is  it  not  true  that  tlie 
rebellion  agamst  the  Church  is  just  as  active  and 
venomous  as  ever.  There  were  two  questions  they 
were  to  meet — ihe  question  of  the  power  of  the 
Church,  and  the  question  whether  this  is  alittmg 
occasion  tor  the  exercise  of  that  power.  There 
should  be  the  amplest  room  for  free  discussion  on 
these  points,  aod  no  impatience  of  members  should 
permit  them  lo  neglect  ;tlie  present  duty  of  main- 
taining the  deliverances  of  the  Church. 

Mr.  Clarke  proceeded  with  a  discussion  of  the 
powers  of  the  General  Assembly  to  hear  and  deter- 
mine the  cuse  now  presented  to  the  Assembly,  and 
continued  to  the  hour  of  adj3urnment. 


THIETEEK^TH  DAY  — FEIDAY,  JU^^E  1,  1866. 


MORNING  SESSION. 

First  half  hour  spent  in   devotional  exercises. 

Minutes  were  read  and  approved. 

Dr.  Yantis  spoke   in  defense   of  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony   men,  claiming  that   the  Assembly 
had  no  Scriptural  right  to  bring  political  tests  into   i 
the  Church,  nor  t'-i  arraign  men    for  conscientious   : 
protests  against  such   acts  ot  the  Assemblv.     Re- 
ferred to  the  Secrttary  of  the   Board  of  Domestic 
Missions  as    having  attempted   lo  crack  his  eccle-   | 
siastical  whip  in  his  lace,    at   a    distance   of  l.OdO   | 
miles  away,  but  it  didn't  frighten  him  much;  but  he 
hai    beeu  led   to    inquire    on    what  meat  this  our 
Caesar  fed  that  he  had  grown  so  great.     Styled  the 
Secretary,  in  backwoods  i)hrase.   as  a  scavenger, 
or  in  more  refined  phrase,    an  ecclesiastical  detec- 
tive. 

Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry  asked  if  the  speaker  had 
a  right  to  attack  the  venerable  Secretary,  when  he 
had'not  an  opportunity  to  defend  himself? 

The  speaker  continued  to  say  that  he  had  been 
attacked  at  a  time  when  he  could  not  defend  him- 
self. Spoke  excitedly  and  defiantly  against  tlie 
acts  of  the  Assembly,  asserting  that  those  whom  he 
represented  could  not,  did  not  dare  to  undertake 
the  performance  of  the  orders  of  the  Assembly; 
thev  did  not  intend  to  be  attached  to  the  tail  of  an 
abolition  concern,  and  be  dragged  in  tri- 
umph over  this  land  of  theirs;  that 
these  things  couldn't  be  forced  down 
the  throats  of  the  people ;  if  they  took  it  at  all  it  must 
be  taken  in  homeopathic  doses ;  as  for  himself  he 
couldn't  do  it;  it  was  Impossible  for  him  to  do  it, 
andif  he  was  to  be  cut  off  for  that,  the  sooner  it 
was  done  the  ))etter  for  the  Assembly,  and  the  better 
for  him,  lor  he  would  be  the  sooner  but  of  suspense. 
He  supposed  it  was  possible  for  a  man  to  go  to 
heaven  without  going  from  the  bosom  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church;  presumed  he  was  talking  to  a  jury 
whose  verdict  was  already  made  up,  and  had 
thought  so  all  the  time;  had  no  choice  between  the 
propositions  that  had  been  proposed;  the  only  way 
to  treat  with  the  people  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri 
was  in  love;  they  were  a  torglving people,  and  loved 
to  forgive  their  brethren;  there  was  no  use  to  come 
among  them  with  a  swoid,  for  nothing  could  be  ac- 
complished in  that  way. 

Mr.  Day  had  been  recognized  by  the  Moderator, 
and  was  about  to  take  the  stand,  when  the  Modera- 
tor declared  that  Mr.  McAfee  had  the  loreference  as 
one  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men. 

Mr.  McAfee  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  had  once 


before  been  a  member  of  the  General  Assemblv,  in 
1860 — was  reminded  of  the  language  of  Job,  "Oli! 
that  it  were  with  us  as  in  months  past," 
&c.,  &c.  He  had  loved  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church;  her  graciou-i  doctrines, 
and  blessed  standards;  had  labored  with  the  bro- 
ther who  had  just  taken  his  seat,  to  keep  thftir  res- 
pective Churches  in  the  Old  School  Presbyterian 
Church  night  and  day,  and  had  succeeded  in  doing 
so.  It  was  not  nniil  the  session  of  1861,  that  he  had 
met  with  anything  connected  with  the  Assembly 
that  he  could  not  subfcnbe  to.  Since  that  time  he 
thought  the  Assembly  had  been  gradually  getting 
away  from  the  old  paths,  and  tele  there  was  some 
degree  of  apology  lor  the  Assembly  on  account  of 
the  great  excitement  of  the  times,  and  the  great 
pressure  from  without,  but  honestly  believed,  be- 
f  jre  God,  that  the  Assembly  had  passed  measures 
they  had  no  right  to  pass;  had  been  almost  con- 
strained to  feel  a  gradual  departure  further  from 
the  Assembly.  Its  deliverances  aopeared  to  him  to 
partake  ot  a  political  character,  and  he  had  been 
taught  that  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Savior 
Jesus  Christ,  though  in  the  world  was  not  of  the 
world.  If  the  General  Assembly  would  go  back  to 
the  platform  laid  down  in  Kentucky  by  the 
venerable  lather  in  the  Church,  who"  had 
been  here  in  a  niiierent  attitude  on  this  occasion, 
for  one  he  would  have  met  him  and  said,  "Brother, 
how  do  you  dOi" '  His  i Presbytery  in  uctiber  had 
considered  tne  deliverances  of  Ihe  Assembly  from 
'61  audits  orders  to  the  lower  judicatories  praver- 
fully,  end  came,  he  believed,  to  the  unaniniaus 
conclusion  that  they  v  ere  deliverances  which  the 
General  Assemely  had  no  right  or  authority  to 
make.  It  was  not  in  a  spirit  of  deliance,  but  be- 
cause they  believed  the  requirements  were  unscrip- 
tural,  and  they  could  not  obey  them  without  being 
guilty  of  acts  repugnant  to  God's  word;  had  felt, 
after  careful  and  prayerful  examination  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testmiony,  that  he  was  bound  to 
subscribe  to  every  principle  therein  laid  down; 
was  surprised  that  the  principles  laid  down  in 
the  pamphlet  had  not  been  assailed  by  any  speaker 
here,  and  asserted  that  they  could  nor,  be  controver- 
ted; declared  his  loy.'ilty;  loved  his  coun- 
try, if  his  country  would  let  him  love  it; 
repelled  the  charge  of  having  engageii  in  a  con- 
spiracy or  combination  to  break  "up  the  Church, 
but  stated  that  he  had  pledged  himself  to  his  breth- 
ren of  his  own  Presbytery,  and  to  the  men  he  had 
joined  here  to  stand  with  them  for  weal  or  for  woe. 
His  desire  waa  to  bring  the  Church  back  to  its  old 


standards;  hart  nothin.sr  to  say  ia  regard  to  the  sev- 
eral papers  before  the  Assemblv  respecting  the  mat- 
ter. ' 

Mr.  Day  desired  that  what  was  done  in  this  mat- 
ter shuuid  b«  itoue  in  a  constitutional  way;  objected 
to  the  rebolu  ious  ot  the  comiuiitee,  as  a  matter  of 
practice;  iiiigtit  make  a  bad  prtctdent,  and  because 
IDe  jiia^nieiit  wouia  be  wrong;  it  would  make 
trouble  and  occasion  liiigatioa  in  regard  to  Church 
property  ana  funds;  ubjecled  to  i>r.  Gurh-y's 
proposition  because  it  was  iutei:ded  to  bring  indi- 
viduuls  belore  the  Assembly  for  trial,  and  offered  a 
teries  of  rerolutions  in  place  of  Dr.  Gurley's  sub- 
stitute, which  were  jiubiished  m  our  last  is^ue. 

The  Moderator  announced  that  Mr.  Day's  resobi- 
tioiis  couid  not  be  entertained,  uiileas  it  were  voted 
eitlier  icopottpoue  Dr.  Gurley  s  substitute,  or -'ay  it 
on  tue  table 

Dr.  Gurley  said  he  thought  Dr.  Brookes  had  mis- 
rrpresfnted  him  in  his  speech,  wnen  he  represented 
him  as  saying  thut  tie  siiould  withdraw  from  the 
Church  if  his  proposition  wjs  not  adopted — what 
he  did  say  was  that  if  the  General  Assembly  would 
Jet  suca  an  offei'se  as  the  "  Dtclaradon  and  Testi- 
mony" pass  iinrebulied,  end  let  the  offenders  pass 
witliout  calLnn  them  to  accjunt,  he  would  feel 
obliged  to  seek  a  home  iu  a  Church  where  PresOy- 
terian  government  and  discipJine  was  something 
more  than  a  fancy  and  a  form,  tie  then  read  froui 
manuscript  his  reascns  for  Uesiring  that  his  substi- 
tute bhcuid  be  adopted. 

Before  Dr.  Gurley  was  fairly  through,  the  Modera- 
tor announced  that  the  lime  haa  arrived  for  taking 
the  vote. 

Dr.  Thomas  movtd  to  l^y  on  the  table  the  resolu- 
tions prestnted  by  the  special  committee,  and  the 
substitute  otDr.  Humphrey. 

The  Moderiator  decided  that  it  Dr.  Thomas'  mo- 
tion prevailed,  an  allirmative  vo'e,  it  had,  wouid 
tdoptthe  report  ox  tlie  conimitiee  with  the  substi- 
tute of  Dr.  Gurley  in  place  of  the  resolutions  re- 
ported by  the  couimittee. 

The  deci-ion  of  the  Moderator  was  appealed  from 
and  susta!iied  by  the  house. 

The  motion  of  Dr.  Thomas  prevailed. 

Mr.  Day  moved  to  postpone  Dr.  Gurley's  substi- 
tute, and  vote  upon  the  resolutions  presented  by 
him.    Laid  upon  the  table. 

Dr.  Boardinan  moved  that  Dr.  Gurley's  paper 
be  postponed  and  his  substituted  in  its  pla'ce.  Laid 
upon^he  table. 

The  ayes  and  noes  were  called  for. 

Dr.  "Xautis  inquired  it  he  had  a  right  to  vote,  ard 
the  Modtrutor  replied  that  he  had. 

The  ayes  and  noes  were  culled.  Dr.  Brookes  de- 
clined to  vote.  Mr.  Howa'd  of  Bulfalo  city, 
changed  his  vote  to  aye,  having  at  first  voted  no. 

The  Moderator.  Before  announcing  the  vote,  I 
W'shtof-ay  that  immediately  after  its  announce- 
ment I  will  eiiteriaiu  a  motion  that  a  brother  be  re- 
quested to  lead  us  in  prayer.  The  vote  stands,  at- 
mmative  ia6,  negative  37". 

Dr.  Drown  moved  that  Kev.  Dr.  McGill  he  re- 
quested to  iead  the  Assembly  in  prayer  for  God's 
hJessing  upon  the  Cliurch.  The  motion  prevailed, 
and  Dr.  AicGiM  offered  prayer. 

Mr.  Fvniiau  giive  LOticeof  a  protest  against  the 
vote  just  titkea. 

After  some  little  discussion  ®n  the  part  of  Mr. 
Galloway  snO  Drs.  Kribs,  West  and  Lowrio,  a  mo- 
tion made  by  Mr.  Galloway,  that  the  several  papers 
presented  us  sub.-titutes  by  Drs.  Humphrey  and 
Boardman  and  Mr,  Day  be  spread  Ujjon  the  minutes, 
and  that  their  supporters  be  allowed  to  sign  them, 
jjrevailed. 

Dr.  Yantis  asked  what  was  his  position  in  the 
he  use. 

The  Moderator  stated  that  by  the  effect  of  the  res- 
oUuinnjust  adopted  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
and  resiimony  were  no  longer  members  of  this  As- 
sembly. 

J.  M.  Rice,  who  was  i-ick  and  absent  when  the 
vote  was  taken,  desired  to  record  bis  vore  and  was 
permitted  to  ao  so.  He  voted  aye,  making  the  vote 
197  to  37. 

0  s— 13 


The  vote,  after  above  mentioned  change  and  ad- 
ditions, stood  as  follows: 


David  Lvon, 
Joseph  F.  Brixley, 
S.  R.  House, 
G.  W.  CAmi)bell, 
Kobert  B.  Walker, 
James  A  Hi- on, 
George  F.  C«in, 
Rooert  McKnight, 
VVm.  M    Francis, 
J.  W.  Wightman, 
P.  D.  Gurley, 
R,  G.  Mcuieary, 
Charles  Bay, 
Mi.  D.  Ycoinans, 
Alien  Chaney, 
Samuel  T.  Wihon, 

F,  T.  Brown, 
J.  T.  Bliss, 

J.  G.  Montfort, 
T.  E.  Thoaias, 
A.  O.  Patterson, 
W.  Tliornas, 
A.  E.  Chamberlin, 
Wm.  Cnrrv, 
\V.  T.  Adams, 
J.  F.  Magiil, 
J.  B.  iSicKinley, 
J.  C.  Grier, 

G.  u.  Hecuman, 
J.  P.  Safford, 
R.  F.  Patrefsin, 
W.  P.  Inskeep. 
S.  M.  Archer, 
James  D.  Ma.son, 
J.  S    Dunning, 
AV.  Bishop, 

J.  W.  Scott. 
John  Gilun, 

D.  A.  Wilson, 

A.  M.  Mct'herscn, 
V.  O.  Reed, 
J.  D.  Reinboth, 

E.  Kemp^hall, 
J.  C.  Edwards, 
M.  J.  Hickok, 
A.  M.  Lowry, 

C.  E.  Webster, 

D.  V.  McLean, 
Myron  Barrett, 
A.  H.  Hand, 
J.  L.  Lab'ii, 
W.  P.  Vail, 

J.  G.  Synimes, 

G.  S.  Green, 

W  .  Rust, 

W.  H.  Hornblower, 

Albert  DeHart, 

John  Barrows, 

H.  E.  Warlord, 

H.  Armstrong, 

A.  WicKham, 

C.  Wood, 

H.  B.  Ware, 

A.  Shiland, 

W.  P.  Van  Rensselaer, 

L.  Liltell, 

L.  Mulford, 

J.  11.  Rolph, 

N,  VVest, 

E.  P.  Ketchum, 
W.  P.  Hull, 

C.  J.  .Tone.-i, 
J.  M.  Krebs, 
J.  C.  Lowrifc, 
J.  Stewart, 
J.  Bayle.'s, 
W.K.  Belcher, 
J,  L.  Nevius, 
S.  H.  Jagfcjer, 
H.  S.  Banks, 
R,  Irwin,  Jr., 

C.  A.  IWUQD, 

H.  L.  Vannuys, 
J,  C.  Irwin, 
J.  A.  Campbell, 


•JohnNewland, 
CtiarifsE.  Robinson, 
Wm.  M.  Johnsoa, 
G.  Fort, 
Joh.i  M.  Smith, 

C.  C.  lliggs. 
Valet, tine  C.  Glenn, 
John  Way,  Jr., 

A.  H.  Caiighty, 
S.  S   MitcheU, 
W.  G   Reeo, 
James  Remington, 
James  Gardner, 
H.  iJoWijrd, 

W.  T.  Cu-hing, 
R.  G.  Tljomt>b0D, 

E.  C.  Sickles, 
Thomas  Muir, 
W'.  W.  Colmery, 
Wm.  T.  Finaiey, 
W.  Gieeuough, 
Thomas  MctJechin, 
G.  S.  Ormsbv, 
Samuel  Hovtr, 
Thomas  W.  Hjnes, 
John  Cri.zier, 

R.  M.  Tate, 
T.  Buciiauan, 
G.  1>.  Archibald, 

F.  R.  Morten, 
James  Blake. 

J.  H.  McCampbell, 
W.  Blai.cliaid, 
Jerome  Allen, 
Thomas  Elder, 
J.  G.  Uvaser, 
J.  Farqiihar, 

D.  Mitchell, 
L.  C.  l^lUte^, 
\V.  W,  Watson, 
T.F.  McCoy, 

J.  A.  Strawbridge, 
D.  W.  Moore, 

C.  H.  Park, 
M.  C.  Grier, 
D.J.  Waller, 
James  Ran  tin, 
W.  E.  Scheuck, 
J.  Andrews, 

W.  W.  Caldwell, 
J.  A,  Henry, 
T.  M.  (.Juiiningham, 
J.  B.  Davis, 

B.  n.  Jenks, 
R.  Owen, 

B.  L.  Aisuew, 

D.  W.  Soiyook, 
J.  Mateer, 

C.  Orr, 

F.  J.  Collier, 
8.  McMaster, 
J.  W  .  Hazeiett, 
S.  Rea, 

J    Sioneroad, 
W^  S.  Caldwell, 
J.  Carutliers, 
J.  Frothingham, 

G.  Aihsiie, 

B.  Baldwin,  Jr., 
W.  K.  Brice, 
J.  Dobbins, 

E.  B.  Raflensperger, 
S.  D.  (.hamberhn, 
B.  F    Murden, 

H.  K.  Clark, 

S    Look, 

J.  P.  Brlngle, 

D.  Wills, 

D.  V.  Smock, 
G.  D.  Stewart, 
W.  Mason, 
R.  J.  Burtt, 
T.  P.  Sp.  er, 
J.  Russell, 
R.  Unrron, 


M 


,T.  G.  McMechan, 

Ji.    A.  GUltttfr, 

J.  M.  E*y, 
O.  W.  i'iuley, 
S.  Galloway, 
J.  H.  Pratt. 
C.  H.  Perkins. 
A.  Scoit, 
J.  C.  Giliam, 
J.  J.  Turner, 
J.  Iteasor, 
A.  W.  Loomia, 
J.  A.  fetinner. 


G.  Eraser, 

\V.  M    Grimes, 

D.  \y.  Fi>;her, 

W.  M.  KicoU, 

Tbomas  jJlcKean, 

J.  ilenilDg, 

C.  P.  Freucb, 

J.  W.  Dins  111  ore,     / 

L.  T.  Siowfll, 

(J.  L.  Ttiompson, 

J.  F.  Ogden, 

A.  A.  jjiusmore — 197. 


NAY3. 

J.  T.  Smith, 
L.  P.  Bowen, 
£i    W.  Allen, 
J.  E.  Spillman, 
R.  K    bmoot, 
O.  Beaity, 
T.  A.  iiiiicken, 
J.  L.  Yuniis, 
li.  L,.  McAflee, 
J.  iM.  Travis, 
E.  BredeU, 
A.  P.  Forman, 
A.  r.  Dobson, 
H.J.  Van  Dyfee, 
D.  M.  Hallidft/, 
J.  H.  Clarke, 
J.  *  .  Vantiisdale, 
J   S.  McCiellan, 


J  T.  Backus, 
John  Dickeon, 
,f .  jD.  Joues, 

D.  u.  iirowii, 
«J.  A.  iiar.-'hall, 
W.  L.  jJrecKiDridse, 

E.  P.  Humphrey, 
G.  Mar.^ball, 
G.  W.  Uuchanan, 
G.  C.  Svv allow, 
».  J.  P.  Auiieraon, 
J.  Conway, 
^4l.  Gosmdu, 
S.  G.  Law, 
H.  Day, 
R,  Biiciianan, 
J.  T.  Luist^d, 
H.  A.  lioatdinan, 
11.  S.  Clark — 37. 

Declined  to  vote,  J.  H.  Brooks — 1. 

ABSENT. 

L.  B.  Vv'eDs,  G.  W.  Jarrett, 

J.  P.  <^artc-i-,  J.  T.  Htndricta, 

R.  Biriiie,  J.  C.  Maxwell, 

JB.  Mjer.-,  J.  W.  Piyor, 

JJ.  iaciU*»ttr.  U.  T.  Wttlker, 

K,  C.  iiuUtews,  J.  B.  Liiidslcy, 

E.  Buck.  O.  VV.  tsmiih, 

R.  Poritr,  K.  Van  Peii, 

ij.oii.iii,  W.  L.  Terhune, 

J    Snyuer,  K.  A.  Davison, 

\V.  E.  Wiiiirow,  J-  Van  Keuren, 

i7>.  D.  Sharon,  J.  L.  Williams, 

ii.  «.jOL.over,  li.  P.  Daviason, 

i:.  A.  Aiitcueil,  A.  G.  Brown, 

VV  .  D.  Hil'.a,  Mo'es  Coe, 

il.  Adams,  S.  T.  Browu, 

.J.  K.  Duncan,  J.  T.  Barnard, 

W.  H.Peteraoii,  James  Gray, 

J .  iM.  Pryse,  John  Chriaty, 

t).  ittibiUBOU,  J.  C  Calavveil, 

S.  K.   WilfOu,  &.  Lyle, 

O.  A.  VVicklitte,  W.  L.  Orr, 

M.  Hardin,  A.  Boyd, 

P.  Ttiouipson,  H.  Hammond, 

o.  T.  Hendricks.  A.  V.  Balch— 50. 

Dr.  AiouUbit  moved,  in  ordernot  to  exclude  the 
Declarniion  aud  Xebtimoiiy  men  from  this  Assem- 
Oly,  that  [Lie  resolutions  just  parsed  should  not  taiie 
tiiect  Uutil  tlie  cluse  ol  ine  session.  Carried. 
~  A  committee  was  aijpointed  to  examine  the  docket 
and  report  at  the  aftercoou  oes&iou,  wnat  business 
requuta  tne  atieuiion  ol  the  Assembly,  and  what 
coulu  be  postpoiitd  to  the  next  Asseiuoiy. 

Iheiuilovviiigresoiuiion  of  thanks  to  Dr.  Lord 
\vas  adopted: 

ihe  Lcmmittee  on  Theological  Seminaries  recom- 
irjendliie  louowiBg  resolutions: 

Retoived,  That  the  tliauks  of  the  General  Asstm- 
btj  are  due,  aiiQ  are  lieieoi  tendered  to  tbe  Kev. 
U  lilts  Luiu,  l>.  D.,  lor  tlie  able  and  faithiul  man- 
ner iu  winch  ne  lias  discbaiged  ihe  duties  ot  ttie 
cnaii-  ci  Didactic  and  Pt'ituiic  iheoiogy  in  addition 
lo  the  regular  duties  of  his  own  department,  during 
1  Lie  vacancy  111  that  ciiair  in  ine  Tatological  ttemi- 
i.ary  oi  lUelNorthwest. 

Re^i  Ivtd,  Tnat  a  copy  of  this  iehOlution;be  trans- 
-I'itted  to  Dr.  Lora  b>  the  Staitd  t^leik^of  lUe  Gen- 
i  ai  Asttuibly.  D.  J.  WALLiiK,  chairman. 

Voted  that  '.he  report  ot  the  Committee  on  Di  mcs 
liO  Mife^ions  tt  liiot,  and  that  of  ihe  Freeomeu's 


Committee  be  second  in  tbe  order  of  business  for 
the  afternoon . 

Ur.  Bourdman  then  read  a  report  from   the  Com- 
mittee ou  Foreign  Correspondence. 


AFTEKNOON  SESSION. 

Rev.  K.  KempshaU  offered  a  rosolation  referring 
the  appealed  case  ni  Samuel  Boyd  to  a  select  com- 
mittee, lor  the  purpose  of  hearing  the  testimony. 
Adopted. 

Rev.  Mr.  Bracken  read  a  protest  against  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Assembly  with  regard  to  tbe  Elders  of 
the  Walnut  Street  Church  of  Louisville,  as  follows : 
The  undersigned  do  most  respectfully  and  most 
earnestly  protest  agaioft  the  decision  of  this  As- 
sembly in  regard  to  tbe  Walnut  street  Church,  un- 
der The  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  for  the 
following  reasons : 

1.  This  decision  is  in  its  nature  and  effect,  a  judi- 
cial decision  made  upon  the  report  of  a  committee, 
Without  the  least  regard  to  any  of  the  forms  of  pro- 
ceedure  laid  down  in  the  P.ook  of  Disciplice,  and, 
as  appears  to  us,  m  vioiation  of  evtry  principle 
and  requirement  of  tbe  form  of  governim-ut  of  tbe 
Church.  The  case  was  not  l.ifcfore  tue  Assembly 
fcitber  upon  the  complaint,  appeal,  reference,  or 
review  and  control  in  "one  or  other  only  of  which 
ways  could  it  be  brought  under  their  jurisdiction. 
The  parties  were  never  before  the  Assembly  at  all; 
the  Presbytery  could  not  be,  because  it  had  been 
previously  excluded  from  the  body.  Koihing  of  tbe 
nature  of  evideDce  touching  tne  matters  involved, 
was  heard  by  the  Assembly.  It  was  therefore  im- 
possible lor  the  AS;.enibly  to  know  whether  or  not 
the  elQtrs  were  or  vsere  not  duiy  elected  and  or- 
dained. 

.i.  Tne  eleciei'Xi  ij  m  our  judgment  subversive  of 
all  the  rights  of  all  ihe  lowej  couris,  and  of  the 
private  members  of  tbe  Church.  it  breaks 
(icwu  all  the  safe-guards  of  the  ConstiLutioa, 
and  lays  i-rostr&te  at  ihe  feet  of  any  casual  majority 
ui  tLit^  General  Assembly  the  Cbriatiaa  immUiiitiea 
and  liberties,  sessions,"  ministers  and  people.  No 
one  can  be  safe  under  a  governmeui  administered  in 
such  a  manner.  It  mu=t  have  the  effect  to  give  a 
license  to  the  disorderly,  and  make  victims  of  those 
Who  would  endeavor  lo'maintain  tne  integrity  of  the 
Cimt^tiiution  and  enforce  in  a  regular  manner  the 
uii^ciplme  ol  the  Church.  It  sanctions  the  principle 
that  iiie  General  Assembly  meru  motu  may  lake  up  a 
case  of  discipline  pending  beiore  a  chaich  session, 
and  upon  tne  tx  parte  petition  of  the  party  under 
trial,  turn  out  tlie  members  of  the  court — ^put  the  ac- 
cused in  the  places  of  the  ju'dges — and  practically 
require  CQe -court  to  submit  to  the  criminal.  That 
wiii-n  a  question  of  privilege,  ana  that,  loo,  involv- 
ing the  vital  question  of  tbe  legality  of  an  election 
and  ordination  to  tne'ildership  is  pending  in  a  Pres- 
bytery, the  General  Assembly  may  interfere  to  de- 
cide that  questijn  without  having  the  parties  whose 
claims  are  to  be  determined  before  them,  and  whilst 
the  Presbytery  itselt  is  piecluded  irom  the  possi- 
bi'ity  of  being  heard. 

That  when  a  .'synod  has  appointed  a  committee  to 
attend  to  business  brougbt  beiore  it,  and  report  to 
Synod  beiore  that  committee  have  had  time  to  re- 
port, and  therefore  beiore  tlieir  action  can  have  be- 
come of  oiDding  it  re.:',  or  be  subject  to  tbe  review  of 
the  Assembly  in  a;:.y  constitutional  macner,  the  As- 
Mtmbiy  may."  upon  the  ex  parte  report  and  recom- 
mendaiion  uf  an  ex  parte  comiuitti-e,  declare  the  acts 
and  doings  of  tue  aioresaid  committ'^e  of  Synod  to 
be  linal  and  bindiiig,  even  to  the  extent  of  quashing 
process  of  discipline  regularly  instituted,  practi- 
cally constitutitig  a  new  session,  and  setting  aside 
cue  already  existing. 

o.  Tne  cbarge  against  the  Louisville  Presbytery  of 
having  deniea  to  one  of  these  persons,  at  wuose  in- 
stigation this  matter  has  been  preM^ed  upon  this 
Asoenibly,  a  "seat  in  said  Presbytery,"  and  "with 
the  apparent  design  of  discrediting"  his  election 
and  oidmaiion  as  a  ruling  elder,  contains  a  most 
iiijurious  imputiitiou  upon  Ihe  motives  of  that  Pres- 
bytery, and  ba&td  upon  an  assertion  of  what  we 
have  reason  to  believe  is  contrary  to  fact.  It  ap- 
pears l£om  evidence,  both  printed  and  oral,  that  the 


95 


Presbvierv  has  not  denied  any  one  of  these  nei-sons 
a  seat' in  that  body.  Teat  question  is  still  under  con- 
sideration by  them,  upon  the  report  of  a  commirtee, 
to  ;whom  the  whole  matter  was  referred,  at  the 
motion  of  the  party,  claiming-  the  riabt  to  a  sear, 
and  the  committee  was  comoosed  of  members  of  tht; 
Pretbytevy.  named  by  s  'id  party.  This  report  was 
prepared  wirh  d;ie  dilig-ence  and  presented  at  the 
ear)ie,*t  possible  monieni ,  but  it  heinar  impractica- 
ble tor  ihe  Presbytery  to  continue  longer  m  session 
atthat  time,  audthey  having  previously  determined 
to  hold  an  adjourned  meetina;,  said  report  was  laid 
over  ti>  that  m'-eting,  then  to  be  fully  considered  and 
acted  upon.  So  far,  therefore,  as  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  is  to  be  taken  as  evidence  of  its  design, 
it  would  seem  to  be  apparent  that  they  dc-i^'ned  to 
do  nothing  hastily,  or  to  the  prejuflice  of  the  rights 
eceieaiastical  or  "civil  of  any  of  the  parties  to  this 
case. 

4.  The  plea  ot  "necessity"  under  which  this  de- 
cision was  pressed  to  a  vote,  is  dangerous  and  de- 
lusive, no  necessity  existina:  for  the  iLteivention  of 
the  Assembly  in  this  business  at  this  time,  but  such 
as  the  party  urfirins'  the  plea  of  necessity,  had  him- 
self created.  That  necessisty  consists,  as  is  appa- 
rent from  the  paper  adopted  by  the  Assem- 
bty  itself,  in  au  anxiety  to  bring  the 
Oicision  thus  obtained  to  bear  npon  and 
control  tbe  civil  court  in  a  case  now  pending  be- 
fore tnat  court,  m  which  the  said  party  is  the  plain- 
tiff. And  the  Assembly  have  thus,  both  by  their 
actior^  and  by  the  very  terms  of  it,  rendered  it  im- 
possible to  prevent  the  injurious  impression  that 
this  vener^ible  body  have  gone  out  of  their  way, 
snd  set  a«ide  tbe  fundamental  laws  of  the  Church 
and  tbe  essential  forms  of  proce(ture,  in  order  to 
reach  a  decision,  with  the  express  purpose  of  pre- 
judicing the  property-rights  of  one  of  the  parties  in 
a  case  now  under  litigation.  It  is  the  Assembly, 
therefore, — not  the  Presbytery — who,  by  their  ac- 
tion, are  iinperiiing  the  rights  of  the  members  of  the 
congragation  oi  the  Walnut  street  Church.  Against 
the  perversion  of  this  high  court  of  the  Church  to 
euoti  a  use,  we  do  most  earnestly  and  solemly  pro- 
test. 

5.  The  General  Assembly  have  no  power,  under 
the  vague  pretext  of  "redressing  griiivances"  or 
'  'by  virtue  of  its  authority  and  obligation  to  give 
advice  and  instruction  in  all  cases  submitted  to 
them" — upon  a  ruere  memorial  or  petition,  to  over- 
ride the  Consfcitutioi>al  prerogatives  of  the  lower 
courts — to  confirm  or  reverse  their  decisions — to 
iDterleie  with  their  proceedings,  or  to  anticipate 
their  action  in  matters  regularty  before  them,  and 
in  which  they  have  primary  jurisdiction. 

T.  A.  Bracken,  G  J.  P.  Anderson,  .J.X.  Tantis, 
A.  P.  Foiman,  S.  L.  McAfee,  E.  Bredell,  G.  "W. 
Buchanaa,  Glass  Marshall,  J.  D.  Jones,  G.  C. 
Swallow,  J.  a.  Brookes,  H.  J.  Van  Dyke. 

Dr.  Klrebs  read  the  following  answer: 

In  anbwer  to  the  protest  of  Mr.  Bracken  and 
others  in  the  case  of  tbe  Waitiut  Street  Church  of 
Louisville,  the  Assembly  declare  that  the  election 
of  new  elders  in  that  church  was  ordered  by  the 
Synod  of  Kentuciiy,  on  a  review  of  the  whole  case 
Upon  a  memorial  from  the  congregation,  and  was 
conducted  and  consummated  by  the  co'nmittee  ap- 
pointed by  the  Synod  with  plenary  powers;  all  ot 
which  IS  established  by  the  attested  records  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  and  of  the  committee  appointed 
by  that  Synod,  the  premises  meeting  all  the  circum- 
stances and  requirements  or  the  case. 

Both  the  above  papers  were  admitted  to  record. 


The  report  ot  the  Finance  Committee  was  then 
read  and  accepted. 

The  week  commencinsr  with  the  first  Sabbath  and 
including  the  foUowimg  Sabbath  were  appmnt.d  a 
special  session  for  ijrayer  for  tbe  conversion  of  the 
world. 

A  motion  to  limit  debate  on  all  other  quest'on? 
which  might  comeup  was  earnestly  opposed  by  Dr. 
Anderson,  and  flnally  tab!ed  oa  rciotion  of  Dr. 
Krebs. 

The  report  of  the  Standing  Commif;tee  on  Dames- 
tic  Missions  then  came  under  consideration. 

Dr.  Krebs  moved  to  strike  '>ut  that  part  ot  the  re- 
port which  proposes  the  removsTl  of  the  Board  to 
Cincinnati,  and  all  the  provisions  dependent  on 
such  proposed  removal,  except  the  requirement  to 
revise  the  plans  of  the  Board,  with  view  to  its 
greater  efficiency . 

Dr.  Juneway,  Secretary  of  the  Board,  addressed 
the  Assembly  "upon  the  condition  and  prospects  of 
the  Board. 
Key.  M  r.  Loomis  stated  the  wanls  of  California. 
Drs.  Brown.  Monttort  and  Thonies,  and  Messrs. 
Chamberlain,  Scott,  Henry,  Skinner  and  Symme, 
addressed  the  Assembly  ui ion  Dr.  Krebs' motion, 
and  tipon  an  amendment  made  to  refer  the  matter 
to  the  next  Assembly. 

Mr.  Symmes  moved  to  lay  the  amendment  to  refer 
the  matter  to  the  next  Assembly  on  the  table.  Car- 
ried . 

Rev.  Mr.  Mason  thought  there  should  be  more 
confidence  in  the  Board. 

Dr.  Gurley  felt  obliged  to  vote  in  the  alErmative 
as  matters  now  stood.  Suggested  referring  the 
matter  to  a  Special  Cimmittee  to  report  at  the  next 
Aesenibly,  and  moved  an  amendment  of  a  commit- 
tee of  five  to  report  at  the  next  Assembly. 

It  was  moved  to  postpone  the  first  resolution  with 
regard  to  the  Freedmen's  Committee,  until  the  cou- 
eideratlon  of  that  committee's  report. 
Fifth  resolution  in  the  report  adopted. 
Report  except  those  parts  referri-d  and  postponed 
adopted. 

The  Assembly  voted  to  instruct  the  Board  of  Do- 
mestic Missions  to  immediately  revise  its  plans  of 
operation. 

Voted  that  it  be  the  first  order  of  the  day  on  Sat- 
urday to  receive  nominations  and  elect  to  fill  va- 
cancies in  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions. 

The  Rev.  S.  C.  Logan,  Secretarj^  of  the  Freed- 
men's Committee,  by  request  addressed  the  As- 
sembly on  the  importance  and  greatness  of  the 
work  entrusted  to  that  Committee.  He  explained 
the  nature  of  this  tenure  by  wh'cb  the  Zion  Church 
(colored),  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  was  held 
by  the  Committee:  that  it  had  been  claimed  by  a 
New  School  minister,  in  behalf  of  au  aid  society; 
that  the  General  in  command  had  decided  that  the 
Old  School  Presbyterian  Church  was  entitled  to  its 
use;  that  Mr.  Gibbs,  our  missionary,  had  taken 
possession;  that  the  Church  might  be  used  for  the 
purposes  for  whicV)  it  was  originally  founded;  that 
tbe  Committee  had  made  no  claim  upon  it  as  our 
property;  that  the  whole  matter  was  now  before  the 
proper  authorities  in  behalf  of  the  colored  congre- 
gation by  the  act  of  its  officers;  in  short,  that  the 
contest  IS  really  between  the  former  white  trustees 
and  the  present  colored  congregation.  In  confirm- 
ation of  this,  Mr.  Logan  read  several  papers.  He 
then  proceeded  to  explain  the  difficulties  in  the 
way:  need  of  colored  laborers,  the  encourage- 
ments, etc. 
Adjouraed,  with  prayer. 


96 


FOURTEENTH  DAY  — SATURDAY,  JUJ^E  2,  1866. 


MOENIKG  SESSION. 

The  Assemnly  nier  at  the  usual  hour,  and  after  fle- 
VOtionai  exerciseii  i.he  minuiesof  Friday  were  read. 

A  tijotioa  was  made  to  aiu'^iid  the  minutes,  to  aa 
to  give  those  who  votted  for  Dr.  Giirley's  i>ropuBi- 
tion  in  reference  to  the  L'-^uisyille  Presbytery  an  op- 
portuiiiiy  to  si<rn  tbe  other  propositions  t>)at;  were 
before  tlie  Assembly  relating  to  the  same  subject. 

After  a  lengthy  discussion 'tbe  minures  N^ere 
amended  so  as  to  read,  that  any  person  who  had 
preferred  the  papers  named  be  permitted  to  feign 
liiem. 

Dr.  Dowrie,  from  the  Committee  on  Bills  and 
Overtur-'S,  rcporteij  back  Overture  No.  7,  in  rela- 
tion ro  the  pjesbytery  of  Southern  Iowa,  recom- 
mending its  attacnment  to  the  Synod  of  Nebrafka. 
The  matter  was  referred  tn  the  next  General  Asstm- 
biy. 

Dr.  LowTie,  ^rom  the  same  committee,  reported 
Overnue  No.  21,  which  reads  as  f'-liows: 

The  appeal  of  the  liev.  L.  E.  Lockwood,  by  his 
counsel,  ihe  Rev.  James  RemioctOD. 

Tnis  appeal  against  ihe  Synod  of  Icwa,  for  not 
sustaining  his  appeal  Irom  the  Presbytery  of  Du- 
buque, was  dismissed  bj^  the  labt  Assembly  on  the 
ground  thtit  no  reason  aceo!n0inied  the  coraplaint, 
acrt  there  was  no  evidence  that  any  a  ^tice  of  com- 
plaint w;is  triveu  to  the  Synod. 

Mr.  Lot.fe.vvnO'i  now  meraorializes  tiiis  Assembly, 
and  alleges  ibat  the  required  notice  of  appeal  was 
given  to  ihe  Synod,  and  that  he  was  then,  and  sfiil 
IS  prevented  from  attending  the  Assembly  during  its 
last  and  iresent  session,  and  he  asks  tbiit  bis  appeal 
may  be  reiustated,  and  referred  to  the  next  Assem- 
ble for  trial. 

The  Committee  reccommend  that  his  request  be 
granted  He  Imther  asks,  that  the  Assembly  direct 
the  Preebytery  of  Dubuque  to  grant  him  a  new  trial 
on  the  ground  of  new  testimony. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  this  application 
be  referred  to  the  Presbytery  of  Dubuque,  to  the 
en<l  that  if  the  new  testimony  be  found  of  suiiicient 
importance  to  justify  that  Presbytery,  it  may  afford 
Wr.  Lockwcod  the  relief  he  asks.  But  if,  in  their 
judgment,  anew  tial  ought  not  to  be  granted,  that 
then  ihe  ai)peal  shall  stand  tor  trial  on  the  record  as 
now  existing  before  the%iext  General  Assembly. 

The  report  was  received  and  docketed. 

Dr.  Lowrie,  from  same  committee,  reported 
Overture  No.  22,  which  was  referred  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  for  trial. 

Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  As- 
eemblv  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  release 
all  the'ir  interef-t  in  lot  3  block  No.  26,  in  the  city  of 
Winona  of  the  St-ite  of  Minnesota,  on  wtiich  is  erec- 
ted a  church  editice  now  or  lately  occupied  by  the 
IPrei-byterian  e.hurch  of  that  city— provif led  a  deed 
of  trust  shall  be  executed  by  tne  proper  legal  pa^r- 
ties  to  the  said  trustees  of  the  General  Assembly, 
vesting  in  them  an  intereet  in  the  property  on  which 
the  nevv  editice  for  the  use  of  said  Church  shad  be 
erected,  with  the  same  covenants  and  considera- 
tions exprebsed  in  the  deed,  by  which  they  now 
hold  their  interest  in  said  lot  No.  3,  block  20,  in  the 
city  of  Winona. 

The  report  was  received  and  adopted. 

The  untinished  business  was  then  takea  up,  viz  : 
the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Freedmen. 

Mr.  Logan,  the  Secretary  ot  the  Committee,  re- 
sumed his  remarks. 

He  saiil  in  the  efforts  to  educate  the  freedmen,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  are  not  more 
than  five  generations  removed  from  the  most  abject 
heathenism  of  modern  times.  Some  of  them  are 
not  two  generations  removed  from  the  worship  of 
dog's  teeth.  W hatever  plans^may  be  taken,  it  is 
necessary  that  the  vrhole  energies  of  the  Church 
and  all  Christian  people  should  be  bent  to  the 
work,  so  that  what  is  done  may  be  dohe 
quickly.         The        field       was         ready         for 


harvest  The  demand  was  urgent.  The  negroea 
were  being  brought  in  contact  with  influences  which 
must  be  Counteracted,  or  the  result  would  oe  deeper 
aem'adation.  They  were  anxious  to  be  instructed. 
Tiieir  miuds  wire 'thirsting  f'T  kaowledge,  and  it 
Wtts  very  important  that  their  iastructton  should 
begin  on  a  ri^ht  basis.  On  oue  occ  sion  he  heard  it 
nejiio  pray  the  Lord  to  deliver  him"tromt!ie  sin 
Which  doth  so  easily  uj}set  us,"  and  on  a.-king  him 
what  he  meant,  he  replied  "that  the  negroes 
could  fcmeli  whisky  a  great  way  oH'. "  The 
negroes  were  now  more  exposed  to  the 
temptations  which  were  be*ng  thrown  in 
their  way  by  un.-crupulus  white;  loen,  and  these 
influences  must  be  counteracted.  They  nave  a  feel- 
irg  that  they  wi?h  to  be  equal  to  ttie  white  race. 
They  discover  that  ii  is  not  altogether  eiiucatiou 
thac  commands  respect  among  white  people,  but 
moiey,  and  so  there  i->  danger  that  they  veill  neg- 
lect the  one  for  the  otber.  Instead  of  beiug  thrift- 
less, they  as  a  people,  sre  money  making.  This  is 
sh  )Wn  in  the  tacr  that  they  are  estanlishi'ug  savings 
barks,  and  m  a  bank  iit  Beaalbrc  they  already 
have  $100, OuO.  The  Freedmen's  r.areau  was 
leading  them  not  only  to  indostry  but  economy,  and 
tbey  are  fast  gettiu;;  the  idea  thar,  ijQ  order  to  be 
"  fclk.-"  ttey  iniirt  be  "  rich  folks."  11  was  a'l 
important  therefore  that  immediate  attention  should 
be  pant  to  the  salvation  of  their  souls  and  the  eleva- 
tion of  their  moral  character.  In  regard  to  the 
consolidatioa  of  the  Fieedmen's  Committt^e  with 
the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  the  Speaiier  hoped 
the  As--emblv  would  do  what;  they  thought  was  most 
aiivitiable.  He  had  m;ide  great  siicriflces  personally 
and  thougQt  the  secretaryship  ot  suca  a  committee 
was  abciit  the  hardest  way  to  heiven. 

Rev.  Mr.  Miller  next  addressed  the  Assembly 
with  reference  to  tiie  work  of  educating  the  colored 
people  of  North  CaruUna,  and  spoke  of  a  liberal 
charter  which  had  been  granted  in  that  State  for  au 
institution  in  which  the  education  of  colored  people 
could  be  carried  forward.  He  regarded  tbis  as  one 
of  toe  most  important  movements  for  the  evangeli- 
zation of  freedmen  th.it  tue  Church  could  engage  in. 
It  China,  Japan,  and  other  foreign  nelus  of  libor, 
exliibiled  the  same  spectacle  that  the  colored  people 
in  our  own  land  exhibited,  the  greatest  ei.ergies  of 
the  Church  would  be  put  foith  to  the  work  of  ih'ir 
complete  e*^angellzatiou. 

Mr.  McKnight  considered  this  work  second  to 
none  otber.  Here  wcie  heathen  brou^jht  to  our  own 
doors,  and  it  was  importj,nt  that  their  wants  should 
be  attended  to.  He  was  opposed  to  having  two  sep- 
arate or;i  anizations  to  this  work.  He  thought  the 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions  should  a'tend  to  the 
black  man  as  well  as  the  red  or  theivhite  i:i»n  The 
objections  to  having  separate  organizations  were 
numerous,  among  wtiich  were  two  sets  of  teachers 
or  mi-!Sionavies,  and  the  mituodersta  idings  fre- 
quently arising  anions  them.  It  there  were  but  one 
organization  it  would  save  expense  and  a  great 
deal  ol  correspondence.  He  thought  they 
could  collect  just  as  much  money  with 
but  one  organizition.  He  alluded  to  the  letter 
of  Dr.  Adger,  of  South  Carolina,  which  censures 
the  agents  of  the  Churcn  employed  m  behalf  of  the 
freedmen,  on  ticcount  ot  having  taken  possession  of 
a  church  in  that  State.  Toe  speaker  said  the  Churcn 
was  not  responsible  for  the  retention  of  that  church 
at  the  present  time.  As  soon  as  they  ascertained 
the  facts  they  relinquisheu  all  claim.  It  was  then 
that  Mr.  Giobs,  acoiored  preacher  of  much  ability, 
instituted  proceedings  for  the  possession  of  the 
church,  under  the  provrsions  ot  the  civil 
rights  bill.  There  the  matter  rests,  the 
colored  men  contending  they  are  as  much  en- 
titled to  the  property  as  the  woite  men.  So  far  as 
the  Presbyt'^ri  u  Church  was  concerned,  they  did 
nothing  more  than  what  was  their  dutv. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Patterson,  it  was  agreed  to 
adopt  the  resolutions  seriatim. 


97 


Rev.  Mr.  Skinner  desired  to  know  whether  the 
Committee  on  Domestic  Missionaries  were  pre- 
pared to  accept  this  responsibility.  He  moved,  in- 
stead of  referring  this  to  that  committee,  that  the 
actioaof  the  Assembly  be  postponed  for  one  year, 
and  tliat  a  committee  be  apijoitited  to  consider  tbe 
matter  mnd  report  lo  the  next  General  Assembly 
w'lai  action  f-hall  be  taken. 

Rev.  Dr.  Guriey  lioped  tbe  motion  would  not  pre- 
vail. The  proposed  transfer  would  not  h''  made 
until  the  way  was  mnuifestly  clear.  He  thouglit 
there  was  mo  better  conimitlte  t)  which  the  subject 
could  be  referred  tban  the  one  proposed. 

On  mi  lion  ufRtv.  Mr.  Stewart,  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Skinntr  was   htia  ou  the  table. 

Rev.  Mr.  Bi-hop  said  thi;re  was  no  doubt  but  that 
at  the  time  this  committee  was  formed  it  was  in- 
tended merely  as  teinriorary. 

Rev.  Dr.  Backus  hoped  the  day  would  soon  come 
when  all  these  boanis  would  be  consolidated. 

Toe  first  three  of  the  resolutions  were  then  adopt- 
ed. 

Rev.  Dr.  Humijhrey  said  this  was  a  most  import- 
ant matter,  ano  that  it  requiied  a  great  deal  of  pru- 
dence and  judgment.  Ii,  was  a  subject  likely  to 
start  maoy  diihcdt  problems.  He  had  long 
been  a  resident  of  a  slave  State,  and 
had  given  the  subject  a  gi'eat  deal  of  study,  and  he 
was  und'.-cided  now  as  to  tbe  best  course  to  pursue. 
He  was  opposed,  h(/Wevei',  to  giving  up  separate 
organizations.  Th -y  had  common  echoi'ls  and 
cburches  to  e.'stalm-h  among  them,  and  so  many 
dillicuit  mutters  to  attend  to,  it  seemed  to  biiu  the 
subject  .'-hould  commnd  the  attention  of  a  board 
composed  ot  home  uf  '.he  wisest  men  of  the  Church. 
He  proposed,  therefore,  to  oher  the  following  ai  aii 
amendment : 

Resolved,  lliat  (his  General  Assembly,  deferring 
to  wiiat  appears  to  be  tbe  mani'est  indications  of 
the  will  of  Providence  in  the  matter,  aosure  the 
Southern  churches  and  ministers  lately  in  connec- 
tion with  us  of  our  desire  to  assi.-t  and  co-operate 
with  them  in  any  j  uiJicums  measures  tor  the  spuit- 
uul  good  of  their  colored  population. 

Trom  his  knowledge  of  the  people  of  the  South, 
he  thought  if  it  were  possible  to  remove  the  obsta- 
cles that  appeared  in  tbe  way  of  co-operation 
with  them,  tbat  their  faciliiies  for  instruciing 
the  negroes  would  be  gieatly  increased.  He 
would  Uesire  to  have  the  Church  in  the 
attitude  of  co-operation  with  them  rather  than 
in  tbe  attitude  of  competition.  He  thouj^ht  this 
was  a  good  time  to  put  i,ni,>  matter  on  that  fooling — 
by  adopting  some  such  rosoiution  as  this,  which 
would  put  tbem  in  such  relation  wi'h  their  Southern 
brethren  as  would  prevent  the  collisions  of  which 
thsy  h?d  heard,  um\  which  were Hkelyto  in lei  fere  in 
the  wui-k  of  that  importait  field  if  labor.  Ko  field  of 
labor  now  open  to  the  General  Assembly  was  more 
important — none  where  the  cry  came  up  with  such 
piteous  wailiDgs  and  acctuts,  as  from  these  four 
millions  of  people. 

A  member  aesired  to  know  whether,  under  the 
resolution,  the  A&seoibly  would  not  be  bound  to 
act  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Rev.  Dr.  Allison  rlid  not  kuov/  as  there  was  any- 
thing specially  objectionable  in  the  ameuument, 
but  it  was  likely  to  convey  a  wrong  iuipiession. 
The  impression  seemed  to  have  got  abioad 
that  they  had  come  into  a  collision  in 
this  field  of  labor,  but  this  was  aitogether 
a  mistake.  They  hid  cirefully  avoided  establisb- 
ing  themselves  iu  any  place  where  the  Southeru 
Church  and  Freednaan's  Aid  Societies  were  oper- 
ating. He  wished  to  state  the  facts,  also,  in  regard 
to  Zion  church.  After  tbe  old  pastor  returned,  Mr. 
Git)bs  retired,  statiiig  that  if  the  people  were  will- 
ing to  take  baOiS  their  old  pastor,  he  would  seek  an- 
other place.  The  corgregar.ion  decided  that  if  their 
former  pdsior  would  accept  the  deliverances  of  the 
Assembly,  they  would  have  no  ol'jfection  tohiiu. 
Teis  he  aechned,  and  then  the  Assembly's  mission- 
ary, Mr.  Gibbs,  was  r^taiued  by  the  choice  of  the 
people.  But  in  all  cases  teachers  and  missionaries 
had  been  instrncted  to  avoid  infringing  on  the  la- 
bors of  others.  There  was  another  difficulty  in  the 
amendment.  The  system  ot  instruction  in  the  South- 
ern Church  was  ditferent.  On  the  whole,  he  doubted 


the  propriety  of  adopting  this  amendment  at  this 
time. 

Rev.  Dr.  Heekraan  was  not  prepared  to  vote  for 
the  amendment. 

Rev.  Mr.  Frazier  said  the  idea  seemed  to  prevail 
that  the  Southern  people  make  use  of  oral  instruc- 
tion only.  This  was  a  mistake,  whatever  other 
cnarges  they  might  have  to  answer. 

Dr.  Humphrey  concurred  in  the  idea  that  their 
object  should  be  to  educate  the  colored  people  to 
read  the  Word  of  God.  and  to  establish  schools.  He 
beli'jved,  also,  ibat  their  eflorts  should  be  to  in- 
struct them  according  to  the  principles  of  the 
Church.  Whether  the  Southern  brecnrea  would 
agree  to  that  plan  he  did  not  know,  but  he  thought 
they  wouidj  lueymust,  however,  carry  their  work 
am  ng  the  freedmen  ou  their  own  principles,  irres- 
ptc'ive  ©f  auv  other.  And  if  there  was  anything  in 
his  ametidment  which  committed  them  to  the  policy 
of  their  Southern  brethren,  he  would  cheeriuily 
strike  it  out.  His  idea  was  for  co-oijeration  amoug 
Christian  people. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thorais  had  no  objection  to  any  form  of 
courtesy  towards  Christian  brethren,  out  felt  the 
time  had  not  come  for  the  adaption  of  such  a  paper 
as  this  He  had  no  objectjimH  to  the  Board  of  Do- 
mestic Missions  or  Freedmen's  Committee  u=ing 
any  advantages  that  misrnt  be  ofiered  tliem,  iu  tbe 
way  of  co-operation  by  Christian  brethren  in  the 
South.  But  when  they  adopted  a  paper  of  this 
kind,  declaring  that  they  were  ready  to  co-operate 
with  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Cijurch,  for  the 
good  of  the  colored  people — 

Mr.  Clarke  eaid  he  understood  that  the  resolution 
expressed  a  desire  to  co-operate  with  them  on  judi- 
cious principles. 

Dr.  Thomas  said  he  understood  the  resolution  to 
be  arec'ignitionof  theur  separate  existence  as  an  or- 
ganiziition  with  v/hom  they  could  co-operate,  and  the 
corollary  or  that  was,  that  being  in  the  posse-sion  ot 
that  field  they  ought  iu  all  Christian  courtesy  to 
leave  them  undisturbed.  He  ihuught  that  was  cut* 
tins?  it  rather  deejj. 

Adjourned. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

The  appeal  caseofRev.  Mr.  Boyd  from  the  Synod 
of  Wheelinsr,  was  taken  up  and  af.er  considerable 
discuss'on  the  report  of  the  Committee  sustaining'the 
decision  of  the  Synod  of  Wheeling  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Clai'Ke  asked  on  behalf  of  himself  and  olhers 
to  enter  a  dissent  as  follows : 

The  undersigned  dissent  trom  the  judgment  of  ihe 
Assembly  iu  tbe  appeal  of  liev.  Samuel  Boyd 
against  the  Synod  ot  Wheeling,  tvv  the  following 
reasons  : 

1.  The  only  charge  alleged  by  common  jame  against 
Mr.  Boyd  before  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsvilie  is 
that  he  was  "living  separate  Irom  his  wife."  No 
specification  ot  the  character  of  this  separation 
whether  for  sutficient  reasons  or  not,  or  whether 
involving  immorality  or  not,  appears  on  the  record; 
nor  has  any  such  specification  been  brought  to  the 
notice  cf  this  .assembly. 

2.  No  evidence  of  the  charge  has  been  read  in  the 
presence  of  tbe  Assembly.  This  court  was  there- 
fore called  to  pronounce  upon  tbe  issue  of  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  Mr.  Boyd  in  entire  ignorance  of  the 
testimony  by  which  that  guilt  ^  r  innocence  may  be 
determined. 

3.  The  Hoot  of  Discipline  prescribes  the  order 
of  proceeding  m  tbe  trial  of  appeals  in  judicial, 
cases,  chap.  ;vii.,  section  iii  and  sections  viii  and 
ix.  This  order  confers  sub-tautial  rights  upon  par- 
ties, and  presents  siieciflc  duties  to  this  court. 

It  requires  the  "  reading  of  the  whole  record  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatory  in  the 
call,  including  all  the  testimony" — to  hear  the 
original  parties — to  hear  toe  members  of  the  inferior 
judicatory — and  1  hat  the  roll  of  the  Court  Bhall  be 
called,  that  every  member  may  have  an  opportunity 
to  express  his  opinion  in  the  case.  The  record  has  not 
been  read,  the  original  pleas  have  not  been  heard, 
nor  has  any  oppoitunity  been  oflered  for  the  pur- 
pose. Toe  inferior  judicatory  has  not  been  called, 
nor  was  the  roll  of  this  house  called  as  required  by 
the  Book  of  Discipline. 


98 


For  these  reasous  the  nndersigned  didsent  fi'om 
the  judgment  in  this  case. 

HOVEY  K.  CLARKE, 
JOHN  OGDEN, 
J.  W.  WIGHT  MAN, 
K.  G.  McCKEARY, 
J.  G.  KEASOR. 
CHARLES  RAY, 
ROBERT  S.  .,LARK, 
WM.  MASON. 
JACOB  KEASOR. 
The  Moderator  annouDced  the  foUowing  Coramit- 
tua  ou  the  removal  of  the   Board  of  Diiuestic  Mis- 
6iOD8:  P.  D.  Gurley,  T.  E:  Thomas   and  J.  Addi- 
tion Heory,  Ministtrs.    Robert  McKnight  and  A.  E. 
Chamherliu,  Elders. 

The  unrtnished  business  was  taken  up,  viz:  the 
npoi't  yt'the  Committee  on  Freedmcn. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thoaias  coDcluded  his  remarks.  He 
was  opposed  to  recognizinji  the  Souihern  Church  in 
any  way  as  a  (ii:?tincc  acd  separate  organization, 
au(J  as  iDustrating  the  .state  of  feelins?  o(  the  breth- 
ren of  the  South,  cited  a  diHcourse  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Marshall  of  New  Orleans,  which  he  had  recently 
read  m  a  New  Orleaus  paper,  in  which  Dr.  Mar- 
shall said  the  South  was  rielit  and  in  the  end  would 
have  independence;  that  they  should  still  look  for 
indepi-indence,  refu.se  all  association  with  Northern 
l>eople,  and  identify  themselves  with  the  Sourheru 
cause:  that  in  one  hundred  yeyrs  spiders  would 
spin  webs  around  the  spindles  of  Lowell,  and  a 
Comanche  Indian  sit  ou  liunrer  Hill  Monumtnc 
aud  .sketch  the  ruins  of  Boston.  Until  this  element 
was  jjurged  out,  and  there  was  eviiience  that  they 
had  returned  to  the  position  tjey  once  occupied  as 
loyal  Presbyterians,  he  was  not  willing  to 
meet  a  direct  or  iodirect  proposition  to  co-operate 
with  them.  He  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  of  Dr. 
Humphrey  on  the  table. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to,  and  then,  on  motion  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey,  tiie  whole  question  of  unit- 
ing the  Freedman's  committee  with  the  Board  of 
Domestic  Mis-;ions  was  referred  to  the  next  As- 
sembly. 

Rev.  Dr.  AUiion  then  offered  the  followiug,  which 
WAH  aj^reed  t'i. 

Resolved  further,  That  six  members  be  sdded  to 
the  committee,  and  that  the  committee  be  empow- 
ered to  condui5t  their  business  by  an  executive  com- 
mittee. 

The  committee  nominated  the  followina:  as  the  ad- 
ditional members:  Ministers,  E.  E.  Swifr,  S.  T. 
Scoval,  John  Gillespie;  Elders,  David  Robinson, 
Dr.  A.  G.  McCandless,  and  Robert  C.  Totren;  aod 
lor  re-election  the  following  per''-ons  whose  term  of 
service  expires  during  the  sessions  of  the  present 
Assembly:  Ministers,  W.  M.  Paxton,  D.  D.  ,  W. 
P.  Breed,  D.  1).,  and  J  O.  Murray;  Elders,  Hon. 
S.  Gallowiiy.  N.  Bakewell,  and  A.  B.  Belknap,  in 
the  place  of  James  Ltnox  resigned,  and  O.  B.  Lj^on 
ia  ulace  of  R.  McKoight,  resigned. 

Rev.  Dr.  Patterson,  from  the  Committee  on  For- 
eign Correspondence,  reported  the  following  as  rep- 
resentatives to  the  ditferent  branches  of  the  Presby- 
terian Churches : 

To  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland:  Rev.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Presbytery  ot  Transylvania;  Rev.  M.  L  Hiokok, 
Presbytery  of  Luzerne,  Rev.  N.  C.  Burt,  D,  D  , 
Presbytei-y  of  Ciociunati;  Rev.  Richard  Lea,  D. 
D.,  Presbytery  of  Ohio;  Elder  Alex.  Cameron, 
Presbytery  of  Allegheny  City. 

The  Assembly  also  commends  thtse  brethren  to 
the  Church  confidence  and  fellowship  of  any  other 
evangelical  ecciefiastica!  bodies  whose  sessions  they 
may  aitend. 

To  the  General  Assembly  of  the  other  branch  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church:  Rev.E.  D.  Germans,  D. 
D  ,  Presbytery  of  Rochester  City;  Rev.  Duncan 
Kennedy,  D.  D.,  Presbytery  of  Troy;  Eiders  W. 
P.  Vanrensalaer,  Presbytery  of  Connecticut;  E.  A. 
Raymond,  Presbytery  of  Rochester. 

To  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church:  Rev.  John  Hall,  D.  D.',  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick;  Rev.  Joseph  Smith,  D.  D.,  Pres- 
bytery of  Baltimore. 

I'o  General  Assembly  of  United  Presbyterian 
Church:  Rev.  R.  C.  Matthews,  D.  D.,  Presbytery 
of  Warren;  Rev.  W.  T.  Finley,  Presbytery  of  Mi- 


ami; Elder  George  S.   Green,  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick. 

To  General  Synod  of  Reformed  Pre=^byterian 
Church:  Rev.  S.  J.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Presbytery  of 
Washington;  Rev.  D.  It.  Camijbeli,  Presbytery  of 
Stubenvillc;  Eider  S.  D.  Sharon,  Presbytery  of 
Miami. 

To  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church:  Rev,  A.  O. 
Patterson,  D.  D.,  Presbycery  ol  Oxford;  Rev.  Jas. 
.-loan,  D.  D.,  Pre.^bytery  of  Wa.~hington;  Elder 
Hon.  Josiah  Scott,  Presbytery  of  Oxford 

To  Associate  R'lorm  Svnod  of  New  York:  Rev. 
E.  D.  Smith,  D.  D. .  Prehbytery  of  NewY'ork  ;  Rev. 
J.  E.  Rockwell,  Presbytery  of  Nassau;  Eider  Al- 
exander Cameron,  Presbytery  of  AUenheuy  i.;ity. 

Rev.  Dr.  Farquhar,  from  the  Commutes  to  Re- 
vise the  Statistical  Tables,  presented  a  report  recom- 
mending certain  changes.  Alter  a  brief  discussion 
the  report  was,  on  motion,  referred  to  the  next 
Assembly. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  offered  the  following: 

Resolved,  Tnat  a  committee,  of  wh;ch  the  Moder- 
ator shall  be  chairman,  shall  be  appointed  to  pre- 
pare a  pastoral  letter  to  the  churcbes. 

He  said  the  object  was  ro  give  some  representation 
of  the  aciiou  of  this  Assembly,  the  mea  ures  of  the 
last  Assembly  and  the  beurijigs  of  the  whole.  It 
might  serve  to  conciliate  many  of  the  brethren  wiih- 
out  altering  the  action  of  the"A.ssembly. 

Mr.  Day  desired  to  offer  as  &.n  asaendmect,  reso- 
lutions found  substantially  in  Baird's  Digest,  page 
789,  which  were  adopted  in  1837  after  the  great 
division.  The  resolutions  are  to  the  effect,  that 
whereas  doubts  have  arisen  as  to  the  true  cons  ruc- 
tion of  the  d'Oiverauces  of  tlie  Assembly  in  reference 
to  slavery  and  loyalty  and  the  duties  of  Presby- 
terians lu  relation  the'reto,  and  whereas  the  Assem- 
bly desire  to  promote  the  true  sririt  of  Gospel 
charity  and  liberty,  and  to  preserve  the  couscienc  8 
of  brethren  who  are  laboring  to  sustain  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  our  beloved  Church;  thertfare 

Resolved,  That  we  will  cordially  receive  into  the 
fellowship  of  this  Ohuicn,  all  sincere  Presbyterians 
who  desire  to  bsuiiited  with  us,  and  who  are  in  good 
and  regular  standing  according  to  the  constivution 
of  our  Church,  and  such  members  and  ministers  are 
invited  to  seek  suca  union  in  the  mode  prescribed  in 
our  constitution. 

Resolved,  That  where  any  Presbytery  has  reason 
to  believe,  by  common  fame  or  otherwise,  that  any 
person  thus  applying  has  been  guilty  of  unholy  and 
wicked  conduct  in  the  late  rebellion,  it  will  he  the 
duty  of  said  Presoyfery  to  ex^.tnioe  into  the  conduct 
of  all  such  applicants  and  deal  with  them  according 
to  the  rules  and  discirdine  of  the  Church. 

Mr.  Day  ucknowledaed  th-^t  for  the  peace  and  on- 
rity  of  the  Church  those  who  were  charged  with 
heinous  crimes  should  not  be  ailo wed  to  coine  into 
the  Church.  But  it  seemed  to  him  t'lcy  were  now  ' 
oa  vantage  ground,  and  could  devise  some  plan 
which  would  overcome  all  difficulties.  He  did  not 
ask  to  hiive  the  records  of  the  last  five  years  changed; 
thought  they  ought  to  stand  as  the  record  of  the 
great  Presby  teria-i  Church  on  the  subject  of  loyalty, 
but  wished  them  construed  as  they  oUijiit  to  be  con- 
strued— kindly,  and  in  a  Chiistian  spirit,  with  meek- 
ae.-s  and  gentleness. 

Dr.  Thompson  moved  to  lay  the  resolutions  oa 
the  table. 

The  Moderator  said  they  were  not  before  the 
house. 

Dr.  Scheuck  said  he  had  a  paper  similar  to  the 
above  which  ne  thought  would  uarmonize  the  views 
of  thebreti:ren,  and  which  he  de.oired  to  read  for 
information.    It  was  read  as  follows : 

Whereas,  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  among 
ministers  and  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  South,  tbere  are  many  who  disapproved  of 
tiie  late  rebellion  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  separation  of  these  churches 
from  this  body,  and  who  did  not  of  their  own  free 
will  consent  or  lend  aid  or  countenance  thereto, 
but  bowed  before  what  they  belieyed  to  be  irresisti- 
ble necessity ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly,  without  express- 
ing an  opinion  with  regard  to  the  propriety  of  the 
course  adopted  by  .such  persons,  will  still  cherish  a 
kindly  and  friendly  regard  for  them,  and  whenever 
any  of  them  desii-c  to  return  to  their  former  connee- 


99 


fion  withu",  we  ■will  receive  and  cordially  welcomR 
tlii^ui;  and  in  reheard  to  those  who  havec  mutenincfd 
reheilion  or  Resjararlon,  this  Aswumbly  disclaims  all 
viudictive  leeiings  or  a  disposition  to  exercise  undue 
s(  verity,  but  reiterates  its  readiness  to  receive  them 
back  whenever  they  comply  with  the  conditions  laid 
down  by  the  General  Assembly,  page  563,  minutes 
of  1865. 

Dr.  Schenck  said  he  had  received  a  great  many 
letters  from  the  South  during  the  past  month,  and 
he  was  persuaded  the  numV)er  of  persons  here  indi- 
cated Wiis  vtrv  considerable.  He  had  received  let- 
ters from  ministers  in  the  South  who  declared  that 
they  were  at  heart  Union  during  the  rebellion,  and. 
rt-sisted  treason  until  it  was  impossible  any  longer 
t')  resist  without  the  risk  of  their  livfS  or  the  safety 
(if  rhpir  families.  A  clergyman  in  Mississipni  had 
writr^n  to  him  to  the  effect  that  he  had  been  tried  by 
his  rebel  neigbbor.s:  that  he  had  been  turned  out  of 
tlipCUurch,  and  that  it  Was  impossible  for  him  to 
return.  He  wished  to  know  how  he  could  get  back. 
Ail  ttiis  made  ii  clear  to  the  sueaker  that  the  reports 
em-rent  in  the  South  in  reference  to  the  posture  of 
the  Cl)UTCh  wevp  of  suet)  a  character  that  some  such 
d>^  claration  as  he  proposed  was  necessary. 

Rev.  Dr.  Kernpshall  hoped  this  paper  would  pass, 
as  representing:  the  views  of  the  Assembly  and  the 
Cliurcb  at  la,rg<>.  There  were  some  whr/had  voted 
wiih  the  msjoritv  all  through,  but  who  had  not 
!iaci  their  views  fully  expressed.  He  hoped  no  ef- 
I'ovt  would  be  rnaie  to  lay  this  paper  on  the  table. 
There  were  many  brethren  on  this  floor  and  in  the 
Churches  North  n  d  South,  who  desired  and  prayed 
to  Gon  that  the  day  might  .'^oon  come  when  a  ira'er- 
luil  UDiou  sh'juld  be  restored.  They  might  call  such 
men  middle  men,  fence  meo,  or  two  buckets  ct  \va- 
ti-rmea,  or  what  they  pleased,  but  he  hoped  their 
V'e  V.  s  would  be  respected. 

liev.  Mr.  Patterson  said  there  seemsd  to  be  an 
iriipiyssion  in  the  minds  of  several  niember.s  t>5at 
this  Assembly  was  actuated  by  a  feeling  of  enmity 
aDd  revenge  towarrls  Southern  men,  bur  for  himself 
he  could  say  he  had  no  such  feeling  in  his  heart,  and 
nevif  had.  VA'hen  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  he 
btorined  (hftcn-stof  Mi<<sionRidge,  and  wis  wound- 
ed by  a  minie  bullet;  and  when  they  captured 
numbers  of  rebel  prisoners,  he  had  no  feeling  oft^n- 
miry  towards  them,  and  he  had  none  now.  All  he 
w  anted  was  the  honor  of  his  Church  preserved.    He 


ilKed  the  expression  of  this  paper,  and  hoped  it 
would  be  adopted. 

Rev.  Dr.  Loomis  was  onpo3ed  fo  Mr.  Day's  pa- 
per because  it  undertook  to  interpret  the  doings  of 
the  last  a.ssembly .  They  were  prepared  to  vote  for 
Dr.  Schenck's  paper. 

Rev.  Dr.  Nevius  regarded  this  as  the  most  impor- 
tant matter  that  had  yet  come  before  the  Assem- 
bly. A  great  many  ft-lt  that  a  time  had  come  for 
mutual  cjncession.  We  called  on  our  breibreu  lo 
cootVss  their  fauSca,  yet  he  believsd  a  large  major- 
ity of  the  Assembly  felt  that  they  were  guilty  of  a 
fau't  at  the  last  Assembly.  Some  of  the  acts  of  the 
Assemble  were  a  dead  letter.  They  c  >uld  not  be 
executed  in  churches  at  the  North,  and  he  thought  it 
a  groas  inconsistency,  and  a  shame  for  ihetn  to  04li 
on  the  brethren  of  the  South  to  conless  their  faults, 
when  ''we  will  not  confess  faults  which  we  ac- 
knowledge to  be  so . " 

Dr.  Krebs  saw  nothing  dishonorable  or  incon- 
sistent in  their  explaininglthemselves  ;  did  not  know 
any  man  who  ignored  or  disobeyed  the  mjunciions 
of  the  la. st  Assembly,  as  some  brethern  seemed  to 
ktiowthem,  but  believed  that  th(^y  were  misunder- 
stood hoiiestly  and  conscientiously  by  some. 
rie  was  therefore  in  favor  of  explaiu'ing.  In  ISta 
they  adopted  the  la ^t  great  deliverance  on  the  bUb- 
j' ct  oi'sUvery,  except  the  supplementary  paper  of 
18(J4,  which  was  largely  misunderstood,  and  ia  181S 
the.  Assembly  adv-pied  aresolution  which  explained 
the  delivera'nce  of  '45  and  set  jthe  matter  at  rest. 
There  was  no  inconsistency  in  so  doing,  and  he  did 
not  believe  when  properly  understood  that  there 
was  any  rej  1  incon^istency.between  the  arstiou  of  1S64 
and  18i5  as  Dr.  Brockes  had  sought  to  show. 

Mr.  Dsy  offered  his  paper  as  a  substitute  for  Dr. 
Schenck's. 

Rev.  Mr.  Forman  would  like  much  to  vote  for 
anything  v/nicli  looked  towartis  conciliation,  but 
could  not  vote  for  an  ytiiing  which  indorsed  the  ac- 
tion of  the  last  As.semb!y. 

Mr.  Buchanan  thought  the  paper  of  Dr.  Schenck 
was  no  more  thiin  reatlirming  the  deliverances  of 
last  year  and  was  opposed  to  it. 

A  motion  to  refer  the  subject  to  a  special  commit- 
tee was  lost. 
Dr.  Schenck's  paper  was  adopted. 
Adjourned  with  prayer. 


FIFTEENTH  DAY— MONDAY,  JUNE  1,  1866. 


MORXING  SESSIOX. 

After  devotional  exercises  and  the  reading  of  the 
minutes  of  Saturday, 

Rev.  Dr.  McLean  moved  that  the  forty-nine 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  in  the  South  have  with- 
drawn their  connection  with  the  Presbyterian 
C'nurch  in  the  United  St^ites,  atid  have,  as  is  under- 
sto  id,  organized  an  independent  DoJy  of  their  own; 
therefore, 

Rtsoived,  That  the  names  of  those  Synods  and 
Presbyteries,  with  their  ministers  and  churches,  be 
.-  tricken  from  the  minutes  of  this  General  As- 
seiiibly. 

Tiiat  this  General  Assembly  will  give  up  no  part 
of  the  territory  embraced  within  those  S\  nods  and 
Presbyt'Ties,  but  sh-.ll  proceed  to  cultivate  it  as 
God  shall  give  us  ability.  That  where  any  Presby- 
tery, minister  or  Church,  within  the  bounds  of  the 
iibove  named  Presbyteries,  desires  to  adhere  to  this 
General  Assembly  and  accepts  its  Deliverances, 
they  shaU  apply  to  the  neare.st  Presbytery  to  be 
received  by  ttietn  until  such  time  as  they  "can  be  or- 
ganized into  a  Presbytery  on  their  own  territorv. 

Rev.  Dr.  Smith  offered  the  foUowing  as  a  substi- 
tute ; 


Whereas,  The  Churches  in  that  portion  of  our 
country  lately  in  rebellion,  whose'  names  appear 
upon  our  roll,  tiave  not  been  represented  in  this 
Assembly,  and  still  remain  in  a  state  of  separation 
from  us;  and  whereas,  the  measures  adopted  by  this 
Aesemoiy,  if  not  carried  out  by  the  lower  courts  in 
a  spirit  of  great  meekness  and  forbearance,  may  re- 
sult in  perpetuating  and  emljittering  division  al- 
ready existing,  and  extending  toeniover  portions  oi" 
our  Church  now  at  peace.    Therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  this  Asatmbiy  greatly  deplores 
the  continued  separation  between  tiurselves  and  our 
scattered  brethren,  so  long  united  in  the  bonds  ot' 
Christian  love  and  ecckssiastical  fellow.^hin,  and 
e.xpresfi*  s  the  eaintst  desire  that  the  w<j.y  be  soon 
opened  for  a  reunion  on  the  bdhis  of  our  common 
standards,  and  on  lerms  consistent  with  truth  and 
righteousness. 

Resolved,  That  the  lower  courts  who  may  be 
called  upon  to  execute  the  measures  of  this  Assem- 
bly, be  enjoined  to  proceed  therein  with  great  meeK- 
ness  and  forbearance,  and  in  a  spirit  of  kindness 
and  conciliation,  to  the  end  that  strifes  and  dissen- 
sions be  not  multiplied  and  inflamed  and  extended 
still  more  widely,  and  that  the  discipline  of  Christ's 


loo 


house  may  prove  for  edification  and  not  for  destruc- 
ti*f). 

I)r.  McLf  an's  motion  and  Dr.  Smith's  substitute 
w<  re  lid  on  ihe  table. 

Rev.  Dr.  Scanton,  (Dr.  Krebs  in  the  chair,)  from 
the  committee  appointed  fc»r  the  V)urp0be,  then  pre- 
sented the  folio H ing  pastoral  letter: 

PASTORAL  LETIER. 

TTie  General  Afsemhhj  of  the  Preshyterian  Church 

in  the  United  States  of  America,  in  session  in  tSt. 

Louis,  Missouri,    Anno    Domini,    1866,    to    the 

churches  and  people  under  their  care. 

Beloved  Brethren:  Under  a  sense  of  the  sol- 
emu  responsibilities  v/hicti  rest  upon  us  as  minis- 
ters and  elders  composing  this  highest  judicatory  of 
tbe  Presbyterian  Cliurch,  we  greet  you  in  tlie  oonds 
of  ChvibUan  followship.  The  circumstances  under 
whicli  vvc.  are  met,  the  state  of  the  Charcli  at  large 
"wliicti  we  represent,  the  important  ousiness  which 
has  come  b-'fore  us,  the  results  whicli  we  have 
leached,  and  the  duty  we  owe  to  all  the  churches 
and  peopie  under  our  care,  as  well  as  to  the  world 
without,  cnmoine  to  render  it  incumbent  on  us,  at 
the  close  of  an  Assembly  whose  sessions  have  been 
iinusualiy  protracted,  to  lay  belore  you  our  views 
upon  certain  matters  of  great  moment  to  the  wel- 
fare of  Ctirist's  kmedom. 

The  position  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  towards 
our  brethren  in  the  South,  who  were  formerly  in  the 
same  ecclesiastical  connection  with  us,  is  one  of 
the  subjects  demanding  special  attention.  That  po- 
sition has  been  misapprehended  by  some,  and  by 
others  perverted. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1865  met  a  few  weeks  af- 
ter the  last  battles  of  "a  gigantic  civil  war,  which 
had  continued  fnur  years.  That  war  originated  in 
rebellion  against  the  Government  of  the  United 
States.  During  its  progress,  the  Church  of  our  fath- 
ers became  divided,  and  in  December,  1861,  some 
ten  Synods  and  torty-four  Presbyteries,  with  the 
churcnes  under  their  Chre,  organized  a  separate 
Church  under  another  General  Assembly.  Pour 
General  Assemblies — namely,  those  of  1861,  1S62, 
1863  and  186-1 — had  deliberately  and  solemnly  pro- 
nouhced  this  rebellion  a  heinous  oflense,  in  the  light 
of  both  human  ana  divine  law,  and  had  enjoined 
upon  the  people  under  their  care  the  duty  of  up- 
holding tue  Cruvernment  against  which  the  rebellion 
was  waged.  When,  therefore,  the  Assembly  of 
1865  convened,  recognizing  these  doctrines  tiponthe 
rebellion  and  loyalty  as  true,  and  recognizing  the 
well  toown  fact  that  many  persons  lately  of  our 
eccle.-iastical  household,  some  of  them  ministers 
and  elders,  had  been  prominently  concerneU  in  in- 
stigating and  aiding  the  rebellion,  that  body  simply 
designed  to  apply,  as  a  logical  and  righteous  neces- 
eily,  the  principles  laid  down  by  the  four  preceding 
Assemblies.  As  they  had  successively  declared  the 
rebellion  to  be  a  sin  and  gross  oflense,  the  last  As- 
sembly made  provision  that  those  in  the  Southern 
Church  who  had  been  guilty  of  williDgly  aiding  the 
rebellion,  should  acknowledge  their  sin  and  profess 
repentance  as  a  condition  precedent,  provided  they 
should  wish  to  return  to  their  former  relations  wiiii 
us.  It  is  impossible  to  see  what  could  have  been 
done  less  than  this,  without,  on  the  one  hand,  to- 
tally ignoring  the  solemn  Deliverances  of  the  four 
previous  Assemblies,  and  in  eli'tet  treating  their 
doctrines  upon  rebellion  and  loyalty  as  erroneous; 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  while  admitting  these  doc- 
trines to  be  true,  allowing  the  men  who  had  been 
guilty  of  setting  them  at  naught  to  come  back  into 
our  ftUowship  without  inquiry  into  their  conduct, 
anrt  tiius  making  us  partakers  of  their  sins. 

VYe  regard  it  as  completely  within  the  province  of 
the  General  Assembly  to  make  these  provisions. 
Rebellion  against  lawful  civil  authority  is  a  gross 
sin  by  the  Word  of  God  and  is  so  declared  in  terms 
by  our  standards.  These  standards,  also,  make  it 
the  duty  cf  the  Geneial  Assembly  to  "bear  testi- 
mony against  error  in  doctrine  ami  immorality  in 
practice  m  any  Church,  Presbytery,  or  Synod." 
tour  Assemblies  had  borne  testimony  against  the 
"immorality"  ol  the  rebellion;  the  fifth  simply  en- 
joined upon  Sessions,  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  the 
duty  of  requiring  repentance  of  the  "immorality" 
in  any  who  might  apply  for  admission  who  had  will- 


ingly a  ded  the  rebellion  In  this,  (he  last  Assem- 
bly but  c.lltvithe  attention  of  tiie  lower  courts  to 
wnat  was  tiieir  obvious  duty  without  any  injunc- 
tion; but  huch  injunction  became  necessary  for  two 
reasons:  first,  because  some  Presby'eries  were  in 
doubt  as  to  tceir  duty  and  ha>l  oveitured  that  Ae- 
sembly  for  direction;'  and  s>condiy,  because  it  was 
feared  that  in  some  portions  of  the  Church  the  lower 
courts  wouUl  not  act;,  exc>-pt  under  an  express  m- 
junction  of  the  Assembly.  Beyond  this,  it  was 
manifestly  e^8^nfial  that  there  should  be  a  uniform 
rule  of  i)rocedure  for  all  the  courts  touching  the  of- 
f^n^e  of  r'^belUon,  apjilicable  to  all  who  should  ap- 
ply for  admission  from  the  Southern  Church.  Suci 
rule  the  last  .■Vssemblv  provided.  In  this  provisioa 
there  was  nothing  new.  It  was  but  a  diiection  to 
deal  with  gross  iffenders,  should  they  seeii  to  join 
the  Church  from  which  they  had  separated.  If  ttiey 
should  not  make  appli<;ation,  they  would 
not  be  disturbed.  Jiot  only  our  standards, 
but  those  of  every  Church  in  Christendom,  detm  re- 
bellion against  lawful  authority  an  offense  cogniz- 
able by  church  courts.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Scotland  has  many  times  deposed  from  the  mtn- 
jstry  those  wiio  have  been  guir.y  ot  rebellion,  and 
it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  our  Church  in  ISU  that  dis- 
loyalty to  '  'the  powers  that  be, ' '  in  our  civil  war, 
WAS  an  ecclesiastic*!  oflen&e.  It  is  thus  too  clear  to 
admit  of  doubt,  tnac  the  Assembly  of  1865  was 
iiot  only  fully  competent  to  make  the  provisions  in 
question,  biit  that,  had  it  failed  to  do  so,  it  would 
have  fallen  short  of  its  duty.  The  only  feature  ia 
these  provisions  which  can  be  called  new  arises 
from  ttie  fact  that  the  Prfsbyterlan  Church  m  this 
Cf.untry  hid  never  before  been  called  to  deal  with 
such  an  ofi'ense. 

While,  therefore,  the  last  Ass?mbly  but  fulfilled 
its  duty  in  issuing  these  injunctions,  it  left  their  ap- 
plication to  the  persons  concerned,  entirely  to  the 
lower  courts.  In  its  directions  to  them  ic  showeti 
that  it  was  actuated  by  conciliation  and  kind- 
ness. It  "give  counsel  to  the  several  Cimi'ch 
courts"  that  "in  uischarging  the  duties  enjoined, 
due  regard  be  paid  to  the  circuuistances  of  tiie  case, 
and  that  justice  be  tempered  with  mercy."  It  di- 
rected that  "tenderness"  should  be  exercised,  espe- 
ciaMy  towards  tne  young  who  had  been  led  astray  by 
"unprincipled  and  ambitious  leaders;"  and  it  ex- 
pressed the  hope  that  ' '  by  kind  and  laithful  instruc- 
tion and  admonition,  aiid  by  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  most  of  them  would  be  reclaimed  from 
the  error  of  their  ways  and  become  loyal  citizens 
and  valuable  members  of  the  Church." 

The  injunctions  and  counsels  of  the  last  Assembly 
were  thus  kind  and  fraternal  towards  those  who 
were  guilty  ot  having  willingly  aided  the  rebelliou. 
Any  concession  touching  the  offenses  of  such  per- 
sons would  have  been  the  higbt  of  unkiurtness.  It 
would  have  been  a  connivance  at  their  sin,  ami 
would  have  brought  down  upon  them  <ind  upon  us 
alike  the  displeasiire  of  GL)d. 

in  regard  to  our  brethren  thr>U!?hout  the  South 
wuo  did  not  aid  the  rebellion,  or  who  aidtd  it  from 
the  force  of  circumstances  or  uud^r  protest  of  con  • 
scienc,  the  General  Assembly  has  ever  felt  the  deep- 
est concern.  That  of  1862  spake  to  such  as  follows: 
'  'To  those  in  like  circumstances  who  are  not  ch  irge- 
able  with  the  sins  which  havebrougut  such  cxiaini- 
lies  upon  the  land,  but  win  have  chosen,  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  Christian  liberty,  to  stand  in  tneir  lot 
and  sufl'er,  we  address  words  of  affectionate  sympa- 
thy; prayiog  God  to  bring  t.'iem  oii'  con(juerois.  To 
those  in  like  circumstancts  who  have  tiiken  their 
lives  in  their  hands,  and  risked  all  for  their  country 
and  for  conscience's  sake  we  say,  we  love  such  with 
ail  our  heart,  and  bless  God  such  witnesses  were 
found  in  the  time  of  thick  darknes-*."  The  Assem- 
bly of  186i  thus  said  to  the  same  class  :  • '  VVe  tender 
our  kind  sympathies  to  those  who  are  overtaken  by 
troubles  they  could  not  avoid,  and  who  mourn  and 
weep  in  secret  places,  m.'t  unseen  by  the  Father's 
eye. ' '  The  jireSint  Assembly,  in  a  paper  adopted  with 
entire  unanimity,  says  of  the  same  person*,  that  we 
"still  clierish  a.  kiudiy  and  irattraal  regard  for 
them,  and  whenever  any  of  them  shall  desire  to  re- 
turn to  their  former  connection  with  us,  they  Will 
receive  a  cordial  welcome."  And  the  present  As- 
sembly further  says ;    'la  regard  to  those  who  have 


lot 


rtcfcly),   as  calling  upon   the  people  to  pray   and 
labor  tor  the  anticipated  consummation, 

"Which kings  and  prophets  waittd  for. 
And  sought,  but  never  found, 
and  which  many  of  our  fathers  "desired  long," 

"But  died  without  the  sight—" 
namely,  the  com^jlete  removal  of  slavery  from  the 
country,  uot  only  that  this  witheriQS  curse  upon  the 
people  mii;ht  cease,  but  that  through  its  destruction 
the  Government  might  he  mainfained!  The  Assem- 
bly of  1864  .has  not  otily  beeu  vmdioated  bv  the 
providence  of  God  in  thus  attemptiua  lo  "discern 
the  signs  of  the  times,"  hut  no  Deliverance  of  any 
General  Assembly  since  the  war  began  has  beeu 
passed  with  so  great  unanimity,  or  has  been  more 
widely  approved  by  the  Church. 

Wlienthe  Assembly  ofl865 convened. actual  war  in- 
da.jd  was  ofer,  btit  slavery  still  existed  m  some  parts 
of  the  country ;  and  as  nothing  but  the  military  power 
had  afiVcted  the  system  in  the  rebellious  States, 
many  persons  both  North  and  South  beiieved  that 
Its  legal  existence  throughout  the  South  was  as  se- 
cure as  ever,  a»d  some  believed  that  it  would  be  re- 
in'^tnted  in  all  its  power  and  extent. 

This  Was  tlie  hope  ana  prayer,  and  with  many  the 
expectation, among  Prestiyierians  in  some  of  the  Bor- 
der and  in  itie  SoutUern  States,  while  it  was  well 
known  ttiat  the  leading  men  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  South  still  otierished  tht^  same  views 
uuder  which  the  people  had  been  led  into  rebellion— 
taut  the  system  of  Southern  nesrro  slavery  was  a 
"diviue  institution"  as  truly  as  was  the  Mosaic 
system  of  servitude,  and  was  an  ''ordinance  cf 
God"  in  the  "same  category  with  marriage  and 
civil  government."  Even  aslate  as  the  year  1865  a 
person  commissioned  to  this  Assembly  from  the 
Presbyteiy  of  Louisville  published  a  work,  which 
has  been  extensively  circulated  and  commended 
both  North  and  South,  designed  to  justify  and  tnel- 
ter  the  system  of  SouiUern  slavery,  "slave  codes" 
and  all,  under  the  Scriptural  sanctions  of  the  Mo- 
saic system  of  servitude. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  the  Assem- 
bly of  ISfio  took  its  action  upon  slavery.  That  ac- 
tion has  been  greatly  misrepresented.  It  has  been 
frequently  asserted  iu  bigh  places  that  it  Cuuflicis 
with  previous  Testimonies  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  especially  with  that  of  1845,  which 
declares  that  slave  holding  is  not  a  bar 
to  Christian  communion.  It  is  a,  sufficient  reply  to 
this,  to  say,  tUat  the  action  of  the  last  Assembly 
conflicts  with  no  former  Testimony;  nor  does  it 
make  the  remotest  allusion  to  slaveholding  being,  or 
not  being,  a  baf  to  Christian  communion.  The  main 
points  of  its  action  upon  slavery — indeed  the  only 
points  reierrmg  to  those  who  may  ajiply  for  recep- 
tion into  our  Church  from  the  churches  "of  the  South 
— are,  that  sucli  applicants  siiall  renounce  the  errors 
which  assert  "that  tiie  :^ystem  of  negro  slavery  in 
the  South  is  a  divine  institution,"  that  it  is  "an  or- 
dinance of  God' '  in  the  sense  above  stated,  and  that 
"It  is  the  peculiar  miss^ioa  of  the  Southern  Church 
to  conserve  the  institution  of  tlavery"  as  it  was 
maintained  iu  the  South.  That  these  doctrines  are 
not  only  hereby,  but  blasphemy,  ib  plainly  seen  from 
tne  Word  of  God;  and  if  the  General  Assembly  is 
not  competent  to  declare  tbem  so — when  "to  the 
General  Assembly  belongs  the  power  of  deciding  in 
all  controversies  resjiecting  doctrine  and  discipline, 
of  reproving,  warning  or  bearing  testimony  against 
error  in  doctrine  or  immorality  in  anyChfircb, 
Presbytery  or  Synod" — then  it  is  not  couipeteut  to 
interpret  the  word  of  God  on  any  subject  wnatever. 

It  is  thus  evident,  tliat  the  position  of  the  last  As- 
sembly upon  slavery  is  iaipreguable.  It  in  no  way 
contradicts  any  former  Deliverance.  It  is  Indeed 
admitted  that  it  tlemauds  a  renunciation  of  errors 
on  that  butijeot  whlcii  no  former  Ueli»erance  re- 
quired; but  this  is  justified  Irom  tlie  consideration 
liiat  until  tUe  late  rebellion,  these  errors  were  com- 
paratively harmless.  They  were  held  as  mere  opiu- 
ions  with  which  the  Church  did  not  choose  to  inter- 
fere; tenets  which  excited  amazement  rather  than 
alarm .  But  when  they  had  been  sown  broadcast  over 
the  South,  and  like  the  fabled  dragon's  teetb,  had 
brought  lorth  imyriads  of  armed  men ;  and  when 
the  question  was— how  to  deal  with  those  who  had 
led  me  vun  in  publishing  opinions  whose  legitimatQ 


voluntarily  aided  and  countenanced  the  sa'd  rebel- 
lion >>nd  f-epariiiion,  this  Assembly  disclaims  all 
vindictive  tVelings,  and  all  disposition  to  exercise 
an  undue  severity,  arnl  rt-iteraies  its  readiness  to 
receive  tnem  back  whenever  they  shall  have  com- 
plied with  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  last 
General  Assembly  on  page  |563  ot  its  printed  min- 
utes . ' ' 

It  thus  appears,  that  six  General  Assemblies  in 
succession,  including  the  present,  have,  with  re- 
markable unauimity,  maintained  the  same  position 
concerning  tne  rebellion,  and  concerning  those  en- 
gagi-d  in  it.  After  carefully  reviewing  the  whole 
course  el  these  years  of  strife  and  alienation,  we 
Hod  nothiug  to  recall  or  modify  in  the  Delivi-rances 
which  biive  beeu  made.  We  have  taken  our  posi- 
tion upon  the  clearest  piii  ciples  of  the  Word  of 
God,  as  set  forth  in  our  standards.  We  have  aimed 
to  reclaim  oflenders  by  demanding  only  wbat  Christ 
requires  of  us  as  rulers  in  his  hoiiwe.  We  have  re- 
peatedly expressed  our  solemn  judgment  regarding 
theu'  oflen>es,  but  we  have  uniformly  done  it  in 
faiihluluess  and  kindness  only,  as  our  duty  re- 
quired. While  to  these,  our  brethren,  who  have 
thus  offended  against  the  law  of  Christ,  we  would 
reiterate  the  language  of  the  Assembly  of  1862, 
and  "earnestly  addi  ess  words  of  exhortation  and 
rebuke, ' '  we  still  extend  to  them  the  hand  of  kind- 
ness, and  desire  that  our  former  ecclesiastical  lel- 
lowahipmay  be  restored,  whenever  it  can  be  done 
upon  thoiC  principles  which  six  General  Assemblies 
have  announced.  To  form  a  union  upim  any  other 
basis,  would  only  serve  to  briny  together  those  who 
could  not  act  in  harmony,  and  to  perpetuate  striie 
acd  alienation. 

Another  matter  embraced  in  the  acti  of  former  As- 
semblies requires  notice.  We  allude  to  the  Deliver- 
ances upon  American  negro  slavery.  Much  misap- 
prehension exists  respecting  llie  action  of  the  last 
Assembly  upon  this  subject.  We  may  say,  in  pass- 
ing, that  from  the  origin  of  our  Churcti  in  this  coun- 
try to  the  present  moment,  slavery,  as  it  exists  in 
th>^  Southern  States,  has  been,  as  a  system,  regard- 
ed with  disapprobation.  The  higher' judicatories  of 
our  Churcb,  embracing  miuy  of  )ts  G'-neral  Assem- 
blies and  Synods,  have  repeatedly  condemned  the 
system  as  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  fraught 
with  evil  to  all  classes  in  the  Church  and  tue 
State.  Some  of  the  most  severe  of  ttiese  condem- 
nations were  expressed  in  a  tormal  maaner  by 
Churh  com  ts  and  by  leading  men  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  withiu  the  States  where  the  system  ex- 
isted; as,  for  example,  in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  as 
long  ago  as  1834  and  1835,  when  the  system  was  not 
only  condemned,  but  when  the  Presbyterians  of  that 
State  were  exhorted  to  seek  its  termination  among 
them  during  the  generation  then  commenced .  Besides 
the  condemnation  of  the  system  by  several  Geueral 
Assemblies,  many  of  these  Assemblies  from  the  ear- 
liest times,  earnestly  exhorted  the  people  to  seek  the 
entire  removal  of  the  system  at  the  earliest  practic- 
able moment  consisteut  with  the  interest.*  of  all 
concerned.  When,  therefore,  the  Assembly  of 
1864  met,  thre^  years  of  war  had  been  waged 
against  the  United  States  Government,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  estabU.-ihing  an  independent  Government 
under  w  hich  Southern  slavery  should  have  peii^etual 
protection  and  unlimited  expansion.  Tne  Govern- 
ment of  the  Uuited  States  was  putting  forth  its  en- 
ergies to  maintain  its  existeuce,  and  the  issue  was 
trembling  in  the  balance  of  fearful  war.  To  give 
greater  assurance  to  its  efforts,  the  Supreme  Exec- 
utive authority  had  long  before  decreed  the  des- 
truction of  slavery  in  the  States  in  rebellion,  while 
some  of  the  loyal  slave  States  were  themselves  tak- 
ing measures  for  the  removal  of  the  system;  and 
thus  the  loyal  masses  were  encouraged  to  believe 
that  these  measures  promised  success  in  their  aims 
to  maintain  ihe  Government  and  tne  integrity  of 
the  Uuion,  under  the  great  sacrifice  of  lite  and 
treasure  which  they  were  expenuing.  What,  then, 
could  have  been  more  natural  and  ijroper — in  view 
of  the  frequently  expressed  desire  of  the  General 
Assembly  that  the  system  of  Southern  slavery 
miiiht  be  removed,  and  in  view  of  the  testimony  of 
the  three  precedinsr  Assemblies  upon  the  du'y  of 
sustaining  the  Government  against  the  rebellion — 
than  for  the  General  issembly  of  1864,  with  a  unan- 
imity unprecedented,  to  interpret  the  signs  of  the 
times  (which  the  result  bas  stiowa  that  ic  did  cor- 

Q  s— 14 


1U2 


consequence  was  to  fill  the  land  with  blood,  pro- 
vided tDey  should  seek  admission  into  the  Cbarcti 
they  had  lett  in  the  interest  of  these  heresies.  Then, 
that  Assembly  had  the  right,  and  it  was  clearly  its 
dnty  to  reQUire  a  renuDciation  of  these  gross  enors, 
as  truly  aa  to  demand  repentance  of  the  terrible 
crimes  which  they  had  so  naturally  begotten. 

It  has  been  often  said,  and  even  reiterated  upon 
the  floor  of  the  present  Assemoly,  that  it  is  upon  the 
Geneial  Ai^semblj'  of  1865  rather  than  upon  a 
small  class  of  men  in  the  Ciiurch,  that  the  resuonsi- 
biltty  rests  for  reviving  this  dead  issue  of  slavery. 
But  when  that  Assembly  met,  t'lavery  was  not 
a  dead  issue.  As  before  remarked,  it  legalty  exist- 
ed in  some  parts  ot  the  country,  and  its  legil  ex- 
tinction in  the  rebellious  States  was  denied  by  some 
of  the  ablest  jurists  in  all  parts  of  the  land,  ^ince 
then,  however,  the  system  has  baen  lully  terminated 
throughouf  the  entire  country  by  an  ameudmeut  to 
the  (Jonstitution  of  the  Un'ited  States.  Had  this 
been  the  case  when  the  last  Assembly  met,  it  is  pos- 
sible that  no  action  would  have  been  taken  upon 
the  subject.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  there  are  manl- 
iest reasons  why  that  action  sfiould  stand.  The 
tenets  which  that  action,  condemned,  and  a  renun- 
ciation of  which  it  demanded,  are  both  heretical 
and  blasphemous.  It  is  essential  to  the  honor  ot 
our  common  Christianity  that  they  should  be  re- 
nounced, in  those  coming  to  us  from  the  South,  who 
hold  them  both  for  the  truth's  sake,  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  evil  they  have  wrought  iu  the  land. 
Their  renunciation  should  also  be  required  by 
reason  of  their  possible  influence  hereafter.  What 
that  influence  may  be  no  mortal  can  tell.  When 
men  embrace  and  hold  such  doctrines  with  the  ten- 
acity of  religious  c  iDvictions,  and  when  they  illus- 
trate their  sincerity  iu  holding  them  duriug  four 
years  upon  a  hundred  hard  fought  battle  tields,  it 
need  surprise  no  one  who  is  acquainted  with  human 
nature  and  human  history,  if  bimilar  illustrations 
of  sincerity  and  valor  shall  be  again  exhibite  i  upon 
a  fitting  opportunity.  Those  opinions  have  once 
enkindled  the  tires  of  revolution,  to  the  surprise  of 
all  mankind,  under  the  best  popular  Government  of 
the  world.  Whether  they  will  ever  do  it  again, 
none  but  God  can  tell.  All  this  is  worthy  of  the 
more  grave  consideration,  iu  the  light  of  the  Pasto- 
ral Letter  put  forth  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  South  Presbyterian  Church,  sitting  in  Macon, 
Ga.,  in  December  last.  That  letter  says  of  the 
Southern  t-ysiem  of  slavery,  that  "  the  law- 
fulness of  the  relation,  as  a  question  of 
social  morality,  and  ot  Scrijjtural  truth, 
has  lost  nothing  of  its  importance  ;"  and  that  As- 
sembly fi-rvently  thanks  God,  as  set  forth  in  this 
Pastoral,  that  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  ihe  emanci- 
pation of  the  slaves,  saying,  "that  it  may  holdup 
Its  bands  before  heaven  and  earth,  washed  of  the 
tremendous  responsibility  involved  in  this  change 
in  the  condition  of  four  millions  of  bond-servants, 
and  for  which  it  Uas  hitherto  been  generally  conce- 
ded they  were  unprepared."  WHeu  such  senti- 
ments are  put  forth  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  at  this  time  of  day, 
after  the  tremendous  judgments  of  God  have  over- 
thrown the  system,  it  is  too  clear  to  admit  of  argu- 
ment, that  we  have  no  occasion  at  present  to  abate 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  action  of  the  last  General  As- 
sembly, touching  its  demands  upon  slavery. 

Upon  both  branches  of  the  I)eliverances  of  the 
last  Assembly — loyalty  and  freedom — v,e  therefore 
arrive  at  the  same  conclusion,  that  they  should  be 
maintained  in  their  integrity. 

One  other  topic  demands  our  consideration.  In 
consequence  of  the  rebellion  and  slavery,  and  of  the 
deliverences  of  the  live  preceding  Assemblies,  there- 
upon, one  Presbytery  in  the  Church,  and  some  one 
hundred  or  more  ministers  and  eiders,  have  set 
themselves  against  these  deliverences,  by  ecclesias- 
tical action,  or  formal  organization,  aud  have  pub- 
lished their  scbismatical  doctrines  to  the  world. 
The  aisapprobation  by  ministers  and  members  of 
the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  when  expressed 
in  proper  terms  and  spirit,  and  with 
due  acknowledgment  of  subordination  to 
its  authority,  is         a        right  which 

belongs  to  every  one  under  its  jurisdiction.  The 
General  Assembly  claims  an  infallibility:  bur  it 
posses  a  clear  authority,  derived  irom  the  Lord  Je- 
eus  Cbriet,  aud  its  acts  resulting  from  6uch  authori- 


ty are  to  be  respected.  No  combination  of  minis- 
ters or  members  may  properly  be  lormed  within  the 
bosom  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  purpose 
of  openly  resist  ng  the  authoriiy  of  the  Genei  al  As- 
sembly, and  of  setting  at  nuuithc  and  contemning  its 
solemn  decisions,  while  the  individuals  couipofiug 
such  combination  still  claim  all  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  ministers  aud  members;  much  less  may  any 
lower  court  of  the  Church  thus  repudiate  the  Assem- 
bly's authority,  and  still  claim  aud  exercise  all  the 
powers  of  a  court  in  good  standing.  The  principle 
which  would  admit  this  would  prove  destructive  of 
any  government,  secular  or  religious,  for  it  is  the 
essence  of  anarchy.  Notwithstanding  this,  several 
Presbyteries  have  openly  aecland  that  they  will 
not  regard  the  Assembly's  authority,  especially  the 
acts  of  the  last  Asseiubly  concerning  the  terms  of 
receiving  ministers  ana  members  from  tne  South- 
ern Presby  enan  Church.  We  trust  that  uiiou  fur- 
ther reflection  they  will  reconsider  such  action,  and 
again  show  a  proper  subordination.  One  Presby- 
tery, however,  that  of  Louisville,  in  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky,  adopted  a  paper  in  September  last  called 
a  "Declaration  and  Testimony,"  &c.,  which 
arrays  itself  against  ail  the  Deliver- 
ances of  the  live  Assemblies  from  1861  to 
1865,  enacted  upon  slavery  aid  the  rebellion.  This 
paper  has  been  signed  by  certain  ministers  and 
elders  in  other  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  chiefly  in 
the  Synod  of  Missouri.  The  present  Assemblj;"felt 
called  upon  to  take  decisive  action  in  the  premises. 
This  paper  exhiiaits  organized  rebellion  aud  schism 
within  the  bosom  ot  ttie  t^hnrch,  whose  design  is  to 
resist  he  authority  of  the  General  Assembly.  It  pro- 
nounces the  last  five  Assemblies  guilty  of  heresy, 
schi.sm  and  virtual  apos-tacy.  Such  ao  organiza- 
tion, with  such  aims,  bringing  such  charges,  aud 
animated  by  such  a  spirit  as  the  said  paper  ex- 
liibits,  the  Assembly  cotild  not  overlook.  "The  sim- 
ple question  presented  was,  whether  a  single  sub- 
ordinate court,  with  svich  individuals  ot  other 
Presbyteries  as  might  join  it  should  be  allowed 
to  carry  on  its  scbismatical  and  rebellious  schemes 
with  impunity,  and  still  claim  and  exerci'^e  all  the 
rights  of  a  coUrt,  and  the  individuals  concerned 
have  all  the  rights  of  offlce  bearws  iii  the  Church 
accorded  to  them,  while  openly  defying  the  General 
Assembly ;  or  whether  the  Assembly  which  repre- 
sents the  whole  Church  should  require  due  subor- 
dination and  respect  to  its  authority.  The  signers 
of  the  said  paper  openly  avow  their  determination 
to  continue  agitation  against  the  solemn  acts  of  the 
last  five  Assemblies,  until  they  shall  bring  the 
Church,  through  action  of  the  General  Assembly, 
to  their  views;  or,  failirg  in  this,  they  declare 
that  they  may  feel  called  upon  to  abandon  the 
Church. 

In  this  posture  of  afl'airs,  the  Assembly  could  not 
i  hesitate  in  its  duty.  It  censured  all  the  persons  who 
bavesignedthe  "Declaration  and  Testimony,"  de- 
prived them  of  the  right  to  sit  in  any  Church  court 
above  the  session.  andTcited  them  to  the  bar  of  the 
next  General  Assembly.  This  measure  was  clearly 
justified,  and  was  demanded  for  the  purity,  peace, 
and  order  of  the  Church . 

We  have  now,  beloved  brethren,  set  before  you  a 
few  of  the  important  matters  wuich  have  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly  at  its  present 
sessions.  It  is  cause  for.lameutation  that  while  the 
country  has  passed  triumphantly  through  the  war, 
aud  the  Government  and  the  Union  have  been  pre- 
served, the  Church  should  still  be  troubled  with 
questions  which  have  grown  out  of  the  civil  stiife. 
We  trust  the  day  is  not  distant  when  these  dregs  of 
rebellion  shall  be  pursed  from  the  Church,  and 
when  it  shall  stand  forth  as  a  compact  body  in  pu 
rity,  righteousness,  and  peace.  To  this  end  we  ex- 
hort you  to  labor  and  pray  as  God  shall  give  you 
grace.  And  may  the  blessing  of  God  rest  upon  you, 
the  presence  of  Christ  sustain  you,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  richly  dwell  within  you. 

Unanimously  adopted  in  Committee,  Henry  Day, 
Esq.,  being  absent. 

R,  L.  STANTON,  Chairman. 

P.  D.  GURLEY,  ) 

JOHN  M.  KRECS,  J  Ministers. 

THOMAS  E.  TEOAIAS,  ) 

GEO.  S.  GREEN.  ?pi,,„-„ 

JAMES  M.  RAY,   J-^^^'^ers. 


108 


After  the  reading  of  the  letter,  Bev.  Dr.  Smith  said 
this  was  a  question  which  toucbed  the  very  life  of  ihe 
Church  ana  threatened  its  existence  in  the  border 
States.  He  asked  this  Assembly  lo  pause,  after  the 
eummary  judgments  that  had  be'en  already  inflicted, 
avd  to  speak  eome  word  of  kindness  to  those 
churches  that  are  now  agitated  and  trembling  with 
Buch  untpeakable  anxiety. 

Mr.  Charles  Wood  thought  the  pastoral  letter  con- 
tained the  very  words  of  kindness  which  Dr.  Smith 
desired. 

Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  thought  the  word  "blasphemy," 
which  occurred  twice  in  the  letter,  was  too  strong 
and  that  some  other  word  should  be  substituted. 

The  ayes  and  noes  were  demanded  on  the  adop- 
tion of  the  pastoral  letter. 

Rev.  Dr.  Backus  desired  to  offer  the  following  as 
an  amendment  to  the  pastoral  letter:  "At  the  same 
time  this  Assembly  distinctly  recognizes  that  indi- 
viduals or  judicatories  of  the  Church  may,  without 
contumacy  and  with  entire  loyalty  to  our  Church, 
disapprove  of  and  reject  the  Deliverances  alluded 
to,  and  may  consistently  discriminate  between  the 
absolute  obligation  to  constitutional  rules  and  the 
resnectful  regard  which  is  due  the  injunctions  and 
orders  of  the  General  Assembly  that  are  not  of  the 
nature  of  constitutional  principles. 

Laid  on  the  table. 

DR.  KREBS'  REPORT. 

In  regard  to  the  Deliverances  of  the  last  and  the  five 
preceding  assemblies,  as  well  as  this,  and  especially 
the  requisitions  to  examine  applicants  from  the 
South  touchmg  their  views  of  slavery  and  rebellion, 
the  Assembly  would  observe  that  alihough  the  war 
is  over,  secession  effectiv<'ly  quashed,  and  slavery 
abolished,  yet  in  view  of  the  spirit  of  these  dead 
issues,  which,  it  must  be  admitted,  still  survives, 
rampant  aud  rebellious,  perhaps  more  virulently 
in  tne  religious  form  than  elsewhere,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  guard  the  Church  from  being  disturbed  by 
this  element  which  has  asserted  itself  so  rebel- 
liously,  and  coniimies  to  be  so  vehemently  pro- 
claimed, and  therefore  to  require  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  the  practical  repudiation  of  these  heresies. 

Nor  does  the  Assembly  deem  it  needless  toob- 
Svirve  that  while  manifestly  the  views  put  forth  by 
these  Deliverances,  and  the  views  which  it  was 
proposed  to  elicit  from  applicants  for  admission 
to  our  Churches  and  Presbyteries,  have  regard  only 
to  those  more  recent  opinions  concerning  the  sps- 
tem  of  Southern  slavery,  out  of  which  secession 
andthe  war  grew,  for  its  perpetuation  and  exten- 
sion. The  Assembly  considers  that  there  is  no 
contradiction  between  Shese  latest  expressions  of 
the  Assembly  needed  by  a  new  state  of  case  and 
the  whole;  current  of  consistent  Deliverances  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  which  the  Church  has  from 
the  beginning  and  all  along  Uttered,  especially 
from  1818  to  1846. 

The  Assembly  In  those  thiosrs  has  desired  to  im- 
pose no  new  terms  of  communion,  it  has  but  pointed 
out  the  appropriate  treatment  of  the  rebellious  and 
disobedient;  and,  in  the  language  ot  no  less  an  au- 
thority than  the  illustrious  Calvin,  it  did  but  make 
"a  genuine  and  simple  application  of  the  lex  dei  to 
the  times  and  manners  for  which  it  was  designed. ' ' 
In  this  special  application  it  has  only,  in  the  still 
further  language  of  the  great  Reformer,  "guarded 
against  offenses  which  are  most  expressly  forbid- 
den by  the  Lord,"  without  "taking  away  one 
punctum,  of  Christian  liberty."  (Instit.  Lib.  IV, 
chap.  X,  §  IV,  21  22.)  And  in  regard  to  our  Deliv- 
erances on  these  subjects,  the  Assembly 
here  contents  itself  as  sufficient,  with  de- 
claring that  it  has  hut  exercised  the 
constitutional  right  and  duty  of  the  Assembly, 
which  has  been  constantly  exercised  from  the  time 
of  the  fathers  who  made  the  constitution  of  our 
Church,  to  utter  its  sentiments,  warnings  and  ex- 
hortations on  all  points  and  questions,  which,  while 
weareproperly  restrained  from  invading  the  juris- 
diction of  civil  tribunals,  do,  nevertheless,  belong 
to  that  class  of  things  which  we  may  handle,  viz : 
those  moral  and  relieious  questions  which,  even  al- 
though they  may  embrace  points  in  which  politics, 
whether  in  their  larger  or  lesser  sense,  are  involved; 
because  while  relating  to  civil  and  political  affairs 


they  are  also  questions  of  religious  duty,  and  can- 
not be  thrown  out  of  the  religious  jurisdiction. 

Dr.  Krebs,  in  reply  to  a  queslion^by  Dr.  Riggs, 
said  his  paper  was  designed  to  afllrm  the  views  set 
forth  in  the  pastoral  letter. 

The  paper  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Gurley  presented  the  following  paper  : 

It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  this  body  that 
some  of  the  ministers  under  ouf  care,  not  able  to 
subscribe  to  the  receat  Testimonies  of  Xh."  General 
Assembly  on  the  subjects  of  Loyalty  and  Frefdom, 
and  that  some  who  have  not  signed  or  lormally  ap- 
proved the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  do,  never- 
theless, hesitate  to  comply  with  the  requirements 
of  the  last  Assembly,  touching  the  receocion  of 
members  from  the  South,  known,  or  supposed  to 
have  been  in  sympathy  with  the  rebellion ;  there- 
fore. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  would  treat  such  minia- 
ters  with  kiadness  and  forbearance,  and  would  by 
no  means  interfece  with  the  full  and  free  difcus.-ion 
on  their  part  of  the  Testimonies  and  requirements 
referred  to,  we  deem  it  a  solemn  duty  which  we  owe 
to  them  and  to  the  Church  to  guard  them  against 
giving  countenance  in  any  way  to  declarations  and 
movements  which  are  defiant  of  the  Assembly's  au- 
thority, and  schismatical  in  their  tendency  aud  aim ; 
and  we  do  earnestly  exhort  them,  in  the  name  and 
for  the  sake  of  our  common  Lcrd  and  Master,  to 
study  and  pursue  the  things  which  cov  jLjffr  peace. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Thomas,  the  paptlr  was  adop- 
ted. 

Mr.  Collier  moved  that  the  pastoral  lettei ,  and  the 
additional  papers,  be  published  in  pamphlet  form 
by  the  Board  of  Publication.    Agreed  to. 

Dr.  Krebs,  from  Committee  on  Unfinished  Bus- 
iness, reported  the  following  yet  remaining  to  be 
dif-posed  of: 

1.  The  appeal  of  Rev.  Dr.  Breckinridge  against 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  This  case  was  referred  to 
the  next  General  Assembly. 

Judicial  case  No.  3  being  the  complaint  of  S.  J. 
Niccols  and  others  against  the  action  of  the  Synod 
of  Missouri  passed  at  its  session  in  October,  1865, 
whereby  it  declared  the  previous  meeting  of  its  own 
body  "not  a  free  Court  of  Christy  and  its  entire 
acts  null  and  void  and  of  no  binding  lorce."  As 
the  last  General  Assembly  did  recognize  the  Synod 
referred  to  as  a  free  Conn  oi  Christ,  and  its  acts  as 
valid  and  ot  binding  force,  the  Committee  recom- 
mend that  the  complaint  be  sustained,  the  action  of 
the  Synod  complained  of  reversed,  and  that  the  Sy- 
nod itselfbe  censured  for  not  showing  due  submis- 
sion to  the  action  of  the  last  Assembly. 

Dr.  Anderson  raised  a  point  of  order,  that  the 
case  was  rot  properly  before  the  Asssembly,  on 
the  ground  that  the  Committee  in  recommending  the 
above  action,  exceeded  its  power  as  prescribed  by 
the  rules. 

Dr.  Gurley  said  that  the  Committee  had  been  gov- 
erned in  their  action  by  the  fact  that 
all  the  principles  involved  in  the  case  were 
severly  decided  by  the  last  Assembly. 
The  last  Synod  ot  Missouri  declared  that 
previous  meeting  was  not  a  free  Court  of  Christ,  and 
that  its  actions  were  not  binding.  Last  year  the  re- 
cords of  that  Synod  were  before  the  Assembly,  and 
the  Assembly  approved  the  minutes  of  that  very 
meeting  which  the  Synod  of  Missouri  at  its  last 
meeting  declared  was  not  a  tree  Court  of  Christ. 
Then  in  the  second  place  there  was  a  case  of 
complaint  coming  from  Reverend  Mr.  Farris 
and  Watson,  which  complaint  was  dismissed 
by  the  Assembly.  There  was  a  protest 
against  that  action  of  the  Assembly  for  dis- 
missing the  case,  and  in  that  protest  the  whole 
question  was  argued.  The  Assembly  adopted 
an  answer  to  that  protest,  which  answer,  it  seemed 
to  him,  made  it  plain  that  this  whole  case  was  de- 
cided by  the  last  Assembly. 

Dr.  Anderson  said  the  approval  of  the  minutes  of 
the  meeting  before  the  last  was  the  approval  of  a 
record  that  had  not  in  it  a  word  about'  military  in- 
tervention, the  administration  of  an  oath,  and  the 
exclusion  ot  members  for  not  taking  it.  Thiit  meet- 
ing of  Synod  deliberately  avoided  a  record  of  the 
fads,  in  order  that  they  might  not  be  embroil- 
ed with  the  Assembly. 

Efforts  were  made  to  have  the  facts  pat  on  record, 


104 


but  failed  in  every  Instance.  He  hoped  the  Assem- 
l)iy  would  not  be  held  accountable  for  all  the  en'>r- 
/ftities  of  that  infamous  incetiD';.  He  Bpoke  intelli- 
;ieiiUy.  The  highest  lesral  authority  in  the  United 
"elates  had  said  to  niui  when  he  saw  the  record  of 
rhut  transaction,  that  he  never  blushed  for  his 
Cluirch  before.  The  meeting  of  that  Synod  wher- 
ever it  was  known  would  send  a  thrill  of  horror 
tlirough  the  breasts  of  Presbyterians.  It  was  a  false 
record  that  went  UD  to  the  General  Assembly,  and 
he  was  responsible  tor  what  he  said.  A  man  in  that 
Assi  mbly  without  a  beard  on  his  face  dncided  wbo 
should  sit  in  that  Synod  and  who  should  not.  Call 
TDat  a  free  court  of  Christ.  Why  just  about  as  they 
were  to  commit  an  enormity  that  he  was  afraid 
would  stamp  the  Church  of  his  fathers  with  infamy, 
he  said  to  a  brother:  "If  you  have  any  regard  for 
the  Church  and  your  own  reputation,  go  ouc  of  this 
court  aiid  dissolve  it;"  for  his  going  out  would  have 
dissolved  it.  And  what  did  he  say?  Looking  the 
speaker  in  the  eye  he  said,  "I  would  not 
be  here  if  I  dared  to  be  away."  The 
i-.p'?aker  cuntended  that  if  this  question  was 
determined  by  the  General  Assembly,  without 
hearing  one  wo'rd  of  the  facts,  without  ever  having 
the  means  of  knosving  what  they  were,  they  would 
liU  the  heart  of  every  Presbyterian  with  soi'row  and 
s>hame.  Ha  said  that  body  not  only  excluded  Its 
own  members,  but  a  minister  was  arrested  and  put 
oil  parole  and  the  facts  suppressed.  Mes'irs.  Farris 
and  Watson  were  recorded  as  having  been  received 
on  Wednesday  morning,  but  they  were  rejected  on 
Wednesday  evenmg,  and  their  names  were  not  put 
on  again  until  Thursday  morning.  He  knew  of  one 
minister  who  was  arrested  for  quoting  from  the 
Confession  of  Faith.  He  appealed  to  the  Assembly 
not  to  affix  this  stain  on  the  Church  which  he  loved. 
He  had  loved  this  Church  from  his  youtii  up.  He 
had  said  to  members  all  aroand  him,  "do  not  leave 
the  Church."  So  far  as  his  own  Cuurch  was  con- 
cerned they  could  leave,  because  the  property  was 
not  subject  to  the  Assembly,  but  he  had  sought  to 
previ  nt  a  separation  on  account  of  the  love  he  bore 
to  the  Cnuvch. 

Rev,  Mr.  Forman  said  that  he  was  not  present  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Synod  last  Fall,  and  as 
he  had  not  read  the  proceedings  carefully, 
he  was  not  prepared  to  say  whether  he 
could  indorse  everything  fhat  waa  done.  It  was  a 
matter  of  surprise  to  him,  however,  that  any  man 
could  declare  the  Synod  of  1864  a  free  Synod.  He 
thought.  In  after  years,  the  proceedings  of  such 
bodies  would  be  printed  In  small  type  in  the  Di- 
gest, as  the  Church  of  Scotland  had  done  in  similar 
instances,  to  show  that  they  were  unlawiul. 

Dr.  Krebs  desired  to  know  whether  these  things 
were  matters  of  record  in  tne  Synod  of  JVlissouri? 

Dr.  Andeison  said  there  was  no  record  until  the 
last  meeting  of  the  Synod,  when  the  facts  were 
drawn  up  and  sworn  testimony  taken  of  members 
jbod  persons  who  were  spectators,  and  the  facts 
were  as  he  had  stated. 

Dr  Van  Dyke  moved  a  reference  of  the  case  to 
the  next  General  Assembly. 

Kev.  Dr.  NicsoUs,  one  of  the  complainants,  was 
invited  to  address  the  Assembly,  aud  in  response 
said  if  it  was  the  desire  ofthe  Assembly  to  postpone 
acdou  until  the  facts  in  the  case  could  be  fully  In- 
vestigated, he  had  no  objection. 

Thereupon  the  motion  of  Dr.  Van  Dyke  to  post- 
pone to  the  next  Assembly  was  asreed  to. 

Dr.  Krebs,  from  the  Committee  on  Unfinished 
Business,  reported  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Tt-port  on  the  Hymnal,  which  provides  for  an  au- 
thorized ver-iion  of  Hymns  and  Psalms. 

Dr.  Riggs  ottered  a  subutitute  which  was  laid  on 
the  table. 

Dr.  McLean  offered  a  substitute  disapproving 
the  action  of  the  Committee  on  the  Hymnal,  and 
Instructinn  the  Board  ot  Publication  to  cease  print- 
ing the  same. 

Also,  that  the  committee  prepare  a  different  book 
and  report  to  the  next  At.Sr  mbly. 

On  motion  of  iiev.  Air.  Hiues  the  substitute  of  Dr. 
McLean  was  laid  on  the  table. 

Rav.  Dr.  Montfort  moved  to  refer  the  matter  to 
the  nest  Assembly. 

4   motion   was   m^de  as  a   snbstiti.te,  that  the 


Board  of  Publication  cease  printing  until  the  next 
Assembly. 

Dr.  Krebs  addressed  the  Assembly  at  length  In 
support  of  the  report  of  ttie  Committee  on  the  Hym- 
nal. 

Pending  the  discussion,  adjourned. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Rev.  Dr.  West  presented  the  following  answer  to 
the  nroteat  of  Rev.  Dr.  Vandyke: 

Answer  to  prote.st  In  case  of  excluding  commls- 
eioners  from  Louisville  Presbytery : 

The  paper  upon  which  the  Assembly  acted  In  the 
exclusion  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Louisville 
Presbytery  from  their  seats  in  this  body  until  their 
case  bbould  be  decided.  Indicates  sutlioiently  the 
true  ground  of  that  action.  It  Is  no  other  than  the 
coustitutional  right  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
protect  Its  own  dunlty  and  vindicate  Its  own  au- 
thority, as  a  supreme  tribunal  of  the  Church,  In 
view  of  open  insult  to  that  dignity  and  open  defi- 
ance of  that  authority,  by  an  iuferor  court  subject 
to  Its  Jurisdiction. 

1.  The  argument  of  the  Protestants  that  the  As- 
sembly has,  Dy  this  action,  violated  the  fundamen- 
tal law  of  Its  orginizallon,  In  this  respect,  that  no 
Assembly  can  be  conatitutionally  valid  unless  all 
the  particular  Churches  and  Presbyteries  are  actti- 
ally  represented  in  the  body,  is  an  utter  misinter- 
pretation of  the  constitution,  and  the  assertion  of  a 
principle  that  woutd  vitiate  the  validity  of  nearly 
every  meeting  of  the  Assembly  and  render  the  or- 
ganization ot  any  Assembly  almost  an  impossioili- 
ty.  So  conspicuous  a  fallacy  as  tnat  of  contound- 
lug  the  fundamental  law  and  right  of  representation 
with  the  actual  presence  ot  the  whole  comnany  ot 
the  represeutatives  themselves  needs  only  the  state- 
ment ot  the  ftillacy  lu  order  to  furnish  us  refutation, 
not  to  mention  the  various  clauses  of  thefandamen- 
iai  IhW  winch  evince  its  glaring  absurdity.  Form 
of  Gov.  chap.  Xlll. 

2.  In  reply  to  theProtestants  asserting  that  there  la 
no  warrant  In  the  Constitution,  no  precedent  in  the 
history  of  the  Church,  and  no  sufficient  analogy  for 
such  exclusion,  to  be  found  In  any  secular  A8»em- 
blles  whatever,  the  Assemoly  simply  ut'er  the  coun- 
ter assertion.  The  Protestants,  moreover,  err 
greatly  In  supposing  that  the  Assembly  Is  organized 
by  any  '  'formal  adoption' '  of  the  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Commissions,  or  that  the  ex  officio  organ- 
ization of  the  Assembly,  by  the  Clerks  of  tue  House, 
as  the  ministerial  officers  of  the  Assembly,  renaers 
impoasible  any  subsequent  action  ofthe  Assembly 
in  i-eference  either  to  the  Commissioners  themselves 
or  to  the  Presbyteries  which  are  the  electors  ot  those 
commisbioners. 

3.  The  Protestants  moreover  utterly  misrepresent 
the  action  ot  the  Assembly  in  the  exclusion  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Louisville  Presbytery,  by  denoun- 
cing it  as  a  "judicial  condemnation"  of  the  Pres- 
bytery without  a  regular  trial.  So  far  from  thia 
being  the  case,  the  truth  ij  this,  that  the  action  of 
the  Assembly  was  only  the  suspension  ofthe  func- 
tions of  the  Commissioners,  interdicting  their  par- 
ticipation in  the  deliberations  of  this  body  until 
their  case  should  be  decided,  In  the  consideration 
of  which  case  the  Commisuoners  themselve  s  were 
not  only  allowed  but  particularly  Invited,  by  for- 
mal vole  to  appear,  discuss  the  case,  and  defend  the 
action  of  their  Presbytery  to  the  fullest  extent. 
Tne  allegation  that  the  Assembly  decided  the  case 
ofthe  Louisville  Presbytery  merely  upon  publi* 
rumors  without  proof,  is  entirely  untrue. 

•f .  It  is  unnecessary  to  enter  upon  any  detailed  de- 
nial of  the  protestation  that  the  Louioville  Presby- 
tery has  done  nothing  that  can  by  any  possioilicy 
justify  the  Assembly  in  the  suppression  of  the  priv- 
ileges of  the  Commissioners.  The  Presbytery,  ac- 
cording to  its  own  '  'Declaration  and  Testimony"  is 
in  admitted,  open  and  persistent  detiance  ofthe  au- 
thority of  the  Assembly,  the  lifting  up  of  a  standard 
of  revolt  in  the  uhurah,  and  the  call  upon  all  Pres- 
byterians to  engage  in  rebehlous, heretical  and  schis- 
matical  conduct,  and  so  the  Assembly  has  judged. 
In  reference  also  to  the  r'ootrlne  that  no  decrees 
and  determination  of  the  General  Assembly  are  ot 
binding  force  upon  the  inferior  judioatorted,  uulesi 


lOi 


previously  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries  aivl  ap 
proved  by  a  (oajoviiy  ot'tnesame,  ttie  i\;'seu)ljl)'  d.^- 
cliirr-s  thit  r!)i:j  io  simply  a  vi-iient  wre-tuig  olcSlap- 
ler  XII,  fiectiou  ti,  I'orni  of  Odvernuieut,  troni  itb 
historicsil  conaeciion  aud^>e<);^(),  anil  m  opposition, 
ijOt  only  to  I'le  usrtijc  ot  the  i^li'.nli  in  i>a;t  days, 
but  also  10  (he  CHrefut  decisi  >n  of  roe.  whole  maicer 
as  it  emerged  in  tbe  n>rly  cootrovi.'is'ies  oJ:  tlie 
Cliurch,  (Ditrest),p.  is*,  DO. 

•T.  As  to  the  rigtic  of  protest  by  any  iuOividaul  oi' 
coutT,  lu  ttie  Pie!-b>  teriaii  Church,  th^  Assembly  fuiiy 
recognize  thH  same.  IJut  ic  is  utterly  unendurable, 
as  it  IS  utterly  uucoBStiiuii.^nH.I,  t )  j.rosiiiute  or  ptr- 
vi  rt  tbe  ri«hc  of  decent  and  respectful  pr<>tt:st  to  the 
ends  iutended  by  tue  LouirViUe  rtesoyieiv,  to-wit: 
to  open  leneliioii  against  (tte  auihoriiy  of  this  body, 
to  the  rro|j;isrH,M(in"ot  a  va?t  brood  ot  iat<il  heresies, 
to  bitti  r  uji^represeDiatioa  of  ihe  aces  of  tlie  A^sem- 
bly,  and  to  ttie  oi'sr  nization  nl  c;)usoii;ac;es  against 
the  Very  exisceoce  of  the  Caurch  u.rtlf 

6.  The  declaraciou  or  theprotestanfs  that,  by  fbe 
Assembly 's  Hcrion  the  churches  under  rtie,  care  of 
IheL^uisviJle  Presbytery  have  heen  exchioed  ''irotn 
the  fellowsiiip  of  irie  ChiDCh  of  CDrist."  is  illegiti- 
luate,  illogical  and  .•.rvatuitous.  'Itiere  isno.  ap^r- 
ticle  of  evideuce  to  justiiy  tue  iraplcitiou  that  tue 
Asstmbly  deais  TVith  tlie  Ctiurchts  under  its 
care  m  preci-eiy  the  same  way  in 
whieh  it  nas  dnan;  with  tSie  l>iuisvrlle  Pre-ijytery. 
Should  every  minister  of  the  rresbytery  ije  noi:  only 
suspended  froai  his  ecciesiasticU  luncticns,  out  de- 
posed from  t'le  Gospi'l  muiistrj'',  the  ctuuches  of  tbe 
Pre  by  eery  would  still  reoiiuu  ia  conuectioa  vvitii 
and  uuder  ihe  care  ot  the  .Vsseifibly,  until,  by  tiieir 
own  Kct  of  insubordiaarioQ,  ttiey  had  rendered 
tllen3Se!ve^  ohaoxi  lus  to  tiitt  cen-ures  and  judicial 
ur  iegi-hxtive  dicciidi'ie  of  tins  supreme  tribuoal, 
and  tnereby  been  la.vfuily  excluded  troin  our  con 
Hfcoti.in.  N.  WEST, 

W.  T.  5^'INDLEY, 
F.  1\  BUOWN. 

Rev.  Mr.  Stonercde  offered  the  following  report 
of  Conimiltie  on  Synod  of  Missouri,  which  was 
d'DCketed: 

'1  hat  the  pr-oceedings  of  tbe  Synod  seem  to  be  re- 
corded with  unusual  correctness,  the  ortnography, 
ct'irograpoy  and  punoiuiition  being  worthy  oi  ail 
commendation. 

The  ocnimirree,  moreover,  feel  constrained  to 
make  a  dilierent  report  as  to  the  constiiutionaluy, 
the  regularity,  the  wisdonrand  the  »quify  of  at  least 
a  pi^ivt  of  tneir  proeeeatngs,  resuiciug  not  as  it 
sliould,  in  the  tdiiicaciou  oc  the  Cuarch,  but  la  dis- 
tractions and  divisions. 

While,  therefore,  the  committee  recommend  the 
approval  ot  the  records  from  pige  Hio  to  oSl,  they 
itjiort  tbe  ft)lioivinsr  exceptions  : 

First.  O.i  p;ti:e  3.37,  where  rhe  Synorl  declares  that 
"said  body  (that  is,  the  Synod  of- 1804)  was  noc  a 
tree  couro  ol  our  Church,  daly  cunstiiuced  accord- 
Log  to  our  i.oroi  ot  governmenc,  and  ihac  ttie  acos  of 
haid  body  are  iull  and  void  and  of  no  binding 
force. ' ' 

The  committee  except  to  this  part  of  the  record, 
for  the  rsa.-ou  that  tois  action  of  ctie  Synod  is  in  dl- 
r»ct  contradiction  to  the  action  of  toe  Assembly 
of  1SG'>,  whieti  Assembly,  by  their  approval  or  tne 
minutes,  recogoized  !De  constitutioualicy  and  Vd,- 
lidity  of  the  court. 

Second— On  page  .36.'i,  where  the  Sjnoa  reaffirms 
their  testimony  of  November,  1861.  with  regard  to 
the  action  of  the  ,^ssembly  of  the  same  \eur,  known 
ai  the  ripriiig  ilesoiutions;  which  testiniory  de- 
clares tbe  action  of  that  Aesembly  on  tbe  state  of  the 
country  to  b;-  '  tmscriptirral,  rincoastituticaat,  un- 
wise aiVl  unju-t,  and  of  no  bindinir  free  whrtever 
on  this  Syu  id,  or  upon  tbe  members  ot  the  P^'esby- 
teritin  Ci-uicb  wiibi.i  our  bounds." 

The  committee  also  recoumefid  that  be.^ides  ex- 
cepiii'.g  CO  toe  record  as  above  stated,  the  repeated 
e.xhibicion  ot  tuoU  a  r-beliious  spirit  oo  the  pare  of 
at  y  inferior  Cwurt  tuvvards  the  supreme  judi'^itory 
of  rhe  Church,  should  not  pass  vviniout  c>;nsuie. 

Dr.  Kr ebs  cotjc  uied  his  ri-m-irljs  in  support  li 
the  Cooiiinttee  ou  '-tie  Hymnal. 

Rev.  Dr.  Scheuck  siid— having  had  a  large  cor- 
respondence with  Churches— he  was  batiiUi-d  that  it 
would  eiye  unitrerbai  satisiac^iou. 

0    S-— 15 


Rev.  Mr.  Agaew  spoke  in  favor  of  it  with  a  cor- 
ree/ed  inde's, 

K'-v.  Dr.  (jurtey  thoUijht:  neiviy  three  hujdi^ed  old 
and  fiitoiite  pieces  should  b-i  added  to  the  appendix 
without  mu-.ic. 

Rev.  L)r.  Uackus  reviewed  at  length  tiie  dilfic,il- 
ties  overcome  by  the  committee,  and  the  complete- 
ness ofihe  work  otlVred. 

Two  or  three  geuclemen  end.'avor'-d  to  gain  the 
floor  Opposing  it,  winm  Rev.  iMr,  Skiun^r  moved 
toe  previous  qU'.stioUj  which  Wits  sustaiutd  oy  the 
house. 

Rev.  Dr.  Krebs  then  reaa  the  f  lUowin?  ranort  of 
(.omroitiee  on  the  Hymnal,  which  was  ai) opted  : 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  repjrt  be  adop,e"d  and 
printed  in  ihi  appendix. 

•i.  KtsolVc:d,  t'hat  the  Board  of  Ptihlicii'',t'in  be  di- 
rected to  publish,  also,  a  cheaper  edition  of  ihe 
book. 

o.  llesolved.  That thi- General  Vssembly  approve 
the  Rymoal  as  published  and  allow  the  same  to  be 
used  in  all  our  cnurches;  bin  it  is  not  reqiiired  ttiat 
it  shall  sur^ersede  the  books  in  present  use. 

4.  Resolved,  Ttiat  the  B  lard  be  aucuorized,  at 
their  disCi-etion  to  suit  pnrciasers,  to  append  the 
Shorter  Catechism,  tb.e  JB^orm  o'.  Governoe  nt,  tne 
Directory,  B  jok  o'.  Di^.cipliue  aad  rhe  Rules  of  the 
Genenal  Atsembly. 

(3.  Resolved,  Tnat  the  Board  of  Public  itioii  keep 
on  baud  at.d  puoli-h  sulHcieni  opies  of  me  existing 
Book  of  Psalms  and  Hymns  for  ihose  whonrefer  to 
use  ir,  or  n^-eii  it  with  the  Hymnal 

Rev.  Dr.  Ivrebs  of  C om  Jiitteeon  Unlinished  Busi- 
I1P8-S  m  ved  that  tbe  case  otMack,  agiiost  iue  Pres- 
bytery of  Cincinnati,  and  tbe  case  or  Guy  against 
th-,!  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  be  reteired  to  the  next 
General  Assembly.     Adopted. 

A  ninjority  and  minoiiiy  report  of  the  Synod  of 
KeutucKy,  was  i)resented  by  CoLJiuiutee  on  Record 
of  Sy  nod  of  Keurucli'y,  which  WiiS  referred  to  next 
Assembly. 

Rev.  Dr  Kreb?  moved  that  a  note  of  the  lau- 
jtliage  usf-d  by  the  Ohio  Siatesuiaa,  in  ihe  case  of 
Mr.  Galloway,  be  appended  to  tue  miauoes  for  re- 
ference in  future  cases. 

Rtv.  Dr.  fhomas  thought  it  would  not  be  agree- 
able to  Mr.  Galloway's  leelintis  as  that  ffeutlemdin 
had  sUf.pressed  the  only  copy  which  liid  been  in 
the  Assembly,  containing  ihe  oSfeusive"  correspon- 
dence. 

Rev.  Dr.  Schencb  moved  to  amend  by  (iling  it. 
Agreed  to. 

The  Committee  on  Unflriished  Business  reported 
a.esoiuiiouto  pay  expenses  or  Comodtiee  on  Re 
union  from  th^fui  is  of  Boird  of  PubucatioQ,  which 
aftrr  discus- ion  was  adopted.  Al-o,  a  request  ia 
Ov-=rtui'e  No.  4,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Passaic 
thiit  ine  ge  )giaphical  boundaries  ot  Presbyteries  be 
restored,  whioa  was  laid  ou  the  t-iole. 

Rev.  .Ur.  Prazier  read  the  report  or  the  Commit- 
tee on  Systematic  Benevoleaoe.     Adapted. 

The  report  ol  the  Gooimitiee  ou  Synod  of  Missouri 
was  tjen  takeu  up,  and  afcer  sh^vrp  discussion,  Mr. 
II.  K.  Clark  uiiered  the  f  jllowiu^: 

Resolved,  Tnat  this  Assemoiy  does  not  approve 
the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Mistouri;  th,i,t  so  miicn 
of  such  records  as  attempts  t  j  declare  void  the  pre- 
vious action  of  the  Synod,  wliich  had  been  for- 
mally approved  by  the  As^embty,  IS  an  act  of  m- 
subordiuali  m  to  the  authority  ol  rhe  Church,  which 
.-aid  Synod  is  required  to  reconsider  and  reverse, 
and  thar.  they  report  to  the  next  Assembly  whac 
they  nave  done,  or  iailedt  >  do  in  the  premises,  and 
itjat,  uotil  rbei!,  the  usual  certiricate  of  the  Modera- 
tor 1)0  withheld. 

It  heii:g  ueir  the  hour  of  adjournment,  the.  Assem- 
bly adjoarned  uniil  eight  o'ciook,  v.  ai. 


EVENING  SESSION. 

The  Assembly  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer 
by  Rev.  . I.  T.  Backus. 

The  un:ini  hed  iiusiuess  Wtn  t'len  taken  up,  being 
ihe  amendment  of  Mr.  Clarke,  which,  by  motion, 
was  lempoiaiily  postpoue  (  to  takii  up  othtr  busi- 
i.e-s. 

Rev.  J.  Allison  offered  the  fi>llotving: 

Rcso'.ved,  That  the  papers  in  iheoase  of  the  Bev, 


106 


James  Sinclair,  ref(=rred  to  the  Committee  on  Freed- 
nitii,  be  trp.nsferred  to  the  Board  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sioii.-s.     Adopted. 

ir.  Gurley  ofl'ered  the  folio  win !?  amendment  tojthe 
action  or  the  Asiembly  ccncernlng;  the  Hymrial : 

Kesolvea,  That  the  Committee  on  the  Hymnal  be 
requested  to  prepareand  trie  Board  of  Publication  be 
requested  to  publisb,  it  possible,  in  the  next  edition 
of  ihat  book,  a  suppk-meut  of  not  more  than  three 
hundred  additional  hymcs  and  nsalms,  to  the  end 
ihrtt  many  hymns  long  d-ar  to  the  Church  but  not 
found  in  ihe  Hymnal  ih  the  preseut  forai  may  be 
supplied  and  the  book  made  more  complete  and  per- 
manently satisfactory  to  our  people. 

Ke-olved,  Thai  the  Board  of  Publication  be  re- 
quested to  publish  a  smiUer  and  moi'e  portable  edi- 
tion of  the  Hymnal,  suited  to  tne  wants  of  the  prayer 
inteiiUjj  and  lecture  room. 

A  motion  was  made  and  carried  that  the  amend- 
ment be  referred  to  the  v:)ommittee  on  the  Hymnal 
auil  that  Ljr.  Gurley  be  added  to  that  committee. 

The  case  of  tne  Synod  of  Missouri  was  then  taken 
up  and  an  amendment  olfered  to  Mr.  ClarK's  mo- 
tion by  Kev.  Ur.  Backus,  as  follows: 

Kesolved,  Thitall  after  the  words  "an  act  of 
iuKubordiuiitiou' '  be  stricken  out,  and  instead  the 
re^'.jution  read,  "and  that  the  Synod  be  directed 
to  purge  itself  before  the  next  General  Assembly 
of  all  intentional  insubordination." 

Alter  ai.scussion,  a  motion  was  made  that  Dr. 
P.ackus'  amendment  be  laid  on  the  table.     Carried. 

A  motion  was  then  maiie  that  Mr.  Clarke's  paper 
be  adopteo,  whicn  was  carried. 

ihe  Moderator  raised  the  question  as  to  who  the 
recortls  su  uld  be  delivered  to,  as  he  uuderstood 
Ih.Ht  there  were  two  Stated  Clerks. 

It  was  movf  d  to  refer  to  the  Committee  on  Records. 
Laid  on  the  table. 

H  K.  blarke  moved  that  the  records  be  deposited 
with  the  Stated  tierk  ot  the  Assembly  uutfl  the 
question  be  decided. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  it  was  laid  on  the 
table. 

Xiie  judicial  case  of  Rev.  Mr.  Crozier  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Mitck  vs.  the  Synod  ot  Illinois  was  taken  up 
and,  on  moiion,  referred  to  next  Assembly. 

Overture  >,o.  18,  being  an  ayplicatioa  from  the 
Pre^bitery  of  Palmyra,  asking  the  Geueral  Asseui- 
Uiy  to  convey  certaiu  property  to  Braixh  Hatcher 
uiid  wife,  iu  trust,  to  eualjle  Palmyra  Presbytny  to 
establish  ^n  acidemy  for  the  education  of  youth,  to 
be  lorever  alter  the  profjerty  of  the  Old  School 
Presbyleiiau  Churcli. 

The  committee  recommend  the  application  be 
m'.,ae  to  the  Board  ot  Education  of  the  General  As- 
svinbiy.    Adopted. 

Trie  amendments  heretofore  published  of  Rev.  Dr. 
RigiTs  ami  Rev.  Dr.  Smith  were  then  taken  up  and 
auopted  with  tne  report. 

Piotests  from  Messrs.  Jones,  of  Maryland, Hines, 
Dr.  Boaidman  ana  A.  P.Frorman,  airaiost  actions 
ot  the  Assembly  were  presented  and'rtceived  ex- 
ceptor Boardmm's,  v.hicn  was  referred  back  on 
acto  mt  of  beiug  disrespeciful. 

Tne  following  vote  of  thanks  was  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  General  A  i 
sembly  are  hereby  tendered  to  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  for  tbe  use  of  its  bouse  of  worship;  "to 
the  lamiiies  and  hotels  of  St.  Louis  for  their  gener- 
ous hospitality  to  the  niimbers  during  these  ses- 
sions; to  the  Mercantile  Library  Association  for  its 
courtesies;  to  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company 
ioriheplextant excursion  to  Pilot  Knob;  to  tl.  C. 
v..revlin  audotUcers  of  the  Transler  (Jompany  for  the 
free  use  of  its  coaches  in  goina:  and  returning  from 
the  Cars  on  that  occasion;  to  the  Rev.  S.  J.Nicolis 
and  the  (Jommittee  of  Arrangements  for  the  com- 
plete provision  made  for  our  enteriainment;  to  the 
secuUr  press  of  this  city  for  its  full  ami  accuntte 
r<rp.»rts;  to  George  D.  Hall,  Esq.,  ajid 
the  other  member.-*  el  the  Committee  on  Railroads 
f-r  their  successful  efforts  to  secuiea  reduction  of 
fare;  also,  to  the  following  railroads,  viz  :  Pennsyl- 
vania Ceutral  railroad;  ~Pittsbur,g,  (Jolumbus  & 
Cincinnati,  (Pan  Handle;)  Columbus  &  Central  In- 
diana; Indianapolis,  Terre  Haute  &  St.  Louis; 
Koi  tneru  Ceitral;  Baltimore  &  Ohio;  Central  Ohio; 
j[^iitte   Miami;  Columbus  &   Xeuitt;  Inaianapoii^  & 


Cincinnati;  New  York  &  Erie;  Atlantic  &  Great 
V/estern;  Beliefontaine,  Dajton  &  Western;  all 
'hernilroads  in  .MisBOuri;  the  Chicago,  &.lton  &  St. 
Louig  railroad;  tne  Ohio  &  Mississippi  railroad, 
and  also  to  the  steam  packet  on  the  Mississippi  aod 
Illinois  rivers  for  redaction  ot  fare. 

Mr.  Clarke  mnved  mat  the  Committee  on  Revision 
of  Book  of  Discipline  also  revise  Rules  of  Order. 
Adopted. 

The  minutes  were  read  and  approved. 

On  motion,  the  As.sembly  was  dissolved  and  an- 
other was  ordered  lo  meet  at  Central  Church,  Cin- 
cinnati, the  third  Thursday  in  ftlay,  1867,  at  eleven 
o'clock,  A.  M. 

The  Assembly  waq  then  closed  by  prayer  and 
Apostolic  benediction  by  the  Moderator. 


The  following  was  omitted  in  our  report  of  Satur- 
day's proceeding.- — afternoon  session: 

Dr  Thomas,  from  the  committee  to  nominate 
candidates  lor  Directors  of  the  Board  of  Domestic 
Missions,  reported  the  followiuir:  Ministers — VV. 
c  Anderson,  D.  D.,  J.  Addison  Henry,  W.  F. 
Finley,  R.  L.  Stanton,  D.  D.,  A.  Hills,  J.E. 
Rock^vell,  D.  D.,  V.  D.  Reed,  D  D.,  P.  O.  Smd- 
diford,  A.  Donaldson,  G.  C.  Hcckman,  S.  M.  Ir- 
win, S.  A.  iluchmoie,  M.  A.  Hoge,  D.  D  ,  S.  B. 
Suottswood,  D.  D.,  Charles  W.  Shields.  Elder-*— 
Sl  Galloway,  J.  L.  Williams,  James  M.  Ray,  .James 
Bateman,  M.  Newiiirk,  Joiin  M.  Harper,  H.  D. 
Gregory,  C.  Falconer,  Thomas  McMechan. 

Tile  nominations  of  the  committee  were  confirmed. 

Dr.  Krebs  offered  a  resolution  adopting  iherea= 
sons  of  Dr.  Gurley,  ijresented  on  the  adoption  of 
his  substitute  adopted  on  yesterday  in  the  case  of 
fue  Louisville  Presbytery,  and  ordering  the  same  to 
be  printed  with  the  minutes  sf  the  Assembly. 
Agreed  to. 

Dr.  Lowne,  from  the  Committee  on  Bills  and 
Overtures,  reported  Ov>rture  No.  23,  as  follows: 

MeixjoriSH  from  ihu  Presbyteries  of  Wa-hmgton, 
Donegal,  New  Lisbon,  Redstone  and  Southern  .Min- 
nesota, and  Mrs.  S.  E.  Parsons,  con<;erning  the 
new  book  of  chants,  psalins  and  Siymus  with  music, 
ciilled  "The  Hymnal,"  mostly  expressin,g  opinions 
adverse  to  its  adoption  by  the  General  Assembly, 
and  some  of  them  making  valuable  suggestions  lor 
its  improvement. 

The  committee  make  no  recommendations  con- 
cerning these  memorials,  inasmuch  as  the  subject  to 
which  they  refer  has  ome  belore  the  General  As- 
sembly in  another  way. 

f  he  "rep  ort  of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Lowrie,  from  ihe  same  committee,  reported 
Overture  No.  24,  an  inquiry  concerning  Synodical 
Correspondence  from  Rev'.  S.  C.  Jennings,  D.  D., 
by  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Collier: 

In  view  of  our  Form  of  Governmeut  (chap.  12, 
fee.  .1),  which  says:  "To  toe  General  As.sembly 
belongs  the  power  of  corresponding  with  foreign 
churcnhs,  on  such  terms  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by 
the  Assembly  and  the  corresponding  body,"  and 
in  view  of  the  exception  taken  by  the  Assembly  to 
the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  in  1827,  p. 
Vi,  and  as  f  )und  re  corded  in  full  in  (Baird's)  the 
Assembly's  Digest,  p.  5C6— has  any  Synod  aright 
to  institute  a  correspondence  by  delegation  with  the 
Svnod  of  another  denomiuaiion  or  branch  of  the 
Church  ? 

Respectfully  submitted,  at  the  request  of  Rev. 
Dr.  S.  C.  Jennings,  uy 

FRANCIS  J.  COLLIER. 
Commissioner. 

■"  The  committee  recommend  as  an  answer  to  the 
j>arricular  question  contained  in  this  overture,  that 
no  legislation  is  necessary  ou  the  subject. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Lowrie,  from  the  same  committee,  reported 
Overture  No.  2.j,  memorials  and  papers  irom  the 
Synods  of  New  Jersey  and  Puiladelphia,  from  the 
Presbyteries  of  Newton,  Lewes,  Northumberland, 
Oxiord,  Toledo  and  Palmyra,  fro ai  a  Convention  ot 
Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders,  which  met  in  this  city 
on  tbe  second  eveniusr  previous  to  the  meeting  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  F. 
S.  Janeway  and  H.  J.  Van  Dyke,  all  hiVing  refer- 
ence to  the  Deliverances  of  the    General  Assembly 


107 


for  the  last  five  years,  on  the  rebellion  and 
slavery,"  and  to  the  relations  of  our  Church  with 
the  ministers  and  churches  iu  the  Southern  States, 
formerly  under  tile  cat e  of  the  General  Asseiuhlj  . 

The     cjiiiniiitee     recommenced     the    foilowiug 
miiiuie : 

That  rhe  memorial  of  the  Conveutiou  be  approved, 
and  prinwd  in  tne  Appendix  to  the  Minutes  ot  the 
General  Assembly,  as  the  General  Assembly  has 
considered  sub-tautiaily  the  matters  embraoi-d  in 
said  memorial,  and  expressed,' by  its  actiuD,  th^^ 
judgment,  it  is  deemea  unnecessary  to  suicsest  any 
addii^ional  mea-ure  f  )r  rebuking  the  spirit  of  rebel- 
lion against  ttie  autltority  of  our  highest  court,  in  a 
fe.w  sections,  of  our  Church.  The  dissatiofaciion 
and  discontent  consequent  upon  the  Diliveranc  s  of 
the  Assembly  of  1865  are  abating  with  iucreused 
knowledjie  i.t"  the  desiaa  and  propriety  of  thnse  de- 
cif-i'ius,  and  it  is  cmtidently  believed  that  maturer 
reflection  will  produce  a  fuller  acquie-.ceiice  in  the 
authority  of  ttieOtiurch.  It  Is  aliKe  the  past  and 
present  purpose  of  our  Church  to  preserve  within  its 
fold  all  who  sincerely  and  earnestly  love  its  or- 
ders and  doctrines,  and  to  fan  into  life  and  energy 
every  lingering  spark  of  genuine  atlachmeut  to  our 
faith  and  order  which  may  exist  in  those  portions  of 
our  country,  where  the  spirit  and  unrelenting  power 
of  (he  rebellion  drove  miiny  true  and  loyal  Presby- 
teri'iiis  ioto  a  hostile  attitude  toward  tne  Church 
and  country.  Widi  this  enlarged  and  Christian  view 
u  is  itppropriate  to  declare  that  whilst  the  testimony 
Hud  authority  of  our  Church  are  to  be  obeyed,  the 
mdet-t  Cliristiau  (ibi-rty  of  opinion  is  tolerated  and 
protect!  d,  and  no  enforcement  of  the  deliverances 
of  our  L/hurch  is  expected  cr  d^minded,  excei>tiliat 
which  will  debar  frou  our  communion  and  Church 
courts  all  those  whi  refuse  to  submit  to  "the  pow- 
ers that  be."  and  remain  m  willful  antagonism  to 
the  manifestations  of  God's  providence  and  theau- 
ttioritative  decisions  of  our  Church. 

The  report   of  the   committee  was    accepted  and 
adopted. 


Dr.  Lowrie,  from  the  same  committee,  reported 
Overture  No.  26,  as  follows: 

Overtures  have  beers  presented  from  the  Synods 
of  northern  Indiana,  Wheeliug  and  the  Presbyteries 
of  Madison,  Lewes,  Latte  ami  Monmouth,  respebt- 
ii.irthe  removal  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions. 
The  committee  recommend  that  inasmuch  as  a  ci  m- 
mittee  has  been  appoiated  to  report  to  the  next 
Assembly  on  this  subject,  ho  further  action  is  nec- 
essary. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Lowrie,  from  the  same  committee,  reported 
Overture  No.  27— a  re^iupst  from  the  Board  of 
Church  Kxtepsioo,  that  tue  T/ustees,of  the  General 
Assembly  take  charge  of  certain  deeds,  mort- 
gages, &e. 

The  committee  recommend  that  the  Assembly- 
adopt  the  following  resolution,  viz : 

Resolved.  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Uaited 
States  of  America  are  hereby  authorized  and  re- 
quired to  receive  and  take  charge  of  any  estete,  real 
or  personal,  which  may  be  granted  or  conveyed  to 
said  Trustees,  at  the  request  of  the  Board  of  Church 
Extension  of  this  Church  ;  and  whenever  the  said 
Board  of  Church  Extension  shall  request  the  said 
Tiu-tees  to  grant,  convey  or  release  anv  right,  title 
or  interest  in  any  estate,  real  or  personal,  which  has 
been  or  may  hereafter  be  vested  in  said  Trustees,  by 
reason  of  or  injconsideration  of  any  grant  or  appro- 
Ijriatic  n  of  said  Board,  in  aid  of  the  erection  of  any 
church  edifloe,  then  the  said  Trustees  shall  make 
sucu  grant,  conveyance,  and  release  to  such  parties 
and  npon  such  consideration  or  ^condition  as  ]he 
said  Board  «>f  Courch  Extension  shall  by  resolution 
direct,  provided  that  the  contracts  contained  in  any 
such  grant,  conveyance  or  release  so  executed  by 
said  I'rusteess  shall  be  such  only  as  said  Trustees 
soall  approve. 

The  leport  of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

After  prayer  the  Assembly  adjourned. 


ARG^UJ^IENT  OF  REV.  J.  11.  BROOKES,  D.D,, 

Delivered  before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Chui'ch  of  the  United  States,  on  the 
31st  of  May,  1866,  in  defense  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery . 


Mb.  Moderatok:  It  is  with  unfeigned  reluc- 
tance that  1  appear  before  you  and  this  vener- 
able Assenibl.y  to-night.  Had  I  consulted  ray 
own  wishes  rather  than  a  sense  of  obligation  to 
the  little  band  which  I  am  here  to  represent  and 
to  defend,  I  would  h^ve  remained  silent  during 
the  exciting  discussion  that  has  been  going  on 
in  this  house  for  the  last  two  weeks.  But,  sir, 
continued  silence  on  our  part  would  be  wrong 
in  the  circumstances  that  surround  us.  Among 
all  the  speeches  with  which  we  have  been  fa- 
vored through  our  protracted  session,  not  one 
word  has  been  uttered  in  behalf  of  the  small 
party  that  signed  their  names  to  the  hated  "De 
claration  and  Testimony."  From  nearly  every 
quarter  we  have  listened  to  the  sterne-st'denuri- 
ciations  uttered  against  that  now  famous  pro- 
test, and  it  seemed  impossible  for  any  one  to 
obtain  a  hearing  in  the  Assembly  without  wash- 
ing his  hands  of  all  complicity  in  the  guilt  of 
those  who  dared  to  publish  it  to  the  world.  Some 
have  boldly  avowed  their  sympathy  with  the 
principles  there  set  forth,  but  even  these  have 


been  careful  to  inform  you  that  they  cannot  in- 
dorse its  language  and  that  they  are  in  no  wise 
responsible  for  its  appearance. 

First,  we  had  the  flerce  onset  of  the  gentle- 
man from  Ohio,  (Dr.  Thomas,)  y?ho  borrowed 
his  glowing  imagery  from  the  most  terrific 
.ludgments  of  God,  in  order  to  express  his  ab- 
horrence of  our  Clime  in  sending  forth  a  docu- 
ment which  has  fallen  like  a  firebrand  in  this 
house.  In  t?ie  heat  of  his  passion  he  likened  us 
to  the  guilty  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah, consumed  by  fiamiog  brimstone,  and 
then  to  Anaaias  and  Sapphira,  suddenly  smit- 
ten by  the  unseen  hand  of  the  angry  Jehovah, 
and  at  last  invoked  the  red-hot  thunderbolts  of 
hell  to  fall  upon  our  devoted  heads. 

The  gentleman  from  Kentucky  (Dr.  Humphrey) 
followed  with  an  amendment  to  the  motion  of 
the  Chairman,  and  accompanied  the  amendment 
with  a  speech,  in  which  he  used,  if  possible, 
still  harsher  and  more  cruel  terms  than  those 
employed  by  the  gentleman  from  Ohio.  He  de- 
clared in  the  presence  of  this  venerable  Assem- 


108 


1ily,  find  in  tbp  presence  of  God.  that  he  had 
Tif'ver  krown  the  exceediiiEr  richness  of  the 
Fiio-lipi,  if,xijru;igein  vituperiftion  until  he  lead 
the  "Declarn,tion  and  Te'^timnny."  Tie  pre- 
t.'iifled  to  sie  metaphors,  biirnino:  metaphors, 
lancitis:  throns;h  it-^  pases  to  the  time  of  Dixie, 
:iiid  could  nottind  words  to  convey  his  rifrhteotxs 
indiirnation  against  'herebels^snd  traitors  who, 
accord  ins;  fo  his  excited  imagination,  are 
proudly  defying  the  authority  of  the  Church 
and  despisino:  her  sacred  institutions. 

So  tlie  orentleman  from  Washington  City  (Dr. 
Gnidey)  in  presenting  a  second  amendment,  or 
rather,  a  substitute  for  the  original  mo'ion,  pro- 
nounced us  slanderers,  worthy  of  condign  pun- 
ishment, and  soVmnly  avowed  his  purpose  to 
leave  his  beloved  Church  unless  the  punishment 
thonld  be  speedily  inflicted.  He  could  not  com- 
mune with  such  sinners,  and  would  be  compelled 
to  seek  an  ecclesiastical  home  elsewhere  if 
this  hated  Declaration  and  Testimony  party 
were  allowed  to  reman  among  the  saints. 

Even  the  brother  from  Philadelphia  (Dr. 
Ponrdm-in),  whom  I  have  long  revered  for  his 
hijrh  Christian  character,  and  whom  I  have  learn- 
ed to  love  for  his  noble  Christian  heart,  took  oc- 
casion to  express  his  disapproval  of  our  course, 
and  to  say  in  the  paper  which  he  read  that  we 
deserved  censure  for  ctirrying  our  sound  and 
invulnerable  principles  to  extremes.  And  final- 
ly, mv  brother  from  Brooklyn,  whom  I  also  love 
for  his  manly  defense  of  the  truth,  was  unable  to 
sny  anvthing  for  the  document  which  has  stirred 
this  wild  commotion,  because  he  had  not  signed  4 
it,  and  could  not  be  answerable  forits  language. 
Thus,  sir,  v/e  stand  alone  in  this  great  assem- 
blage, and  hence  my  position  this  evening  is  one 
of  immense  disadvantage,  Still,  as  I  did  not 
comeheret J  struggle  for  victory,  but  only  to 
contend  earnestly  for  t  e  fii'.h  once  delivered 
to  the  saiets,  and  to  battle  for  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus,  I  shall  proceed  with  firmness,  and  I 
trust  with  respect  for  this  high  court,  to  express 
the  views  entertained  by  those  who  have  been 
haled  to  your  bar.  The  opprobious  epithets 
which  have  been  heaped  upmi  us  without  stint 
will  notbe  returned  upon  theirauihors,l)utu(iiil 
you  can  show  us  by  an  appeal  to  t!ie  Holy  Scrip- 
tures and  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  that 
we  are  in  the  wrong,  we  must  stand  where  we 
are,  undaunted  by  threats  and  violence.  Let 
gentlemen  cease  from  their  wholesale  abuse  and 
prove  that  we  are  in  error;  or,  sir,  we  will 
maintain  our  position  unmoved,  so  help  us 
God.  Amen.  [Great  applause  in  the  galleries, 
which  Dr.  Brookes  promptly  checked  j  begging 
those  present  to  abstain  from  all  such  demon- 
strations, and  to  remember  that  they  were  in 
the  house  of  God.  With  this  retpark  the  iVfod- 
erator  concurred,  asking  the  excited  crowd  to 
repress  their  feelings. 

Mr.  IMoflerator:  It  has  been  asserted  again  .and 
again  on  the  floor  of  this  house  that  the  Declar- 
ation and  lestimony  party  are  laboring  in  the 
interest  of  secession,  and  are  trying  to  virilize 
the  dead  body  of  slavery.  If  this  be  true — if 
this  is  our  m'>iive  and  aim,  we  richl,y  merit  the 
severe  punishment  which  it  is  the  manifest  pur 
pose  of" the  majority  to  inflict  upon  us.  Nay.  I 
cheerfully  admit  that  we  are  utterly  incompe- 
tent, unfit  and  disqualified  in  every  respect 
to  sit  in  a  Court  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  even  to  ex- 
ercise the  humblest  functions  of  the  Gospel  min- 
istry. But  let  me  ask,  are  gentlemeu  snre  that 
we  are  responsible  fur  the  agitation  of  thuse 
subjects  in  the  Church  ?    Did  we  begin  the  con- 


flict which  has  raged  in  the  Assembly  for  two 
weeks,  and  which  threatens  to  end  in  complete 
separation?  Sir,  we  had  supposed  that  seces- 
sion was  ended  by  the  war.  We  had  supposed 
that  sl'ivery  was  done  away  with  by  the  war, 
and  what  evidence  have  yon  that  we  refused  to 
acquiesce  in  the  s'ern  decisions  of  the  sword? 
Vv^hat  evidence  is  there  thfit  we  were  so  dissat- 
isfied with  theresult  of  the  dreadful  contest,  that 
we  were  determined  to  try  the  issue  again  even 
at  the  expense  of  rending  our  Church  asunder? 
iS'one,  none  whatever.  Do  you  desire  to  know 
who  dragged  these  questions  i'rom  the  dead  past 
to  agitate  our  people  with  useless  contentions  ? 
Do  you  desire  to  learn  who  has  thrown  seces.-;ion 
into  our  midst  as  the  apple  of  discord  ?  Do  you 
desire  to  know  who  has  gone  about  to  vitalize 
the  mangled  body  of  slavery  and  make  it  a 
source  of  endless  dispute  and  division  ?  Sir,  I 
believe  before  God  it  was  the  General  Assem- 
bly. [Suppressed  applause.]  _ 
_  Boldly  do  I  affirm  that  it  was  not  the  Declara- 
tion and  lestimony  party,  it  was  not  the  Lou- 
isville Presbytery  which  began  this  unhappy 
strife,  but  it  was  the  fell  and  fanatical  spirit 
that  would  not  be  content  to  let  the  dead  past 
bury  its  dead,  but  insisted  on  making  the  dead 
past  the  test  of  our  present  standing  in  the 
Church  and  the  controller  of  our  future  destiny. 
We  have  acted  enlirtly  on  the  defensive,  aud 
have  only  striven  to  bring  back  our  beloved 
Church  to  her  forsaken  standards  and  to  equip 
her  for  her  glorious  mission  of  saving  souls. 

it  only  remains,  therefore,  to  discuss  three 
propositions  which  I  now  submit  to  the  candid 
consideration  of  this  venerable  court : 

1st.  Was  there  sutHcient  ground  for  the  pro- 
test which  the  Louisville  Presbytery  and  others 
have  made  in  the  '"Declaration  and  Testimony" 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  during 
the  past  five  years  ? 

2d.  Had  we  the  right  to  protest?    And 

3d.  Was  the  protest  made  in  a  spirit  and  form 
justified  by  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  and  by 
the  perilous  condition  of  the  Church? 

If  these  three  questions  can  be  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  then,  sir,  we  expect  an  honorable 
acquittal  at  your  bar,  instead  of  condemnation. 
Nay,  we  demand,  as  we  deserve,  not  your  cen- 
sure, but  your  grateful  plaudit,  "Weil  done, 
good  aud  faithful  servants." 

i'o  investigate  the  first  of  these  questions  in- 
telligently let  us  consider  the  action  taken  by 
the  General  Assembly  in  1S61,  which  was,  to  the 
action  of  18G5,  but  like  the  ccoing  of  a  dove 
coaipared  with  the  angry  screams  of  a  vulture; 
or  lest  this  may  seem  disrespectful  to  the  body, 
1  will  say  it  was  the  faiut  and  feeble  moaning 
of  the  gathering  storm  compared  with  the  roar 
and  rage  of  the  tempest,  sweeping  with  resist- 
less fury  over  the  fair  heritage  we  received  from 
our  fathers.  To  determine  whether  we  had  suffi  - 
cient  ground  of  protest  against  this  first  and  fa- 
tal acdon  of  ISGl,  which  required  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  the  whole  country  to  uphold  and 
perpetuate  the  Goverument  at  Washington  city, 
1  will  cite  atVw  wittiesses  whose  high  standing 
will  not  be  questioned  by  any  here. 

the  first  of  these  witnesses  is  Kev.  Chas. 
Ilodge,  D.  D.,  of  Princeton,  New  Jerse.y,  the  true 
Nestor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  whose  repu- 
tation, extending  far  bej'ond  the  Atlantic,  has 
gained  him  a  host  of  admirers  wherever  learn- 
ing can  be  respected  or  piety  revered.  Dr. 
Il'.)dge,  speaking  of  the  action  of  '61,  in  his  own 
behalf  and  in  behalf  of  about  sixty  other  mem- 


109 


hers  of  that  Asspmbly,  published  to  the  world 
the  followin2  judgment:  "  Ft  pronounces  or  as- 
sumes a  particular  interpretation  of  the  Consti- 
t;uion.  This  is  a  'uarter  clearly  beyond  the 
jiiiisdicf ion  of  the  Assembly.  *  *  * 
Ihu  General  Assembly,  in  thus  decidinf^  a  polit- 
ical question,  and  in  m  ikinii  that  decision  prac- 
tically a  condition  of  membership  to  the  Church, 
his,  in  our  judgment;,  violated  tbe  Constitution 
of  the  Cbureh,'^nnd  usurped  the  preroijatiye  of 
its  divine  Master." 

Mark  it,  and  ponder  it  well, fathers  and  breth- 
ren, the  highest  authority,  in  some  respects,  in 
our  communion  affirms  "that  the  Assembly  vio- 
lated the  Constitution  of  the  Church  and  usurped 
the  prerogative  of  its  Divine  Master.  Think  you 
Ihe  Declaratinu  and  "i'estiroony  men  had  a  suf- 
ficient ground  of  protest  ?  But,  again.  Dr.  Hodge 
p:i)es  on  to  say,  "We  protest,  because  we  regard 
ihe  action  of  the  Assembly  as  unjust  and  cruel  in 
it>  bearing  on  our  Souther"h  brcttirfin."  Unjust 
and  cruel  ?  Why  this  sounds  as  if  it  might  be 
fund  in  our  Declaration  and  Testimony.  ^  Can 
you  discover  there  any  stronger  language — any 
inorp  disres-pectful  terms  ^  "And  finally,"  says 
I )^-.  Hodge, ''we  protest  because  v/e  believe  the 

:  of  the  Assembly  will  not  only  diminish  the 
'urcps  of  the  Church,  but  greatly  weaken  its 
!  '..»er  for  good,  and  expose  it  to  the  clanger  of 
lioiiig  carried  away  more  and  more  from  its  true 
tirinciples  by  a  worldly  or  fanatical  spirit." 
.\'i,  M^-.  Moderator,  if  that  venerable  umn  of 
<nid  had  poi-sessed  prophetic  vision  he  could  not 
InvG  foretold  with  more  unerring  accuracy  the 
ftiiain  results  or  the  "-ssembly's  first  departure 
1i<*m  the  established  principles  of  our  Church 
piivernment. 

i  he  next  witnesses  I  wish  *o  cite  in  a  body  to 
t "stify  whether  the  Declaration  party  had  suffi- 
cient cause  to  prot(!St,  are  Eev.  E.  J.  Breckin- 
ridge, D.  D.;  Eev.  W.  C.  Matthews,  D.  D.,  and 
Kpv.  E.  W.  Landis,  D.  D.,  all  thoroughly  loyal 
men.  These  gentlemen  introduced  a  p^per  into 
tn'^  "-'ynod  of  Kentucky,  in  the  fall  of  'tU,  which 
ariirras:  "In  thejudgment  of  a  large  minority 
or  the  Assembly,  and  of  multitudes  in  the 
Cluirch,  the  subject  ma'-ter  of  the  action  of  the 
Assembly  in  the  premises,  being  purely  political, 
vM'i  incompetent  to  a  spiritual  court.  Un- 
doubtedlv  it  w  is  incompetent  to  the  Assembly, 
lis  a  spiritAal  court,  to  require  or  to  advise  acts 
of  disobedience  to  actual  governments,  in  the 
manner  and  under  the  circumstances  which 
existed;  aid  still  further,  it  was  neither  wise 
nor  discreet  for  the  Assembly  of  the  whole 
Uhurch  to  disregard,in  its  action,  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  which  rendered  it  impossible  for 
lirge  portions  of  the  Church  to  obey  its  order 
without  being  liable  to  the  highest  penalties.  The 
action  of  the  Assembly  being  exhausted  by  the 
occurrence  of  the  day  of  prayer  recommended, 
and  no  ulterior  proceedings  under  the  order  of 
'■  Assembly  being  contemplated,  this  Synod 
r(>ats  itself  with  this  expression  of  its  grave 
pprobition  of  the  action  of  the  General  As- 
f  aibly.'  But  the  testi-aony  of  these  loy^tl  gen- 
t;o'nen,  emphatic  as  it  is,  was  not  strong  enough 
to  satisfy  Eev.  E.  P,  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  wtio 
stepped  forward  and  olfered  the  following 
amendment,  which  was  unanimously  adopted: 
''Which  ( iction  of  the  Assembly)  the  Synod 
judges  to  be  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God,  as 
ihacwordis  interpreted  in  our  Confession  of 
Faith."  Mr.  Moderator,  my  surprise  is  almost 
u'lutterable  when  I  compare  this  strong  lan- 
guage with  the  boast  of  the  gentleman  on  the 


floor  of  this  house  that  he  was  loyal  to  all  the 
deliverances  of  the  Assembly,  and  intended  to 
stand  by  them.  Vv'hat !  Stand  by  action  which 
he  deliberately  and  solemnly  affirmed  to  be 
repugnant  to  the  word  of  God.  What!  Talk 
about  the  amazing  vituperation  to  be  found  in 
the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  and  watch  the 
dance  of  metaphors  along  its  pagjs  to  the  tune 
of  Dixie,  when  he  himself  pronounces  the  act 
of  the  Assembly  unscriptural  and  unconstitu- 
tional !  It  is  vain,  sir,  to  reply  that  he  and  the 
other  loyal  gentlemen  whovotedfor  this  amend- 
ment did  not  refuse  to  obey  the  Assembly.  I 
will  not  insult  them  by  even  hinting  at  the  pos- 
sibility of  their  obedience  to  that  which  they 
loudly  proclaim  to  be  repugnant  to  the  word  of 
God,  and  therefore  we  find  them  occupying  pre- 
cisely the  ground  on  which  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  men  so  firmly  stand. 

Buf.  I  must  proceed  to'uotice  briefly  the  acts 
and  deliverances  of  subsequent  Assemblies.^  to 
see  whether  we  had  sufficient  reason  for  issuing 
our  solemn  protest.  It  would  be  ungracious  in 
me  to  weary  your  patience  by  noticing  minutely 
the  action  of 'G2,  which  was  certainly  taken 
without  the  slightest  authority  either  from  the 
word  of  God  or  from  the  constitution  of  the 
Church;  or  by  examining  at  length  the  action  of 
'(J3,  which  exhibited  the  frenzy  of  th-.it  state  of 
mind  which  led  a  veuerable  court  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  occupy  two  or  three  days  in  discussing 
the  question  whether  a  flag  should  be  raised 
above  the  building  in  which  the  Assembly  con- 
vened. I  hasten  on  to  consider  the  acion  of  'ti4 
touching  slavery,  affirming  it  to  be  an  "evil"  and 
"guilt"  and  "sin,"  "the  root  of  rebellion,  and 
bloodshed,  and  a  long  list  of  horrors,"  and  in 
short  adopting  in  effect  the  familiar  saying  of 
the  old  abolitionists  that  it  is '-the  sum  of  all 
villanies."  And  so,  sir,  on  the  floor  of  this  As- 
sembly have  we  heard  again  and  a^aiu  that 
slaveliolding  is  sinful,  but  not  one  word  of  proof 
has  been  alleged  either  here  or  by  the  Assembly 
of  1804  to  make  good  this  confident  assertion. 
"Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  lasv  of  God;"  but 
it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  an  ecclesiastical 
council,  assembled  in  the  name  and  by  tl'.e  au- 
thority of  Jesus  Christ,  adopted  a  long  paper  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  without  even  relerring  to 
the  Bible,  according  to  my  recollection.  They 
said  it  is  sinful,  but  did  not  show  it  by  appealing 
to  the  law,  which  is  the  only  standard  of 
righteousness.  To  Ibrm  an  opinion  concerning 
the  sinfulness  of  aa  act  or  relation  I  want  a 
higher  authority  than  man's  prejudices  and 
passions;  I  want  the  authority  of  God's  holy 
word;  and  no  Assembly  has  the  right  to  bind 
the  conscience  or  to  demand  obedience  without 
this  authority. 

Especially  does  such  a  right  entirely  disap- 
pear when  we  find  the  actions  of  1SC4  to  be  iu 
direct  and  glaring  conflict  with  the  action  of 
lt45.  The  former  was  passed  at  a  time  of  tre- 
mendous excitement— in  the  midst  of  a  bloody 
war — under  the  sway  of  au  extravagant  loyalty, 
and  seemed  to  be  au  expression  of  the  wild  de- 
lirium which  prevailed  throughout  the  nation, 
while  ihe  latter  was  passed  after, mature  delib- 
eration, and  was  precisely  the  one  act  which 
expressed  the  calm  and  settled  conviction  ot 
the  Assembly  in  its  best  days  in  relation  to  this 
A'exed  and  vexing  question.  Let  us  see  what 
that  Assembly  said,  when  entirely  free  from  the 
control  of  passion  and  from  the  pressure  of 
public  sentiment.    I  read,  sir,  from  the  Digest : 

"  The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  spiritual  body, 


no 


whose  jurisdiction  extends  to  the  religious  faith 
and  moral  conduct  of  her  members.  She  can- 
not, legislate  where  Christ  bus  not  legislated, 
nor  make  terms  of  membership  which  He  has 
not  made,  'ihe  question,  therefore,  which  the 
Assembly  is  called  to  decide,  is  this:  Do  the 
Scriptures  teach  that  the  holding  of  slaves, 
without  regard  to  circumstances,  is  a  sin,  the 
renunciation  of  which  should  be  made  a  condi- 
tion of  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ? 

"  [t  is.  mpossible  to  answer  this  question  in 
the  affirmative  without  contradintiutr  some  of 
the  plainest  dec! arations  of  the  Word  of  God. 
That  slavery  existed  in  the  days  of  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  is  an  admitted  fact.  Tiiat  they 
aid  not  denounce  the  relation  itself  as  sinful, 
as  inconsistent  with  Christianity ;  that  slave- 
holders were  almitted  to  membership  in  the 
Churches  organized  by  the  Apostles;  that  whilst 
they  were  required  to  treat  their  slaves  with 
kindness,  aod  as  rational,  accountable,  immor- 
tal beings,  and  if  Christians,  as  brethren  in  the 
Lord,  they  were  not  commanded  to  emancipate 
them  ;  that  slaves  w"ere  required  to  be  "  obedi- 
ent to  their  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  with 
fear  and  trembling,  with  singleness  of  heart  as 
to  Christ,"  are  facts  which  meet  the  eye  of  every 
reader  of  the  New  Testament.  This  Assembly 
cannot,  therefore,  denounce  the  holding  of 
slaves  as  necessarily  a  heinous  and  scandalous 
sin,  calculated  to  bring  upon  the  Church  the 
curse  of  God,  without  charging  the  Apostles  of 
Christ  with  onuiving  at  sin,  introducing  into 
the  Church  sinners,  and  thus  bringing  upon 
them  the  curse  of  the  Almighty. 

"  The  Assembly  intend  simply  to  say  that 
since  Christ  and  His  inspired  Apostles  did  not 
make  the  holding  of  slaves  a  bar  to  communion, 
we,  as  a  Court  of  Christ,  have  no  authority  to 
do  so  ;  since  they  did  not  attempt  to  remove  it 
from  theChurch  by  legislation,  we  have  no  au- 
thority to  legislate  on  the  subject." 

Here,  sir,  we  have  a  position  carefully  taken 
and  thorouahly  fortified  by  the  word  of  God, 
and  yet  in  the' face  of  this  deliberate  testimony 
we  are  required  to  believe  slavery  an  "evil"  and 
"guilt"  aud  "sin,"  and  the  fruitful  source  of  re- 
bellion, bloodshed  and  all  manner  of  crimes. 
Mr.  Moderator,  1  cannot  and  will  not  sobelieve. 
1  care  not  for  slavery,  but  1  do  care  for  the  au- 
thority of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  according 
t.)  the  light  I  now  have,  the  action  of  1S64  was 
contrary  to  these  Scriptures,  and  tended  direct- 
ly to  infidelity.  "  The  grass  withereth,  and  the 
fiowers  thereof  falleth  away,  but  the  word  of 
the  Lord  endureth  forever,"  and  it  endureth  un- 
changed and  unchangeable  amid  the  rudest  con- 
tiicts  of  earth.  To  the  divine  authority 
of  that  word  we  must  all  bow  with 
implicit  submission;  and  since  in  the  opinion 
of  the  declaration  and  testimony  men  there  was 
a  direct  conflict  between  the  action  ot  'G4  and 
the  plain  statements  of  the  Bible — nay,  between 
the  hot  and  hasty  action  of  '64  and  the  calm  and 
collected  judgment  expressed  in  45 — we  feel 
that  there  was  abundant  grotmd  for  an  earnest 
and  vigorous  protest  if  we  would  save  the 
Church  from  a  still  more  grievous  departure 
from  the  fiith.  Why,  then,  should  we  be  ar- 
raigned at  the  bar  of  this  high  court  as  the 
chief  of  sinners,  when  it  is  apparent  on  the  very 
f;u;e  of  the  tesMraony  I  have  just  adduced  that 
we  could  not  adopt  both  actions  of  the  Assem- 
bly without  being  guilty  of  gross  absurdity  and 
childish  inconsistency?     Tell  us,  sir,  which  of 


these  two  actions  we  are  bound,  as  loyal  Pres- 
byterians, to  accept.  The  action  of '45  remains 
unrepealed,  ar.d  was,  indeed,  unassailed  down 
to_'64,  when  it  was  quietly  ignored,  not  even  re- 
ceiving the  honor  of  being  mentioned  in  the 
long  paper  adopted  by  the  Assembly.  We  in- 
sist that  there  wns  sufiicient  reason  to  protest 
against  such  couduct. 

But,  Mr.  Moderator,  when  we  come  to  consider 
the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  which  con- 
vened in  Pittsburg  in  1SG5,  the  reason  for  pro- 
test becomes  manifold  and  imperative.  'I  hat 
Assembly,  as  we  have  heard  on  the  floor  ol'  this 
house,  simply  reduced  to  practice 'he  princi- 
ples and  doctrines  affirmed  through  the  preced- 
ing four  years,  and,  cot'sequently.  a  great  strug- 
gle must  ensue,  or  the  liberty  of  God's  children 
and  the  crown  rights  of  Jesus  Christ  as  King  in 
Zion  must  be  tamely  and  basely  surrendered. 

Why,  sir.  we  find  an  ecclesiastical  body  en- 
joined by  their  own  ecclesiastical  constitution 
"  to  han.'Ie  or  concluda  nothing  but  that  which 
is  ecclesiastical,  and  not  to  interfere  with  civil 
atfairs  which  concern  the  commonwealth," 
gravely  pronouncing  against  the  erroneous  in- 
terpretations of  the  doctrine  of  State  rights," 
thanking  God  that  the  rebellion  was  suppressed 
without  the  National  honor  being  tnruished  by 
deeds  of  outrage  and  cruelty,"  directing  the 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions  to  employ  none  to 
preach  the  Gospel  unless ''they  are  in  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  various  deliverances  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, touchir)g  doctrine,  loyalty  and  freedom," 
and  requiring  all  Synods,  Presbyteries  and 
Church  sessions  to  examine  everybody  coming 
from  the  South;  "  whether  he  has  in  any  way  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  of  his  own  free  will  and 
consent,or  without  external  constraint.  Ijeen  con- 
cerned at  any  time  in  aiding  or  countenancing 
the  rebellion  and  the  war  which  has  been  waged 
against  the  United  States  ;'•  and  "whether  he  be- 
lieves slavery  to  be  a  divine  institution  which 
it  is  the  mission  of  the  Southern  Church  to  con- 
serve and  perpetuate."  If  it  be  found  by  his 
own  confession  or  by  sufficient  evidence  that  he 
has  in  any  way  voluntarily  aided  the  rebellion, 
or  that  he  believes  in  slavers', every  silch  person 
is  required  to  repent  and  foresake  these  sins,  on 
pain  of  exclusion  from  the  Church  and  from  fel- 
lowship with  his  brethern  in  the  courts  of  the 
Lord's  house. 

Whether  this  action  furnishes  a  sufficient  rea- 
son for  protest,  let  every  man  judge.  I  have  yet 
to  hear  of  the  first  minister  or  elder  who  has 
obeyed  these  orders  and  enforced  these  injunc- 
tions. But,  on  the  other  hand,  several  brethren 
have  come  to  me  during  our  present  sessions, 
and  without  hesitation  declared  they  would  not 
give  heed  to  the  voice  of  the  Assembly  touching 
the  requirements  just  mentioned.  So  the  De- 
claration and  Testioiony  men  hive  declared 
both  privately  and  publicly,  and  this  is  the  head 
and  front  of  our  oflending.  We  have  proclaimed 
openly  and  above-board,  on  the  house-tops, 
what  others  all  over  the  land  have  said  in  the 
ear  and  in  the  closet,  and  for  this  we  ate  ar- 
raigned, and  are  about  to  be  cut  off  from  the 
Church  of  our  choice  and  of  our  fathers.  Well, 
be  it  so.  But  those  who  apply  the  knife  of  ex- 
cision must  testify  in  the  very  act  of  punishment 
that  we  had  good  reason  to  complain  of  pro- 
ceedings which  they  themselves  set  at 
naught.  Especially  did  the  cause  of  complaint 
become  urgent  and  inexorable  in  its  demands 
upon  the  attention    of  those  who  lived  in  Mis- 


ill 


souri.  One  of  our  ministers,  ■well  known  to 
many  of  us  as  a  laborious  and  faithful  preacher 
of  the  So?pel,  applied  te  the  Board  of  Mis- 
*  sions  to  furuish  him  pecuniary  aid  iu  the  work 
of  saving  souls.  In  due  time  he  received  a  re- 
ply from  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  iu  the  fol- 
lowing words  : 

Dear  Sir  :  The  General^  Assembly  have  en- 
joined the  Board  to  commission  no  one  except 
of  loyal  submission  to  the  Government,  and  to 
the  deliverances  of  the  Church  on  the  subject  of 
slavery.  We  are  informed  your  record  is  not 
fair,  and  we  decline  sending  you  a  commission. 
Yours,  truly,  THOS.  L.  JANEWAY, 
Cor.  Secretary,  &c. 

1  have  seen,  sir,  a  copy  of  the  answer  to  this  as- 
tound ing  communication,  which  the  worthy  bro- 
ther of  whom  I  have  spoken  forwarded  to  the  Sec- 
retary, and  in  that  answer  he  solemnly  declares 
that  he  is  and  always  has  been  a  loyal  man.  He 
preached  constantly  during  the  war  in  a  part  of 
the  !*tate  where  suspicion  was  almost  certain 
death,  and  though  officers  and  soldiers  frequent- 
ly attended  his  ministry,he  suifered  no  disturb- 
ance at  their  hands.  And  yet  this  consistent 
man  of  God  was  cruelly  denied  the  asvsistance 
he  so  much  needed,  and  was  driven  to  hard  man- 
ual labor  to  obtain  a  support  for  his  wife  and 
little  ones. 

Another  brother,  whose  loyalty  I  have  never 
heard  questioned,  made  application  to  the  Board 
for  aid,  and  received  the  unanimous  indorse- 
ment of  his  Presbytery — a  Presbytery,  too,  en- 
rolling among  its  members  some  who  are  loyal 
to  the  highest  possible  degree,  and  according  to 
the  highest  possible  standard — but  after  awhile 
the  decree  came  forth  from  the  Secretary's  office 
iu  Philadelphia: 

"  Mr.  Forman  will  hardly  come  up  to  the  re 
quisitions  of  the  last  General  Assembly.  His 
is  qziasi  loyalty,  and  he  is  hardly  in  accord  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  its  declaims  ou  free- 
dom. It  may  be  hard  for  him,  but  he  rea})s  as 
he  sowed.  Such  men  have  well  nigh  ruined  tho 
Chuch  ;  and  it  is  hardly  expected  that  loyal  men 
will  contribute  to  support  one  in  aliiliation 
with  rebellion.     Yours,  truly. 

"T.L.  JANEWAY." 

What,  Mr.  Moderator,  was  to  be  done  under 
these  circumstances  ?  ^ewere  either  to  place 
ourselves  in  an  attitude  of  resistance  to  the  in- 
junctions of  the  Assembly,  or  to  see  brethren 
whom  we  knew  nad  loved  crushed  by  the  oper- 
ations of  an  order  that  seemed  to  us  most  cruel 
and  unrighteous.  1  leave  it  to  every  generous 
heart  to  determine  what  was  the  path  of  honor 
and  the  path  of  duty.  The  Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony party  disobeyed,  and  hence  we  are  here 
to  answer  for  our  sin  ;  but  here  on  grounds  that 
justify  our  emphatic  protest  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  angels  and  i-nen. 

I  need  not  occui^y  your  time  in  a  discussion 
of  the  second  inquiry  concerning  our  right  to 
protest,  for  every  Presbyterian  iu  the  world 
recognizes  the  right,  and  ei'joys  this  right  when 
he  sees  fit  to  employ  it  in  the  expression  of  his 
views,  or  iu  the  protection  of  his  sacred  priv- 
ileges. Pei'haps  there  has  scarcely  ever  been 
an  Assembly  without  a  protest  being  entered 
on  its  records,  and  every  year  the  proceedings 
of  this  venerable  body  pass  in  review  before 
the  Synods  and  Presbyteries  to  call  forth  an 
expression  of  their  views,  and  to  receive  their 
intelligent  sanction  or  their  respectful  dissent. 
It  would  be  idle,  therefore,  for  me  to  estfiblish  a 


proposition  which  is  self-evident  to  every  mem- 
ber of  this  Assembly. 

1  pass,  then,  to  a  consideration  of  the  last 
question:  Is  the  protest  cont.aii-.cd  in  the  J  e- 
claration  and  Testimony,  and  tidopted  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  presented  in  a  spirit 
and  form  justified  by  thf^  r.ocrssities  of  the 
case  ?  Mr.  Moderator,  in  answer  to  this  inquiry, 
it  might  be  sufficient  to  state  that  we  all  listened 
attentively  to  the  lengthy  report  of  the  commit- 
tee on  this  villified  documeiit.  That  committee 
had  it  long  under  consideration,  and  doubtless 
searched  it  carefully  and  anxiously  to  discover 
every  objectionable  expression  which  it  might 
contain.  And  what  did  they  find?  Nothing, 
nothing,  sir,  after  their  laborious  research,  that 
can  be  fairly  construed  into  disrespect  to  this 
venerable  Assembly.  It  may  be  owing  to  my 
ignorance  ot  the  "fatal  imposture  and  force  of 
words,"  or  my  want  of  a  refined  and  cultivated 
literary  taste,  but  I  confess  I  cannot  see  any 
reasonfor  all  this  uproar  about  the  violent  lan- 
guage employed  in  the  paper  was  before  the  house. 
(Jentlemen  may  rave  and  rage  as  they  denounce 
its  fierce  and  vituperative  style,  and  invoke  the 
hot  thunderbolts  of  hell  to  strike  us  dumb  and 
to  strike  us  dead,  but  they  will  tome  much 
nearer  to  something  that  is  tangible  when  they 
are  kind  enough  to  point  out_  the  expressions 
that  are  so  disrespectful  as  to  justify  our  expul- 
sion from  the  Church. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  in  a  debate  ex- 
tending through  two  weeks  not  even  one 
speaker  from  the  majority  has  touched  the  mer- 
its of  the  question  before  the  house,  either  by 
attempting  to  expose  the  unsoundness  of  the 
principles  contained  in  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony,  or  the  impropriety  of  the  language 
in  which  these  principles  are  embodied.  We 
have  had  denunciation  without  measure,  but 
not  a  word  of  argument  or  procf.  I  submit,  sir, 
that  the  accusers  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery 
have  utterly  failed  to  make  out  their  case,  even 
on  the  ground  of  disrespectful  terms  employed 
in  the  paper  for  which  they  have  been  arraigned 
at  your  bar. 

But  there  is  another  way  of  determining  the 
question  which  I  am  now  discussing.  It  is  by 
way  of  comparison.  We  will  take  other  pro- 
tests from  other  parlies,  and  see  whether  the 
Assemlly  has  been  in  the_  habit  of  judging 
harshly  of  those  who  assail  their  action,  or 
whether  the  present  Assembly  is  disposed  to 
deal  out  an  even-hamled  justice  to  all,  without 
respect  of  persons,  who  are  involved  in  the 
same  condemnation,  'i  he  gentleman  from  Ohio 
(Dr.  Thomas)  tried  to  draw  a  distinction  be- 
tween what  he  was  pleased  to  call  the  organized 
rebellion  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  infor- 
mally adopting  the  Declaration  and  Testimony, 
and  the  individual  action  of  others  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  who  signed  that  in)mc»rtal 
document.  But  I  shall  show  you  that  it  is  a 
distinction  without  a  difference.  I  shall  show 
you  that  numerous  judicatorit'S  have  taken 
practically  the  same  ground  occupii'd  by  the 
Presbjtery  of  Louisville,  and  heace  ot-afor 
consistency's  sake,  should  receive  precisely  the 
same  treatment  at  your  hands. 

I  will  not  occupy  your  time  by  citing  iu 
proof  of  this  assertion  the  action  of  a  large 
number  of  Church  sessions  in  view  of  the  uu- 
constitutional  proceedings  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, but  call  your  attention  first  to  the  ac- 
tion  of  Transylvania  Presbytery,  prepared  by 
Eev,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  D.  D. 


IVl 


"  The  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  having  ma- 
lurelj  considered  tbe  proceedings  of  the  l>»st, 
General  Assembly  (1S65),  find  iii  them  ses'eral 
acts  touching  the  troubles  in  the  Church,  which, 
in  our  judgment,  exceed  the  powers  of  the  As- 
sembly, and  are  unwise  and  inexpedient  if 
they  were  otherwise  ;  which  we  also  judge  to 
be  imnossible  of  execution  where  they  were  in- 
tended to  be  enforced,  tlierefore  nugatory  as  to 
their  design."  The  Presbytery  of  Ebenezer.  at 
its  last  tall  session,  declare,  "1st.  We  find 
neither  in  the  Word  of  God,  nor  in  the  Confession 
of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  least 
authority  to  interrogate  the  minister  or  the  pri- 
vate member  on  the  subject  of  loyalty  to  the 
General  Government;  ;and  whiTe  this 
Presbytery  recognizes  the  right  of  every  Pres- 
bytery to  examine  ministers  asking  admis- 
sion into  their  body  as  to  soundness  in  the  faith 
as  revealed  in  the  Word  of  God,  yet  #his  Pres- 
bytery does  most  unhesitatingly  deny  that  the 
questions  involved  in  the  matter  in  hand  are  a 
part  of  the  "iaith"  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
inasmuch  as  they  relate  solely  to  the  policy  of 
civil  government.  We  believe  that  the  intro- 
duction of  such  questions  into  our  Church  courts 
is  fraught  with  mischief,  as  it  assumes  the  de- 
cision of  civil  questions  by  an  ecclesiastical 
body,  and  tends  to  destroy  the  peace  and  har- 
mony of  the  Church  as  a  kingdom  not  of  this 
world.  This  Pr(>sbytery, therefore,  expresses  its 
firm  determination  not  to  investigate  the  civil 
relations  of  ministers  and  private  Christians  ; 
assured  that  its  jurisdiction  as  a  court  of  Christ's 
Church  is  limited  to  things  spiritual  and  eccle- 
siastical. 

"2d.  That  this  Presbytery  will  neither  accede 
to  nor  enforce  any  new  terms  of  Christiau  or 
ministerial  communion  on  the  subject  of 
slavery;  ncr  will  they  allow  '  cordial  sympathy' 
with  the  Assembly's  action  touching  tnis  matter 
to  control  the  reception  or  good  standing  of 
ministers  and  members." 

The  third  resolution,  after  announcing  that 
the  Presbytery  had  ceased  its  connection  with 
Dr.  Janeway's  Buard  in  the  work  of  Domestic 
Missions,  declares  that  the  action  of  the  Assem- 
bly concerning  this  subject  embraces,  in  our 
opinion,  an  unwarranted  assumption  of  power, 
as  well  as  a  perversion  of  the  objects  of  the 
Church,  claiming  that,  in  addition  to  the  fact 
that  the  qualifications  above  specified  are  thor- 
oughly unscriptural,  this  whole  matter  of  min- 
isterial qualifications  belongs  solely  to  the 
Presbytery." 

Is  there  anythijag  stronger  than  t!iis  in  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  ? 

The  Presbytery  of  Sangamon   (111.),    a    loyal 
.  Presbytery  in  a  loyal  State,  unanimously  adopt- 
ed the  following  resolutions  with  regard  to  the 
Assembly's  acts  of  1S05: 

Eesolved,  That  we,  as  a  Presbytery,  in  the  ex- 
amination of  persons  seeking  admission  to  our 
body,  will  adhere  strictly  to  the  form  specified 
in  our  standards,  believing  that  there  is  noth- 
ing in  the  existing  state  of  affairs  to  justify  us 
in  departing  therefrom,  and  that  we  recommend 
the  pastors  and  sessions  of  the  churches  under 
our  care,  to  stand  in  the  ways,  and  see  and  ask 
for  the  old  paths  where  is  the  good  way,  and 
walk  therein. 

2.  That  we  regard  the  Board  of  Domestic 
Missions  as  the  mere  servant  of  the 
Presbyteries— the  executor  of  the  Presby- 
teries' will — and  we  cannot  consent  that  it 
should  be  clothed  with  power  to  sit  in  Judgment 


upon  a  Presbyterial  r<'Coramendation.  We  can- 
not tami'ly  submit  to  have  this  or  any  other 
Board  thus  set  up  as  lords  over  God's  heritage. 

s.  That  if  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions 
should  presume  to  exercis^e  the  power  thus  un- 
wisely granted,  we  will  feel  ourseivts  called 
upon  to  withhold  our  contributions  from  siid 
Board,  and  to  sei'k  some  other  avenue  of  coa- 
tributing  to  this  most  worthy  cause. 

I'his,  Moderator,  seems  to  me  to  be  right  de- 
cided language  for  a  loyal  Presbyterv,  and 
places  it  in  the  same  condemnation  with  the 
Louisville  Presbytery. 

So,  too,  we  find  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes,  (Md.,) 
which  met  May  S,  lSi')5,  declarinsi'  "that  we  sin- 
cerely deplore  the  action  of  the  General  Assem- 
blies of  our  Church  during  the  past  five  years 
upon  the  political  questions  which  have  con- 
vulsed the  country  with  strite  and  war;  that  in 
our  judgment  such  action  was  not  authorized 
by  the  constitution  of  our  Church.  &c." 

If  time  permitted,  I  would  read  in  your  hear- 
ing the  resoluticms  adopted  by  several  other 
Presbyteries,  and  by  the  Synods  of  New  Jersey, 
Missouri  and  Kentucky.  The  first  of  these  dis- 
sents unanimously  from  the  action  of  the  As- 
sembly mainly  on  constitutional  grounds,  and 
because  it  will  necessarily  aggravate  and  per- 
petuate, instead  of  healing  the  breaches  be 
tween  the  Northern  and  Southern  Church.  The 
Synod  of  Missouri  adopted  by  a  vote  of  three  to 
one  a  paper  which  condemns  the  action  of  ISRS 
in  terms  p,s  emphtitic  and  explicit  as  those 
found  in  the  Declaration  and  Testimony;  and 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  last  fail  passed  a  series 
of  resolutions,  the  first  of  which,  on  a  motion 
to  adopt  the  whole,  received  the  vote  of  Eev.  E.  | 
J.  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  on  a  call  of  the  ayes  and 
noes.  1  will  give  the  resolution  that  the  As- 
sembly may  perceive  the  p.mazing  incon- 
sistency for  those  who  have  dragged  the 
Louisville  Presbytery  to  your  bar  :  "  l  he  acts 
of  the  last  General  Assembly  on  overtures 
>Jos.  6  and  7,  and  resolut^ioa  4,  on  the  report  of 
the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  this  Synod  are  unwise,  as  tending  to 
destroy  the  peace  ard  harmony  of  the  Cluirch, 
and  in  someof  their  provisions  unconstitutional 
and  unscriptural;  and  we  indulge  the  hope 
and  belief  that  the  General  Assembly  in  calmer 
times  will  review  and  correct  thess  Deliver- 
ances." And  yet,  Mr.  Moderator,  these  same 
gentlera^en  have  hurried  the  Louisville  Presby- 
tery before  you,  and  demand  their  instant  ex- 
pulsion from  the  Church  for  saying  precisely 
what  they  have  said,  to-wit:  j'hat  the  action  of 
the  Assembly  was  unwise,  unconstitutional  and 
unscriptural,  and  hence  of  no  binding  force. 
Consisteney  is  indeed  a  jewel,  but  1  ciuinot  find 
it  in  the  prosecution  or  in  the  majority  of  this 
hous^,  if  either  of  the  papers  before  us  is  finally 
passed. 

But  let  me  go  to  older  records  to  show  you 
how  the  Assembly  was  in  the  habit  of  deeding 
with  judicatories  and  ministers  who  defied  its 
authority  and  despised  its  institutions.  It  is 
a  note  .vorthy;  fact,  Mr.  Moderator,  that  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Chillicothe,  which  has  the  honor  of 
having  furnished  this  Assembly  its  presiding; 
oSicer,  refused  to  send  Commissioners  to  the 
General  Assembly  on  account  of  the  exsciudin^ 
acts  of  1S37,  and  afterwards  because  the  Assem-i 
bly  declined  to  make  slavehoiding  a  term  of! 
membership.  It  is  a  noteworth.y  fact  that  the 
same  Presbytery  so  prominently  represented 
here  passed  the  following  resolution:  j 


11^ 


"Eesolved,  That  this  Presbytery  cannot  hold 
fellowship  with  any  Presbytery,  Synod  or  other 
ecclesiastical  body  while  it  tolerates  under  its 
jurisdiction  either  the  sin  of  slaveholding  or 
the  justification  of  the  sin  of  slaveholdintj;  and 
especially  the  justification  otit  by  appeal  to 
the  Scriptures,  which,  in  the  judgment  of  this 
Presbytery,  is  blasphemy  of  Almighty  God,  and 
a  shocking  prostitution  of  His  word." 

I  have  never  heard  that  the  General  Assembly, 
and  particularly  the  gentleman  from  (Jhio  (Mr. 
Thomas)  summoned  the  red-not  thunderbolts  of 
hell  to  smite  the  Presbytery  of  Chillicoihe  for 
pronouncing  the  action  of  our  venerable  Court 
blasphemy  of  Almighty  God,  and  a  shocking 
prostitution  of  His  word  ;  but  then  we  must  re- 
member that  circumstances  alter  cases,  and  it 
is  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  arraigned  here 
for  the  use  of  terms  which  all  uiust  admit  are 
far  less  reprehensible  than  those  employed  and 
never  retracted,  according  to  the  best  of  my 
knowledge  and  belief,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Chil- 
licothe. 

But,  I  find  still  stronger  language,  if  this  were 
possible,  in  regard  to  the  action  of  1S45,  and  1 
comment  it  to  the  attention  of  the  Assembly.  It 
is  extracted  from  the  leading  article  of  the 
Christian  Monthly  Magazine,  Vol.  I..  I\o.  6,  Sept. 
1S45,  and  edited  by  one  Thomas  E.  Thomas,  who 
at  that  time  resided  in  Hamilton,  Ohio.  If  he 
did  not  write  it,  he  iit  least  gave  it  his  hearty 
approval,  and  1  trust  the  brethren  who  are  so 
Sensitive  about  the  dignity  of  the  Assembly  will 
listen  to  it:  "That  homely  maxim — he  that 
steals  will  lie — is  sound  Bible  theology.  The 
amount  of  it  is,  that  the  man  who  willfully  vio- 
lates one  of  God's  commands  will  not  hesitate 
to  defend  himself  by  the  violation  of  some  other 
coihmand ;  and  frequently  he  will  do  it  un 
disturbed  by  the  consciousness  that  he  is  add 
ing  sin  to  sin.  A  richer  document,  in  both 
jproof  and  illustration  of  this,  we  have  rarely 
seen  than  the  report  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
adopted  by  the  last  General  Assembly.  It  clear- 
ly proves  the  declaration  of  the  advocates  of 
universal  liberty  many  years  ago,  that  the 
united  wisdom  of  the  highest  judiciary  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  cannot  defend  slavehold- 
ing or  any  gross  violation  of  God's  law  with  jut 
uttering  nonsense,  or  falsehood,  or  heresy,  or 
blasphemy.  Is  it  true  that  the  highest  court  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  stands  on  the  conces- 
sion that  slaveholders  are  not  to  be  disciplined? 
Our  object  in  this  inquiry  is  not  to  convict  the 
last  Assembly  of  a  breach  of  the  ninth  com- 
mandment. But  we  do  wish  to  expose  a  slan- 
der, *  *  and  to  call  particular  attention  to 
the  falsehood,  absurdity  and  moral  filth,  always 
and  necessarily  embodied  in  an  apology  for  the 
sin  of  slavery,  even  when  it  is  carefully  pre- 
pared by  a  body  composed  of  chosen  delegates 
from  every  section  of  a  large  denomination." 
"  A  little  stealing  makes  a  Presbyterian  a  thief 
—but  stealing  largely  makes  him  a  saint." 

There,  sir,  to  borrow  the  gentleman's  own 
chaste  and  classical  language,  Tet  him  stick  this 
feather  in  the  tail  of  his  judgment  and  appear 
again  on  the  platform  to  the  gaze  of  his  admir- 
ing friends.  This  man  could  call  the  Assembly 
of  1845  a  thief  and  a  liar,  could  charge  it  with 
uttering  nonsense,  falsehood,  heresy  and  blas- 
phemy, could  pronounce  its  actiou'fuU  of  ab- 
surdity and  moral  filth,  and  as  his  reward  is 
exalted  to  be  the  recognized  champion  and 
leader  of  the  Assembly  of  1865,  while  the  Declar- 
ation and  Testimony  party,  for  trying  by  a  firm 
0   S — 16 


but  temperate  course  to  bring  back  the  Church 
to  her  forsaken  and  dishonored  standards,  are 
to  be  driven  from  the  visible  fold  of  Christ. 
Admitting  that  ourprotest  contains  expressions 
offensive  to  the  Assembly,  they  cannot  be  worse 
than  theepithets  just(iuoied,  and  why  this  great 
distinction  between  the  offenders  ? 

"Strange  ajl  this  difference  sliould  be 
'TwixL  tweedieUuni  and  tweedJedee  " 

But  perhaps  the  difference  may  be  accounted 
for  by  a  principle  embodied  in  another  familiar 
compact  which  leads  certain  men  to 

'  •CompoUDd  for  sins  they  are  inclined  to, 
By  daiuiiiug  those  ihey  liave  no  mind  to." 

So  it  may  be  in  this  instance,  and  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville  will  probably  be  stricken 
down  for  doing  precisely  what  others  have  been 
permitted  to  do  with  impunity.  Nay,  to  put  the 
casein  a  still  clearer  light,  they  will  be  sacri- 
ficed for  openly  saying  wnat  others  over  the  en- 
tire land  are  secretly  saying— for  boldly  taking 
the  position  which  others  are  everywhere  clan- 
destinely assuming.  Our  brother  from  Phila- 
delpha(Dr.  Boardman)  pointedly  declared  this 
afternoon,  that  he  did  not  believe  there  were 
five  men  in  the  Assembly  wuo  would  refuse  to 
indorse  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony,  and  is  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  to  be  dissolved  for  expressiug  these 
principles  in  language  that  may  seem  to  some  a 
little  to  strong  J  If  this  is  to  be,  sir,  then  1  am 
free  to  say  that  all  who  signed  the  protest  which 
they  adopted  are  bound  by  the  tender  claims  of 
friendship,  by  the  high  demands  of  honor,  and 
by  the  sacred  obligations  of  duty,  to  fall  with 
them. 

If  this  is  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  "  solid  ma- 
jority of  four  to  one"  iu  the  Assembly,  then, 
in  my  judgment,  the  adoption  of  the  paper  pre- 
sented by  the  committee  will  be  the  wisest 
course  that  can  be  pursued.  Ihis  will  end  the 
conflict  at  once;  but  mark  my  prediction,  the 
acceptance  of  the  amendment  ofiered  by  the 
gentleman  from  Kentucky  (Dr.  Humphrey)  or 
of  the  substitute  offered  by  the  gentleman  from 
Washington  City  (Di-.  Gurley)  will  not  bring 
peace  to  the  agitated  bosom  of  the  Church. 

And  yet,  Mr.  Moderator,  strange  as  it  may  ap- 
pear to  the  Assembly,  peace  is  whut  1  most  ear- 
nestly desire.  To  purchase  that  peace,  although 
the  remark  will  no  doubt  call  forth  another 
sneer,  1  would  cheerfully  otter  myself  a  victim 
to  appease  the  insulted  dignity  of  the  body,  l 
was  taught  at  my  mother's  knee  to  venerate  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
next  to  my  God,  and  it  was  certainly  far  from 
my  design  or  wish  to  use  unbecoming 
and  disrespectful  language  towards  this 
high  Court  of  Jesus  Christ.  Show  us 
that  we  are  in  the  wrong,  and  most 
gladly  and  promptly  will  we  retract  our  Declar- 
ation and  villify  our  Testimonv,  but 
depend  upon  it,  injustice  and  ueedless 
severity  will  not  quiet  the  disturbed 
elements  that  threaten  the  stability 
of  our  Ziou.  We  may  fall,  but  others  will  take 
up  our  cause  and  carry  it  forward  to  victory,  if 
not  speedily,  then  surely  at  the  appearing  of 
our  Lord.  We  bide  our  time,  and  standing  un- 
moved in  the  consciousness  of  right,  are  not 
here  to  ask  for  mercy,  but  to  ask  mat  you,  too, 
may  do  that  which  is  right  iu  view  of  ihe  ac- 
count we  must  all  so  soou  render  in  the  day  of 
judgment. 

Brethren,  in  arriving  at  vour  verdict  concern- 


114 


ing  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  bear  in  mind 
that  1  atn  chiefly  responsible  for  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony.  1  did  not  write  it,  but  I 
inaugurated  the  movement  which  led  to  its 
preparation  and  publication,  and  if,  in  so  do- 
ing, I  have  disturbed  the  peace  or  retarded  the 
prosperity  of  my  beloved  Church,  withhold  not, 
1  pray  you,  the  blow  which  shall  lay  me  pros- 
trate at  your  lect. 

When  I  read  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  of 
1865,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  1  was  obliged 
to  assume  an  attitude  of  resistance  to  the  au- 
thority of  this  venerable  body.  Although  dis- 
satistled  with  the  acts  of  the  four  preceding  As- 
semblies, [  looked  upon  them  as  plague-spots 
that  had  appeared  only  on  the  walls,  and  fondly 
hoped  that  the  dire  infection  would  not  reach 
the  deep  foundations.  But,  sir,  when  the  As- 
sembly of  Pittsburg  had  closed  its  sessions, 
norhiuii  was  left  for  me  to  do,  except  to  with- 
draw from  all  connection  with  our  ecclesiasti- 
cal courts,  or  to  gird  myself  for  the  conflict. 
The  former  course  1  much  preferred,  and  was 
on  the  point  of  pursuing  it  when  letters  began 
to  reach  me  from  various  quarters  urging  co- 
operation lu  the  attempt  to  reclaim  the  Assem- 
bly from  its  wanderings. 

This  attempt,  so  far,  has  signally  failed,  and 
nothing  has  come  of  ic  save  excitement,  wrang- 
ling, ana  in  all  probability  division.  We  made 
the  effort  with  downright  earnestness,  and  per- 
haps with  too  much  rudeness,  but  we  thought 
that  we  were  justiiied  by  the  pressing  necessi- 
ty of  the  case,  and  hence  were  not  over  careful 
lu  the  choice  of  the  means  to  accomplish  our 
ends.  We  might  have  been  mv^re  particular  in 
our  selection  oi  nice  words,  but  we  reaily  felt 
that  there  was  no  time  to  parley  about  deiicate 
shades  of  meaning  and  courtly  phraseology. 

Mr.  Moderator,  while  listening,  just  be- 
fore the  Close  of  the  afternoon  session,  to  the 
earnest  and  eloquent  tones  of  the  brother  from 
Pniladelphia,  (Dr.  Boardman,)my  attention  was 
called  away  by  the  sudden  darkening  of  the 
windows.  1  looked  up  and  saw  a  black  volume 
of  smoke  roll  heavily  toward  the  sky  and  the 
next  moment  heard  the  sharp,  quick  cry  of  fire, 
and  tne  hurried  tramping  ot  feet,  and  the  rat- 
tling of  the  swilt  engines,  as  those  who  are  set 
to  guard  our  city  against  the  destructive  ele- 
ment rushed  forward  to  quench  the  angry  flames, 
ihey  went  hastily,  and,  i  suppose,  rudely,  for 
they  co'.^ld  not  be  very  ceremonious  while  the 
tire  was  dartiuij  its  red  tongue  above  the  roof 
that  sheltered  us.  'thus,  sir,  it  was  with  the 
Declaration    and   Testimony   men.    They  saw 


the  beautiful  temple  in  which  our  fathers 
worshipped  on  fire,  and  with  a  loud  shout 
they  dashed  info  the  midst  of  the  curling 
flames  to  save  our  holy  place  from  utter  de- 
struction. J]ven  granting  that  the  danger  was 
not  so  great  as  they  apprehended,  must  they 
be  deemed  worthy  of  severe  punishment  for  a 
mere  excess  of  zeal  in  a  righteous  cause?  If 
so,  they  will  receive  the  stroke  not  in  anger, 
but  in  unutterable  sadness,  having,  as  their 
last  consolation,  the  sweet  thought  that  Christ 
sits  enthroned  in  undisturbed  composure  above 
all  these  tumultuous  passioiis  of  earth,  and  will 
surely  vindicate  His  faithful  followers  at  Hia 
coming.  What,  meantime,  is  to  be  the  result  of 
all  this  strife,  none  can  predict.  We  only  know 
that  there  is  One  in  heaven  who  will  bring  order 
out  of  confusion,  making  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  Ilim,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  re- 
straining by  His  almighty  hand. 

A  song  which  once  stirred  the  heart  of  a  na- 
tion and  changed  the  destiny  of  an  empire 
owed  its  origin  to  a  storm,  A  poet  went  forth 
to  gaze  upon  the  face  of  nature,  after  a  tempest 
bad  held  high  carnival  in  one  of  her  most  lovely 
retreats,  and  while  musing  upon  the  desolaiioua 
around  him  he  heard  the  bewitching  melody  of 
a  bird  ascending  in  praise  to  God.  The  bird 
sang  s»  gratefully  because  refreshed  by  the 
water  which  it  had  just  been  drinking  from  the 
upturned  cup  of  an  acorn  lying  on  the  ground. 
And  the  acorn  bad  been  dislodged  from  its  lofty 
bough  by  the  violence  of  the  storm  which, 
though  casting  it  down,  also  filled  iis  dissevered 
cup  with  the  rain.  After  all,  then,  the  storm 
gave  to  the  world  a  mighty  and  immortal  song, 
and  1  can  only  pray  that  the  tempest  which  is 
now  beating  upon  our  beloved  Church  may  sug- 
gest truths  to  some  chosen  servant  of  God 
which  will  impart  to  the  anthems  of  the  re- 
deemed who  are  to  come  after  us  a  loftier  and 
sweeter  rapture. 

"  Behold,  We  know  not  aayttjini;, 

I  can  but  trust  that  gowd  shall  fall 

At  last — f.ir  off— at  lasD  to  all 
Auil  every  wiuter  change  to  sprin;;. ' ' 

Mr.  Moderator,  1  thank  you  for  the  courtesy 
which  you  have  shown  during  these  discussions, 
to  me  and  to  the  little  minority  which  1  repre- 
sent. 

Fathers  and  brethren,  I  thank  you  for  the  pa- 
tience and  the  kind  attention  with  which  you 
have  listened  to  one  defending  a  cause  so  un- 
popular. 

May  the  blessing  of  God  rest  upon  this  vener- 
able Assembly. 


115 


THE  BROAD  AND  THE  NARROW  CHURCH. 


A  DISCOURSE  BY  REV.  JAMES  McCOSH,  L.L.D., 
I 

Delivered  before  the  General  Assembly  [Old  School)  Presbyterian  Church,  May  20,  1866. 


Philippians,  iv,  8.—"  Finally,  brethren,  whatso- 
ever thiugs  are  true,  vtbatsoeVL-r  tniags  are  honest, 
■whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  thingB  are 
liur-^,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever 
tluiijs  aif!  Of  good  renort;  If  there  be  aay  virtue, 
unci  ii  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things." 

Fathers,  BRtJTHREN  and  Christian  Friends  : 
Though  I  have  been  deeply  interested  in  the 
struggle  in  which  your  country  has  been  en- 
gaged, and  look  upon  it  as  specially  the  great 
event  in  our  world's  history  in  this  L-entury,  yet 
it  will  not  be  expec  ed  of  a  stranger  who  has 
come  to  seek  for  rather  than  to  give  information 
about  your  national  affairs,  that  he  should  speak 
of  AmWicau  quesdons.  i  believe  that  those 
who  have  done  me  the  honor  and  allowed  me 
the  privilege  of  addressing  this  venerable  As- 
sembly will  be  more  gratified  if  1  give  an  ac- 
count, of  some  of  the  conflicts  of  Great  Britain, 
which,  though  they  have  wot  been  like  yours, 
with  "garments  rolled  in  blood,"  will  notwith- 
standing issue  in  important  practical  re- 
sults—possibly reaching  beyond  my  country  in- 
to yours. 

In  Great  Britain  we  hear  much  about  theBROAD 
Churcu.  It  is  marked  by  certain  features,  so 
that  we  can  distinguish  the  person  who  belongs 
to  it,  whether  he  professes  to  do  so  or  not.  It 
appeared  first  in  one  particular  branch  of  the 
Ohristiau  Church,  out  it  has  spread  over  other 
bodies,  showing  that  there  is  a  pre-disposition 
in  our  time  to  catch  its  peculiar  spirit.  It  is  found 
in  iScotland  as  well  as  England.  As  yet  we  have 
not  much  of  it  in  Ireland,  but  with  the  influence 
exercised  by  thecentraliziug  London  press,  and 
the  close  intercourse  between  the  three  king- 
doms, whatever  prevails  in  the  larger  country 
will  Ije  sure  to  find  its  way  to  the  others.  In 
tuese  circumstances,  thinking  minds  in  every 
land  would  do  well  io  consider  the  principles, 
lemper  and  operations  of  this  iufiueniial,  if  not 
numerous,  religious  party. 

in  looking  to  any  syst^em  recommended  to  our 
tavorable  consideration,  we  should  of  course 
inquire  whether  there  be  any  evil  in  it,  with  the 
view  of  avoiding  it,  but  also  whether  there  be 
any  good  in  it,  in  order  to  accefit  and  adopt  it. 

I  certainly  would  not  reckon  it  an  evil  in  the 
Broad  Church,  were  it  seeking,  as  its  name  might 
seem  to  imply,  to  bring  the  various  sections  of 
the  Church'of  Christ  to  a  clearer  understanding 
and  to  a  closer  union.  One  of  ihe  most  hopeful 
signs  of  our  day  is  the  breathing  on  the  part  of 
so  many  praying  and  loving  Christians  after  a 
more  intimate  communion  among  the  different 


branches  of  the  one  Church.  I  am  convinced,  that 
sooner  or  later,  these  earnest  desires  and  fer- 
vent prayers  will  realize  the  end  they  contem- 
plate, and  be  consummated  in  a  happy,  if  not 
incorporation,  at  least  co-operation,  which  will 
greatly  strengthen  the  cause  of  pure  religion 
by  combining  energies  which  are  at  pi-esent 
scattered,  and  exhibiting  before  the  world  the 
visible  unity  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  But  I 
am  not  aware  that  the  Broad  Church  is  spe  ;ial- 
ly  striving  after  a  union  of  the  evangelical 
churches  in  the  three  kingdoms,  on  the  contin- 
ent of  Europe,  in  America,  or  throughout  the 
world.  I  rather  think,  that  in  this  respect,  it  is 
a  Narrow  Church,  aiming  to  combine  only  those 
who  have  imbibed  its  peculiar  spirit;  rejecting 
what  may  seem  to  the  Greeks  as  "foolishness;" 
relishing  only  what  is  elegant  or  academic ; 
having  little  or  no  sympathy  with  the  less  refi- 
ned, though  it  may  be  more  zealous  bodies 
whose  speech  "bewrayeth"them  as  showing  that 
they  come  from  the  provincial  Galilee,  and  are 
not  natives  of  the  churchly  Judea. 

But  a  heavier  charge  can  be  brought  against 
this  new  system,  or  rather  spirit.  Its  avowed 
aim  is  to  blunt  the  sharpness  of  some  of  the 
doctrines  and  precepts  proclaimed  in  the 
Churches  of  the  three  kingdoms.  But  in  carry- 
ing out_  its  purposes,  it  has  deprived  these  of 
their  point  and  edge,  so  that  they  are  no  longer 
"quick  and  powerful  and  sharper  than  any  two- 
edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  the  soul  and  spirit." 

As  to  the  Bible  itself,  its  language  is  always 
hesitating,  often  doubtful.  It  acknowledges 
that  the  Bible  is  in  some  sense  the  word  of  God, 
but  it  does  not  profess  to  yield  obedience  to  it 
as  a  rule  of  faith  and  morals  ;  it  would  receive 
only  so  much  as  is  verified  by  reason  and  hu- 
man sentiment,  and  if  it  does  not  reject, 
it  at  _  least  sets  aside,  or  overlooks  other 
doctrines  or  precepts.  It  is  to  be  admit- 
ted in  its  behalf,  that  it  allots  a  high  place  to 
certain  truths  of  Scripture.  It  delights  to  exhi- 
bit the  purity,  the  elevation,  and  the  love  of  the 
Divine  Being.  It  acknowledges  fully  the  Deity 
of  Jesus  Christ, — though  sometimes  it  seems  to 
found  it  on  doubtful  philosophical  speculations, 
rather  than  on  the  written  word— and  it  dwells 
with  rapture  on  the  lovelier  teatures  of  his  cha- 
racter. But  on  the  other  hand  it  seeks  to  lower 
and  to  modify  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  made 
by  Jesus  Christ  for  transgression.  Indeed  the 
view  which  it  accepts  and  presents  of  sin  seems 


116 


to  me  to  be  superficial  in  the  extreme.  Acknow- 
iedping  it  to  be  unlovely,  it  does  not  contem- 
jjjate  its  exceeding  sinfulness,  as  a  violation  of 
that  lawot  God.  which  is  holy,  just,  and  good. 
Ihe  consequence  is  that  it  scarcely  sees  ibe 
need  of  au  atonement,  and  it  does  not  appre- 
ciate tbe  depth  of  meaning  in  the  Old  Testament 
sacrifices,  and  in  the  strong  language  of  the 
J\ew  lestameiit,  as  to  Jesus  suffering  in  our 
room  and  stead.  We  have  here  a  doctrine  im- 
bedded both  in  the  old  dispensation  and  in  the 
new.  It  may  at  times  have  been  put  in  au  of- 
leusive  form,  by  vulgar  minds.  The  transaction 
has  been  represented  as  a  commercial  one.  in 
which  the  Father  exacts  a  payment  in  a  forbid- 
dingly rigid  manner,  and  the  Son,  of  a  gentler 
nature,  gives  the  exacted  payment ;  whereas  it 
is  a  aeed  of  love  throughout,  of  love  on  the  part 
of  the  Father  and  the  Spirit,  as  well  as  the  Son  ; 
the  whole  oiiginating  in  the  love  of  Father,  Son 
and  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Father  giving  the  high- 
est proof  of  his  regard  in  giving  the  Son  freely 
to  the  death,  and  the  Spirit  consenting  to  enter 
these  polluted  hearts  of  ours.  But  the  gross  re- 
presentations often  given  must  not  tempt  us  to 
set  aside  or  in  any  way  to  change  the  all  impor- 
tant truth,  that  it  is  through  the  propitiation 
made  ibr  our  sins  by  One  who  suffered  what  we 
should  have  endured,  that  we  have  liberty 
of  access  to  God,  and  receive  pardon  and 
peace  and  grace,  and  an  answer  to  our  prayers, 
and  a  raeetuess  for  glory.  The  preachers  to 
whom  1  refer  are  all  right  in  representing  the 
gift  of  Christ  as  an  evidenceof  love,  of  supreme, 
unmatched,  unspeakable  love,  but  then,  why 
did  this  love  require  one  of  the  persons  of  the 
ever  existing  and  everblessed  Godhead,  to 
bear  such  sorrow,  shame  and  suS'ering,  includ- 
ing a  hiding  of  God's  countenance  and  an  aw- 
ful forsaking  on  the  part  of  the  Father  towards 
his  own  Son  i  We  cannot  understand  this  un- 
less we  realize  the  full  meaning  of  the  declara- 
tions of  Scripture— "who  his  own  self  bare  our 
sins  in  his  own  body  in  the  tree  ;" — "for  Christ 
also  hath  once  suftered  for  our  sins,  the  just  for 
the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God." 
This  doctrine  is  not,  as  has  often  been  saidi  a 
speculation  of  Anselm  (who  has  undoubtedly 
given  a  beautiful  exposition  of  it)  bui  uas  a 
place  in  tbe  Church  of  God,  since  Abel  of- 
fered in  sacrifice  in  type  of  the  coming  Lamb  of 
God.  This  doctrine,  though  it  is  to  be  accepted 
on  the  authority  of  Scripture,  had  all  along  had 
a  response,  as  our  great  ethical  writers  have 
shown,  in  the  natural  conscience,  which  declares 
ihat.  sin  is  of  evil  desert  and  demands  pun- 
ishment, and  is  pacified  only  when  it  hears  of 
Ilim  who  "was  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 
who  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities."  This  as- 
pect has  drawn  the  eyes  of  thousands  toward 
the  Cross  in  all  ages  and  should  never  be  con- 
cealed or  disguised. 

The  Broad  Church  acknowledges  the  existence 
and  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  making 
him  work  everywhere,  in  the  heavens  and  in 
the  earth,  producing  all  that  is  grand,  ail  that 
is  lovely  in  inanimate  nature,  and  in  human 
character.  In  this  respect,  it  has  the  advantage 
of  certain  sects  of  Christianity  which  have  nar- 
rowed the  work  of  this  blessed  Agent,  the  Beau- 
tifier,  the  Purifier,  the  Comforter,  so  as  to  make 
Him  the  author  of  mere  ecstatic  impulse,  and 
shrieking  terrors,  and  depressing  fears,  which 
can  serve  no  good  purpose  except  as  a  mean  to 
a  higlier  end,  a  mean  of  rousing  us  from  our 
complacency,  and  making   us  seek  something 


higher.  But  on  the  other  hand,  those  to  whom 
1  refer  do  not  sufficiently  perceive  and  avow 
that  beside  what  our  old  divines  called  the 
common  operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  all 
things,  and  on  all  men,  there  is  need  of  a  special 
work  to  awaken  the  sinner  from  his  habitual 
lethargy,  to  convince  him  of  sin,  and  to  pro- 
duce a  radical  change  in  the  heart,  so  as  to 
bring  it  out  of  a  state  of  alienation  into  a  state 
of  reconciliation,  out  of  a  state  of  darkness  into 
a  state  of  marvellous  light. 

In  regard  to  the  precepts  of  the  Divine  Word, 
the  tendency  of  the  system  is  to  soften  what- 
ever may^eem  harsh  and  unpleasant.  It  would 
not  do  away  with  the  Sabbath,  but  it  would  les- 
sen some  of  its  obligations,  and  lower  its  pecu- 
liar sacredness.  Kow  it  may  be  that  in  former 
times,  and  even  by  some  few  in  these  times,  the 
Sabbath  has  been  imposed  and  observed  in  a 
Pharisaic  temper  and  spirit,  and  made  a  day  of 
oppressive  formal  ceremonies  instead  of  a  day 
of  rest  and  cheerful  service — a  day  of  gloom 
when  it  was  meant  to  be  a  day  of  liveliness  and 
holy  joy.  But  on  the  other  hand,  it  should  ever 
be  resolutely  maintained  that  the  Sabbath  ia 
sanctioned  in  the  law  of  God  ;  that  it  has  a 
place  among  the  ten  moral  commandments;  and 
that  if  we  give  up  its  divine  obligations  or 
detract  from  its  sacredness,  we  shall  have  a 
greater  difliculty  in  preserving  its  acknowledged 
advantages;  and  if  we  begin  to  turn  it  into  a 
day  of  amusement  we  are  losing  sight  of  iia 
original  and  holy  intention  ;  and  the  working 
classes  will  find  in  giving  up  the  ground  of 
principle  that  they  have  an  ever  increasing  dif- 
ficulty in  defending  it  even  as  a  day  of  rest 
against  the  encroachments  of  avaricious  mas- 
ters. 

The  system  does  not  require  nor  recommend 
any  of  those  graces  and  virtues  which  imply 
self-denial  or  self-sacrifice,  such  as  parting  with 
all  for  Christ's  sake,  parting  with  self  and  self- 
righteousness.  It  would  endeavor  so  to  dress 
up  religion  as  to  remo  ''e  the  offence  of  the  cross. 
Bat  the  attempt  is  vain,  and  must  ever  termi- 
nate in  open  failure.  Ko  doubt,  when  there  is 
so  much  in  our  hearts  and  in  the  world  to  oppose 
spiritual  religion  we  are  not  to  add  to  all  this 
i  by  raising  up  further  offences.  But  as  long  as 
j  our  nature  is  what  it  is,  and  our  religion  is 
;  what  it  is,  as  long  as  there  is  a  carnal  nature  to 
[  resist  the  entrance  of  a  purifying  spirit,  we  can 
never  do  away  with  the  offence  of  the  cross, 
I  Sin  has  polluted  our  souls,  and  the  defilement 
'  cannot  be  covered  except  by  blood.  And  that 
blood  spot  must  remain  to  remind  us  of  our  sin 
and  the  way  of  salvation.  In  theOld  Testament 
almost  all  things  were  purified  by  blood,  to 
remind  the  worshippers  that  "without  shed- 
ding of  blood  there  is  no  remission." 
In  the  New  Testament,  the  grand  object  pre- 
sented is  Jesus  Christ  suspended  on  the  cross. 
It  is  never  to  be  forgotten  that  we  are  followers 
of  a  crucified  redeemer,  and  that  if  any  man 
would  follow  Christ,  he  must  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  him.  In  heaven  itself  the  saint  be- 
holds a  "lamb  as  it  had  been  slain"  in  the  very 
midst  of  the  throne  of  God.  With  such  a  view 
before  him,  no  sinner  need  despair,  for  that  lamb 
was  slain  for  sinners  ;  and  with  such  a  view  no 
saint  dare  be  proud  or  presumptuous,  for  it  is 
through  the  sufferings  of  that  Lamb  of  God  thai; 
the  saint  has  attained  his  privileges.  The  ob- 
ject is  represented  as  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
throne  of  God,  that  man  may  never  look  up  to 
heaven  without  seeing  it ;  and  that  the  saint  on 


117 


earth  may  join  the  saint  in  heaven,  in  ascribing 
the  glory  of  their  salvation  to  Him  that  sitteth 
on  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain. 
Opposed  to  the  Broad  Church  is  what  we 
may  call  the  Narrow  Church.  'J'hese  two  repel 
,  each  other,  and  each  drives  the  other  away 
farther  trom  the  centre.  The  Broad  Church  be- 
comes broader  and  lighter  as  it  is  blown  away 
from  the  Narrow  Church,  and  the  Narrow  Church 
becomes  more  shrunk  and  shrivelled  out  of  a 
terror  of  being  cauo;bt  in  the  folds  of  the  Broad 
Church.  The  fault  of  the  Narrow  Church  consists 
essentially  in  its  being  incapable  of  compre- 
I  bending  the  great  breadth,  or  appreciating  the 
!  full  love  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  This 
may  sometimes  arise  merely  from  its  partizans 
having  received  little  or  no  liberal  education 
to  expand  their  minds;  and  at  other  times  from 
their  being  beset  with  a  narrowness  of  intellect; 
in  such  cases  we  can  excuse  the  persons  — un- 
less, indeed,  they  become  what  they  are  often 
tempted  to  do,  censorious  of  others  who  can 
take  a  wider  and  a  more  loving  view  than  they. 
But  it  springs  most  commonly  not  from  mere 
unfavorable  circumstances,  or  a  defect  o?  na- 
tural gift,  but  from  the  culpable  narrowness  of 
i     heart,  which  will  not  allow  itself  to  be  enlarged 

by  ihe  full  influence  of  christian  love. 
j  It  may  display  itself  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
I  First,  so  far  as  tht;  Scrintures  are  concerned,  it 
i  may  look  upon  them  as  a  mere  charm.  I  knew 
'  a  person  who  was  required  by  her  office  to  en- 
gage in  what  she  believed  to  be  sinful  work  ; 
but  in  order,  as  she  told  me,  to  ward  ofi'  the  dis- 
pleasure of  God,  she  always  carried  a  Bible  with 
her  when  so  employed  ;  as  if  the  Bible  she  car- 
ried had  not  condemned  her.  There  are  some 
who  would  not  go  so  far  as  this,  who  yet  look 
upon  the  Bible  as  having  some  virtue  to  do 
them  good,  apart  altogether  from  their  catching 
the  spirit  of  its  truths.  There  are  some,  I  fear 
who  read  their  passage  of  a  morning  merely  as 
a  perfunctory  duty,  but  who  never  think  of  do- 
ing with  it,  as  they  do  with  their  breakfast, 
that  is  feeding  upon  it  and  digesting  it  for  nour- 
ishment. We  have  been  accused  of  worship- 
ping the  Bible;  but  we  worship  not  the  Bible, 
but  the  God  who  has  revealed  himself  in  the 
Bible. 

There  are  some  who  expect  from  the  Bible 
what  it  does  not  profess  to  furnish.  I  suppose 
there  is  no  one  who  expects  the  iScripi-ures  to 
teach  men  their  trades  or  professions.  They 
convey  a  far  more  important  and  at  the  same 
time  difficult  lesson.  They  show  us  the  temper 
in  which  we  should  engage  in  our  daily  toil,  a 
spirit  of  endurance,  a  spirit  of  thankfulness,  a 
spirit  of  cheerfulness.  TLey  show  us  how  to 
buy  and  sell  and  get  gain,  and  suffer  loss  ;  not 
with  the  mere  design  of  promoting  our  personal 
and  family  aggrandizement,  but  in  order  there- 
by to  promote  the  glory  of  God  and  do  good. 
But  just  as  the  Bible  does  not  instruct  us  in  the 
outward  offices  of  the  business  of  life,  which  we 
may  learn  otherwise  by  the  faculties  which 
Goa  has  given  us,  so  there  are  other  branches  of 
knowledge  which  it  does  not  profess  to  teach 
I  us,  such  as  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  the  gener- 
1  al  history  of  nations,  which  are  to  be 
]  learned  in  the  proper  exercise  of  our  natural 
powers,  and  by  observation  and  industry.  It 
has  indeed  a  special  lesson  to  give  in  regard  to 
such  pursuits  ;  but  it  Is  to  conduct  them  in  a 
j  truth-loving  spirit,  accepting  the  facts  whatever 
they  are,  and  in  a  devout  temper,  giving  to  God 
the  glory  of  his  works. 
Science  must  be  allowed  to  Drosecute  its  own 


ends,  that  is  the  discovery  of  the  laws  according 
to  which  God  carries  on  his  works,  in  its  own 
way — that  is  by  observation  and  experiment. 
When  it  does  so,  it  can  discover  nothing  but 
truth,  and  the  truth  will  always  glorify  God. 
True,  there  will  be  professedly  scientific  men 
rising  up  from  time  to  time,  who  will  inflate 
their  theories  far  beyond  their  facts  ;  these  must 
be  met,  not  by  religious  denunciations,  but  by 
a  better,  that  is  a  more  accurate  science.  What 
a  host  of  rash  speculations  as  to  the  origin  of 
new  species  of  plants  and  animals  h■^.ve  been 
put  to  flight  by  the  extensive  and  careful  obser- 
vations wf  M.  Pasteur,  of  Paris.  It  is  now  ad- 
mitted on  all  hands  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
in  the  present  operations  of  nature  as  spontan- 
eous generation,  that  is  the  generation  of  ani- 
mate beings  out  of  inanimate.  But  then  it  was 
maintained  by  some  who  pleaded  observation 
in  their  favor,  that  out  uf  putrescent  matter  of 
our  pools,  filled  with  decayed  organic  matter, 
you  could  produce  animals  or  plants  without  a 
seed  or  germ  or  a  parent  after  their  kind.  But 
it  has  been  shown  within  the  last  year  or  two, 
by  the  great  naturalist  whom  1  havenamed,  that 
it  you  allow  him  to  take  the  proper  steps  for 
securing  that  there  be  no  germs,  or  to  destroy 
them  if  they  exist,  no  living  creature  will  ap- 
pear. I  adduce  this  as  an  example  of  the  way 
in  which  science,  proceeding  on  a  sure  method, 
ever  rectifies  its  own  errors,  or  rather  the  er- 
rors of  its  adherents.  !?ome  of  its  truths  may 
seem,  at  first  sight,  opposed  to  the  Scriptures, 
but  in  the  end  it  will  turn  out  that  we  have 
misread  the  Word  or  misread  the  facts.  There 
may  be  times  when  it  is  impossible  to  effect  a 
reconciliation;  but  then  it  is  equally  true,  that 
there  are  times  when  one  part  of  true  science 
cannot  be  reconciled  with  another.  The  Church 
of  Pome  thought  that  the  doctrine  of  Galileo  as 
to  the  earth's  moving,  endangered  the  authority 
of  revelation  ;  but  every  one  is  n  .w  couvi.-iced 
that  this  truth,  while  it  has  widened  our  views 
of  God's  works,  has  lefc  the  word  of  God  where 
it  found  it.  So  will  it  be,  1  venture  to  say, 
with  those  geological  discoveries  which  are  a- 
larming  timid  believers,  and  are  acclaimed  with 
shouts  of  triumph  by  infidels.  There  are  points 
of  difficulty  in  Scripture,  on  which^science  has 
thrown  some  light.  It  used  to  be  an  objection 
to  the  record  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis, 
that  it  represented  light  as  being  created  at  an 
early  date  before  there  were  days ;  and  the  sua 
and  moon  as  being  created  on  the  fourth  day. 
What  can  be  more  absurd,  it  was  urged,  than  to 
make  light,  and  even  day  and  nigh^  before  the 
appearance  of  sun  or  moon.  But  now  we  find 
Sir  John  Herschell  declaring  that  light  is  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  essential  nature  of 
matter.  It  now  appears  too,  according  to  the 
highest  scientific  authorities  oa  this  particular 
subject,  that  our  earth  must  have  had  days  and 
nights,  and  been  covered  with  plants  and  sup- 
plied with  heat  before  our  sun  existed  in  his 
present  state  or  fulfilled  his  present  func- 
tions. In  adducing  this  case,  I  do  by  no 
means  assert  that  this  reconciliation  may 
be  the  ultimate  one.  1  advance  it  as  a  possible 
one,  and  as  showing  how  difficulties  which  at 
first  seem  fisrmidable,  may  be  removed  by  the 
progress  of  knowledge.  In  some  points  we  see  a 
curious  correspondence  between  the  first  book 
of  Genesis  and  geology.  They  agree  in  this  that 
God  did  not  fashion  the  earth,  as  it  now  exists, 
at  once,  and  that  there  were  stages  in  the  Di- 
vine workmanship.  They  both  tell  us  that  there 
was  an  orderly  progression  from  the  lower  to  the 


118 


higher,  from  the  inanimate  to  the  anima+e,  from 
the  plant  tu  the  animal,  from  the  inferior  ani- 
mal to  the  superior.    Both  agree  in  this  thut 
man  appeared  on  the  Earth  only  at  a  compara- 
tively Idte  period.    So  far  the  two  corre'^pond, 
and  we  are  encouraged  to  cherish  the  hope  that 
when  the  truths  of  science  are  finally  adjusted 
|l        — which  they  are  far  from  being  at  this  present 
1.1^       time— they  may  help  us  to  understand  that  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  more  clearly  than  the*iarrow 
theologians  of  former  times  did,  when  they  pre- 
maturely drew  from  it  a  complete  cosmogony. 
|;i  To  turn    to   a  different  topic.    That  man  be- 

I'  longs  to  the  Narrow  Church,  and  deserves  to  be 
called  an  exclusive  churchman  to  whatever  sect 
he  may  be  attacbod,  wbo  looks  upon  the  Cburch 
as  consisting  only  of  those  who  bear  office  in 
it,  such  as  ministers  and  presbyters,  members 
of  ecclesiasti en  1  courts,  ministers,  elders  and 
deacons.  The  Church  invisible  consists  of  all 
wbo  believe  in  Christ  and  are  united  to  him. 
The_  Cbnrch  visible  consists  of  all  who  profess 
their  faith  in  Christ  and  live  consistently  with 
their  professions,  in  the  use  of  the  sacraments 
andtheother  orainances  of  Go(l"s  appointment. 
All  of  these  have  high  privileges  secured  to 
ihem,  and  have  important  duties  to  discharge. 
It  ceit  linly  doss  not  prove  any  one  to  belong  ro 
the  Narrow  Church  {but  he  loves  hisownVle- 
nominafion.  that  he  strives  to  advance  its  in- 
terests by  his  own  contributions,  his  exertions 
and  his  prayers,  and  to  have  its  sphere  of  infla- 
ence  widened  for  gjod.  But  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Narrow  Church,  with  whatever  seer,  large 
or  smali,  he  may  be  connected,  when  he  looks 
on  his  own  denomination  as  constituting  the 
Church  of  God  ;  when  he  unchurches  all  other 
churches  ;  nnj,  when  he  refuses  to  acknowledge 
that  there  are  othersheep  whoare  not  of  his  fold; 
when  he  shuts  himself  up  within  the  narrow 
precincts  of  his  own  communion  and  declines 
to  look  on  the  things  of  others  to  see  if  there  be 
anything  good  or  imitable  in  them;  when  he 
prays  for  no  other  body  of  Christi;ins  than  his 
own  ;  nay,  when  he  neglects  to  read  about  the 
misssionary  exertions  at  home  and  abroad,  of 
oiher  religious  organizations  seeking  to  Chris- 
tianize the  world.  'I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church'  in  a  nobler  sense  than  the  ad 
hereuts  of  the  Church  of  Eome  do.  '1  believe  in 
the  commuuioti  of  saints,'  in  the  universal 
communion  of  saints  on  earth,  as  well  as  of 
sain:;s  in  heaven.  A  Christian  cut  off  from  the 
communion  (I  mean  here  outward  comraunioa) 
of  the  Church  is  not,  as  every  one  knows,  in 
a  favorable  position  for  advancing  in  the  Chris- 
tian life,  for  growing  in  love.  I  believe  that  in 
like  manner,  a  Church  cut  off  from  the  commu- 
nion of  the  Churches  of  Christ,  is  in  an  equally 
unfavorable  position.  It  is  like  a  pool  cut  oif 
from  Jiving  strparas;  apt  to  become  dead  and 
stagnant,  mantled  all  over  with  green  envy  and 
black  prejudice.  The  Christian  Church,  like  the 
Christian  man,  should  be  like  a  lake  receiving 
fresh  streams  from  above,  and  giving  them  out 
from  beneath,  to  mingle  with  other  streams  and 
to  foster  fertility  as  they  flow  far  and  wide. 

Ihere  is  a  narrowness  and  apartiality  exhib- 
ited by  many  in  the  manner  iu  which  they  treat 
the  truths  revealed  in  the  Word.  !;ome  seize 
on  a  clause  of  Scripture,  and  without  viewing 
it  iu  its  connections,  or  comparing  it  with  other 
jiarts,  they  hasten  to  apply  it  to  their  immedi- 
ate purpose.  1  need  scarcely  refer  to  those  who 
accept  a  part  of  what  is  revealed,  and  decline 
the  rest.    Thus  there  are  some  who  will  attend 


to  nothing  but  the  precepts  of  the  Word.  They 
relish,  they  say,  the  high  moraliry  of  the  Bible, 
especially  of  the  New  I'estament,  and  they  often 
quote  its  wise  maxims,  and  iis  elevated  senti- 
ments. But  1  ask  such,  have  you  kept  these 
precepts  which  you  profess  so  to  admire?  If 
tbey  acknowledge  thai  theyhavenot,  which  they 
will  at  once  do,  if  they  at  ail  deal  faithfully 
with  themselves,  then  1  ask  how  pardon  and 
peace  are  to  be  had  except  in  the  blood  ot 
atonement,  which  is  revealei  as  one  of  the  doc- 
trines of  tlie  Word  ?  1  ask  them  farther,  what 
hope  have  tuey  of  being  able  to  keep  that  law  of 
God  in  time  to  come?  Ihrough  their  own 
strength  or  how  ?  The  answer  to  this,  if  they 
give  it  honestly,  will  be  that  this  can  be  secured 
only  in  one  way,  the  way  pointed  out  in  the 
doctrines  of  God's  Word,  that  is  by  the  washing 
of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the  'Holy 
Ghost. 

Again,  there  are  some  who  fondly  fix 
on  a  few  favorite  doctrines,  ana  pay 
no  regard  to  _  any  others.  PerhajjS 
these  doctrines  are  in  themselves  all  important 
such  as  the  depravity_  of  man,  justification  by 
faiih,  and  the  necessity  of  conversion.  These 
certainly  are  about  the  most  momentous  truths 
contained  in  God's  word.  fJe  who  abandons 
them  will  find  that  he  has  left  ano'her  gospel 
which  is  not  the  Gospel.  But  there  are  other 
truths  besides^  these  to  be  attended  to,  and  to  be 
received  iu  fcdth.  Otherwise  what  can  we  make 
of  large  portions  of  Scripture  ?  Of  those,  for  in- 
stance, which  speak  of  the  works  of  God  and 
call  on  us  to  admire  them?  Of  those  which  il- 
lustrate Divine  providence  by  the  history  of 
God's  dealings  towards  his  ancient  Church? 
If  w^fail  to  catch  the  lesson  which  these  n>irra'}, 
fives,  and  which  the  songs  and  parables  teach  us,' 
the  loss  will  assuredly  be  ours.  For  "all  Scrip- 
ture is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profi- 
table for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the  man 
of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  un- 
to all  works." 

At  the  other  extreme  there  are  those  who 
value  doctrine  and  nothing  else,  and  very  much 
overlook  the  precepts,  or  at  least  ci^rtain  of  the 
precepts.  I  ask  these  persons  how  they  account 
for  the  important  place  allotted  the  ten  com- 
mandments in  the  Books  of  Moses,  and  the  con- 
tinually increasing  prominence  given  to  moral 
precepts  in  the  writings  of  the  prophets  ?  1  ask 
them  what  they  make  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  the  longest  recorded  discourse  of  our 
Lord,  or  those  earnest  injunctions  to  duly  en- 
joined by  the  Apostles  in  all  their  epistles"^? 

Let  us  look  for  a  minute  or  two  at  the  stars 
in  that  constellation  of  graces,  recommended  in 
the  passage  I  have  chosen  as  a  tyxt.  "'VV^hatso- 
ever  things  are  true":  where  we  have  a  truth- 
sesking,  truth-loving,  truth-comessing  and 
truth-speaking  spirit  enjoined.  "Whaisoever 
things  are  honest":  meaning  that  which  is  worthy 
of  esteem  and  veneration  by  God  and  by  man. 
''Whatsoever  things  are  just":  referring  to 
transactions  between  man  and  man.  "Whatso- 
ever things  are  pure":  as  opposed  to  unchastity 
of  every  kind.  "Whatsoever  things  ai-e  lovely": 
that  is,  worthy  of  love,  fitted  to  call  forth  love. 
Alas,  that  there  should  be  professing  Christians, 
that  mere  should  be  real  Christians,  who  do  not 
seem  lovely.  There  can  indeed  be  no  Christian 
without  love,  love  to  God,  and  love  to  man  ;  but, 
alas,  there  are  Christians  who  are  without  those 
amiabilities   in  temper,  in  conversation  and  in 


il9 


act  which  are  fitted  to  diffuse  happiness,  and  to 
draw  the  affections  of  others  toward  u?.  "What- 
soever things  are  of  good  report":  by  which  is 
not  meant  that  we  should  do  whatever  is  fa- 
vored and  reeonimeuded  by  the  world,  but  we 
are  to  cultivate  whatever  is  deservedly  well  re- 
ported of.  "If  there  be  any  virtue."  The  word 
virtue  occurs  only  three  times  in  Scripture.  It  is 
rather  a  heathen  phrase,  but  it  is  baptised  in- 
to Christ,  and  thus  made  pure,  denoting  what- 
ever is  worthy  of  moral  approval  and  commen- 
dation. "Jf  there  be  any  praise":  that  is,  de- 
serving of  praise.  Combining  these  ia  oue,  we 
see  how  rich  the  cluster,  how  fitted  to  attract 
the  eye.  We  see  how  best  the  Christian  may  re- 
commend religion  to  those  around  him.  He 
who  gives  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  a  fellow  disci- 
ple, is  exercising  a  virtue  and  will  by  no  means 
Jose  his  reward.  He  who  from  the  heart  otters 
a  genuine  word  of  sympathy  to  oue  who  suffers, 
to  one  who  sorrows,  is  doing  that  which  is  love- 
ly. He  who  in  all  humility,  as  knowing  that  he 
himself  is  a  sinner,  is  striving  to  restrain  pre- 
vailing vices,  or  to  make  the  world,  or  that,  it 
may  be,  small  portion  of  it  with  which  he  is  coa- 
nectetl ,  better  than  he  found  it,  is  fulfilling  these 
injunctions,  and  if  he  does  secure  the  favor  of 
men  he  at  least  deserves  it.  He  who  acts  faith- 
fully and  benevolently  as  am-ister  orasamagis- 
trate,  is  falling  in  with  the  spirit  of  these  pre- 
cepts, provided  in  doing  so  he  is  swayed  b>  love 
to  min  and  love  to  God.  He  who  favors  and 
supports  a  good  society  as  a  good  institution, 
fitted  to  advance  Christianity  or  to  relieve  suf- 
fering, and  spread  happiness,  or  to  elevate  the 
morals,  or  tne  very  intelligence  and  tastes  of 
the  csmmunity,  is  doing  that  which  is  worfhy 
of  praises.  We  see  how  extensive  and  varied 
the  means  by  which  Christians  may  adorn  and 
recommend  the  doctrine  of  God  our  iSavior. 

Such  graces  and  virtues  as  these  are  gems 
worn  by  the  Christian,  more  precious  and  more 
dazzling  than  the  stones  on  the  breastplate  of 
the  high  priest,  and  by  their  beauty  and  bril- 
liancy they  draw  towards  him  the  eyes  of  others. 
It  is  the  prominence  given  by  the  isroad  Church 
to  such  precepts  which  constitutes  its  only  ex- 
cellence. It  is  the  neglect  of  them  by  the  JN^ar- 
row  Church  which  constitutes  its  weakness ;  in 
attending  very  possibly  to  small  matters  of 
form  as  insignificant  as  the  payment  of  tythe, 
anise  and  cummin,  they  "have  omitted  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy 
and  faith.''  it  is  no  reason  for  neglecting  these 
excellencies  that  heathens  have  so  far  exbibited 
them  and  that  some  of  them  may  be  practiced 
by  persons  who  make  no  special  profession  of 
religion.  On  the  contrary,  this  is  rather  a  rea- 
son why  Christians  should  pay  a  special  regard 
to  them,  that  the  men  of  the  world  will  not  re- 
spect our  religion  unless  we  present  it  to  them 
with  this  oruament.  In  respect  of  the  virtues 
which  the  world  respects,  the  Christian  should 
see  that  he  is  at  least  equal  to  them.  If  we  neg- 
lect them  it  is  certain  that  the  men  of  the  world 
will  some  time  or  other  turn  round  upon  us,  as 
the  heathen  King  of  Egypt  did  upon  Abraham, 
and  rebuke  us  for  our  inconsistencies.  Nay, 
the  very  heathen  at  the  day  of  judgment  may 
rise  up  against  us  and  say,  '"Were  not  we  when 
on  earth  better  than  you  with  all  your  know- 
ledge, and  all  your  privileges  and  vour  profes- 
sion?" 

It  has  been  felt  by  many  that  there  is  a  cour- 
age, an  openness,  aud  a  manliness  possessed  or 
valued  by  other  bodies  of  Christians,  but  not 


practiced  or  valued  in  the  Evangelical  Churches 
of  a  certain  type.  I  believe  it  is  a  duty  we  owe 
to  God  to  cultivate  as  far  as  our  i)osition  ad- 
mits, every  natural  gift  wit:ti  which  God  has  en- 
dowed us.  I  do  not  like  the  phrase  •'  muscular 
Christianity";  (I  find  Professor  Kingsley  dis- 
owns it;)  but  1  have  no  o'ljecrion  to  the  com- 
mendation of  muscular  exercise,  provided 
the  end  be,  not  to  expend  a  useless  en- 
ergy on  levity,  or  worldly  amusements,  but 
to  strengthen  the  body  to  make  it  the  fit  mio- 
ister  of  the  active  soul.  I  know  that  "  bod- 
ily exercise  prohteth  little"  in  the  worship 
of  God,  but  it  may  profit  much  in  promoting  the 
heal  I  h  of  that  bodily  frame  which  (jod  has  given 
us,  in  keeping  it  from  falling  under  the  influ- 
ence of  sour  and  depressing  humors,  and  secur- 
ing that  we  have  mens  sana  in  corpore  sano. 

These  graces  and  virtues  constituie  the 
flowers  aud  the  fruit  of  the  Christian 
character.  A  professing  Ctiristian  without 
them  is  like  a  plant  that  never  yields 
a  blossom,  that  never  comes  to  the  seed 
to  germinate  other  life;  that  is  he  is  an  abortion, 
he  has  failed  of  the  very  end  of  his  lite.  Some 
theologians  recommend  these  graces  as  beiog 
simply  a  manifestation  or  exhibition  (as  they 
call  ii)  of  Christian  faiih.  But  this  is  a  low  and 
altogether  an  inadequate  view.  I  hey  are  to  be 
cultivated  not  as  a  mere  exhibition  and  proof 
of  somethintr  else,  but  as  in  themselves  excel- 
lent and  worthy,  as  being  in  fact,  at  least  some 
of  them,  among  the  highest  perfections  ©f 
the  Christian  character.  What  is  it  thai 
makes  Jesus  Christ  so  dear  to  the  believ- 
er, which  so  wins  our  hearts  and  draws 
our  regard  towards  him?  Is  it  not  the 
possession  of  these  and  such  like  qualities  ? 
This  it  is  that  raises  him  so  much  above  our 
world,  which  makes  us  feel  that  he  has  come 
down  from  a  higher  region,  that  he  walks  our 
earth  with  the  halo  of  a  heavenly  radiance.  And 
is  not  the  highest  glory  of  the  Christian,  not 
simply  that  he  believes  on  Christ — this  is  ne- 
cessary as  a  mean  iu  order  to  a  higher  end  ac- 
complished by  the  mean — but  that  he  resem- 
bles Christ,  being  formed  anew  after  his  image, 
and  living  as  he  lived,  and  walking  as  he 
walked,  having  the  same  mind  that  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus? 

Not  that  in  our  admiration  and  approbation 
of  these  graces  v/e  are  to  forget  that  they  need 
to  be  sustained  and  supported.  First,  the  plants 
on  which  they  grow  as  flowers  and  fruits,  must 
be  rooted  and  grounded  in  Christ,  must  in  fact 
be  grafted  on  him  before  they  will  live,  flourish 
and  bear  such  products.  Without  such  a  soil  to 
feed  them,  and  stock  on  which  to  grow,  we 
should  look  in  vain  for  the  higher  graces  in  these 
corrupt  hearts  of  ours.  Nor  must  we  forget 
that  these  virtues  are  not  independent  of  other 
graces.  The  plant  must  have  humility  for  its 
root,  and  faith  as  its  stem,  and  be  watered  by 
the  tears  of  penitence,  before  we  can  expect 
such  a  cluster  and  crown  ot  flowers  to  adorn 
and  recommend  it. 

The  conclusion  we  reach,  is,  that  we  are  to 
hold  by  the  old  truths  which  have  been  from  the 
beginning.  These  appear  iu  the  oldest  books  oj 
the  Bible,  and  in  nearly  every  page  of  it  from 
the  commencement  to  the  close.  The  readers  of 
the  Word  have  seen  them  there  all  along,  and 
believers  in  every  age  have  gratefully  re- 
ceived them  and  fed  upon  them,  and 
been  quickened  and  nourished  by  them.  We 
are  certainly  not  to  defend  any  position  wUich 
we  believe  to  be  indefensible ;  the  sooner  we 


120 


abandon  the  traditions  which  haVe  been  added 
to  the  pure  truth  of  God  the  better.  But  on  the 
other  hand  it  is  foolish  to  expect  that  we 
are  the  least  likely  to  gain  the  enemy  by  sur- 
rendering any  portion  of  the  truth.  We  al- 
ready see  that  those  who  give  up  "Moses  in  the 
law,"  will  immediately,  after  they  have  done  so, 
be  asked  to  give  wp  the  "  Prophets,"  and  in  the 
end,  all  that  is  supernatural  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Those  who  abandon  the  Atonement  will 
soon  be  tempted  to  part  with  the  proper  Deity 
olF  Jesus  Christ,  there  being  no  very  obvious 
reason,  why  one  equal  with  the  Father  should 
assume  our  nature  and  die  such  a  death,  except 
that  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  infinite  evil  of 
sin.  Those  who  think  they  can  preserve  and 
defend  the  Sabbath  while  they  allow  that  it  is 
not  of  Divine  command,  will  soon  be  made  to 
see  that  in  these  times,  it  will  not  continue  to 
be  respected,  merely  because  it  has  the  authori- 
ty of  the  Church's  command,  and  that  in  fact  the 
portions  snatched  from  the  harsh  demands  of 
such  taskmasters  as  trade,  commerce,  and  la- 
bor, will  be  devoted  to  pleasures  which  do  not 
elevate  the  soul  in  this  life,  or  prepare 
it  for  a  better.  Those  who  think  they  can 
improve  tne  ethics  of  the  New  Testament 
will  soon  find  that  they  are  in  the  fetters  of  a 
legal  and  self-righteous  system,  which  brings 
no  pardon  for  the  past,  and  furnishes  no  suffi- 
cient motives  for  regeneration  in  the  future. 

But  on  the  other  hand  let  us  labor  to  exhibit 
religion  in  all  its  loveliness,  as  Jesus  himself 


presented  it  in  the  flesh.  By  all  means,  let  us 
defend  the  truth,  the  Bible  and  its  characteris- 
tic doctrines,  by  such  learning  and  logic  as  we 
can  command.  Let  us  pray  that  God  would 
raise  up  in  the  Church,  and  more  especially  in 
the  Schools  of  the  Prophets,  able  and  erudite 
men,  fit  to  wrestle  with  those  who  are  assailing 
Divine  truth.  But  in  the  days  when  Jesus  was 
on  the  earth,  it  was  by  his  character,  more  thau 
even  the  "signs  and  wonders"  which  he  wrought, 
that  men's  hearts  were  drawn  towards  him. 
And  we  may  depend  upon  it,  it  is  by  receiving 
fully  and  embodying  the  spirit  of  Jesus  that  the 
Christian  can  most  ett'ectually  recommend  the 
religion  of  Jesus  to  those  prejudiced  against  it, 
and  to  the  world  in  general.  He  who  has  at- 
tained this  spirit  in  ^ny  measure  is  like  the 
typal  Moses  when  he  came  down  from  the 
Mount,_after  conversing  with  God;  he  may  not 
know  it  (it  is  all  the  better  that  he  does  not 
know  it,  that  he  does  not  think  about  himself 
at  all)  but  his  face  shines  with  the  reflection  of 
the  light  of  God's  countenance.  It  is  thus  that 
he  is  able  to  recommend  religion  to  others — 
not  so  much  because  he  may  be  consciously 
striving  to  do  so,  and  thus  put  himself  in  forced 
and  att'ected  attitudes,  if  not  saying,  at  least 
lookiu.4  as  if  he  might  say  "Stand  by,  for  I  am 
holier  than  thou  ;"  but  unconsciously,  because 
the  light  has  been  shining  upon  him,  and  is  re- 
flected from  off  his  character,  and  wherever  he 
goes,  men  take  knowledge  of  him  that  he  has 
been  with  Jesus. 


OENER  AX  a.sse;m:bly 

OF    THE 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

(NEW    SCHOOL.) 
SERMON  BY  KEY.  JAMES  B.  SHAW,  OF  ROCHESTER,  N.  T. 


FIRST   DAY  — THURSDAY,   MAY     17,  186G. 


The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States,  commonly  known  as  the  New  School 
Presbyterian  Church,  met,  agreeable  to  appointment, 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  city  (Mr. 
Kelson's),  corner  of  Fourteenth  and  Lucas  Place,  and 
was  called  to  order  by  the  Rev.  James  B.  Shaw,  D.  D., 
of  Rochester,  N.  T.,  Moderater  of  the  last  General 
Assembly. 

The  present  General  Assembly  of  that  branch  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  is  well  attended  by  ministers  and 
elders,  and  the  session  bids  fair  to  be  a  harmonious 
one. 

The  first  order  of  exercises  was  an  opening  anthem 
by  the  choir  and  organ  of  Dr.  Nelson's  church.  A  full 
choir  was  in  attendance,  and  the  singing  was  good  on 
the  opening  voluntary,  which  was  an  appropriate  selec- 
tion from  Mozart's  twelfth  Mass,  entitled  "  Glory  be  to 
God  in  the  highest ." 

The  Assembly  then  joined  in  prayer  with  Rev.  Dr. 
Hopkins,  D.  D.  After  which  a  portion  of  scripture  was 
read,  and  the  choir  sang  the  anthem  entitled,  "How 
beau  tiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him 
that  bringeth  good  tidings." 

After  prajer,  the  congregation  joined  in  singing  the 
103d  psalm,  first  part. 

"  Bless,  0  !  my  soul,  the  living  God, 
Call  home  thy  thoughts  that  roam  abroad  ; 
Let  all  the  powers  within  me  join 
In  work  and  worship  divine." 

The  opening  sermon  was  then  delivered  by  Rev.  James 
B.  Shaw,  D.  D.,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.  . 

SERMON     OF    THE    REV.     JAMES    B.     SHAW,     MODER- 
ATOR   OF    THE    LAST    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY. 

"  O,  thou  that  hearest  prayer." — Psalm  Ixv  :  2. 

There  are  some  philosophical  objections  to  prayer, 
but  the  same  objections  are  as  good  against  work. 
That  which  would  drive  a  man  from  his  closet  would 
drive  him  from  his  field.  It  were  easy  to  show,  after 
the  manner  of  some,  that  the  weakest  thing  any  man 
can  do  is  to  draw  nigh  unto  God.  "  He  is  of  one  mind, 
and  who  can  turn  Him?  and  what  His  soul  desireth, 
even  that  He  doeth."  And  that  is  what  your  own  book 
says.  Turn  Him,  and  turn  Him  by  any  considerations 
which  we  may  present — the  man  wh<j  approaches  the 
Most  High  with  any  such  expectations  insults  Him  to 
begin  with.  Now,  I  can  take  the  same  arguments  by 
which  the  suppliant  is  convicted  of  folly,  and  show  that 
the  weakest  thing  any  man  can  do  is  to  go  into  the  field 
and  put  his  hand  to  the  plough.  God  has  already  deter- 
mined whether  the  man  shall  have  a  harvest ;  and  "  He 
is  of  one  mind,  and  who  can  turn  Him?"  Can  plough- 
ing and  sowing  and  harrowing,  and  all  this  careful  toil 
avail,  if  he  has  decreed  that  the  earth  this  year  shall 
bring  forth  no  fruit  ?    An  attempt  to  raise   a  harvest 


is  only  an  affront  to  the  InQnite  Majesty,  as  if  the 
Creator  in  any  way  could  be  circumvented  by  the 
creature. 

But  some  will  say,  it  is  not  to  prayer  in  the  abstract, 
but  prayer  as  represented  in  the  Scripture.i,  to  which 
we  object.  Now  we  cannot  deny  that  there  are  some 
strange  things  revealed  in  the  Bible  concerning  prayer, 
and  things  which  ought,  if  possible,  to  be  explained. 
It  is  strange  that  we  should  have  to  ask  anything  of 
God.  He  know.s  our  wants;  He  is  abundantly  able  to 
supply  them,  and  has  represented  hlmsplf  as  more 
willing  to  give  than  any  other  father.  Why,  then  is 
the  blessing  withheld  until  we  come  and  ask  for  it? 
But  there  is  a  stranger  thing  than  this.  Ii)  some  cases 
we  must  keep  coming,  keep  asking,  press  our  request, 
become  importunate,  stand  at  God's  door  as  the  sturdy 
beggar  does  at  ours,  determined  not  to  be  sent  empty 
away.  And  even  this  will  not  always  suffice.  We 
must  wrestle  with  the  Lord,  take  hold  of  him,  not  let 
him  go,  detain  him  until  the  day  break,  constrain  him 
to  give  the  blessing  which  we  seek.  Now  we  would 
remind  any  of  God's  dear  children  who  have  been 
troubled  about  these  things,  that  our  Heavenly  Father 
has  other  gracious  ends  to  secure  by  prayer  besides 
supplying  our  wants  He  who  has  done  a  great  work 
f cr  us  has  also  a  great  work  to  do  in  us,  and  this  work 
is  wrought  chiefly  through  prayer — through  communion 
with  the  Father  of  our  spirits  and  his  son,  Jesus  Christ. 
This  is  the  reason  why  we  must  ask,  and  keep  asking, 
and  sometimes  wrestle  before  the  blessing  comes. 
There  is  something  beside  the  blessing,  something 
behind  the  blfssing,  and  in  God's  estimation  far  more 
important.  Will  He  give  only  what  we  ask?  Are  our 
desires  the  measure  of  His  mercies?  Do  we  go  to  Him 
as  the  poor  man  in  Judea  goes  to  the  oven,  and  get 
just  as  many  coals  as  our  potsherd,  our  broken  bit  of 
earthenware,  will  hold?  One  of  old  testified,  saying: 
"He  is  able  to  do,  exceedingly,  abundantlj',  above  all 
that  we  can  ask  or  think."  And  this  statement  is 
verified  by  the  experience  of  every  man  who  bows  his 
knees  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
But  I  have  not  come  hither  this  morning  to  remove  the 
objections  which  have  been  urged  against  this  Christian 
duty.  No  one  in  this  house  doubts  the  efllcacy  of 
prayer.  Many  here  wwuld  cease  to  breathe  sooner  than 
(Tease  to  pray.  This  is  a  congregation  of  suppliants  — 
a  company  of  intercessors — men  ami  women  who  can 
tell  what  great  things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  them  in 
ans\7er  to  their  imperfect  petitions.  As  such  believers 
I  addrtss  you  at  the  present  time,  and  I  am  quite  con- 
fident that  I  need  not  solicit  your  attention  while  I 
dwell  for  a  few  moments  on  the  thoughts  suggested  by 
the  text.  It  is  a  subject  in  which  every  one  of  us  has 
a  heart  interest:   "Oh,  thou  that  hearest  prayer." 

GOD  DOES  HEAR  PRAYER.  This  is  the  first  thing 
to  show.  Now  prayer  is  much  oftener  answered  than 
many  disciples  of  the  LordJesus  are  willing  lobelieve. 
There  is  sometimes  a  lurking  suspicion  in  the  heart  of 
the  believer  that,  after  all,  God  is  not  so  ready  to  hear 
— not  so  willing  to  give.  Have  you  never  felt,  in  some 
dark  day  when  you  went  to  the  mercy-seat,  again  and 
again  that  it  is  really  harder  to  get  anything  from  God 
than  from  a  kind  and  generous-hearted   fellow-crea- 


ture?  We  hear  much  about  the  conditions  of  prayer — 
it  must  be  tbis_,  and  it  must  be  that,  and  it  must  be  the 
other  Thing,  or  it  cannot  prevail — and  I  am  afraid  we 
may  have  heard  too  much  about  the  conditions  of 
prayer.  There  seems  to  be  an  impression  that,  while 
we  have  a  throne  of  grace,  the  Most  High  has  put  a 
tight  fence  around  it,  as  he  did  around  the  Mount 
where  he  descended  of  old.  Now,  the  fact  is,  that  no 
place  on  earth  is  so  accessable  as  the  mercy-seat,  and 
no  being  so  approachable  as  Him  who  sits  thereon. 
Any  one  can  come,  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night,  and 
never  And  the  door  closed,  or  the  One  whom  he  seeks 
away.  How^can  I  doubt  that  God  is  willing  to  give, 
when  there  are  so  many  things  for  which  He  does  not 
wait  to  be  asked.  "He  presents  us  with  the  blessings 
of  his  goodness."  He  is  beforehand  with  us.  How 
can  I  doubt  that  God  is  willing  to  give,  when  he  leaves 
so  many  blessings  at  the  doors  which  have  never  yet 
been  opened  to  Hiui— He  the  only  one  sutTered  to  stand 
and  knock?  How  can  I  doubt  that  God  is  willing  to 
give,  wheu  he  paid  such  a  price  for  some  of  the  bless- 
ings He  bestows  ?  Remember  Bethlehem,  remember 
(rethsemane,  remember  Calvary,  and  never  again  doubt 
that  he  is  willing  to  give. 

God,  then,  does  hear  His  children  when  they  call. 
"He  does  regard  the  prayer  of  the  destitute.  The 
unanswered  prayer  is  the  exception.  "When  Olho 
opened  the  tomb  of  Charlemagne,  he  found  the  once 
mighty  monarch  seated  on  a  tnrone,  arrayed  in  a 
roj'al  robe,  a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  none  to  break 
the  silence  or  share  the  solitude.  But  no  dead  king 
sits  on  the  throne  which  you  and  I  daily  approach; 
and  if  this  King  on  the  mercy  seat  does  not  speak  it 
is  because  we  could  not  hear  the  sound;  if  He  does 
not  shine  forth  in  His  glory,  it  is  because  we  conld 
not  endure  the  sight.  No  dead  king  sits  on  that 
throne.  In  the  dark  ages,  when  the  Pope  took  um- 
brage at  the  treatment  of  any  monarch,  he  laid  his 
kingdom  under  what  was  called  an  interdict.  At  mid- 
night each  priest,  holding  a  torch  in  his  right  hand, 
chaunted  the  miserere,  and  when  the  dirge  was  ended 
the  torches  were  thrown  down  and  extinguished  and 
the  kingdom  left  in  darkness  —  and  darkness  it  was. 
No  church  might  be  opened  while  the  interdict  last- 
ed; no  child  might  be  baptized;  no  grave  might  be 
dug  in  holy  ground;  no  religious  rite  might  be  per- 
formed. The  consecrated  bread  was  taken  from  the 
altar;  the  cross  on  which  the  Savior  hung  was  covered 
with  crape;  .he  bells  hung  silent  in  the  towers. 
The  women  and  children  stood  aghast  as  if  Heaven  it- 
self had  been  shut  and  they  left  out. 

But  even  then  one  throne  might  be  approached — the 
throne  of  heavenly  grace.  Kven  then  one  ear  was 
open,  that  ear  in  which  you  and  I  have  so  ofen  poured 
our  complaints.  No  dead  king  sitteth  on  the  throne 
which  we  daily  approach.     God  does  hear  prayer. 

But  while  God  does  hear  prayer,  yet  he 
oftentimes  answers  hts  children  in  an  un- 
EXPECTED W.\Y.  This  is  the  next  thing  to  show. 
"When  we  pray,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  it.  v/e  neces- 
sarily leave  much  to  the  divine  discretion  of  our 
Heavenly  Father.  Such  is  our  blindness,  that  we  do 
not  know  what  may  be  a  good  thing  for  us,  much  less 
do  we  know  in  what  way  the  blessing  should  come. 
The  manner  in  which  the  mercy  is  bestowed,  some- 
times, is  far  more  important  than  the  mercy  itself. 
And  yet  this  must  be  left  with  Him,  who  knows  us  so 
better  than  we  know  ourselves.  My  brother,  you  have 
often  asked  God  to  subdue  your  pride,  to  lay  it  dead  at 
your  feet.  You  know  how  He  hates  it,  how  hard  it  is 
for  Him  to  bear  with  it,  and  especially  to  have  any 
thing  so  odious  in  the  heart  of  his  child,  and  you  have 
oft  besought  him,  with  tears,  to  cast  it  out.  Did  you 
ever  dare  to  tell  him  how  it  should  be  done?  No 
doubt,  if  you  ventured  a  suggestion,  you  would  have 
him  deal  tenderly  with  it ;  cast  it  out  in  a  gentle  way ; 
not  resort  to  any  severe  methods.  See  that  lad  rolling 
on  the  ground,  foaming  at  the  mouth,  biting  his  tongue 
until  the  blood  starts.  What  a  pitiable  sight.  But  it 
is  over  now.  It  has  been  too  much  for  the  poor  boy. 
Is  he  not  dead?  There  is  no  sign  of  life  which  any  one 
can  discover  but  the  Son  of  God.  Ah  I  that  certainly 
is  not  your  way  of  casting  ont  a  devil.  But  it  is  the 
Lord's  way.  Oftentimes  nothing  short  of  this  will 
BUfflce.  Brother,  before  the  pride  which  possesses 
your  heart  and  mine  has  been  cast  out,  we  may  have  ot 
go  through  as  much  as  that  lunatic  child  did.  This  mey 
be  one  of  the  causes  where  mild  methods  will  only  make 


things  worse.  A  devil  is  a  devil,  and  pride  is  some- 
thing more  ;  the  leader  of  the  gang,  the  chief  of  the 
banditti.  Have  you  not  heard  that  this  is  the  wretch 
which  dares  in  Heaven  to  strike  at  God?  And  can  you 
bind  this  Sampson  with  a  tow-string,  or  a  green  withe, 
or  his  own  gory  locks  twisted ;into  a  cord?  I  have 
seen  more  than  one  man  try  to  tame  pride,  teach  it  to 
speak  softly,  and  walk  humbly,  and  put  on  sackcloth, 
and  take  the  lowest  seat.  I  have  known  more  than 
one  man  to  bring  pride  into  the  sanctuary,  to  the 
table  ot  the  Lord,  and  try  to  make  it  a  good  church- 
member.  I  have  looked  on  as  pride  stood  up  in  the 
broad  aisle  to  enter  into  covenant  with  God  and 
his  people,  and  I  heard  it  say:  You  thought  that  I 
was  lifted  up,  that  I  carried  a  high  head,  and  moved 
with  a  lofty  step  —  that  I  felt  above  coming  into 
the  church  and  identifying  myself  with  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  despised  Nazerene.  Now,  confess  that, 
for  once,  you  were  mistaken  See  how  meek  I  am.  I 
would  wash  the  feet  of  Judas  if  he  were  here.  Yes, 
and  wear  the  towel  with  which  I  did  it,  as  a  badge, 
all  the  remainder  of  my  days,  and  have  printed  on  it 
in  large  letters.  This  is  the  towel  with  which  I,  Pride, 
washed  the  feet  of  the  traitor.  Beloved  in  the  Lord, 
we  cannot  tame  pride.  Pride  can  never  forget  that  it 
was  once  in  Heaven,  and  there  dared  to  confront  the 
Almighty  on  His  throne.  Pride  must  have  the  breath 
beaten  out  of  it,  and  it  will  take  perhaps  many  a  hard 
fall  to  do  it.  But  this  must  be  left  to  our  Heavenly 
Father.  And  howmuch  beside  this  must  we  commit  to 
His  divine  direction  !  "Who  would  presume  to  tell  Him 
how  the  blessing  which  he  seeks  shall  be  brought  to  his 
door?  A  creature  of  yesterday,  who  knows  nothing — a 
worm  of  the  dust,  on  his  way  from  the  cradle  to  the 
tomb,  stopping  before  the  throne  to  tell  his  Maker  what 
is  the  wisest  thing  for  Him  to  do.  It  makes  us  shudder 
to  think  of  it.  "  Who  hath  directed  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord,  or  being  His  counselor,  hath  taught  Him?  "With 
whom  took  he  counsel,  and  who  instructed  him  and 
taught  him  in  the  path  of  judgment,  and  taught  him 
knowledge  and  showed  him  the  way  of  understanding?" 

BnT  I  PASS  TO  SAT,  IN  THE  THIRD  PLACE,  THAT  SOMETIMES 
THE    ANSWER    CO.MES    IN    AN    UNWELCOME   WAY.      NoW  God's 

people,  for  the  most  part,  look  for  answers  to  prayer 
only  in  the  line  of  their  mercies.  There  are  many  here 
who  can  bear  witness  to  this  ;  many  here  ready  to 
charge  themselves  with  this  mistake.  I  never  thought 
that  a  trial,  a  sore  affliction,  the  blow  which  broke  my 
heart,  could  be  an  answer  to  prayer,  and,  because  so 
severe  and  so  harl  for  a  father  to  inflict,  the  strongest 
possible  proof  that  the  One  whom  1  approach  doe  hear, 
that  the  One  to  whom  I  have  committed  all  is 
faithful,  is  mindful  of  the  covenant  and  will  send 
what  I  need,  no  matter  how  much  it  may  cost  Him. 
"When  the  prophet  stood  before  the  king  with  that 
dread  alternative,  seven  months  of  famine  or  three 
years  of  war.  or  three  days  of  pestilence,  did  the  king 
suspect  that  the  messenger  might  have  come  in  answw 
to  his  prayer?  If  the  offer  bad  been  three  great  mer- 
cies— seven  months  of  plenty,  three  years  of  peace,  or 
three  d«ys  and  not  a  death  in  the  land-  the  son  of  Jesus 
might  have  said:  "Now  know  I  that  it  is  not  a  vain 
thing  to  draw  nigh  unto  God;  I  waited  patiently  for  the 
Lord,  and  He  inclined  His  ear  unto  me  and  heard  my 
cry."     And  here  the  prophet  comes  with  the  answer. 

One  whom  the  Lord  loveth  is  sick;  you  are  standing 
by  his  side,  and  what  does  he  say?  My  dear  pastor,  I 
needed  this;  I  deserved  it:  I  have  felt  for  a  long  time 
that  something  of  this  kind  was  necessary.  There  he 
stops  Let  us  begin  where  he  leaves  of .  Brother,  this 
sickness  has  come  in  answer  to  your  prayer  You 
would  never  have  been  here  had  you  not  besought  the 
Lord  so  earnestly  that  you  might  not  fall  away  from 
him.  Can  you  not  recall  the  hour  when  you  entered 
your  closet  and  fell  on  your  face,  and  with  tears  that 
almost  drowned  your  words,  besought  the  Lord  to  keep 
you — keep  you  if  he  must  build  a  wall  of  fire  round  about 
you?  He  thought  that  you  were  in  earnest;  that  you 
meant  what  you  said  ;  He  took  you  at  your  own  word, 
and  therefore  ycu  are  here.  How  faithful  He  is! 
"With  what  care  He  watches  over  you.  Alas  !  that  is 
something  of  which  we  seldom  think.  In  numbering 
our  answers  to  prayer,  we  begin  and  end  with  our 
mercies. 

Jacob,  at  Bethel,  besought  the  Lord  that  He  would  be 
his  God,  and  the  answer  came,  you  say,  in  his  pros- 
perity, in  his  wealth,  in  his  great  triumph  at  Peniel, 
when  he  won  the  name  of  Israel ;  and  I   contend   that 


the  answer  came  also  in  the  many  afflictions  which 
were  sent  to  his  door,  in  the  anger  of  Esau,  in  the  per- 
fidy of  Laban,  iu  the  loss  of  Joseph,  in  the  famine 
which  broufrht  him  into  such  straits,  in  the  parting 
with  Benjamin,  whom  he  never  expected  to  see  again. 
David  knelt  before  the  Lord  and  said,  "Create  in  me  a 
clean  heart.  O,  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within 
me."  And  the  answer  came  in  the  rain  of  Tamar,  in  the 
death  of  Amnion,  in  the  treason  of  Absalom,  in  that 
rebellion  which  drove  him  a  fugitive  from  his  throne. 
I  see  the  aged  King  going  up  the  sides  of  Olivet,  bare- 
tooted,  weeping  as  he  goes.  I  see  troubles  gathering 
thick  and  fast,  like  thunder-clounds,  around  his  head, 
and  it  is  all  in  answer  to  prayer.  Peter,  I  have  no 
doubt,  as  every  good  man  does,  had  often  asked  the 
Lcrd  to  show  him  his  dependence;  make  him  feel 
that  he  was  nothing  ;  and  the  answer  came  in  that  de- 
sertion— that  denial — that  swearing  and  cursing,  which 
the  stones  of  the  pavement  must  have  trembled  to  hear, 
and  that  look  of  wounded  love  which  broke  his  heart. 
"When  Saint  Paul  returned  from  Paradise,  he  came  back 
praying — have  you  any  doubt  that  he  did  :  Lord,  let  me 
not  be  exalted  above  measure  ;  let  me  not  be  lifted  up 
by  those  glorious  things  which  I  have  seen  and  heard — 
let  me  toil  as  earnestly  and  suffer  as  patiently — do  my 
work  as  cheerfully  and  as  well  as  if  I  had  never  been  to 
Heaven.  The  Lord  heard  his  cry,  and  the  answer  came 
in  that  thorn  in  the  flesh,  so  sharp,  so  ragged,  so  imbed- 
ded in  the  muscles,  as  not  to  be  extracted  by  any  human 
skill.  ''For  this  thing  I  besought  the  Lord  thrice,  that 
it  might  depart  from  me;"  and  that,  0  man  of  God, 
was  thrice  too  often. 

Has  it  not  come  in  answer  to  your  prayer?  Did 
\  oil  not  beseech  the  Lord  that  you  might  not  be  ex- 
.-I'trd  above  measure  through  the  abundance  of  the 
revelation  ?  And  thi.'s  uncomfortable  and  humiliating 
thine;  is  the  witness  that  God  has  heard  thee  and  will 
nr,t  suffer  that  heavenly  vision  to  prove  tliy  ruin. 
Would  the  Lord,  to  whom  thou  art  so  dear,  who 
loved  thee  so  that  he  could  not  wsit  for  thee  to  die 
before  he  took  thee  to  Heaven,  would  He  have  sent 
this  thorn,  if  anything:  hut  thi.s  could  have  kept  thee 
down?  And  sol  have  tliought  when  Paul  and  8ilas 
were  cast  into  prison,  wliere  they  were  treated  with 
every  possible  indignity  and  cruelty;  where  they 
were"  scourged,  their  bleeding  backs  washed  in  brine, 
their  feet  m'^ade  fast  in  the  stocks,  and  they  were  so 
happy  that  they  eoii'd  not  sleep,  could  not  do  any- 
tlinig"  but  sing — I  have  thought  that  perhaps  all  this 
again  was  in  answer  to  prayer.  It  may  be  that  the 
Apostle  had  besought  the  Lord  to  give  him  one  more 
soul  in  Phillippi;  and  all  that  befell  him  that  night, 
and  the  jailer,  with  his  drawn  sword  and  lighted 
candle,  and  face  whiter  than  the  wall,  trembling  be- 
fore the  men  fast  in  the  stocks,  is  the  answer  to  the 
prayer.  Oh  !  that  earthquake  not  only  shook  the 
prison — it  wrenched  the  door  from  the  jailor's  heart. 
Beloved  the  Lord,  let  us  be  wiser  for  the  days  coming 
and  no  longer  look  for  answers  to  prayer  only  in  the 
line  of  our  mercies.  It  ia  a  great  mistake,  and  one 
which  lias  robbed  your  soul  of  many  a  comfort,  and 
in  the  dark  day  when  you  needed  it  so  much. 

But  I  haste  to  say  once  more  that  many  a  prayer,  if 
answered  at  all,  miist  be  answered  by  an  afHietive  dis- 
•  pensation — Vjy  a  terrible  thing,  as   the  Psalmist  calls 
it.    We  are  sometimes  to  choose  between  the  terrible 
tiling  and  an  unanswered  prayer.    Bleseed  be  God, 
he    (lees    not    leave    us    to    make   the   choice.      He 
i  chooses   for  his   people,  and   sends   the   sore   aflBic- 
( tion,  the  terrible   thing;   sends  it,  yes,  because  He 
knows   that    He   can   sustain  us   under  it ;    because 
He  knows  that  Ke  can  carry  us  through,  and  make 
this    trial  -from     which    we    so     shrink    do    more 
f  r   us   than   any  blessing   His  bountiful   hand   ever 
I  bestowed.    This"  is   the   thing  we  overlook  when  we 
sit  in  judgment,  and  we   do  sit  in  judgment  on  our 
Maker,     ilany   a  man   has   said,   "I   would    not  do 
.■i~  God  does,  if  this  were  my  world,  do  you  think  that 
f  M-duld  suffer  it  be  to  filled  with  mourning  and  lamen- 
'.'ifion   and  woe  ?     If  man   were  my  creature,  would 
j  I  suffer  him  to  shed  so  many  tears,  endure  so   much 
1  pain,  pas.sing  from  one  disaster  to  another  ?    And  when 
he  had  be^n  worn  out  by  misfortune,   would  I  wrap 
iiini  in  a  shroud  and  lay  hiin  under  the  clods,  as  if  I 
"  ■re  glad  to  have  him  off  my  hands  ?''    Thomas  Guth- 
rie  once  found  a  woman  in  deepest  poverty  ;  he  be- 
"'iight  her,  as  she  seemed  near  ner  end,  to  think  of 
her  soul.    Her  reply  was,  "I  am  cold  and  hungry." 


He  sent  for  bread,  and  while  the  messenger  was  gone 
besought  her  again  to  think  of  her  soul,  and  her  reply 
still  was.  "If  you  were  as  cold  and  hungry  as  I  am,  you 
could  think  of  nothing  else."  Now  ynu  say,  if  that 
woman  were  mv  child,  if  my  hand  had  made  her.  I 
would  not  suffer  her  to  be"  cold  and  hungry.  Now 
hear  with  me  while  I  say  if  that  woman  were  your 
child,  and  j'ou  were  as  great  as  God.  had  His  resources, 
cou.d  see  as  He  sees,  and  do  as  He  does,  and  your 
heart,  like  His.  were  set  on  some  blessed  result  which 
could  be  brought  about  in  no  other  way,  you  would 
suffer  her  to  be  cold  and  hungry.  Yon  would  suffer 
your  child  to  be  thrown  into  the"  den  of  wild  beasts,  if 
yon,  like  GoH.  could  stop  the  mouths  of  the  lions. 
You  would  suffer  your  child  to  be  cast  into  the  fiery 
furnace  if  you,  like  God,  could  quench  the  violence  of 
the  fire;  if"  you,  like  God,  could  make  it  sure  that  the 
flames  wonldburn  nothing  but  the  bonesof  your  child, 
and  consume  nothing  but  the  dros.s  ;  if  you  were  as 
confident  as  God  ia  that  your  child  would  come  forth 
from  that  furnace  everything  that  your  loving  heart 
could  desire.  When  shall  you  and  1  learn  that  God's 
ways  are  not  our  ways,  nor  His  thoughts  as  our 
thoughts,  and  that  it  may  be  lawful  for  Him  to  do  what 
it  would  be  madness,  and  more,  for  a  worm  of  the  dust 
to  attempt.  And  when  shall  we  learn  that  these  terrible 
things  arB  answers  to  praver.  and  sent  in  love,  as  our 
mercies  are,  and  furnish  the  highest  possible  proof  that 
He  who  .sitteth  on  the  throne  doth  hear.  Why  are  we 
so  sure  that  God  heard  Elijuh  ?  Because  in  answer  to 
his  prayer  he  did  that  which  it  must  have  been  so 
bard  for  him  to  do.  "Elijah  was  a  man  subject  to  like 
passions  as  we  are,  and  he  prayed  earnestly  that  it 
might  not  rain;  and  it  r»ined  not  on  the  earth  for  the 
space  of  three  years  and  six  months  "  There  is  the 
wonderful  thing,  that  the  Most  High,  in  answer  to  any 
one's  prayer  would  have  sent  such  a  thing  as  a 
drought— such  a  thing  as  famine  ;  that  He,  so  full  of 
tenderness  and  love,  for  three  years  and  sis  misnths 
would  have  with  held  the  rain  and  the  de,w  because  the 
Prophet  asked  him  to  do  it.  Who  doubts  now  that 
He  hears  prayer?  Oh  !  it  is  not  that  God  in  answer  to 
tlie  cries  of  the  Prophet  would  open  the  windows  of 
Heaven,  but  that  He  would  shut  them  and  keep  them 
shut.  And  here  again  is  something  which  we  would 
not  do.  We  would  not  send  a  drought  or  a  famine. 
Yes.  we  would,  if  we  could  gain  as  muf'h  from  these 
terrible  things  as  the  Lord  God  of  Elijah  did. 

The  text  suggests  one  thought  more.  Prayer  is  the 
same  thing  now  that  it  was  in  the  earlier  days  of  the 
Christian  Church.  l\Iany  doubt  it.  Many  take  issue 
with  me  here.  The  age  of  miracles  is  "past.  Have 
you  forgotten  it?  Those  were  wonderful  times  when 
the  blind  saw,  the  deaf  heard,  the  lame  leaped,  the 
dumb  ^pake,  the  dead  came  forth  from  the  grave  as 
one  leaves  his  bed  in  the  morning.  There  was  some 
encouragement  to  pray  then.  Beloved  in  the  Lord, 
there  is  just  as  much  encouragement  to  pray  now. 
God  now  can  give  anything  which  y"u  and  I  may 
lawfully  ask,  and  do  it  witliout  a  miracle,  without 
setting  aside  the  laws  which  he  has  ordained,  without 
a  direct  interposition  of  His  almighty  power.  Any- 
thing, we  say,  which  the  Christian  may  lawfully  ask; 
this  is  the  only  limitation.  It  would  no  the  lawful,  for 
instance,  te  kneel  down  by  the  side  of  that  dead  child 
and  ask  the  Lord  to  restore  him  to  life.  There  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  any  one  offered  such  a  prayer 
in  the  days  gone,  unless  moved  to  do  it  by  some 
special  divine  impulse.  Did  David  ask  the  Lord  to 
quicken  again  that  little  child  in  which  his  heart  was 
so  much  Dound  up  ?  He  fasted  and  wept,  and  be- 
sought God  for  the  child,  while  it  was  alive;  but  his 
last  prayer  went  up  with  the  last  breath  of  the  one  so 
dear.  And  when  that  heavier  blow  came,  when  Absa- 
lom was  laid  in  the  neglected  grave,  where  the  sinner 
sleeps,  did  David  ask  God  to  bring  him  forth  ?  Ho 
did  not  venture  to  offer  such  a  prayer,  any  more  than 
you  or  I  would  dare  to  do  it.  Everything,  however, 
which  his  child  may  lawfully  ask,  God  can  give,  and 
give  without  any  direct  interposition  of  His  almighty 
powfr.  How  often  it  is  said  such  a  thing  cannot  be 
brought  about  without  a  miracle !  Now.  that  is  the 
ground  which  the  unbelieving  lord  took — the  man 
who  paid  so  dear  for  his  unbelief.  The  prophet  pre- 
dicted that  before  another  day  had  fgone  food  would 
be  plenty  in  famine-stricken  Samaria.  "  Then  a  lord, 
on  wh^se  hand  the  King  loaned,  answered  the  man  of 
God  and  said  :  Behold,  if  the  Lord  should  make  win- 


ftows  in  Hpavrn.  inight  this  thinsr  he."  But  the  nrp- 
rli>tion  wfts  fulfilled,  a?i  the  ppnffins'  man  learned  to 
his  fost.  and  no  window  made  in  Heaven.  The  pre- 
dietion  was  aeenmpli^hed.  throufrh  natural  rausps.  by 
the  ^nine  kind  Providenoe,  and  which  cives  every  one 
hpre  his  daily  V)refid.  Now  this  was  left  on  reeord. 
that  no  onp  from  that  hour  forth  might  distrust  the 
power  of  him  who  sitteth  on  thp  throne — that  no  one 
might  approaeh  him  wiHi  lifsitatinar  step,  and  ask  in 
fn'tprinp  pppents.  as  if  he  did  not  know,  whether  the 
All  hountifnl  one  could  rio  it  or  not.  Oh!  child  of 
<^od.  is  it  not  timo  that  the'p  wpre  a  stop  put",  tn  this 
thing — an  end  to  this  shameful  unbelief?  Shall  we 
limit  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  ?  Shall  we  set  bounds  to 
infinite  love?  Shall  we  hold  down  the  hand  which 
fppds  us  and  clothes  us  and  sivpsuseverythinjr  pood? 
How  many  of  God's  dear  people  dare  not  open  their 
mouths  wide  ;  dare  not  stretch  out  both  their  hands ; 
dare  not  borrow  all  the  vessels  in  their  neighbor's 
houses:  dare  not  ask  great  thinsrs,  because  they  are 
not  sure  that  the  Lord  can  bring  it  to  pass  without  a 
miracle?  We  return  to  those  words  already  quoted  : 
<'E'ii''h  was  a  man  subject  to  like  riassions  as  we  are. 
and  he  prayed  earnestly  that  it  might  not  rain,  and  it 
rained  not  "on  the  ea'-th  for  the  space  of  three  years 
and  six  months.  And  h<"  nraypd  again,  and  the  heavens 
gave  rain,  and  the  earth  brought  forth  tier  fruit."  And 
it  was  such  a  rain  as  had  not  fallen  since  the  flood. 
Ahab  had  to  hasten  down  to  his  palace,  drive  as 
Jehu  did,  or  he  would  have  been  intcrcppted  by 
the  sw-ollen  stream.  Everv  windnw  in  Heaven  must 
t)e  opened.  How  it,  pnnrs!  Gorl  sops  on  as  if  he  re- 
pented of  having  withhpld  the  blessing  so  Ions.  But 
what  have  we  here?  An  Israelite  cominc  out  from 
the  houses  with  a  pitcher,  or  a  bowl,  or  a  cup,  to  catcli 
the  shower,  as  if  that  cup  could  hold  all  that  God  can 
afford  to  give.  A  rain  that  was  to  rpplenish  the  tanks, 
till  the  pools,  make  the  fountnins  flow,  set  the  silent 
streams  to  surging  again,  and  this  Israelite  coming  with 
his  cup  to  catch  it  !  Now.  so  is  it  with  us.  We  go  to 
God,  the  God  who  keeps  the  sea  full  and  never  lets  the 
rivers  run  dry,  in  th'e  same  spirit  when  the  times  of 
refreshing  come — "when  there  are  signs  of  abundance 
of  rain."  When  the  whole  heavens  are  covered  with 
clouds,  and  "the  skies  pour  down  righteousness,"  we 
reach  out  our  little  vessel,  as  if  that  would  hold  all 
that  God  could  afford  to  give.  Beloved  in  the  Lord, 
had  we  not  better  settle  the  question  whether  our  God 
is  the  living  and  true  God  ;  whether  He  is  any  stronger, 
or  richer,  or  more  bountiful  than  tliosp  who  are  march- 
ing with  na  to  the  grave  ;  whether  he  did  stretch  out 
the  heavens  ;  whether  he  did  make  all  these  worlds  and 
hang  them  upon  nothing  ;  whether  he  (lid  speak,  only 
speak,  and  it  was  done  ;  whether  he  did  command,  only 
command,  and  It  stood  fast  ;  whether  he  is  the  one  who 
said,  "Let  there  be  light,"  and  there  was  light;  the 
Lord  God  of  Noah,  who  sent  the  flood ;  the  Lord  God  of 
Elijah,  who  answered  by  fire  ;  the  Lord  God  of  Peter, 
who  bowed  the  heavens  and  came  down  ? 

Beloved  in  the  Lord,  we,  as  a  Church,  in  our  own 
case,  have  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  fact  that 
God  does  hear  prayer.  During  the  last  Assembly,  and 
especially  during  the  morning  hour  set  .apart  for  de- 
votional services,  the  burden  of  every  prayer  was  for 
the  outpouring  of  the  spirit.  We  felt  our  need  of  a 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  besought  the  Lord 
not  to  withhold  it.  So  it  began  and  so  it  ended.  And 
when  we  parted  at  Brooklyn,  it  was  with  the  expecta- 
tion that  God,  during  the  year,  would  do  great  things 
for  us.  Nor  have  we  beendisappointed.  "They  shall 
not  be  ashamed  that  wait  for  me."  "In  the  wilderness 
did  waters  break  out  and  streams  in  the  desert ;  the 
parched  ground  became  a  pool,  and  the  thirsty  land 
springs  of  water,"  and  throughout  all  our  borders 
there  was  scarcely  an  arid  spot  or  a  dry  place,  '"This 
is  the  Lord's  doing,  it  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes."  And 
snrely  it  is  worthy  of  record,  that  no  Church  in  our 
land  has  received  such  a  blessing  as  that  in  which  the 
Assembly  met,  and  that  no  brothi-r  has  been  so  highly 
favored  as  the  beloved  pastor  of  the  Lafayette  Avenue 
Church  at  Brooklyn,  whose  Christian  kindness  and 
courtesy  some  of  us  will  never  forget,  so  long  as  we 
can  reniemberthe  One  who  put  it  into  his  heart, 

"Holy  brethren,  partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling," 
we  have  met  at  an  auspicious  time  fir  our  beloved 
Zion.  This  Church,  dearer  to  us  than  "the  ruddy 
drops  which  warm  our  hearts,"  has  seen  dark  days, 
has  encountered  hard  storms,  and  sometimes  has  had 


In  shorten  sail,  more  than  once  has  been  caught  in  the 
place  where  two  seas  met.  There  was  a  time  when  it 
was  thought  that  she  must  go  down,  and  some  took 
to  the  boats  and  left  her,  as  they  predicted,  to 
her  fate.  But  there  is  One  who  n°ver  left  her, 
because  He  is  in  the  ship,  she  still  floats;  never 
so  staunch;  never  so  well  equipped;  never  so 
thoroughly  manned;  never  so  richly  freighted: 
never  such  harmony  among  the  crew  :  never  making 
such  progress  ;  never  so  near  the  harbor,  and  sure  to 
make  it ;  moving  majestically  on,  guided  by  Hnn  who 
guided  the  ark  ;  and  all  this  in  answer  to  prayer.  But 
for  the  supplications  of  God's  praying  people,  this 
good  ship  might  have  foundered,  or  might  have  been  so 
crippled,  that  all  the  pumps  could  scarcely  keep  her 
afloat.  Let  ns,  then,  encouraged  by  our  own  exper- 
ience of  the  divine  faithfulness,  continue  to  call  on 
God;  let  us  keep  the  censers  smoking  through  the 
year,  n  membering  that  which  Satan,  above  all  other 
things,  would  have  us  forget,  that  the  hands  which  do 
no  work  can  never  prevail  with  God.  Importunate 
prayer,  earnest  work,  and  that  faith  which  takes  the 
obstacles  thrown  in  her  way  and  makes  them  the  steps 
by  which  she  reaches  the  top  of  the  pyramid,  are  the 
three  things  essential  to  success.  Pray,  work,  toil, 
and  God  will  make  "our  walls  salvation  and  our  gates 
praise,"  and  we,  as  a  church,  shall  bear  our  part  in 
bringing  about  the  blessed  day,  "when  the  light  of 
the  moon  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  the 
light  of  the  sun  shall  be  sevenfold,  as  the  light  of 
sev(>n  days." 

We  have  heard  that  the  Lord  is  in  this  place;  that 
he  is  pouring  on  His  people  here  a  spirit  of  grace 
and  supplications;  that  some  have  come  to  the  Savior; 
that  others  are  oa  the  way  ;  and  would  it  not  be  a 
shame  to  us  and  a  reproach  to  Zion — might  it  not  even 
compromise  the  glory  of  the  Master,  if  we,  while 
here,  should  hinder  the  work — if  we  should  come  and 
go  and  leave  no  blessing?  if  ay  this  be  known  as  the 
PRAYING  Assembly;  may  the  good  people  of  St. 
Louis  hold  this  meeting  in  grateful  remembrance,  be- 
cause by  tis  so  many  were  led  to  Christ.  And  when 
we  part,  may  each  one  go  away  with  a  lighted  brand, 
prepared  to  kindle  anew  the  flame  on  that  altar  where 
he  is  appointed  to  minister. 

Prayer  was  then  offered  by  Eev.  "W.  S.  Curtis, 
D.  D.,  ef  Knox  College,  and  the  opening  services 
closed  by  singing  the  549th  hymn,  and  benedic- 
tion was  pronouQced  by  the  Moderator. 

After  prayer  by  the  Moderator.  Bro.  Dr.  Kel- 
son, of  St.  Louis,  of  Committee  on  arrangements, 
reported  the  hours  of  meeting  to  the  Assembly 
as  follows,  viz:  the  daily  sessions  to  commence 
at  one-half  past  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon ;  the  morning 
services  to  close  at  twelve  noon,  and  the  after- 
noon services  at  one-half  past  five;  that  the 
evening  services  commence  at  one-quarter  be- 
fore eight ;  and  that  the  daily  morning  prayer 
meeting  commence  after  the  calling  of  the  roll 
and  reading  of  the  minutes,  at  nine  o'clock,  to 
continue  until  ten  o'clock  a.  m. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  accepted  and 
adopted. 

After  prayer,  the  Assembly  adjourned  until  3 
o'clock  p.  T. 


AFTERNOON   SESSION. 

Three  o'clock,  r.  m. 

rrayer  by  Eev.  Dr.  Campbell,  of  New  York 
city. 

Minutes  read  by  Secretary  and  appro\ed. 

Eoll  of  commissioneis  called  and  corrections 
made. 

Eevs.Z. \r.  numphrey,DD.,  of  Chicago;  S.  M. 
Hopkins,  DD.,  of  Auburn;  L.  D.  Hatfield,  DD., 
of  New  York  city,  and  Wm.  Hogarth,  DD.,  of  De- 
troit, were  nominated  for  Moderator  of  this  As- 
sembly. 

Eev.  Dr.  Hogarth  desired  to  withdraw  his 
name. 


The  first  bailot  showed  a  plurality  only  for 
Dr.  Hopkins.  The  secoud  ballot  resulted  in  the 
election  of  Eev.  8.  M.  Hopkins,  DD.,  as  Modera- 
tor for  the  ensuing  year. 

Eev.  John  W.  Bailey,  of  the  Presb.ytery  of 
Bloominston,  111.,  and  Eev.  Charles  P.  Bush,  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  were  chosen  tempo- 
rary clerks. 

On  motion  of  Kev.  Mr.  Cornwall  the  rules  as 
printed  in  the  "Appendix"  were  adopted  by  the 
Assembly. 

The  roll  was  ordered  to  be  printed. 

It  was  made  the  order  of  the  day,  for  to-day 
(Friday)  at  10  o'clock,  to  receive  the  Synodical 
records  and  reports. 

The  Treasurer's  report  was  read,  and  referred 
to  an  auditing  committee.  The  report  is  simply 
that  of  the  Assembly  in  account  witn  the  Treas- 
urer, and  shows  the  income  and  expenditure 
(incidental)  to  be  some  six  thousoud  dollars, 
each,  leaving  a  balance  of  $3Y  43  due  the  As- 
semblv. 

Docket  read  by  the  Stated  Clerk,  Eev.  E.  F. 
Hatfield,  D.  D. 

()rdered  that  the  report  of  the  Trustee  of  the 
Church  Erection  Fund  be  the  first  in  order  of 
receiving  reports  from  the  permanent  commit- 
tee to-day,  (Friday,)  and  that  the  report  of  the 
standing  committee  on  the  report  of  the  Trus- 
tees be  the  first  in  order  on  the  4th  day  of  the 
session,  in  the  course  of  receiving  the  reports  of 
the  standing  committees. 

Ordered  that  it  be  a  standing  rule  of  this  As- 


sembly, that  a  standing  committee  be  appointed 
to  whom  shall  be  referred  the  whole  subject  of 
Sabbath  schools,  and  to  whom  the  permanent 
committee,  when  there  is  one,  shall  report,  and 
that  Ihe  nomination  of  a  permanent  committee 
be  referred  to  this  committee. 

After  prayer  by  the  Moderator,  the  Assembly 
ailjourned  its  business  session  until  eight  and 
a  half  o'clock,  a.  m.  to  dav. 

1  he  roll  of  the  Assembly  yesterday  was  in- 
complete, but  it  will  appear  in  full  in  our  paper 
to-morrow. 

The  New  School  Assembly  held  prayer  and 
conference  meetings  last  night,  at  the  First  and 
the  North  Presbyterian  Churches.  That  at  Dr. 
Kelson's  church  was  very  largely  attended — of 
the  other,  in  a  remote  quarter,  we  do  not  hear. 
During  the  war,  the  Assembly,  at  its  anniversary, 
has  devoted  the  first  evening  after  convening  to 
a  prayer  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  Nation  in  its 
struggle  with  treason. 

The  present  occasion  was  one  of  thanksgiving 
for  the  National  triumph,  and  the  sentiments 
uttered  were  of  grateful  patriotism.  Dr.  Nelson 
presided.  Some  of  the  speakers  dwelt  impres- 
sively upon  the  duty  of  the  country  to  establish 
justice  as  the  sole  hope  of  ^■ational  safety,  and 
deplored  the  prevalence  of  a  disposition  to  fail 
in  the  exaction  of  this  righteous  security. 


SECOND  DAY  — FRIDAY,  MAY  18,  1866. 


MORNING-  SESSION. 

The  Assembly  met,  and  opened  with  prayer. 

The  first  hour  was  occupied  with  devotional 
exercises. 

The  roll  was  called,  and  the  minutes  of  the 
last  session  were  read  and  approved. 

The  Moderator  announced  the  following 

STAN'DIKG     OOMMITTEES : 

Judicial  Committee  —  Ministers,  Edwin  F. 
Hatfield,  DD.,  J.  Jermain  Porter,  DD.,  Henry 
Calhoun,  Thomas  S.  Milligan,  Johnathan  H. 
Noble,  Levi  P.  Crawford.  Elders:  Hon.  Wm.  I. 
Cornwell,  Alex.  Milne,  Hon.  Wilmer  Worthing- 
ton,  Alex.  Shelby,  Mavor  Brigham. 

Place  of  meeting,  S.  S.  room,  8d  story. 

Bills  and  Overtures — Ministers,  James  B. 
Shaw,  DD.,  Thomas  J.  Sheppard,  DD., Benjamin 
R.  Parsons,  DD.,  Philip  S.  Cleland,  Ihomas  T. 
Bradford,  John  W"  Cunningham.  Elders,  An- 
drew Flesher,  Ira  I.  Fern,  Samuel  C.  "West, 
Homer  H.  Winchell,  Beaumont  S.  Holmes. 

Place  of  meeting.  Chapel,  second  story. 

Polity  of  the  Church— Ministers,  Henry  B. 
Smith,  DD„  Wra.  Hogarth,  DD.,  Ebenezer  Bush- 
nell,  Peter  S.  Van  Nest,  Horatio  Pettingill,  Geo. 
P.  Tindall.  Elders,  Edward  Wells,  Joseph  11. 
Plumb,  Albert  M.  Brown,  J.  Marshall  Paul,  M. 
D.,  Theodore  W.Collins. 

Place  of  meeting.  Chapel,  second  story. 

Home  Missions — Ministers,  Wm.  E.  Knox, 
DD.,  Martin  M.  Post,  DD.,  James  W.  Stark, 
Alexander   M.   Heizer,   J.  Addison  Whitaker, 


i'rederick  H.  Adams.  Elders,  John  Hill,  Luther 
H.  Trask,  Eussell  Scarritt,  Horatio-Newhall,  M. 
D.,  Edward  E.  Wilson,  Jeremiah  P.   E.  Xumler. 

Place  of  meeting,  Church  Parlor,  first  story. 

Foreign  Missions — Ministers,  Walter  Churk, 
D.D.,  George  W.  Wood,  D.D. ,  Alfred  E.  Campbell , 
D.  D.,  Milton  Bradley,  John  Montieth,  Jr.  El- 
ders, Octavius  Knight,  Joseph  W.  Edwards,  Da- 
vid C.  Anderson,  Manlev  Eogers,  Enhraim  G. 
Stilt. 

Place  of  meeting.  Infant  Sabbath  School  Eoom, 
second  story. 

Education — Ministers,  Wm.  S.  Curtis,  D.  D., 
Beriah  B.  Hotchkin,  Calvin  Waterbury,  John  F. 
Kendall,  George  D.  A.  Jiebard,  Alexander  Dun- 
can. Elders,  Wm.  A.  Booth,  Joseph  E.  Dixon, 
Asa  D.  Lord,  M.  D.,  Brackley  Shaw,  James  H. 
Sayre. 

Place  of  meeting,  Sabbath  School  Eoom,  third 
story. 

Publication— Ministers,  Samuel  D.  Burchard, 
P.  D..  George  C.  Noyes,  Samuel  W.  Pratt,  Levi 
B.  Wilson,  James  E.  Gibson,  Samuel  Ward.  El- 
ders, Edward  A.  Durant,  Timothy  E.  Porter, 
Eobert  Eussell,  Lewis  G.  Hewling,  Luther  Ed- 
gertou. 

Place  of  meeting.  Choir  Gallery,  east  stairs. 

Church  Erection— Ministers,  Zepheniah  M. 
Humphrey,  D.  D.,  William  A.  Niles,  William  E. 
Mojre,  Josexjh  Chester,  Thomas  H.  Tatlow, 
Joseph  A.  Eanney.  Elders,  Hon.  Henry  W, 
Williams,  Hon.  Truman  P.  Handy,  Hon.  Joseph 
Allison,  Wm.  S.  Webb,  Wm.  M.  Gregory. 


Place  of  meeting,  church  parlor.  1st  story. 

Sabbath  Schools — Minister.^,  Henry  Fowler, 
Charles  E.  Knox,  William  Hart,  Asahcl  S.  Bonks, 
Thomas  11.  Kobinson.  Elders,  Hon.  Edwarr)  A. 
Lambert,  William  H.  Christie,  Albert  W.  Allen, 
Oram  el  Kugg. 

Place  of  meeting,  chapel.  2d  story. 

Ministerial  Eelief— Ministers,  Chas.  P.  Bush, 
Nelson  Millard,  Aratus  Kent,  Whitney  C.  Bur- 
chard,  Samuel  F.  Bacon.  Elders,  William  Kew- 
ton,  Jonathan  A.  Marsh,  M.  D.,  Columbus  Crane, 
Samuel  M.  Thatcher. 

Place  of  meeting,  choir  gallery,  east  stairs. 

Narrative  of  Eeligion — Ministers,  Cornelius 
H.  Taylor,  D.  D.,  John  N.  Combs,  Peter  S. 
Davis,  William C.  Turner,  Albert  True.  Elders, 
Thos.  Hamilton,  John  H.  Carson,  Philo  Merrill. 

Place  of  meeting,  choir  gallery,  we%t  stairs. 

Mileage  of  Commissioners — Elders,  Truman 
P.  Handy,  Silas  K.  Stowe,  Stephen  M.  Clement. 

Place  of  meeting,  Sunday  School  room,  third 
story. 

Devotional  Exercises — Ministers,  George  F. 
Wiswell,  Charles  N.  Mattoon,  D.  D.,  Livingston 
Willard,  John  L.  French.  Elders,  John  C. 
Hines,  Thomas  Stillwell,  M.  D.,  Samuel  Bond. 

Place  of  meeting.  Pastor's  study,  first  story. 

Leave  of  Absence— Ministers,  Eobert  K.  Kel- 
logg, Lucius  1.  Root,  Wm.  S.  Page,  Jsmes  A. 
Giffes.  Elders,  Wm.  A.  Eldridgc,  Elijah  Church- 
ill, David  Compton. 

Place  of  meeting,  chapel,  second. story. 

COMMITTEES    ON   STXODICAL  EECORDS. 

Synod  of  Albany — Ministers,  Isaac  6.  Ogden, 
James  Boggs,  Henry  V.  Warren.  Elders,  Elijah 
Churchill,  Simon  Harvrood. 

Sypod  of  Utica — Ministers,  Oliver  Crane,  Geo. 
O.  Little,  Edmund  B.  Miner.  Elders,  Edwin  S. 
Welk,  Samuel  Wade. 

Synod  of  Onondaga — Ministers,  Charles  T* 
Berry,  Ebeuezer  Eushnell,  Ezra  Jones.  Elders, 
Wm.  Newton,  Nelson  Noble. 

Synod  of  GeneVa — Miaisters,  John  L,  Jones, 

A.  E.  Ernest,  Allen  Traver.     Elders,  Stuart  T. 
Terry,  Samuel  Barr. 

Synod  of  Susquehanna  -Ministers,  John  C. 
Moses,  Thomas  Harries,  Thomas  A.  Steel.  Elders, 
Gilbert  M.  Gilford,  Alfred  Lockhart. 

Synod  of  Geneva— Ministers,  Ebenezer  Buck- 
ingham, Joseph  L.  Morton,  William  L.  Tarbet. 
Elders,  James  E.  Curry,  Benjamin  A.  Hunt. 

Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey — Minis- 
ters, George  Spaulding,  William  L.  Page,  Giles 
M.Smith.  Elders,  Luther  Edgerton,  J.  S.  Met- 
calf. 

Synod  of  Pennsylvania — Ministers,  0.  H.  Per- 
ry Deyo,  Eichard  M.  Sanford,  Leonard  fi.  Eich- 
ards.    Elders,  James  M.  Eeeder,  Eobert  Eussell. 

Synod  of  West  Pennsylvania — Ministers,  Levi 
G.  Marsh,  Lewis  Thompson,  George  Eansom. 
Elders,  Martin  Allen.  Solon  Massey. 

Synod  of  Michigan — Ministers,  James  E.  Gib- 
son, Geo.  0.  Phelps,  James  E.  Vance.  Elders, 
Silas  Moore,  William  Storer. 

Synod  of  Western  Eeserve — Jlinisters,  Donald 

B.  Campbell,  John  Gibson,  Thomas  Brown.    El- 
ders, Proctor  C.  Samson,  Solomon  Becklcy. 

Synod  of  Ohio — Ministers,  Edward  C.  John- 
ston, Joseph  B.  Little,  Horatio  Pattengill.  El- 
ders, Alex.  H.  Holden,  Joshua  Moore. 

Synod  of  Cincinnati — Ministers,  Eeriah  B. 
Hotchkiss,  Alexander  Duncan,  Henry  Calhoun. 
Elders,  Levi  Walker,  Jonathan  Hoyt. 

Synod  of  Indiana — ^Unisters,  Thomas  T.  Brad- 


ford, Nelson  Willard,  George  P.  Tindall.    El- 
ders, David  Ewing,  Samuel  C.  West. 

Synod    of     Wabash — Ministers,     Livingston, 
Willard,  E.  S.  Davis.  John  L.  French.    Elders, 
j  Ira  I.  Fenn,  Samuel  N. 'Ihatcher. 

Synod    of     Illinois — Ministers,   William    E. 
Moore,  Charles  C.  Hart,  John  W.  Cunningham. 
I  Elders, 'I  homas  Ilamilfon,  John  Otto. 
j       Synod  of  Peoria— Ministers,  Charles  N.  Mat- 
toon,  D.  D.,  Jeremiah  P.  E.  Kumler,  George  C. 
Noyes.    Elders,  John  Hill,  Joseph  E.  Dixon. 

Synod  of  Wisconsin— Ministers,  Lucius  I. 
Boot,  John  N.  Coombs,  Wm.  C.  Turner.  Elders, 
Lorenzo  Eussell,  Jonathan  A.  Marsh,  M.  D. 

Synod  of  Iowa — Ministers,  Jonathan  H.  No- 
ble, Samuel  W.  Pratt, Charles  E.  Knox.  Elders, 
Philo  Merrill,  Theodore  W.  Collins. 

Synod  of  Minnesota— Ministers,  James  B. 
Fisher,  Whiting  C.  Birchard,  Alexander  M. 
Heizer.  Elders,  Beaumont  S.  Holmes,  Joshua 
Moore. 

Synod  of  Missouri — Ministers,  William  A. 
Niles,  Samuel  F.  Bacon,  James  A.  Griffes.  El- 
ders, Luther  H.  Trask.  Octavius  Knight. 

Synod  of  Tennessee— Ministers,  William  Ho- 
garth, D.  D.,  Levi  B.  Wilson,  Gamaliel  C.  Bea- 
man.  Elders,  William  A.  Booth,  Hon.  Wilmer 
Worthington. 

Synod  of  Alta  California — Ministers, . 

Elders, . 

The  order  of  the  day  was  then  taken  up,  and 
the  report  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Church  Erec- 
tion Fund  was  theu  read  by  Jesse  W.  Benedict 
Esq.,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  abstract. 

LOANS  AND  DONATIONS. 

During  the  year  there  have  been  received 
twenty  applications  for  aid,  amounting  to  $7,- 
525  ;  thirteen  of  which  were  for  Loans,  amount- 
ing to  §6,oT5,  and  seven  for  Donations,  amount- 
ing to  ^1,450.  Ten  of  the  applications  for  Loans 
were  granted,  amounting  to  S4,C)75 ;  three 
amounting  to  $1,4imj  were  refused  ;  one  of  these 
required  the  loan  to  be  made  in  gold;  by  the 
other  two  it  appeared  that  after  obtaining  the 
Loan  the  congregation  would  not  have  the 
amount  necessary  to  complete  their  building ; 
they  were  informed  that  as  soon  as  the  deficien- 
cy should  be  provided  for,  their  application 
would  be  granted.  Four  of  the  applications  for 
Donations,  amounting  to  $75<i,  were  granted; 
three  amounting  to  -5700  were  refused ;  one  of 
these  absolutely  for  the  reason  that  the  aid  re 
quired  was  for  the  purpuse  of  paying  a  debt 
which  had  been  contracted  in  1S53 ;  one  as 
premature,  it  appearing  from  the  application 
that,  ai'ter  obtaining  the  required  donation,  the 
congregation  would  not  have  the  amount  requi- 
site to  complete  their  building.  They  were  in- 
formed that  as  soon  as  tnis  deficiency  should 
be  provided  for  their  application  would  be 
granted.  The  other  application  for  a  donation 
was  refused  for  the  reason  that  it  was  not  in 
due  form,  and  the  amount  (^Suo)  asked  for  ex- 
ceeded the  amount  limited  by  the  plan  for  d  na- 
tions. _  In  one  case,  after  the  application  for  a 
donation  had  been  granted,  tne  congregation 
refused  to  execute  the  bond  and  mortgage  re- 
quired by  the  plan,  and  have  not  availed  them- 
selves of  the  grant. 

These  applications  were  from  eleven  synods, 
five  from  the  synod  of  Missouri,  three  from  the 
synod  of  Minnesota,  two  from  each  of  the 
synods  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  Illinois 
and  Wisconsin,  and  one  from  each  of  the  synods 


of  Genesee,   Pennsylvania,  Indiana,   "Wabasb, 
Peoria,  and  Alta  California. 

RECEIPTS  FROM  CHURCaES. 

There  have  been  received  dnring  the  year 
from  40  churches  on  account  of  loans,  $5,894  22; 
from  r.5  churches  on  account  of  donations,  $839 
07,  and  from  13  churches  for  interest,  ?9?6  58, 
making  a  total  of  $7,219  87. 

LEGAL   OPINIONS. 

The  last  General  Assembly  directed  this 
Board  to  procure  the  written  opinion  of  eminent 
legal  counsel  as  to  the  powers  of  the  Assembly 
in  respect  to  the  Church  Erection  Fund,  es- 
pecially in  reference  to  ihe  question  whether 
having  received  this  fund,  "as  a  special  trust," 
and  in  1854  committed  the  custody  thereof 
to  a  Board  of  Trustees,  incorporated  by  a 
special  statute  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  the  As- 
sembly- has  the  power  so  to  alter  the  Church 
Erection  Plan  as' to  make  an  absolute  gift  of  the 
increase  of  the  fund  beyond  the  sum  of  $10o,00ii, 
for  the  purpose  named  in  the  first  article  of  the 
plan.  'Ihe  Board  were  directed  to  report  such 
opinions  to  this  Assembly,  with  the  addition  of 
any  recommendations  which  they  might  deem 
expedient. 

In  compliance  with  this  direction  of  the  As- 
sembly, the  Board  have  obtained  from  three 
eminent  counsel  written  opinions,  which  are 
herewith  submitted.  Kone  of  these  gentlemen 
had  any  knowledge  of  the  opinions  of  the  oth- 
ers; in  fact,  neither  was  aware  that  any  other 
opinion  excepting  his  own  had  been  or  would 
be  obtained.  It  will  be  seeu  that  they  differ  in 
their  views  of  the  power  of  the  Assembly  over 
the  fund,  all  agreeing,  however,  in  this:  that 
the  fund  can  never  be  used  excepting  for  the 
objects  set  forth  in  the  first  article  of  the  plan. 

The  Board  have  carefully  considered  these 
diverse  opinions,  and  will  only  add  that  they 
trust  that  the  time  will  never  come  when,  for 
the  purpose  of  judicially  settling  the  powers  of 
the  General  Assembly  over  the  fund,  a  resort 
shall  be  had  to  law,  the  proverbial  uncertainty 
of  which  has  received  a  new  illustration  in  the 
opinions  herewith  submitted  to  the  Assembly. 

It  is  certain  that  the  donors  of  the  fund  in- 
tended to  inaugurate  just  such  a  scheme  of 
benevolence  as  this,  and  thus  far  in  its  manage- 
ment the  Board  have_  not  in  any  particular 
violated  any  of  the  principles  contended  for  in 
these  opinions  ;  and  it  certainly  will  be  safe  ro 
continue  to  administer  the  fund  substantially 
upon  the  same  principles  which  have  heretofore 
obtained,  enlarging  or  diminishing  the  amount 
of  loans  and  donations,  and  their  terms,  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  congregations  to  be  aided 
from  time  to  time  may  require. 

AJIENnsiENTS    TO    THE  PLAN. 

In  their  report  to  the  last  Assembly  the  Board 
recommended  amendments  to  the  plan,  increas- 
ing the  amount  cf  the  loans  to  8750,  and  of  the 
donations  to  $300.  It  was  greatly  regretted  by 
the  Board  that  when  these  amendments  came 
before  the  Assembly  for_  their  final  action,  it 
was  found  that  the  requisite  number  (two-thiras 
of  the  enrolled  members)  were  not  present. 

By  the  present  plan  loans  are  limited  to  $500 
for  three  j'ears  without  interest  (and  in  no  case 
can  exceed  one-third  of  the  amount  contributed 
for  the  house  and  lot).  Then  the  principal  is 
required  to  be  refunded  in  four  equal  annual 
installments,  interest  attaching,  in  case  of  de- 
fault, on  the  whole  amount  during  default. 


The  Board  now  recommend  that  the  plan  be 
so  altered  that  loans  to  the  amount  of  $750  (not 
exceeding,  however,  one  third  of  the  amount 
coatributed  for,  the  house  and  lot)  may  be  made 
for  live  years,  without  interest,  to  be  then  re- 
paid in  six  equal  annual  installments ;  interest 
to  attach  as  heretofore  on  defaut.  Should  this 
amendment  be  adopted,  the  Board  believe  that 
increased  activity  will  be  given  to  the  fund, and 
that  the  object  for  which  it  was  raised  will  be 
greatly  advanced.  The  Board,  therefore,  recom- 
mend that  Article  XIV  of  the  plan  be  so  amended 
as  to  read  as  follows: 

ARTICLE   XIV. 

"  The  Board  shall  not  in  any  case  loan  or  do- 
nate any  portion  of  the  fund  to  any_  congrega- 
tion, unless  such  congregation  own,  in  fee  sim- 
ple and  free  from  all  legal  incumbrance,  the  lot 
on  which  their  house  of  worship  is  situated,  or 
on  which  they  propose  to  build  ;  nor  shall  any 
loan  or  donation  be  made  for  the  payment  of 
any  debt,  except  that  which  may  have  been  con- 
tracted within  one  year  previous  in  erecting  a 
house  of  worship. 

The  amount  loaned  to  any  congregation  shall 
never  be, more  than  one-third  ot  the  amount 
contributed  for  the  house  and  lot,  nor  ex- 
ceed the  sum  of  $750,  nor  shall  the 
amount  given  to  any  congregation  as  a  dona- 
tion be  in  any  case  more  than  $3oO,  or  ex- 
ceed v/ne-fourth  of  the  amount  contributed 
for  their  house  and  lot :  Marshall  a  loan  and  a 
donation  be  made  to  the  same  congregation. 
The  donations  within  the  boundaries  of  any 
Synod  shall  never  be  more  than  one-fourth  of 
the  amount  appropriated  to  that  Synod. 

All  loans  shall  be  made  on  the  following  con- 
ditions: 

1.  The  principal  shall  be  paid  in  six  equal 
annual  installments,  the  first  installment  be- 
coming due  in  five  years  from  the  date  of  the 
loan. 

2.  If  all  the  installments  are  punctually  paid, 
no  interest  will  be  required  on  any  part  of  the 
loan. 

3.  In  default  of  the  payment  of  any  install- 
ment, interest  shall  be  required  on  the  whole 
loan  unpaid  from  the  time  of  such  default  until 
such  installment,  with  all  the  interest  that  may 
thus  accrue,  shall  be  paid. 

The  conditions  of  all  donations  from  this 
fund  shall  be,  that,  incase  the  church  or  congre- 
gation shall  cease  to  be  connected  with  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  or  their  corporate  existence  shall 
cease,  or  their  house  of  worship  be  alienated 
except  for  the  building  or  purchase  of  a  better 
house  of  worship,  they  shall  refund  to  the  Board 
the  amount  which  they  have  so  received  with 
interest  from  the  time  of  recGiving  it ;  and  fur- 
ther, that  every  congregation  receiving  a  dona- 
tion shall  annually  make  a  collection  in  aid  of 
the  fund,  transmitting  the  same  to  the  Treas- 
urer, until  the  amount  so  collected  and  paid 
over  shall  CQual  the  sum  received  as  a  donation. 

The  fulfillment  of  the  above  conditions,  in  re- 
spect to  both  loans  and  donations,  shall,  in  all 
cases,  be  secured  by  the  bond  of  the  trustees  of 
the  congregation,  and  a  mortgage  on  their  house 
and  lot,  made  in  favor  of  the  .Board;  which 
bond  atid  mortgage,  duly  executed  and  record- 
ed, shall  always  be  placed  in  the  possession  of 
the  Board,  before  any  money  is  paid  over  to  the 
congregation." 

The  Board  also  recommend  that  in  Article 
XlII,  in  the  12th  and  13th  lines,  the  words,  "A 
copy  of  "  be  stricken  out,  so  that  the  sentence 


will  reafll,  "This  certificate,  together  with  the 
application  made  to  the  Committee  of  the  Synod, 
shall  be  tranamitted  to  the  Board." 

This  last  l^eodment  merely  conforms  the 
plan  to  its  practical  working.  The  original  ap- 
plication, and  not  a  copy,  is  invariably  for- 
warded to  the  Bo«rd,  The  Board,  therefore, 
recommend  the  plan  to  be  amended  accord- 
ingly. 

ELECTION   OF  TllUSTEES. 

The  term  of  office  of  the  Eev.  J.  Few  Smith, 
D.  D..  Eev.  Samuel  D,  Burchard,  D.  D.,  and 
Wm.  A.  Booth,  Esq.,  is  soon  to  expire;  it  will 
be  necessary  for  the  Assembly  to  fill  their 
places. 

The  Church  Erection,  Fund,  in  account  with  Jesse 
W.  Benedict,  Treasurer,  from  May  1,'1865,  to 
Mayl,  ISdG. 

DR. 

To  Cash,  Loans  to  Churches S2,775  00 

"        Donations  to  Churches 4X)  00 

"  Call  Loans  and  Temporary  In- 
vestments  221,331  45 

' '  Expenses,  being  salary  of  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer^  rent  of 
Oilice,     Stationery,    Printing, 

Postage,   &c 1,815  07 

' '        Misoelliineoiis 68  11 

To  Balance  in  Bank 1  94'2  17 

$228,361  80 

OR. 

Hj  Balance  from  former  acoount 817,228  32 

By  Cash,  from  Call  Loans   and  Temporary 

Investmems 198.9.51  00 

By  Cash,  Interest  on  ditto 4,833  21 

' '  Installments  from  various 
Churches  on  account   of  their 

Bonds  and  Mortgages 5,394  22 

"        Interest  on  ditto 986  58 

' '  Annual  collections  received  from 
Churches  on  account  of  dona- 
tion         839  07 

"        Miscellaneous 126  40 

$228,361  80 

By  Balance  in  Bank SI, 942  17 

This  certifies  that  we  have  examined  the  vouchers 
in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer,  and  fiud  the  above 
account  correct.  EDWARD  A.  LA.MBERr, 

JOFLN  P.  CROSBY. 
New  York,  May  2, 1866. 

CONDITION  OF  THE  CHURCH    ERECTION   FUND,  MAY  1, 

18C6. 

Amount  of  loans  to  churches  secured  by 
bonds  and  mortgages $32,046  70 

Amount  of  donations  to  chuioaes  secured 
oy  bonds  and  mort.itages 15,013  18 

Amount  of  call  loans  and  temporary  in- 
vestments    77,425  45 

Tntt  rest  earned  ihereon  to  date 1,072  02 

Cashinbank 1,942  17 

Total $127,499  52 

This  certifles  that  we  have  examined  Mie  securities 
in  the  haijds  of  the  Treasurer,  and  liud  the  above 
Btatement  to  be  correct. 

EDWARD  A.  LiVMDERI, 
JOHiN  P.  CROSBY. 
New  York,  May  2d,  1866.  t- 

The  report  was  accepted  and  referred  to  the 
appropriate  committee. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Secretary,  Walter  S. 
Griffith,  Edward  A.  L'jmbert,  of  Brooklyn,  read 
the  report  ot  the  permanent  committee  oa  For- 
eign Missions.  Ke;->orfc  adopted  and  referred  to 
the  appropriate  standing  committees. 

Ordered  that  the  places  of  meeting  of  the  sev- 
eral committees  be  printed,  in  connection  with 


the  roll  of  commissioners,  and  standing  com- 
mittees. 

•  After  prayer  by  Eev.  Mr.Tyndall,  the  Assembly 
adjourned  until  three  o'clock  p.  m. 


AFTERNOON   SESSION— THREE   O'CLOCK  P.  M. 

Eev.  Dr.  H.  B.  Smith  in  the  chair. 

.lessee  W.  Benedict,  Esq.,  read  the  annual  re- 
port of  the  permanent  Committee  on  Education, 
which  report  was  referred  to  the  appropriate 
standing  committee. 

Eev.  Thornton  A.  Mills,  D.  D.,  with  regard  to 
the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York, 
stated  that  its  faculty  was  full,  and  full  of  able 
men. 

The  fifth  annual  report  of  the  permanent 
Committee  on  Home  Missions  was  read  by  Eev. 
Walter  Clarke,  D.  D.,  of  Buffalo,  New  York.  The 
rejDort  discussed  the  rapid  increase  of  the  popu- 
lation at  the  West,  the  laws  which  regulate  its 
movements,  making  particular  mention  of  the 
rapid  extension  of  railroads  at  the  West,  of  the 
Pacific  Eailroad  and  the  vast  mineral  regions 
at  the  West,  and  the  great  influx  of  foreigners 
into  the  country,  prairies,  forests,  mineral 
tracts,  and  where  railroads  are  built,  there  the 
people  go. 

The  report  claims  that  never  before  have  rail- 
roads been  SQ>  rapidl.y  built  as  now,  and  never 
so  full  a  tide  of  travel  flowing  into  the  Western 
States,  and  the  gold  and  silver  bearing  regions 
of  the  Eocky  Mountain  division. 

The  tending  to  the  centralization  of  popula- 
tion was  also  noticed.  Never  did  the  great 
cities  of  the  world  grow  so  rapidly  as  "now. 
Great  centers  open  at  the  West,  and  for  a  brief 
time  must  have  missionary  aid.  This  depletes 
and  drains  the  East,  and  makes  a  demand  for 
aid  to  the  feeble  and  decaying  churches  there. 

An  encouraging  view  of  religious  progress 
and  reconstruction  in  East  Tennessee  and 
Missouri  was  given.  About  forty  missionaries 
have  been  employed  in  these  two  States,  who 
have  labored, on  the  whole,  with  encouragement 
and  success. 

Elsewhere  at  the  South  but  little  has  beea 
done,  but  some  efforts  among  the  freedmen  have 
succeeded  well. 

The  obstacles  to  the  work  were  said  to  be  as 
follows: 

1.  The  task  of  ministers.  The  ministers  are 
too  few  to  meet  the  demand  of  the  people.  More 
men  could  be  located  in  one  mouth  than  all  the 
theological  seminaries  have  turned  out  in  a 
year.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  work,  if  the  min- 
isters were  plenty. 

2.  Lack  of  church  edifices.  The  report  insists 
that  the  Church  is  not  awake  to  the  importance 
of  this  matter,  and  it  shows  how  much  the  Bap- 
tists, Congregationalists,  Methodists,  Unitari- 
ans, Universalists,  and  Episcopalians  are  doing 
in  the  cause,  and  urges  the  Assembly  to  devise 
some  method  to  build  churches,  especially  for 
all  the  feeble  but  promising  congregations  in 
the  West. 

8.  Lack  of  funds.  The  Treasurer's  report 
shows  that  less  than  $92,000  have  been  con- 
tributed, but  $106,000  expended  dui'ing  the 
year.  Such  a  state  of  things  cannot  last.  The 
report  shows  that  the  church  is  able  to  contrib- 
ute much  more,  and  calls  on  the  ministry  and 
people  to  redouble  their  energies  to  meet  the 
demand,  Onfy  about  800  churches  out  of  a  to- 
tal of  1,500  in  the  body  had  contributed  any- 
thing during  the  year. 


The  whole  working  force  in  the  missionary 
field  has  been  8S5  men— 5S  more  thi3n  last  year. 
Six  of  these  have  died. 

The  statistics  of  the  year  are  very  encour- 
aging. About  50  churches  have  been  formed, 
5,5i)0  souls  converted,  and  8,25o  have  united 
with  the  church. 

Mr.  Lambert  read  the  Treasurer's  report,  and 

•  the  two  reports  were  accepted  and  referred  to 

♦  the  appropriate  standing  committee. 

Eev.  John  W.  Dulles  of  Philadelphia,  read 
the  report  of  the  permanent  Committee  on  Pub- 
lication. 

This  report  showed  a  balance  in  treasury  of 
$465. 

Report  accepted  and  referred  to  the  appropri- 
ete  Standing  Committee. 

Eev.  T.  J.  Shepherd,  D.  D.,  of  Philadelphia, 
read  report  of  the  Committee  on  Presbyterian 
House.    Accepted  and  referred. 

The  Rev.  Geo.  F.  Wiswell,  of  the  Committee 
on  Devotional  Exercises,  read  the  following  list 
oi  exercises  in  difi'ereut  churches  of  the  city 
and  vicinity  for  to-morrow,  (Sunday.) 

EXERCISES  FOR    SUNDAY,  MAY  20. 

First  Presbyterian  Church ,  10 }i  a.  m..  Modera- 
tor, Kev.  S.  M.  Hoijliias.  4  p.  M.  Z.  M.  Huia- 
pUrey,  D.  D. 

Union  Methodist,  corner  Eleventh  and  Locust, 
Rev.  J.  .J.  Porter,  lO^i  a,  m.  Kev.  C  N.  Mattoou, 
J>.  D.,  7H,  P.  M. 

Clark  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Fourteenth  and 
Clark  avenue,  liev.  A.  E.  Campbell,  D.  D.,  N.  Y., 
7«  p.  M. 

Second  Union  Methodist  Church,  west  side  Sixth 
between  Franklin  avenue  anrJ  Wash,  Rev.  W.  E. 
Knox,  D.  D.,  10«  A.  M.  Rev.  W.  Hogarth,  D. 
D.,  7M  p.  m. 

Simpson  Chapel,  Tenth  and  North  Market  streets. 
Rev.  J.  L.  Morton,  10)^  a.  m.    Rev.  J.  N.  Coombs, 

1%  p.  M. 

Pratte  Avenue  Miasiou,  between  Clark  avenue 
and  Gamble  avenue,  Rev.  J.  F.  Kendall,  lOK  a.  m. 
Rev.  Charles  E    Knox,  IH  p.  m. 

City  Hospital,  St.  Aflge  street  and  Lafayette  ave- 
nue, Rev.  W.  E.  Moore,  2M  p.  m. 

City  Jail,  corner  Sixth  and  Chesnut  streets.  Rev. 
Hannibal  L.  Stanley,  4  p.  m, 

Mt.  Vernon  liandof  Hope,  corner  St.  Charles  and 
Sixth,  Rev.  W.  L.  Pase,  3H  p.  m. 

Colored  Church,  corner  Twellth  street  and  Cass 
avenue,  Rev.  A.  M.  Heiser,  lOM  a.  m. 

Root  Hill  Church,  Rev.  Walter  Clark,  D.  D. 

North  Presbytery  Church,  corner  Chambers  and 
Eleventh  streets.  Rev.  S.  D.  Burchard,  D.  D.,  10)s 
A.  M.     W.  A.  Niles,  7M  p.  m. 

First  Congregational,  Tenth  and  Locust  streett^, 
Rev.  E.  F.  HatUeld,  D.  D.,  7«  p.  m. 

Jeflerson  City,  Rev.  H.  Kendall,  D.  D. 

Monticello,  Ills.— Rev.  John  Monteith. 

Alton— Rev.  Dr.  Shaw,  10«  a.  m.  Rev.  C.  Bush- 
nell,  IH  p.  M. 

Upper  Alton — Rev.  W.  C.  Turner. 

Allenton— Rev.  L.  Wilson. 

Mr.  Wiswell  further  stated  that  there  would 
be  preaching  in  Dr.  Wilson's  Church  in  the 
evening,  services  commencing  at  7  8-4  p.  m. 

The  Assembly  then  adjourned. 

We  publish  below,  the  roll  of  the  present 
C4eneral  Assembly: 

O'FFICEES. 

Rev.  Samuel  M.  Hopkins,  D,  D.,  Moderator ; 
Rev.  Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  1>.  D.,  Stated  Clerk  ; 
Rev.  J.  Glentworth  Butler,  D.  D.,  Permanent 
Clerk;  John  W.  Bailey  and  Stephen  Bush,  Tem- 
porary Clerks;  Mr.  William  A.  Booth,  Treas- 
urer. 


Coniniissiciaers* 

SYKOD  OF  ALBANY. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Ohamplain— Minister,  Asa  E.  Everest. 

Troy — Ministers,  N.  S.  S.  Benian,  D.  D.,  Jona- 
than H.  Noble.    Elder,  Silas  K.  Stowe. 

Albany — Minister,  Stephen  Bush.  Elder,  Ed- 
ward A.  Durant. 

Columbia — Minister,  Charles  T.  Berry. 

Catskill — Minister,  William  Hart. 

SYNOD  OF  UTICA, 

PRESBYTERIES. 

St.  Lawrence — Minister,  Samuel  W.  Pratt. 
Elder,  William  A.  Eldridge. 

Watertown— Minister,  J.  Jermain  Porter. 
Elder,  Samuel  Bond. 

Oswego. 

Utica — Ministers — William  E.'  Knox,  D.  D., 
James  B.  Fisher.    Elder,  Gilbert  M.  Gilford. 

SYNOD  OF  ONONDAGA. 

PKESBY'TERIES. 

Onondaga — Minister,  John  F.  Kendall.  El- 
der, Timothy  R.  Porter. 

Cayuga— Ministers,  Samuel  M.  Hopkins,  DD., 
and  Henry  Fowler.  Elders,  Albert  W.  Allen, 
Hon.  Wm.  I.  Cornwell. 

Cortland— Minister,  Giles  M.  Smith.  Eider, 
Joseph  R.  Dixon. 

Tioga— Minister,  Samuel  F.  Bacon. 

SYNOD  OF  GENEVA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Geneva — Ministers,  Ezra  Jones  and  John  C. 
Moses. 

Steuben — Minister  Wra.  A.  Niles. 

Chemung— Minister,  Isaac  Clark.  Elder,  Jas. 
M.  Reeder. 

Ithaca— Minister,  George  Spaulding.  Elder, 
Nelson  Noble, 

Wellsboro— 

Lyons— Minister,  William  L.  Page.  Elder 
Columbus  Crone. 

SYNOD  OF  SUSQUEHANNA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

(Otsego— Minister,  Geo.  0.  Phelps.  Elder.  Rob- 
ert Russell. 

Chenango— Minister,  John  L.  Jones.  Elder, 
Wm.  Newton. 

Delaware— Minister,  Leonard  E.  Richards. 
Elder,  Elijah  Churchill. 

SYNOD  OF  GENESEE. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Buffalo— Ministers,  Walter  Clarke,  D.  D., 
Richard  M.  Sandford.  Elders,  Stephen  M. 
Clement,  Joseph  H.  Plumb. 

Ontario — Minister,  Levi  G.  Marsh. 

Rochester — Ministers,  James  B.  Shaw,  D.  D., 
Charles  P.  Bush.    Elder,  Simon  Harwood. 

Genesee — Minister,  Allen  Teaver.  Elder, 
Phineas  Stanton. 

Niagara— Minister,  Lucius  L  Root.  Elder, 
Myron  P.  Hopkins. 

Genesee  Valley — Minister,  Isaac    G.    Ogden. 
Elder,  Alfred  Lockhart. 
SYNOD  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  NEW  JERSEY 

PRESBY'TERIES. 

Hudson — Minister,  Robert  R.  Kellogg.  Elder, 
William  S.  Webb. 

North  River — Minister,  o.  H.  Perry  Devo. 
Elder,  Edward  Wells, 


10 


Long;  Island — Minister,  Thomas  Harries.  El- 
ler,  Stuart  T.  Terry. 

New  York,  8d — Ministers,  Alfred  E.  Camp- 
bell, D.  D.,  Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  D.  D.,  Samuel  D. 
Burchard,  D.  D.  Elders,  William  A.  Booth, 
William  H.  Christie,  Alexander  Milne. 

New  York,  4th — Ministers,  Henry  B.  Smith, 
D,  D.,  George  W.  Wood,  D,  D.  Elder,  Albert  N. 
Brown. 

Brooklyn— Minister,  William  S.  Karr.  Elder, . 
[Ion.  Edw.  A.  Lambert. 

Newark — Ministers,  Charles  E.  Knox,  Nelson, 
Millard,  Joel  Parker,  D.  D.  Elders,  James 
Keeve  Sayi-e,  John  C.  Ilines,  Hon.  A.  H.  Holden. 

Eockaway — Minister,  Lewis  'J'bompson.  El- 
der, John  Hill. 

Montrose— Ministers,  Oliver  Crane,  Horatio 
Pattengill.    Elder,  Samuel  N.  Thatcher. 

SYNOD  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Wilmington — Minister,  George  F.  Wiswell. 
Elder,  Samuel  Barr. 

,  Philadelphia,  3d— Ministers,'  BeriahB.  Ilotch- 
kin,  William  E.  Moore.  Elders,  Hon.  Wil'r 
WorthingtoOjHon.  Joseph  Allison. 

Philadelphia,  4th — Ministers,  Thomas  J.  Shep- 
herd, D.  D.,  James  Boggs.  Elder,  J.  Marshall 
Paul,  M.  D. 

Harrisburg — Minister,  Thomas  H,  Eobinson. 
Elder,  Lewis  G.  Huling. 

District  of  Columbia— Minister,  John  N. 
Cooml)S.    Elder,  Octavius  Knight. 

SYNOD  O'F  WEST  PENNSYLVANIA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Erie— Minister,  Thomas  T,  Bradford.  Elden 
Jonathan  A.  Marsh,  M.  D. 

Meadville — Minister,  Whiting C.  Birchard.  El- 
der, David  Compton. 

Pittsburgh — Minister,  Peter  S.  Davies.  Elder 
Hon.  Henry  W.  Williams. 

SYNOD  OF  MICHIGAN. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Detroit— Minister,  William  Hogarth'  D.  D. 
Elder,  Alanson  Sheley. 

Monroe— Minister,  Charles  N.  Mattoon,  D.  D. 
Elder,  BrackleyShaw. 

Marshall— Minister,  Livingston  Willard.  El- 
der, Philo  Merrill. 

Washtenaw — Minister,  George  P.  Tindall. 
Elder,  William  M.  Gregory. 

Kalamazoo — Minister,  Milton  Bradley.  El- 
der, Luther  H.  Trask. 

Coldwater — Minister,  Joseph  A.  Eanney. 

Saginaw — Minister,  Donald  E.  Campbell. 

Grand  Eiver  Valley — Minister,  George  Ean- 
som.    Elder,  Jonathan  Hoyt. 

Lake  Superior— Minister,  Frederic  H.  Adams, 
Elder,  Joseph  W.  Edwards. 

SYNOD  OF  WESTEEN  EESEEVE. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Grand  Eiver — 

Huron — M  ini  sters,  Ebenezer  Bushn  el  1 .  Elder, 
Thomas  Stilwell  M.  D. 

Trumbull — Minister,  Levi  B.  Wilson.  Elder, 
Martin  Allen. 

Cleveland  and  Portage — Ministers,  William 
C.  Turner,  John  Monteith,  Jr.  Elders,  Truman 
P.  Handy,  Hon.  John  A.  Foote. 

Elyria — Minister,  James  E.  Vance.  Elder, 
Isaac  S.  Metcalf. 

Maumee — Viiiuster, .  Elder,  ALiyor  Brig- 
ham. 


SYNOD  OF  OHIO. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Athens— Minister,  Charles  C.  Hart.  Elder, 
Luther  Edgerton. 

Pataskala — Minister,  Ebenezer  Buckingham" 

Franklin— Minister,  Henry  Calhoun.  Elder, 
Asa  D.  Lord,  M.  D. 

Sciota — Minister,  James  E.  Gibson.  Elder, 
David  C.  Anderson. 

SYNOD  OF  CINCINNATI. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Cincinnati — Ministers,  Joseph  Chester,  John 
L.  French.  Elders,  Franklin  \.  Chamberlain, 
Andrew  Flesher. 

Dayton— Minister,  Joseph  B,  Little.  Elder, 
Solon  Massey. 

Hamilton-^Miuister,  J.  P.  E.  Kumler.  Elder, 
Benjamin  A.  Hunt. 

Eipley — Minister,  Henry  V.  Warren.  Elder, 
Theodore  W.  Collins. 

SYNOD  OF  INDIANA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Salem— Minister,  Thomas  A.  Steele.  Elder, 
Silas  Moore. 

Madison— Minister,  AmziW.  Freeman.  Elder, 
Edwin  C.  Whitney. 

Indianpolis— Minister,  Philip  S.  Cleland.  El- 
der, Thomas  Hamilton. 

Green  Castle— Minister,  Thomas  S.  Miiligan. 
Elder,  John  Ott. 

SYNOD  OF  WABASH. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Crawfordsville— Minister.  Edward  C.  John- 
ston.   Elder,  Edmund  G.  Wilson. 

St.  Joseph — Minister,  George  C.  Noyes. 

Logansport— Minister,  Martin  M.  Post,  D.  D. 
Elder,  Lewis  Martin. 

Fort  Wayne — Minister,  Geo.|0.  Little.  Elder, 
George  W.  Ehodes. 

SYNOD  (W  ILLINOIS. 

Illinois — Minister,  William  L.  Tarbet.  Elder, 
Joshua  Moore. 

Schuyler — Minister,!  .\lexaEder  Duncan.  El- 
der, James  E.  Curry. 

Wabash— Minister,  Sam'l  Ward.  Elder,  David 
Ewing. 

Alton — Ministers,  Cornelius  H.  Taylor,  D.  D., 
John  Gibson.    Elder,  Samuel  Wade.^ 

SYNOD  OF  PEOEIA. 

PRESBYTERY. 

Ottawa— Minister,  Levi  P.  Crawford.  Elder, 
J.  E.  McLain. 

Knox — Minister,  William  S.  Curtis,  D.  D. 
Elder,  Ira  I.  Fenn. 

Galena  and  Belvidere — Ministers,  Aratus 
Kent,  John  W.  Cunningham.  Elders,  H.  New- 
hall,  M.  D.,  Manley  Eogers. 

Chicago — Ministers,Zeph.  M.  Humphrey,  D.  D., 
J.  Lyman  Morton.  Elders,  Stillman  E.  Bing- 
ham, Edwin  S.  Wells. 

Bloomington — Ministers,  John  W.  Bailey. 
Elder,  Oramel  Eugs. 

SYNOD  OF  WISCONSIN. 

PRESBYTERY. 

Milwaukee— Minister,  Peter  S.  Vaii  Nest. 
Elder,  Samuel  C.  West. 

Fox  Eiver — Minister,  James  W.  Stark. 

Columbus — Minister,  Edmund  B.  Miner. 
Elder,  Ephraim  (t.  Stitt. 


11 


SYNOD  OF  IOWA. 

PRESBYTERY. 

Des  Moines— Minister,  Alexander  M.  Heizer. 

Keokuk— Minister,  Gamaliel  C.  Beaman.     El- 
der, Solomon  Beckley. 

Iowa  City— Minister,  George  D.  .A.  Hebard. 
Elder,  Beaumont  S.  Holmes. 
'Dubuque — Minister,  Albert  True.  Elder,  Proc- 
tor C.  Samson. 

Chariton — 

Cedar  Kapids — Minister^Hannibal  L.  Stanley. 
SYNOD  OF  MINNESOTA. 

*  PRESBYTERIES. 

Dakota— Minister,  John  P.  Williamson. 
Minnesota— Eider,  Daniel  W.  In?;ersoll. 
Winona. 

SYNOD  OF  MISSOURI. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

St.  Louis — Minister,   J.   Addison    Whitaker. 
Elder,  Eussell  Scarritt. 

Lexington— Minister,  Benjamin  B.   Parsons, 
D.  D.    Elder,  John  H.  Carson. 

Northern  Missouri— Minister,  Thomas  H.  Tat- 
low.    Elder,  Homa  II.  Winchell. 

Kansas. 

SYNOD  OF  TENNESSEE. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

Union — Minister,  James  A.  Griffes. 
Kingston — Minister,  Thomas  Brown. 
Holston — Minister,  Calvin  Waterbury.    Elder, 
John  Lynn. 


SYNOD  OF  ALTA  CALIFOENIA. 

PRESBYTERIES. 

San  Francisco. 
Sierra  Nevada. 
San  Jose. 
Washoe. 

CORRESPONDING  BODIES. 

1.  General  Assembly  that  met  at  Pittsburg,  ir 

1865. 

2.  General  Assembly  of  the  Cumberland  Pres 

byterian  Church. 

3.  General  Assembly  of  the  United  Presbyter 

iau  Church  of  North  America. 

4.  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Protestani 

Dutch  Church  in  North  America. 

5.  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 

Church  in  North  America. 

6.  General    Synod    of  the   German  Reformecl 

Church  in  the  United  States. 
Y.    General  Synod  of  the  Evangelical  Lutherar 

Church  in  the  United  States. 
8.    General  Conference  of  Maine. 
'.I.    General  Association  of  New  Hampshire. 

10.  General  Convention  of  Vermont.    [Rev.  Ben 

jamin  F.  Ray.] 

11.  General  Association  of  Massachusetts. 

12.  General  Association  of  Connecticut. 

13.  Presbyterian   and  Congregational  Conven- 

tion of  Wisconsin. 

14.  Union  of  Evangelical  Churches  of  France. 


THIRD  DAY  — SATURDAY,  MAY  19,  1866. 


Moderator  in  the  Chair. 

First  hour  spent  in  devotional  exercises. 

Rev.  Walter  Clarke,  DD.,  read  a  communica- 
tion from  Hon.  S,  D.  Barlow,  President  of  tlie 
St-  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  tender- 
ing to  the  members  of  the  Assembly  a  train  of 
cars  for  an  excursion  to  Iron  Meuntain  and  Pi- 
lot Knob,  on  any  day  next  week  which  the  As- 
sembly might  select. 

The  Moderator  requested  Dr.  Clarke  to  make 
a  motion  in  regard  to  the  matter. 

Dr.  Clarke  stated  that  he  was  sorry  the  re- 
quest had  been  made  of  him,  as  he  was  hardly  in 
favor  of  doing  more  than  accepting  the  court- 
esy, and  respectfully  declining  the  invitation  ; 
there  were  SmO  delegates  here  from  both  Assem- 
blies enjoying  the  great  hospitality  of  the  peo- 
ple, to  whom  hospitality  must  be  a  care,  and  if 
continued  too  long,  a  burden ;  that  we  have  so 
much  to  do,  that  while  we  thank  this  company 
for  their  courtesy,  we  must  decline  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  Iron  Mountain. 

Mr.  Kellogg  was  sorry  to  differ  from  Dr.Clarke 
and  hoped  that  the  invitation  would  be  accept- 
ed. 

Dr.  Hotchkins  favored  accepting  the  invita- 
tion, and  movea  that  the  matter  bo  referred  to 
a  committee. 

After  some  further  discussion  the  Assembly 
respectfully  acknowledged  the  courtesy  of  the 
invitation,  and  referred  the  matter  to  the  fol- 
lowing special  committee: 

Rev.  B.  B.  Hotchkins,  Rev.  R.  R.  Kellogg,Elder 
Horatio  Newhall,  M.  D. 

Rev.  A.  E,  Knox.  I  have  been  requested  by  a 


member  of  the  Assembly  of  the  Old  School  (not 
officially)  that  a  committee  of  conference  with 
reference  to  joint  religious  services  be  ap- 
pointed by  this  Assembly  to  meet  a  similar 
committee  to  be  appointed  by  that  Assembly. 

Dr.  Booth  objected  to  this  Assembly  taking" 
the  initiative  step  in  the  matter.  We  had  done 
so  once  and  nothing  came  of  it. 

Rev.  Mr.  Knox  stated  that  it  was  desired 
that  the  committee  should  be  appointed  this 
morning  that  ajoint  meeting  might  beheld  to- 
morrow. 

The  Moderator.  I  have  just  been  informed 
that  the  other  Assembly  has  just  appointed  such 
a  committee. 

Mr.  Booth.  Let  us  wait  until  there  is  some 
official  notice  given  to  us  from  that  body. 

Mr.  Knox's  motion  was  withdrawn  by  con- 
sent of  the  Assembly. 

Rev.  J.  Glenworth  Butler,  DD.,  read  the  re- 
port of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Ministerial 
Relief,  showing  a  balance  in  the  Treasury  of 
$1,60(5. 

Report  accepted  and  referred  to  appropriate 
standing  committee. 

Hon.  John  A.  Foote  expressed  a  desire  that 
every  minister  would  see  to  it  that  the  recom- 
mendations contained  in  the  last  report  were 
carried  out. 

Dr.  Hatfield  stated  that  Dr.  Thomas  had  in- 
formed him  that  a  committee  had  been  ap- 
pointed on  the  part  of  the  Old  School  Assembly 
to  meet  a  similar  committee  appointed  by  this 
Assembly  to  make  arrangements  for  joint  devo- 
tional exercises  during  the  next  week. 


12 


Dr.  Knox  rcnowecl  his  motion  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  of  conference. 

The  motion  prevailed,  and  the  following  com- 
mittee was  appointed : 

Eev.  W.  E.  Knox,  DD.,  Kev.  W. T.Curtis,  DD., 
and  lion.  John  A.  Foote. 

Eev.  Joel  Farker,  DD.,  remarked  that  the 
Presbytery  of  Kewark,  enjoined  upon  the  com- 
missioners tw  present  papers  embodying  a  re- 
quest that  the  General  Assembly  would  take  in- 
to consideration  the  expediency  of  furnishing 
some  publications  in  the  (4erman  language  for 
the  use  of  our  German  Presbyterian  Churches. 
I  propose  that  the  matter  be  givrn  into  the 
hands  of  the  standing  Committee  on  Publica- 
tions, 

Dr.  Parker's  proposition  was  accepted,  and 
the  commissioners  of  the  Presbytery  of  Newark 
were  instructed  to  meet  with  the  Committee  on 
Publications. 

Hon.  Joseph  Allison,  of  special  committee,  to 
whom  was  referred  overture  No.  14,  which  is  as 
follows: 

To  the  General  Asseml)! II  oftJie  Preslyterian  Church, 
■  novj  in  session  in  the  city  of  UrooMyn,  N.  Y. 

'Ihe  iindersTgned  respectfully  submit  to  the 
General  Assembly  the  following  overture,  viz  : 

When  the  judicatory  have  proceeded,  in   ac- 
cordance with  chapter  IV  section  13  of  the  Book 
of  Discipline,  to  take  the  testimony  in  the  case 
of  an  accused  person,  may  they  proceed  to  pass 
judgment  thereon  as  if  he  were  present,  or  shall 
be  be  left  simply  under    censure   for  contu- 
macy ?  H.  W,  WILLIAMS, 
E.  C.  ADAMS, 
DANIEL  MAKCH, 
Pead  a*  report  of  which  the  following  is  an  ab- 
stract : 

"The  question  thus  presented  is  exclusively 
one  of  power.  It  is  not  whether,  in  all  cases,  it 
is  advisable  that  aChurch  judiciary  should  pro- 
ceed to  a  final  determination  of  the  case,  nor  is 
it  what  has  been  the  usuge  in  some  of  the  trib- 
unals of  the  Church,  but  it  is  strictly  what  does 
the  Book  of  Discipline  authorize  ?  It  is  freely 
admitted  that  a  long  course  of  usage  under  a 
statute  is  no  inconsiderable  evidence  of  the 
meaning  of  the  statute,  but  it  must  be  a  usage 
growing  out  of  the  enactment  itself,  and  claim- 
ed to  have  been  authorized  by  it.  Mere  neglect 
to  exercise  powers  conferred  is  no  proof  that 
they  were  not  granted." 

*  *  ***** 

"Undoubtedly  there  have  been  differences  of  op- 
inion, and,  possibly,  it  may  have  been  decided  in 
some  judicatory,  that  jurisdiction  over  an  of- 
fense charged  is  necessarily  suspended  when- 
ever an  accused  person  disobeys  the  citations, 
but  this  is  ef  little  value  in  determining  what 
the  framers  of  the  Book  of  Discipline  meant  by 
its  directions  respecting  process,  trial  and  judg- 
ment. It  is  much  more  important  that,  in  cer- 
tain cases,  where  the  proof  is  clear,  as  where  the 
accused  has  confessed  his  guilt,  or  where  he  has 
been  convicted  of  violating  the  civil  laws  and 
has  absconded.  Church  sessions  have  been  ac- 
customed to  proceed  to  trial  and  judgment, 
nothwithstanding  a  refusal  of  the  accused  to  ap- 
pear in  answer  to  citations.  Such  cases  are  ju- 
dicial assertions  of  power;  never  denied,  so  far 
as  we  are  informed." 

-jf.  *****  * 

'The  ends  of  discipline  are  clearly  defined. 
They  are  declared  by  the  second  section  of  the 
first  chapter  to  be  "the  removal  of  the  officers, 
the  vindication  of  the  honor  of  Christ,  the  pro- 


motion of  the  purity  and  the  general  edification 
of  the  Church,  and,  also  the  benefit  of  the  offend- 
er himself." 

******* 

"Contumacious  disobedience  of  citations  is 
another  distinct  offense,  punishment  for  which 
is  entirely  collateral  to  discipline  for  the  cause 
that  induced  the  commencement  of  the  process. 
It  is  contempt  of  the  lawful  authority  of  the 
church,  and  suspension  for  it  is  summary  pun- 
ishment for  the  collateral  offense  alone.  Neither 
directly  nor  indirectly  is  it  an  expression  ot 
opinion  respecting  the  delinquent's  guilt  or  in- 
nocence of  the  charge  preferred  originally 
against  him.  Suspension  for  contumacy  would 
be  proper,  without  regard  to  anything  beyond 
it.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  an  aceused  per- 
son may  willfully  disobey  citatious,  and  yet  be 
innocent  of  the  charges  made  against  him.  It 
certainly  would  be  an  anomaly  in  any  judicial 
proceeding  to  hold  that  a  penalty  inflicted  for 
a  collateral  offense  vindicates  the  law  against 
another  and  possibly  much  greater  crime. 

"If,  therefore,  the  defined  ends  of  discipline 
are  to  be  secured,  a  Church  session  must  have 
power  to  proceed  to  trial  and  judgment,  though 
the  accused  person  refuse  to  obey  the  citations 
duly  served  upon  him,  and  it  is  not  to  be  con- 
cluded without  clear  evidence  that  means  given 
to  secure  those  ends  are  inadequate.  When  the 
meaning  of  the  language  used  in  the  fourth 
chapter  is  sought,  the  best  guide  to  it  will  be 
found  in  the  paramount  intention  the  language 
was  designed  to  subserve.  The  directions  given 
must  be  construed  consistently,  with  that  in- 
tention, to  further,  rather  than  to  defeat  it. 
Looking  then  to  the  sections  of  the  fourth  chap- 
ter, and  regarding  them  as  part  of  a  system 
designed  for  the  purposes  above  mentioned,  to 
be  interpreted  so  as  to  harmonize  with  those 
purposes  as  well  as  with  each  other,  the  con- 
clusion seems  inevitable  that  whenever  an  ac- 
cusation has  been  made  against  a  church  mem 
ber,  and  a  church  judicatory  has  entered  judi- 
cially upon  its  consideration,  and  obtained  ju- 
risdiction by  service  or  citations  upon  him,  it 
may  go  on  to  final  judgment,  though  he  refused 
to  obey  the  citations." 

*  *  ***** 

"Judgment  in  all  ecclesiastical  courts  must 
be  founded  upon  evidence.  As  a  judgnient  for 
default  of  appearance  is  not  authorized,  it  is 
proper  that  the  accused  should  have  special  no- 
tice of  taking  the  testimony,  though  he  may 
refuse  to  appear  in  answer  to  the  citation.  In 
fact,  however,  notice  that  the  testimony  will  be 
taken  is  notice  that  the  judicatory  will  go  on 
with  tKe  trial,  for  taking  testimony  is  a  part  of 
trial,  its  first  stage.  Undue  influences  are  there- 
fore drawn  from  the  form  of  the  notice  ;  it  is 
supposed  to  indicate  that  the  proceedings  are 
to  stay,  when  the  testimony  shall  have  been 
taken.  At  most,  it  raises  but  a  very  feeble  im- 
plication that,  because  notice  of  one  thing  is  re- 
quired,(a  thing  very  peculiar  in  itself,and  always 
demanding  a  special  no^ace,)  therefore  nothing 
else  can  be  done.  A  similar  mode  of  reasoning 
would  render  a  trial  in  any  case  impossible," 
*  *  *  *  * 

"Taking  all  these  sections  into  consideration, 
and  regarding  them  as  parts  of  one  system,  as 
having  reference  to  the  same  subject  matter, 
and  designed  to  secure  the  ends  avowed,  the 
committee  are  constrained  to  regard  them  as 
applicable  to  the  course  of  proceeding  through 
all  the  stages  of  trial,  alike  in  cases  where  the 


13 


accused  does  not  npiJear  in  obedience  to  the  ci- 
tations as  when  he  does.  In  both  the  judica- 
tory is  empowered  to  proceed  to  trial  and  to 
ttnal  judgment. 

"To  this  conclusion  an  objection  has  some- 
times been  urged  that,  at  first  mention,  seems  to 
have  some  plausibility,  it  is,  that  trial  of  a 
person  in  his  absence,  and  the  rendition  of 
judgment  against  him, are  in  conflift  with  com- 
mon right  and  justice;  that  even  criminal  courts 
in  State  governments  do  not,  try  ott'enders  in 
their  absence,  and  that  ecclesiastical  courts 
ought  to  avoid  ex  parte  proceedings.  The 
objection  aims  less  at  the  power  of  a  ju- 
dicatory, as  recognized  by  the  book  of 
discipline,  than  ir,  does  at  the  policy 
of  exercising  it.  £ut  it  misapprenends  what 
are  acknowledged  common  right  and  justice, 
what  are  tlie  proceedings  of  courts  of  law  and 
equity  in  analogous  cases,  and  what  are  ex  parte 
proceedings.  Nowhere  is  it  held  that  a  man 
may  not  deny  himself  his  plainest  rights. 
While  he  may  not  be  tried  for  an  alleged 
offense  without  having  an  opportunitv  to  be 
heard,  he  has  no  just  cause  to  complain  of  a 
trial  to  which  he  has  been  summoned  by  a  tri- 
bunal having  jurisdiction,  and  which  he  has 
persistently  refused  to  attend.  In  such  a  case, 
it  is  he  who  has  thrown  away  his  own  rights. 
They  are  not  taken  from  him.  This  is  a  princi- 
ple universally  recognized  in  courts  of  civil 
law  and  of  equity,  and  such  courts  go  further. 
They  construe  a  refusal  to  obey  process  requir- 
ing an  appearance  as  a  substantial  confession 
of  the  complaint,  and  they  render  judgment 
accordingly.  It  is  true  State  courts,  having  crim- 
inal jurisdiction,  do  not  try  persons  for  crimes 
and  misdemeanors  in  their  absence.  This  is 
lor  two  reasons.  They  have  power  to  compel 
attendance,  which  ecclesiastical  courts  have 
not,  and  the  punishments  they  inflict  affect  the 
life,  the  liberty  or  the  property  of  the  convicted 
criminal.  In  fact  they  concern  the  life  or  the 
liberty  of  the  accused,  for  even  if  the  penalty 
be  only  a  fine,  its  payment  is  usually  enforced 
by  detention  in  custody  until  satisfaction  be 
made.  But  ecclesiastical  tribunals  can  pro- 
nounce nojudgment  that  touches  either  the  life, 
the  liberty  or  the  property  of  the  accused. 
Their  sentences  are  peculiar.  Indeed  it  is  as- 
serting a  false  analogy  to  assimilate  a  trial  be- 
fore a  church  session  to  an  indictment  and  trial 
in  a  criminal  court.  It  bears  a  much  stronger 
resemblance  to  proceedings  very  common  iu 
courtsof  law,  in  which  members  of  arsociations 
or  corporations  are  called  upon  to  respond  for 
some  alleged  breach  of  corporate  duty,  for  which 
they  are  liable  to  be  punished  by  the  imposi- 
tion of  penalties,  or  by  a  motion  from  mem- 
bership. In  such  cases,  when  the  person 
summoned  refuses  to  obey  the  mandate  of 
the  writ,  courts  proceed  at  once  to  dis- 
pose of  his  case  and  render  final  judgment.  Ko 
one  ever  supposed  that  by  so  doing  injustice 
was  done,  or  that  any  right  of  the  accused  was 
invaded.  Much  less  can  he  complain  who  has 
been  cited  to  answer  an  accusation  taken  into 
judicial  cognizance  by  a  church  judicatory,  and 
who  has  contumaciously  refused  to  obey  the  ci- 
tation, if  the  tribunal  proceed  to  try  the  case, 
presuming  nothing  against  him  but  contumacy 
from  his  refusal,  but  founding  its  judgment 
solely  upon  the  testimony  of  witnesses."  This 
objection,  therefore,  when  examined,  seems  to 
be  without  substance. 

"In  conclusion,it  remains  only  to  recommend, 


as  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  that  the  over- 
ture be  answered  by  a  declaration  of  the  Assem- 
bly, that  iu  the  case  proposed,  the  judicatory 
may  proceed  to  trial  and  final  judgment,  as  if 
the  accused  were  present. 

SAMUEL  W.  FISHER, 
W.  STROUPE, 
JOSEPH  ALLISON, 
THOMAS  BRAIN ARD." 

The  report  was  accepted  and  ordered  to  be 
l^ut  upon  the  docket. 

Dr.  l\.  B.  Smith,  of  the  Special  Committee  in 
regard  to  the  formation  of  a  National  Protes- 
tant League,  stated  that  there  had  been  no  ac- 
tion taken,  the  committee  therefore  had  no  re- 
]iort  to  make,  and  asked  that  the  committee  be 
discharged. 

Dr.  Hatfield  moved  that  the  first  business  iu 
order  on  Tuesday  morning  be  to  receive  reports 
of  delegates  of  corresponding  bodies,  which  mo- 
tion prevailed. 

Di-.  H.  B.  Smith.  There  is  one  subject  upon 
which  the  Assembly  has  always  appointed  a 
committee  of  late  years,  and  thatis,  ''On  the  State 
of  the  Country."  We  have  passed  through  the 
state  of  war,  and  come  to  the  state  of  peace,  but 
are  still  in  the  midst  of  diflicult  questions 
which  seem  to  demand  some  expression  of  opin- 
ion from  ecclesiastical  bodies.  I  have  been 
expecting  a  motion  to  this  effect  from  some 
other  member  of  the  Assembly,  but  none  hav- 
ing been  made,  I  now  move  tliat  a  Special  Com- 
mittee be  appointed  On  the  State  of  the  Ceun- 
ti'y.  I  make  the  sfigsestion  that  the  oldest  and 
most  venerated  member  of _  the  Assembly,  Dr. 
Beeman,  be  appointed  chairman  of  this  com- 
mittee. 

A  member,  whose  precise  words  we  could  not 
hear,  objected  to  the  motion,  on  the  ground  that 
it  would  make  a  great  outcry  for  a  ministerial 
body  to  discuss  such  questions  at  this  time; 
that  it  would  be  imprudent  to  say  a  single  word 
in  regard  to  the  state  of  the  country. 

Hot.  John  A.  Foote.  If  I  neard  correctly,  I 
understood  theg^utleman  to  oppose  the njotion. 
1  take  an  entirely  different  view.  It  seems  to 
me,  sir,  that  a  body  so  large,  so  respectable  as 
this,  and  representing  so  large  and  respectable 
a  constituency,  cannot  but  have  weight.  It 
seems  to  me,  sir,  that  the  motion  of  Dr.  Smith 
is  eminently  a  proper  one.  We  all  know  that 
there  is  a  great  kiversity  of  opinion,  and  many 
feel  that  the  present  is  a  time  as  full  of  dangers 
and  difficulties  as  any  through  which  we  have 
passed.  A  distinguished  man  when  addressing 
the  country  said  that,  using  the  expression 
made  by  some  of  the  ancients,  he  felt  that  it 
would  be  more  appropriate  to  pray  than  to 
speak. 

The  country  expects  that  we  will,  after  prayer, 
give  our  views  upon  a  question  that  interests 
everybody.  We  have  to-day  heard  most  elo- 
quently of  the  importance  of  work  as  well  as  of 
prayer.  Now  then  we  certainly  ought  not  to 
shrink  from  giving  the  opinions  that  we  may 
have  upon  these  great  questions.  If  we  say 
nothing  more  to  our  constituency  than  that  it 
behooves  them  all  to  pray  to  God  in  this  exi- 
gency, it  will  do  a  great  deal  of  good.  If  we  say 
to  them  that  we  call  upon  all  our  rulers  to  ap- 
proach this  question  without  selfishness,  asking 
Clod  to  aid  them,  and  putting  aside  everything 
like  hatred,  malice,  ill-will,  and  everything  of 
that  kind,  it  will  do  good.  And  if  we  say  that 
looking  upon  him  whom  we  have  for  President, 
and  seeing  that  at  the  original  inception  of  the 


14 


rebellion  he  stood  up  alone  from  the  Southern 
States  and  'denounced  treason  as  a  crime,  we 
feel  under  obligations  to  him  for  that ;  it  seems 
tome  something  that  would  allayprejudice;  and, 
if  we  should  further  say  that  we  cannot  conceive 
that  he  should  make  the  great  mistake  that  an 
Executive  was  going  to  be  the  Judiciary,  the 
l.egislature,  and  all  the  other  departments  of 
the  Government— to  use  the  language  of  the 
sailor — that  he  was  Captain,  mate  and  all  hands. 

Now,  it  seems  to  me  it  is  eminently  proper 
that  we  should  express  our  opinions.  1  spoke 
T,o  one  of  the  gentlemen  this  mwrning  who  is  on 
the  Committee  of  Bills  and  <_)vertures,  and  1 
asked  him  if  they  were  not  going  to  report  on 
the  subject.  He  said  "ISo,  they  had  alretidy 
reported  with  reference  to  tbis  particular  cri- 
sis." Now,  a  man  might  have  an  excellent  coat 
made  a  certain  number  of  years  ago  it  might 
be  an  excellent  coat,  but  it  might  aot  be  in 
fashion  now. 

Very  many  things  have  taken  place  since  the 
last  meeting.  Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is 
eminently  proper  that  we  should  utter  our  opin- 
ions on  the  subject  and  give  no  uncertain  sound, 
and  when  we  speak  on  the  subject  we  should 
speak  of  a  number  of  questions  that  are  near 
our  hearts  ;  and  permit  me  to  say,  it  will  come 
with  great  effect  and  with  great  weight,  for  1  re- 
member 1  never  before  was  a  member  of  a  Gen- 
eral Assembly  except  in  1S63.  That  Assembly 
passed  a  resolution  ;  we  commenced  on  a  par- 
ticular point ;  it  was  precisely  the  point  be- 
tween loyalty  and  disloyalty,  and  we  discussed 
it  almost  all  day.  1  felt  willing  to  go  for  it  be- 
cause Dr.  Barnes  proposed  it.  I  study  Barnes' 
notes  a  great  deal.  When  the  resolution  was 
read  to  the  President,  he  said :  "  Gentlemen,  1 
tliank  you  for  the  point  you  have  made  (it  was 
precisely  that  point);  it  stre'ngthens  me  to  feel 
that  I  have  all  the  denominations  now  sustain- 
ing me.  I  don't  pretend  that  I  have  every  one 
of  all,  but  1  have  all  the  denominations,  and  it 
strengthens  me  to  feel  that  1  have  praying  men 
to  sustain  me." 

The  utterance  of  this  body  will  have  a  very 
great  e.ieet.  I  have  not  had  apolitical  office  for 
more  than  ten  years,  don't  expect  and  don't 
want  one.  T  have  just  the  feeling  1  ought  to 
have  as  a  Christian  and  as  a  man,  in  regard  to 
these  questions,  and  old  as  1  am,  feel  that  my  in- 
terests are  bound  up  with  this  coitntry,  and  old 
as  1  am  I  fear  that  1  may  still  see  c<.infusion  and 
every  evil  work  in  our  land  if  we  don't  take  the 
right  stand. 

It  seems  to  me  that  we  should  honestly,  judi- 
ciously and  intelligently  give  our  views. 

(.)ur  friend  here  (referring  to  the  last  speaker) 
is  undoubtedly  a  very  excellent  man.  1  esteem 
him  very  much,  but  when  he  gave  his  views  in 


regard  to  another  matter  he  didn't  agree  with 
me  entirely,  and  objected  to  the  report,  which 
was  most  exhaustive  and  was  necessary,  be- 
cause the  question  that  came  up  would  not 
have  been  satisfsctorily  answered  without  going 
through  with  that  thorough  report.  It  now  has 
come  to  the  conclusion  which  I  would  be  per- 
fectly willing  to  rely  upon. 

As  I  said  with  reference  to  the  President,  I 
feel  und(!r  great  obligations  to  him,  but  I  must 
say  thai  J  have  not  unlimited  confidence  in  him. 
He  evidently  is  a  man,  and  nomorethan  a  man. 
1  read  in  the  last  speech  he  made  that  he  was 
sometimes  a  whole  day  without  thinking  he  was 
President.  When  1  read  that  I  could  not  help 
thinking  that  his  position  had  elevated  him  so 
much  that  he  was  not  exactly  the  man  he  would 
be,  if  he  was  in  the  position  that  1  am  in.  I  re- 
member in  a  town,  over  near  where  I  live,  was 
an  old  woman,  whose  husband  was  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  Her  husband  had  the  house  painted 
green,  and  she  once  said  that  she  sat  sometimes 
a  whole  day  without  once  thinking  that  her 
house  was  green  and  her  husband  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  [Laughter.]  Kow  the  trouble  with 
her  was  the  same  as  the  trouble  with  the  Pres- 
ident. It  wasn'tistrange  that  he  shouldn't  think 
of  his  being  President  for  a  whole  day,  or  that 
the  old  lady  should  forget  about  the  green  house, 
but  the  unfortunate  thing  was  that  he  should 
have  mentioned  it,  and  that  there  shoiild  ha^e 
been  a  correspondent  of  the  London  Times  t/reen, 
enough  to  have  reported  it. 

The  motion  prevailed,  and  the  Moderator  an- 
nounced the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the 
Country  as  follows : 

Eev.  N.  S.  S.  Beaman,  I>.  D.,  Eev.  H.  B.  Smith, 
D.  D.,  Eev.  W.  II.  Hogarth,  Eev.  Henry  Fowler, 
Hon.  Geo.  Allison,  Hon.  F.  V.  Chamberlin,  Hon. 
F.  P.  Handy. 

Dr.  T.  J.  Shepherd,  of  the  Committee  on  Bills 
and  Overtures,  reported  back  certain  papers, 
with  recommendation  that  they  be  referred  to 
the  appropriate  committees,  which  action  was 
accordingly  taken. 

The  following  changes  in  religious  services 
of  Sunday  were  reported  from  the  Committee 
on  Devotional  ExMreises. 

Eock  Hill,  Dr.  William  Hogarth,  10  1-2  a.  m. 

Webster  Grove,  Dr.  William  Hogarth,  7  1-2  in 
the  evening. 

Eev.  Walter  Clarke,  D.  D.,  First  Presbyterian. 
Church,  St.  Louis,  lo  1-2  a.  m. 

Eev.  G.  F,  Wiswell,  Second  Union  Methodist 
Church,  St.  Louis,  T  1-2  o'clock. 

The  hours  for  the  meeting  of  various  commit- 
tees were  announced,  and  the  Assembly  ad- 
journed until  S  1-2  o'clock  a.  m.,  Monday,  May 
21st. 


15 


FOURTH    DAY  — MONDAY,   MAY    21,    1866. 


[  Eev.  Lucius  D.  Eoot  moved  that  the  reports 
from  the  Committees  on  Synodical  Eecords  be 
made  the  lirst  in  order  for  the  afternoon.  The 
motion  prevailed. 

Tiie  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Excur- 
sion to  Iron  Mountain  was  pi'esented  by  Eev. 
Mr.  Kellogg,  recommending  Thursday  as  a  day 
appropriate  for  the  trip. 

Jas.  W.  Edwards,  Esq.,  offered  an  amendment 
that  the  day  fixed  be  Saturday — the  day  after 
adjournment. 

Hon.  Jas.  A.  Foot  expressed  a  desire  that  the 
report  would  be  accepted,  and  Thursday  the 
day  appointed. 

The  determination  of  the  matter  was  de- 
ferred until  after  the  usual  devotional  exercises, 
which  then  took  ;place. 

After  the  devotional  exercises,  the  matter  of 
the  excursion  again  came  up.  The  invitation 
was  accepted,  and  after  some  discussion  be- 
tween the  days,  Saturday,  Friday,  and 'ihurs- 
day,  Thursday  was  fixed  upon  as  the  day  for  the 
excursion. 

The  members  of  the  Assembly  who  proposed 
to  go  upon  the  excursion  were  requested  to  en- 
ter their  names  and  the  names  of  their  hosts, 
that  the  President  of  the  road  might  know  for 
how  many  excursionists  accommodations  would 
have  to  be  provided. 

On  motion  of  Professor  Smith,  it  was  voted 
that  the  communication  from  Eev.  Ur.  McCosley, 
representing  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  be 
received  by  us,  and  that  the  Assembly  appoint 
to-morrow  morning,  at  eleven  o'clock,  tj  hear 
the  communication. 

On  motion  of  Eev.  Dr.  Shaw,  Eev.  Dr.  Harper, 
representing  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
North  America,  was  invited  to  address  the  As- 
sembly. 

Eev.  Dr.  Harper.  Mr.  Moderater  and  Breth- 
ren of  the  Assembly:  It  is  my  privilege  to  pre- 
sent to  you  the  fraternal  regards  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Korth  America.  I  am 
not  aware  that  1  am  acquainted  with  a  single 
individual  in  this  Assembly,  and  yet  1  do  not 
feel  as  though  1  were  entirely  a  stranger  among 
strangers.  There  is  a  bond  of  Christian  sympa- 
thy and  union  among  all  the  followers  of  our 
Savior,  which  makes  us  feel  that  we  belong  to  a 
common  Christian  brotherhood.  There  may  be 
shades  of  difference  in  matters  of  form  and  gov- 
ernment, and  faith  even,  as  there  are  shades  of 
difference  in  the  family  groupe,  yet,  after  all,  I 
feel  that  we  are  children  of  the  same  parent,  and 
brethren  of  the  same  household,  and  heirs  to  the 
same  glorious  inheritance,  and  therefore  I  come 
to  you  to-day,  to  speak  to  you  as  brethren  in 
Christ. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  proper  for  me,  at  the  out- 
set, to  read  to  you  some  statistics  which  I  have 
prepared,  that  you  may  thereby  gain  some  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  church  which  I  rep- 
resent.    This  church  had  its  existence  from  the 

Union   of   the and  the  Associated 

Eeform  Church,  in  185S.  In  all  matters  of  faith, 
and  government,  and  practice,  we  are  closely 
identified  with  the  larger  bodies  of  Presbyte- 
rians in  this  country.  We  have  fifty-one  Pres- 
byteries, seven  Synods,  one  General  Assembly — 
constituted  like  ywir  own,  of  delegates  from 
the  Presbyteries."   We  have  a  Presbytery  in  Or- 


egon, India  and  Egypt ;  missionaries  in  Syria, 

India,   China,    Egypt    and We   have 

30  foreign  missionaries,  120  home  missionaries, 
40  to  50  laborers  amOng  the  freedmen,  chiefly  in 
Tennessee  and  Mississippi ;  4  theological  semi- 
naries; 2  colleges ;  516  ministers ;  70  licentiates; 
91  students  of  theology;  C59  congregations;  (> 
permanent  boards,  viz  :  Home  Missions,  Foreign 
Missions,  Publication,  Church  Extension,  Edu- 
cation, and  Freedmen.  We  publish  three  week- 
ly religious  papers,  one  monthly  periodical, 
and  have  a  printing  press  in  the  city  of  Alex- 
andria in  Egypt.  We  raised  for  all  the  boards 
last  year  $180,000. 

It  may  be  proper  for  me  to  state  to  the  As 
sembly  that  that  portion  of  the  Church  which  1 
represent, feels  that  the  great  work  of  the  Church 
of  God  in  this  age  is  the  work  of  missions.  Time 
was  when  it  was  necessary  that  the  Church 
should  secure  an  orthodox  Creed,  but  those  days 
are  passed.  The  age  of  Creed  making  is  gone, 
and  now  it  seems  to  us  that  the  great  work  of 
the  Church  of  God  is  to  disseminate  those  prin- 
ciples which  we  have  secured,  and  scatter  them 
far  and  wide.  This  we  regard  as  pre-eminently 
the  age  of  missions.  Never  was  the  world  so 
accessible  before,  never  were  there  so  many  fa- 
cilities of  doing  God's  work,  never  did  the 
Great  Head  of  the  Church  call  us  by  His  Provi- 
dence so  loudly  as  he  is  now  doing  to  engage  in 
His  work.  So  feeling,  we  are  devoting  all  our 
energies  and  powers  to  this  great  work  of 
evangelizing  the  world,  in  this  country,  and  in 
foreign  lands. 

We  feel  as  though,  for  the  accomplishment  of 
this  great  work,  there  should  be  increased  unity 
and  co-operation  among  all  the  followers  of 
Christ.  We  desire,  therefore,  the  increased 
unity  of  the  Church  of  the  Living  God.  It 
seems  to  us  especially  desirable  from  the  fact 
that  our  own  existence  is  the  result  of  union  ; 
we  know,  by  our  own  experience,  how  pleasant 
it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity, 
and  realizing  this  blessed  feeling  among  our- 
selves we  hail  Avith  feelings  of  joy  the  efforts 
made  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  this  country  of 
the  ditlerent  parts  of  the  Church  of  God,  to- 
wards a  closer  union. 

Let  me  speak  to  you  on  this  subject  freely— it 
lies  very  near  my  own  heart.  It  is  admitted 
generally  that  the  Church  is  in  an  unnatural 
and  divided  state,  and  that  these  divisions  are 
sinful  and  wicked.  These  things  are  generally 
admitted,  but  after  all,  how  little  do  we  feel  it — 
how  little  do  we  feel  in  our  very  souls  that 
these  divisions  are  shameful  and  wicked,  dis- 
honoring to  God,  and  retarding  the  progress  of 
the  conversion  of  the  world.  If  we  realized 
and  felt  it,  we  would  labor  more  for  it,  and 
pray  more  for  it. 

I  apprehend,  after  all,  the  great  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  perfect  union,  is  not  a  matter  of 
doctrine,but  it  is  intbe  selfishness  of  our  hearts 
— in  the  natural  selfishness  of  our  hearts.  1 
have  often  noticed  in  the  army  that  when  regi- 
ments were  to  be  consolidated,  the  trouble  was 
not  with  the  private  soldiers,  but  the  difficulty 
was  to  find  places  for  the  colonel,  the  major  and 
Ihe  captains.  So  1  think  it  is  to  a  great  very 
extent  in  the  church. 

Another  fact.    We  are  disposed  to  look  too 


IG 


touch  at  the  points  about  which  we  differ,  and 
not  enough  at  the  points  about  which  we  are 
agreed. 

Let  me  ask  you  to  think  of  the^e  things.  If 
our  beloved  Savior  prayed  that  the  Church  of 
God  might  be  one,  should  this  not  be  our 
prayer  and  our  effort  ?  May  I  not  ask  you  to 
thiiik  of  these  things,  and  may  God  speed  the 
day  wlien  we  shall  look  forth  like  an  army  with 
banners,  when  "Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Juda, 
and  Juda  shall  not  vex  Ephraim." 

We  desire  to  cultivate  the  most  fraternal  re- 
lations with  this  body,  and  to  be  colaborers 
with  you  in  the  great  work  of  preaching  Christ. 
We  desire  to  congratulate  you  on  the  noble  and 
manly  position  you  have  taken  as  a  church  on 
the  great  question  of  human  freedom.  [Ap- 
plause.] Your  voice  has  been  clearly  marked, 
and  well  understood  in  this  land,  and  in  the 
hour  of  our  nation's  conflict,  when  others  have 
been  unfaithful,  1  have  thanked  God  that  you 
have  stood  up  as  a  church  under  the  banner 
which  adorns  your  church  here  to-day.  Though 
that  banner  has  been  consecrated  with  the  blood 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  patriots,  the  con- 
flict is  not  yet  over.  There  is  yet  a  great  battle 
to  be  fought  by  the  pulpit  and  the  press  of  this 
land.  You  have  been  faithful  thus  far,  and  1 
trust  you  will  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it 
should  take  you  until  the  millenium.  God 
grant  that  your  church  may  never  recede  from 
theroble  position  you  have  taken. 

The  Moderator  responded,  that  the  Assembly 
received  with  great  satisfaction  the  fraternal 
greetings  of  the  church  represented  by  the 
speaker;  congratulated  that  church  upon  its  loy- 
alty, missionary  activity  and  success,  and  the 
noble  example  "of  unity  which  it  had  set  to  the 
Christian  world,  and  invoked  God's  grace, 
mercy  and  peace  upon  the  church,  and  good 
speed  in  all  its  efforts. 

Voted,  that  the  reception  of  salutation  mes- 
sages from  corresponding  bodies  be  made  the 
second  order  of  the  day  to-morrow  (Tuesday) 
morning, 

A  communication  was  read  from  the  Mercan- 
tile Library  Association,tendering  to  the  Assem- 
bly the  coiirtesy  of  the  library  and  reauing  room 
of* that  association  during  the  session  of  the  As- 
sembly. 

Voted,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Hatfield  that  the 
tender  be  accepted,  with  thanks. 

Eev.  Dr.  Knox,  from  the  special  Committee  of 
Conference,  reported  a  recommendation  that 
there  be  a  joint  devotional  meeting  of  the  two 
Assemblies  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
at  a  quarter  before  eight  o'clock  this  evening, 
(Monday),  the  two  Moderators  to  preside,  and 
make  the  opening  addresses;  that  Kev.  Dr.  Joel 
Parker  and  H.  B.  Smith  from  this  Assembly,  and 
two  to  be  chosen  by  the  other  Assembly,  also 
address  the  Bieeting  ;  also,  that  there  be  in  this, 
I, the  First  Presbyterian  Church),  a  joint  sacra- 
mental service  on  Wednesday  evening,  at  a 
quarter  before  eight,  and  that  the  address  on 
that  occasion,  on  the  part  of  this  Assembly,  be 
made  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Humphrey. 

Voted  that  the  report  be  accepted  and  adopted. 

Eev.  Dr.  Clarke  then  read  the  report  of  the 
Standing  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  abstract: 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report 
of  the  Perniatteut  Coniiiiittee  ou  Fureisn  Missiioiis, 
respectfully  represent  to  the  General  A!^sembly  that 
that  report  invites  attention  esjiecially  to  ttie  fol- 
lowing poiuts,  to  wit: 


To  an  altogether  satisfactory  relation  with  the  A. 
B.  C.  F,  M. ;  the  alarming  decrease  in  the  number 
of  our  missionaries  in  the  service  of  the  Board;  the 
continued  neglect  on  the  part  ef  many  of  our 
churches  and  church  members  to  make  annual  cou- 
tributions  to  the  cause  of  missions;  the  importance; 
of  even  a  larger  co-operation  on  the  j)art  of  our 
Western  churches;  the  need  of  a  more  eJHcient  use 
of  an  ecclesiastical  apparatus,  and  the  fitness  of 
this  present  period  of  our  national  ministry,  lor  a 
broader,  mightier  and  more  successful  assault  upon 
that  emi)ire  of  darkness  for  whose  conquest  and 
illumination  the  Church  aspires  and  exists. 

That  the  number  of  our  missionaries  should  have 
been  reduced  one-sixth  in  three  years,  so  that 
whereas  in  1863  we  had  fifiy  six  in  the  field,  we  have 
now  only  forty-seven,  is  a  factwhich  the  world  will 
contemplate  with  surprise,  the  Assembly  with  sor- 
row, and  to  which  we  can  make  no  other  honorable 
answer,  than  in  the  voice  of  our  sons  and  daughters, 
saying  in  scores,  "flere  are  we,  send  us. " 

It  is  matter  of  much  congratulation  that  under 
the  many  burdens  and  exactions  of  the  time  our 
congregation  gave  to  the  cause  of  missions  last  year 
not  less,  but  more  than  in  any  previous  year. 
Nevertheless  the  Assembly  ought  not  to  pass  lightly 
over  the  humiliating  reveiatious  of  the  committee's 
i-eport  touching  the  continued  neglect  of  a  portion 
of  our  churches  and  church  members  to  contribute 
their  just  quota  to  the  cause  of  Christian  missions. 

Your  committee  recommend  that  some  morning 
be  set  apart  by  the  Assembly  to  prayer,  especially 
for  this  object,  that  our  ascended  Kedecmer  may 
hear  our  united  cry  and  inspire  in  all  our  congre- 
gations with  these  sessions,  supplies  and  pastors, 
that  sentiment  of  expansive  zeal,  which  we  need  to 
make  us  to  the  full  extent  of  our  abilitj'  a  Mission- 
ary Church. 

The  Churches  in  our  Western  Synods,  have  a  vast 
home  field,  which  they  cannot  dutifully  or  safely 
neglect.  And  all  oiir  Churches,  whether  in  the 
newer  or  older  States,  have  in  charge  the  magniti- 
cent  enterprise  of  establishing  upon  this  great  con- 
tinent the  seat  of  power,  the  home  of  liberty,  the 
goat  of  the  ages  past,  the  starting  point  of  the  ages 
to  come;  that  glorious  sunshine  of  Christ,  for  which 
the  continent  was  created,  lor  which  the  republic 
stands.  "W  e  must  not  try  to  abate,  but  rather  to  in- 
crease the  instinctive  ardor  which  fires  the  hearts 
of  our  people  in  the  East  and  We.st  in  behalf  of 
Home  Missions.  But  to  do  this  home  work  well, 
we  mu.st  do  our  work  in  other  lands  well  also ;  for 
we  are  of  least  us.e  to  ourselves  when  we  are  most 
selfish,  and  shall  do  most  and  most  successfully  for 
Christ's  cause  at  home,  wlien  we  do  most  and  most 
willingly  for  his  kingdom  abroad.  May  God,  by 
whose  favor  alone  we  can  be  made  strong  in  this  or 
other  lands,  keep  our  Churches  from  the  fatal  mis- 
take of  doing  little  tor  missions  among  the  heathen, 
under  the  impression  that  thereby  they  can  do  more 
for  Christianity  at  their  own  doors. 

The  committee  learns  with  great  satisfaction, 
that  ten  of  our  Presbyters  are  employed  in  mission- 
ary labor,  and  two  others  are  under  appointment 
in  the  service  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Chris- 
tian Mission.  The  Rev.  llanor  Mentsalvatage,  of 
the  Presbytery  ot  Brooklyn,  and  Rev.  A.  J. 
McKim,  of  the  Presbytei-y  of  Athens,  are  success- 
fully at  work,  in  not  the  least  inviting  of  the  many 
fields  now  opening  to  that  eflicieut  and  worthy  so"- 
ciety;  that  is  to  say,  in  Brazil.  South  America. 

The  committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the 
adoption  of  the  following  order,  to  wit: 

That  it  be  earnestly  enjoined  upon  all  the  Synods. 
Presbyteries,  sessions  and  congregations  connected 
with  this  Assembly,  that  by  the  appointment  of 
Synodical  and  Presbyterical  committees,  the  faithful 
presentation  of  the  cause  to  the  people  for  their  an- 
nual contributions,  the  difi'usion  of  intelligence 
tiirough  the  Presbyterian  Monthly,  Missionary  Her- 
ald, Christian  World  and  the  religious  newspapers, 
regular  observance  ot  the  monthly  concert,  report 
to  thepermanant  committee,  and  every  other  appio- 
priate  method  of  instruction  and  appeal,  they  en- 
deavor from  this  time  toiinake  our  entire  Church 
What  it  ought  to  he,  and  can  be:  the  joy  of  the  Re- 
deemer, the  glory  of  the  age,  the  light  of  the  world. 

Jn  behalf  of  the  eommitree.     . 

W.  CL\RKE,  Chairman 


17 


Dr.  Clarke.  I  am  sorry  that  the  committee 
have  compelled  me  to  add  a  word  of  exhorta- 
tion to  this  report,  for  my  bodily  health  is  such 
that  I  can  hardly  stand  upon  my  feet,  but  1 
must  discharge  what  1  can  of  my  duty. 

It  seems  to  me  that  God  is  speaking  in  a  voice 
never  before  so  audible,  to  His  Church,  especial- 
ly on  this  concinent.  It  seems  to  me  that  our 
Church  is  the  Church  in  the  best  possible  atti- 
tude at  this  time  to  hear  and  respond  to  the  call 
of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church.  Kobody  who 
has  been  skeptical  hitherto  in  regard  to  the  su- 
premacy of  Christianity  in  the  world, 
can  doubt  so  since  these  last  five 
years  of  American  history  have 
inscribed  their  lesson  on  the  page  of  public 
memory,  that  this  land  belongs  to  Christianity  ; 
that  it  belongs  to  Christ  for  His  Church;  thai 
His  Church  is  to  be  erected  on  this  continent  as 
a  tower  of  light  for  all  the  nations;  that  this 
part  of  the  globe  exists  especially  for  that,  none 
of  us,  it  seems  to  me,  can  for  a  moment  doubt, 
and  if  these  things  be  so,  it  must  be  true  that 
the  Comaion  Head  of  the  Hosts  of  Zion  is  look- 
ing upon  His  Church  upon  this  Continent  to 
discern  which  of  them  is  most  ready  to  enter 
into  the  fore  front  of  the  great  work  which  is  to 
be  accomplished  here  and  abroad  in  the 
coming  half  century.  That  Church  in  America 
which  is  prepared  to  receive  most  Christian 
spirit,  to  eutef  most  perfectly  into  Christ's 
great  work,  to  contribute  most  for  the  consum- 
mation of  his  kingdom  in  the  whole  world : 
into  that  Church  our  blessed  Redeemer  will 
most  certainly  enter,  and  make  that  theJuda 
among  the  tribes  of  Israel  in»this  land.  By  His 
Providence  and  spirit  he  has  been  dealing  with 
our  Church  in  a  most  I'emarkable  manner,  and 
in  a  manner  of  preparation.  An  aggressive 
army  must  have  few  impediments,  and  slavery 
was  an  impediment,  which  hanging  upon  any 
Church,  unfits  that  Church  for  the  great  aggres- 
sive work  which  Christ  has  to  do  in  this  world. 
From  that  impediment,  by  the  good  providence 
of  our  ascended  Lord,  this  Church  has  been  de- 
livered, and  from  every  intestine  conflict.  Then 
by  the  good  >)rovidence  of  God  our  Church  has 
been  planted  on  just  the  spot  where  it  can  have 
the  easiest  access  to  every  part  of  this  continent 
and  the  world.  Christ,ifwe  do  not  reject  him 
by  a  bad  spirit,  must  enter  into  our  Church, and 
fill  it  with  His  temper,  and  what  is  the  temper 
of  Christ,  but  just  the  temper  of  missions  ? 
"What  is  the  temper  of  Christ,  but  just  the  large- 
ness of  benevolence  which  this  work  calls  for? 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  day  has  come  when 
every  Presbytery  in  our  Church,  when  every 
member  in  our  Church,  ought  to  feel,  "  I  am  a 
Presbyterian  to  carry  Christ's  kingdom  wlier- 
ever  I  can  carry  that  blessed  light,  here,  at 
home  and  abroad."  And  not  only  this— we 
ought  to  feel  that  we  are  called  to  act,  and 
that  we  do  not  deserve  the  name  of  Pres- 
byterians in  this  day ;  that  we  deserve 
to  be  cast  out  unless _  through  all  our  ranks 
we  engage  in  sj^reading  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord,  not  only  at  home,  but  abroad. 

God  give  us  the  joy  of  hearing  it  reported  at 
the  next  General  Assembly  that  not  a  Church  in 
our  connection  has  come  short  of  its  duty  in 
this  good  work. 

Dr.  A.  E.  Campbell  suggested  an  omission  in 
the  report  respecting  missionary  public  itions, 
which  Dr.  Clark  stated  should  be  embodied  in 
the  report. 

On  motion,  the  morning  hour  of  Tuesday  was 
0 


set  apart  as  a  special  occasion  for  prayer  for 
foreign  missions. 

Eev.  G.  W.  Wood,  Sec,  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  spoke  in 
substance  as  follows  :  I  am  here  by  request  of 
the  Prudential  Committee,  in  accordance  with  a 
resolution  of  the  Assembly  which  met  at  Wil- 
mington in  1S59,  asking  that  thereafter  that  the 
Prudential  Committee  would  depute  one  of  their 
or  secretaries  to  attend  the  General  Assembly 
and  present  the  interests  of  the  cause  of  foreign 
missions. 

The  Prudential  Committee  desire,  through 
me,  to  present  their  greeting  to  this  body,  and 
their  congratulation  of  the  special  circum- 
stances under  which  you  are  assembled,  and 
especially  on  account  of  the  prosperity  of  your 
beijeScent  enterprises.  The  committee,  though 
they  so  deeply  regret  that  so  large  a  part  of 
the  churches  have  as  yet  failed  to  come  up  to 
that  interest  in  the  cause  of  foreign  missions 
which  seems  so  indispensable  to  their  spiritual 
life,  yet  are  gratified  at  the  progress  which  has 
been  made  within  the  limits  of  this  branch  of 
the  Church  during  the  last  few  years.  The 
amount  of  contributions  during  the  last  year  is 
very  considerably  in  advance  of  that  of  any  pre- 
ceding year.  I  am  desired  especially  to  impress 
on  the  members  of  the  Assembly  the  desirable- 
ness of  a  still  further  advance.  It  is  a  matter 
for  devouter  thanksgiving  that  during  this  pe- 
riod of  our  civil  conflict,  when  the  demands 
made  upon  the  benevolence  of  the  Church  have 
been  so  unprecedented,  the  demand  has  been  so 
fully  met,  and  the  board  was  enabled  to  close 
the  war  with  a  surplus  of  §1,148  in  the  treasu- 
ry, though  it  entered  on  the  period  of  the  war 
with  a  deficit  of  §2S,000.  Yet  there  is  great 
danger  that  now  that  the  war  is  passed  and  the 
cost  of  exchange  is  somewhat  declining,  the 
feeling  will  go  abroad  among  the  contributors 
to  the  cause,  that  there  is  n(;t  a  demand  for  so 
much  exertion  in  this  behalf,  ana  that  contri- 
butions will  fall  off. 

The  missions  require  an  enlarged  support, 
and  the  cut  is  increasing  from  year  to  year,  the 
rise  of  prices  is  universal  throughout  the  world. 
Urgent  as  is  the  need  of  funds,  the  want  most 
deeply  felt  at  the  present  time  is  that  of  men, 
and  Tam  desired  to  speak  as  strongly  as  I  may 
be  able  in  this  regard.  It  is  incumbent  on  me 
to  say  that  unless  we  can  get  reinforcements  to 
our  missions  they  must  sustain  the  greatest  da- 
mages. 

Dr.  Hatfield  announced  that  on  Friday  even- 
ing at  S  1-4  o'clock  in  this  house  the  Presbyter- 
ion  Historical  Society  propose  to  hold  a  public 
meeting  and  they  invite  the  General  Assembly 
to  be  present  on  that  occasion.  Eev.  Dr.  McLean 
of  the  Old  School  Assembly  is  expected  to  deli- 
ver a  discourse  on  the  life  and  character  of 
Eev.  Wm.  Kenneth. 

Dr.  Smith,  of  Committee  on  Church  Polity,  re- 
ported a  recommendation  of  that  committee 
that  the  Presbytery  of  Superior  be  transferred 
from  the  Synod  ©f  Michigan  to  that  of  Wiscon- 
sin', 

On  motion  the  recommendation  was  accepted 
and  adopted. 

Dr.  Smith  further  reported  a  recommendation 
that  the  time  of  meeting  of  the  Presbyteries  of 
Chemung  and  Geneva,  designated  for  the  last 
i  uesday  of  September,  be  changed  to  the  third 
Tuesday  of  the  same  month. 

Recommendation  adopted. 

Dr.  Smith  further  reported  a  recommendation 
of  recognizing  the  Presbytery  of  Osage,  and  that 


IH 


it  be  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  accord- 
ing to  their  request. 

Eecommendation  adopted. 

After  some  little  discussion,  during  which 
Detroit  and  Eochester  were  named  as  the 
next  places  of  n^eeting,  the  time  and  place  of 
meeting  were  referred  to  a  committee  consist- 
ing of  Drs.  Shaw,  Ilogan  and  Eev.  li.  W.  Wil- 
liams. 

The  first  week  of  January,  18CY,  beginning 
with  the  Sabbath  and  running  through  the  week, 
was  appointed  as  a  concert  for  prayer. 

After  prayer,  the  Assembly  adjourned  until 


AFTERNOON    SESSION — 3  P.  M. 

Opened  with  prayer.    Dr.  Shaw  in  the  Chair. 

'the  Chair  announced  that  Truman  P.  Handy 
was  excused  from  serving  on  the  Committee  on 
the  State  of  the  Country,  and  the  names  of  Eev. 
Thomas  Brown,  Hon.  ,lohn  A.  Foot  and  Mr.  Eus- 
sell  Scarrett  be  added  thereto. 

The  several  committees  on  Synodical  Eecords 
then  made  their  reports. 

The  standing  Committee  on  the  Ministerial 
Belief  Fund  reported,  to  the  effect  that  this  sub- 
ject has  never  yet  been  presented  before  our 
churches  as  it  should  be,  as  is  shown  from  the 
fact  that  only  180  out  of  1,479  churches  have  con- 
tributed to  this  fund. 

Eeport  received  and  adopted. 

Dr.  Humphrey,  of  the  Committee  on  Church 
Erection,  read  the  following  report : 

REPORT  OF    THE   STANDING    COMMITTEE  OF  THE  GEN- 
ERAL ASSEMBLY,   OF   186G,   ON  CHURCH   ERECTION. 

By  the  twelfth  annual  report  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Assembly's  Church  Election  Fuucl,  it  is  painfully 
apparent  that  this  fund  is  hut  imperfectly  acooui- 
plishing  its  original  desiffn.  The  amount  of  the 
fund  in  1856  was  $100,000.  Now,  after  ten  years' 
use,  it  has  increased  to  over  $137,000,  $80,000  of 
which,  at  least,  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  Board, 
subject  totne  call  of  tlie  citurches.  Year  by  year 
the  applications  lor  aid  become  fewer.  But$2,7r)5 
were  taken  from  the  treasury  last  year,  in  the  form 
of  loans,  and  but  $400  in  the  form  of  donations. 
Meanwhile  the  receipts  from  the  churches,  on  ac- 
count of  loans,  donations  and  interest,  have  been 
over  $7,000,  which  added  to  tiie  interest  accruing  on 
the  fund  itself— nearly  $,),0{K) — constitute  an  actual 
increase  of  the  unemployed  fund,  after  deducting 
expenses,  &c.,  of  about  $7,000. 

The  reason  of  this  is  not  that  the  aid  which  might 
be  afforded  by  this  fund  is  undesired.  The  more 
wealthy  churches  ia  all  our  large  centers  have  been 
besieged  with  applications  for  assistance  in  church 
building  as  pertiuaciously  as  if  there  were  no  fund  for 
that  purpose  in  existence.  Large  amounts  have 
been  given  in  answer  to  such  appeals  by  the  very 
churches  which  originally  contriouted  to  the  now 
neglected  treasury  from  which  it  was  expected  all 
feeble  churches  would  draw.  So  pressing,  in  fact, 
have  been  the  applications  that  it  is  manifest  that 
the  whole  fund,  it  accessible  on  terms  favorable  to 
the  churches,  would  soon  be  completely  absorbed . 

The  reason  of  such  neglect  must  be  looked  for  in 
the  practical  workinj^:  of  the  plan  on  which  the  fund 
has  been  administered.  That  plan  was  most  care- 
fully devised.  It  embodied  the  wisdom  of  some  of 
the  most  eminent  men  in  our  Church.  ¥ot  the 
period  when  it  was  adopted  it  was  moat  excellent. 
But  since  its  adoption  a  great  change  has  taken 
piace  in  our  i)Osition  and  circum&tances.  The 
last  ten  years  have  been  revolutionary.  The  Nation 
has  trembled  under  the  shock  of  war.  We  have 
passed  through  financial  emliarraHsments  and 
borne  the  brunt  of  a  struggle  whictt  has  cost  our 
churches  some  of  their  ciioi<-ept  blood.  Debts  in- 
curred for  tbe  erection  of  houses  of  wort-hip  have 
become  burdensome.  The  churches  have  in  many 
instances  been  depressed  by  the  very  nieann  tlirough 


which  they  sought  to  gain  strength.  Obligations  to 
the  General  Assembly  have  often  been  borne  under 
the  disadvantage  of  contrasts  drawn  between  the 
policy  upon  which  our  plan  of  church  erection  and 
that  of  .some  of  our  sister  denominations  is  based. 
The  result  has  been  that  the  fund  has  fallen  into 
disfavor.  Churches  needing  assistance  have  been 
advised,  in  some  cases  by  Synodical  or  Pi-esbyteri- 
cal  action,  not  to  encumber  themselves  with  loans 
such  as  others  had  found  it  so  unpleasant  to  bear, 
and  so  difficult  to  pay. 

At  the  same  time  the  cost  of  building  has  so  enor- 
mously increased  that  $'200  form  but  a  comparatively 
insignificant  item  in  the  expense  of  constructing  an 
ordinary  house  of  worship— worth  applying  for,  in- 
deed, but  not  desired  under  the  conditions  upon 
which  it  was  to  be  obtained. 

There  is,  therefore,  an  imperative  call  for  a  modi- 
fication of  the  plan  of  adndnistering  our  chnich 
erection  fund,  and  this  call  becomes  the  more  im- 
perative when  we  consider  that  the  rapid  extension 
of  the  lines  of  traffic  has  made  cities  of  villages, 
and  villages  of  hamlets.  Woere  ten  years  since  it 
was  supposed  a  few  hundred  dollars  would  suffice 
for  the  wants  of  the  people,  as  many  thousand  dol- 
lars are  now  found  to  be  insufficient.  An  ahiiost  un- 
anticipated necessity  has  arisen  to  establish  churches 
at  key-points,  and  to  provide  them  with  commodious 
and  attractive  sanctuaries.  The  spirit  of  the  times 
has  changed.  A  new  impulse,  telt  by  all  denomi- 
nations, has  been  fiiven  to  domestic  missions.  Look- 
ing towards  the  glowing  future  of  our  country,  we 
are  incited  to  new  exertions  for  its  evangelization. 
Among  the  ruling  iiieas  of  the  day  this  is  prominent 
— that  to  provide  a  church  edifice  is  almost  as 
important  as  to  provide  a  missionary,  and 
that  the  work  of  church  erection  must  be 
carried  forward  upon  the  same  enlarged  and  liberal 
scale,  which  is  adopted  for  the  support  of  ministers 
of  the  gospel.  Were  the  idea  a  false  one,  to  resist 
it  would  be  like  stemming  the  currents  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  a  flood^  but  your  committee  believe  it  to 
involve  a  true  principle,  though  it,  like  all  other 
ruling  ideas,  is  liable  to  unnaiural  freshet. 

This  Assembly  has  assumed  the  Mork  of  domes- 
tic missions,  as  it  had  not  when  its  church  erection 
fund  was  established.  Then  that  work  was  com- 
mitted to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society. 

Now  that  we  have  entered  this  field  side  by  side 
with  our  sister  denominations,  we  must  carry  on 
our  work  with  an  energy  and  a  liberality  like  theirs. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  your  committee 
believe  that  could  the  whole  fiinabe  immediately 
scattered  among  our  feeble  churches,  in  the  form  of 
donations,  without  interest  or  return  of  any  kind, 
while  the  churches  aided  should  remain  in  our  con- 
nection, the  effect  would  be  most  happy.  This  we 
believe  to  be  desired  by  many  on  the  floor  of  this 
Assembly.  Were  such  a  course  possible  we  should 
favor  it.  But  a  careiul  examination  of  the  whole 
case,  has  brought  your  committee  to  the  stubborn 
conclusion,  so  often  reache'l  by  others  who  have 
surveyed  the  same  ground,  that  such  a  disposition 
of  the  fund  was  rendered  impossible  by  the  very 
terms  on  which  it  Wits  collected.  It  was  to  he  a 
permanent  fund.  To  destroy  its  permanency  would 
be  a  breach  of  trust  which  might  and  which  ought 
to  be  legally  resisted.  The  legal  opinions  submitted 
to  the  Assembly  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  place 
this  position  beyond  reasonable  dispute. 

The  question  therefore  is,  how  the  mode  of  ad- 
ministering the  tuiid  shall  be  so  changed  as  to  make 
it  most  useful  to  the  churches.  Alter  mature  de- 
liberations your  committee  recommend  the  aban- 
donment ot  the  systim  of  loans  and  the  adoption  of 
that  of  donations  upon  the  following  plan,  viz  : 

1.  That  the  whole  of  the  fund  now  in  the  hands 
of  the  Board,  together  with  such  receipts  as  may  re- 
turn in  fulfillment  of  pledges  from  the  churches  al- 
ready aided  by  loans  and  donations,  and  together 
with  v/hatever  may  be  hereafter  contributed  to  the 
fund,  be  securely  and  permanently  invested. 

2.  That  the  accruing  interest  be  annually  dis- 
tributed by  the  Board  on  proj)er  conditions  and  in 
proper  protportions,  to  chiirches;,applying  therefor, 
in  the  form  of  donations  without  interest  and  with- 
out pledge  of  return,  except  in  case  the  church  or 
congregation  thus  Hssisted  shall  cease  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  General    Assembly,   or  their  cor- 


10 


porate  existence  shall  cease  or  their  house  of  wor- 
ship be  alienated,  except  I'or  the  building  or  pur- 
chase of  a  better  house  of  worship. 

As  supplementary  to  this,  your  committee  recom- 
mend that  a  CMlleciion  be  taken  annually  by  all  our 
churches,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
Board,  to  be  used  by  them  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  accruing  interest  of  tlie  fund. 

The  necessary  amendments  of  the  Assembly's 
plan,  ti'dether  with  all  eristaitial  details,  are  submit- 
ted herewith.  It  is  believed  that  in  these  chanjjes  uo 
legal  principle  is  sacriliced  and  that  the  utmost 
practical  efficiency  in  the  use  of  the  fund  is  secured. 

Your  committee  cannot  liut  regard  it  as  a  i)r<)vi- 
dential  indication  of  the  wisdom  of  theae  proj)Osed 
changes  thattbev  have  been  suggested  to  several  dif- 
ferent minds  without  concert  and  that  they  have 
been  regarded  witii  favor  before  this  by  those  high 
in  position  in  our  Church,  as  will  be  seen  by  refe- 
rence to  the  report  ot  the  special  committee  to  whom 
thi-i  whole  subject  was  referred  by  the  Assembly  of 
1863. 

Your  committee  "tvould,  also,  recommend  to  the 
Assembly  to  consider  the  expediency  of  appointing 
a  General  Secretary  of  the  Board,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  discharge  the  functions  in  this  IJoard 
which  are  discharged  in  the  Committee  of  Home 
Missions  by  its  Secretary. 

It  becomes  our  duty  to  nominate  three  Trustees  to 
fill  the  plasvs  of  Kev.  J.  Fen.  Smith,  D.  J).,  Rev. 
Samuel  I).  Burchard,  D.  D.,  and  William  A. 
iJooth,  Esq.,  whose  term  of  office  is  soon  to  expire. 
We  cordially  recommend  that  the  same  gentlemen  be 
reappointed. 

A  few  overtures  have  been  referred  to  the  commit- 
tee upou  the  consideration  of  which  we  ask  further 
time. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Z.  M-  HUaiPHREY,  Chairman. 

St.  Louis,  May  21,  1806. 

The  Assembly  ordered  that  the  above  report 
be  printed  in  the  Democriit  in  luU. 

The  committee  on  church  erection  recommen- 
ded that  the  same  gentlemen  whose  term  of  ser- 
vice expire  with  the  Assembly  as  trustees  of  the 
church  erection  fund  be  reappointed.  Adopted, 

The  standing  committee  on  foreign  missions 
nominated  Eev.  Joseph  A.  Tuttle,  Eev.  W.  E. 
Dodge  and to  All  vacancies.  Adopted. 

The  standing  committee  on  mileage  was  gran- 
ted another  day  to  make  up  their  report. 

It  having  been  announced  that  it  would  pro- 
bably be  impossible  to  print  in  full  the  report  of 
the  committee  on  church  erection,  in  Tuesday's 
edition  of  the  Democrat,  that  vote  was  reconsid- 
ered, and  the  question  of  the  adoption  or  rejec- 
tion of  the  report  called  up,  when  it  appeared 
that  the  chairman  of  the  committee  had  taken 
the  original  report  and  gone  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  carrying  out  the  resolution  of  the 
assembly,  and  after  a  lively  debate,  in  which 
much  interest  was  displayed,  not  so  much  as  to 
merits  or  demerits  of  the  report,  as  to  the  de- 
sirableness of  immediate  and  early  action,  ac- 
tion upon  the  report  was  made  first  in  order  for 
this  [Tuesday]  morning. 

Dr.  Shaw  of  the  special  committee  on  next 
meeticg  reported  a  recommendation  that  the 
Assembly  should  meet  with  the  Brick  church  in 
Eochester,  N.  Y.,  and  extended  a  cordial  invi- 
tation to  the  Assembly. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. 

On  motion  time  of  meeting  this  (Tuesday) 
morning  was  changed  from  8  1-2  to  9  o'clock. 

After  prayer,  the  assembly  adjourned. 

The  report  contemplates  the  following  amend- 
ments of  the  "'plan  tor  the  management  of  the 
church  erection  fund." 

The  preamble  together  with  the  articles  I.,  II., 
III.,  IV.  and  V.  are  unaltered. 


SUBSTITUTE   FOR    ARTICLE    VI. 

The  board  is  directed  to  invest  and  to  keep  at 
inlerest  on  sufficient  security  the  lurid  as  now 
established,  as  the  same  shall  hereafter  be  in- 
creased, by  gift,  bequest,  or  otherwise. 

ARTICLE    VII. 

The  accruing  interest  of  the  fund  thus  estab- 
lished shall  be  apportioned  by  the  board  among 
the  synods  as  their  exigencies  may  require,  and 
be  distributed  by  said  board  at  their  discretion 
to  such  congregations  as  make  application 
therefor,  on  the  conditions  and  subject  to  the 
limitations  hereinafter  prescribed. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

No  amendment  except  by  substituting  the 
words  '•accruing  interest"  for  "this  fund",  and 
by  cutting  out  the  words  "  loan  or." 

ARTICLE   IX. 

No  change  except  by  the  substitution  of  "ac- 
cruing interest"  for  "fund." 

ARTICLE  X. 

No  change. 

ARTICLE   XI. 

Amendments  in  IracTcets. 

If  the  Committee  of  the  Synod,  to  whom  appli- 
cation for  aid  has  been  made  as  above  provided, 
shall,  after  a  careful  examination  into  the  con-' 
dition  and  prospects  of  the  congregation  so 
applying,  be  satisfied  that  such  congregation 
have  done  all  that  should  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected of  them,  and  that,  with  the  aid  which  can 
be  afforded  from  this  fund,  [the  accruing  in- 
terest and  the  voluntary  contributions  herein- 
after mentioned,]  they  can  build  or  possesss  a 
house  of  worship  adapted  to  their  wants,  and 
be  free  from  indebtedness,  then  the  Committee 
shall  sign  a  certificate  addressed  to  the  Board, 
stating  the  application,  and  that  they  have  ex- 
amined and  approve  of  it ;  and  also  stating  the 
amount  which  it  is  proper  to  donate  to  the  con- 
gregation. This  certificafe,  together  with  the 
application  made  to  the  Committee  of  the  Sy- 
nod, shall  be  transmitted  to  the  Board.  On  the 
receipt  [thereof,  in  due  form,]  the  Board  shall, 
as  soon  as  practicable,  if  the  application  ia 
[granted,]  forward  the  necessary  papers,  to  be 
executed  by  the  trustees  of  the  congregation, 
and  to  be  approved  by  their  legal  adviser,  or 
some  other  attorney  proposed  by  the  congrega- 
tion and  accepted  by  the  Board.  When  the  pa- 
pers, so  executed,  approved  and  properly  re- 
corded, are  returned  to  the  Board,  they  shall 
authorize  the  Treasurer  of  the  trustees  of  the 
congregation,  or  any  other  persan  duly  ap- 
pointed by  them  for  this  purpose,  to  draw  on 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  for  the  amount  thus 
[applied  for  and  donated]. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

No  change  except  to  accomodate  the  article  in 
phraseology  to  the  new  plan. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

No  change. 

SUPPLEMENTAEY  AETICLE. 

As  supplementary  to  this  plan  and  in  order 
to  enable  the  board  fully  to  meet  all  the  reason- 
able demands  of  feeble  congregations  for  aid 
in  erecting  houses  of  public  worship  the  gener- 
al assembly  earnestly  recommends  to  all  the 
congregations  within  its  bounds  to  take  up  an- 
nual collections  and  transmit  them  to  the  Trea- 


20 


surer  of  the  board,  to  be  appropriated  by  said 
board  and  distributed  by  yift  for  the  objects 
contemiilated  in  the  plan,  and  on  the  condi- 
tions and  limitntions  prescribed  therein. 

And  the  better  to  secure  this  eud,  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  board  to  present  with  their  an- 


nual report,  an  estimate  of  the  amount  proba- 
bly neeiled  for  the  ensuing  year,  tojjether  with 
the  facts  and  reasons  upon  which  such  esdraate 
is  based,  in  order  that  the  assembly  may  deter- 
mine the  amount  it  will  recommend  the  church- 
es to  raise  by  voluntary  contribution. 


FIFTH  DAY  — TUESDAY,  MAY  22,  1866. 


First  hour  spent  in  devotional  exercises. 

Minutes  of  last  session  read  and  approved. 

Reports  were  then  called  for  from  the  dele- 
gates to  corresponding  bodies,  and  were  read 
from  the  delegates,  to  G.  fc-.  oftbe  Cumberland 
Presbyt.  church ;  to  Gen.  Con.  Congregational 
church,  Maine;  the  General  Association  of  N. 
H.;  to  the  Gen.  Association  of  Mass. :  and  Pres- 
byt. and  Congregational  Con.  of  Wisconsin. 

"  'these  reports  all  testified  to  the  fraternal  cor- 
diality and  Christian  love  with  which  the  dele- 
gates had_  been  received  by  the  several  reli- 
gious bodies  to  which  they  had  been  accredited. 

Dr.  IJatfield  stated  that  there  was  an  informal 
report  by  letter  to  a  member,  from  the  delegate 
to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  to  the 
same  purport  as  the  other  reports  which  had 
been  read. 

Delegates  from  corresponding  bodies  were 
then  invited  to  adress  the  Assembly. 

Dr.  Hatfield  read  a  letter  trom  B.  T.  Howard 
of  the  General  Conference  of  Maine,  in  which, 
after  stating  that  it  was  an  unexpected  and 
grievous  disappointment  to  him  that  he  was  un- 
able to  visit  St.  Louis  during  the  session  of  the 
Assembly,  he  assured  the  Assembly  that  the 
Conference  of  Maine  felt  strengthened  by  the 
harmony  which  existed  between  the  two  Church- 
es in  Christian  doctrine  and  anti-sla-  ery  and 
loyal  principles  ;  that  they  were  disposed' more 
than  formerly  to  test  the  question  which  of  the 
Church  polities  is  better  calculated  to  win  the 
world  to  Christ;  that  the  membership  of  the 
Conference  numbered  a  little  less  than  2i),000  ; 
that  its  increase  was  hindered  by  the  large  num- 
bers who  annually  pour  into  tbe  great  West; 
there  were  251  Churches,  192  ministers ;  that 
Bowdoin  college  at  Brunswick,  gradttated  about 
80  students  annually,  and  the  theological  semi- 
nary at  Bangor  15  ;  that  the  Churches  were  at 
present  blessed  with  a  quickening  influence  of 
the  Divine  Spirit;  that  the  Conference  would 
cordially  welcome  a  delegate  from  this  body  at 
the  meeting  in  Bath. 

Eev.  Henry  F.  Kay  was  introduced  to  the  As- 
sembly as  a  delegate  from  the  General  Conven- 
tion of  Vermont,  and  spoke  substantially  as 
follows: 

"It  is  my  pleasure  on  this  occasion  to  bring  the 
cordial  salutation  of  the  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational Churches  of  tne  state  of  Vermont.  We 
claim  to  be  your  brothers  in  Christ,  and  though 
we  feel  that  you  look  upon  us  as  a  small  body 
in  an  unimportant  State  in  this  great  confeder- 
acy, yet  we  feel  that  you  will  not  hardly  despise 
o:.r  greeting,  or  contemn  our  prayers,  or  the  in- 
terest we  feel  in  your  prosperity.  We  number 
nearly  2u0  Churches,  and  somewhat  over  17,0o0 
members. 

'•We  are  of  a  great  Calvanistic  family.  The  or- 
thodoxy of  Kew  England  has  been  sometimes 


suspected  west  of  the  Hudson,  but  it  has  been 
my  pleasure  to  read  to  my  people  an  article  of 
our  creed,  we  believe  the  Western  Association 
shorter  c^itechism  to  be  a  good  compendium  of 
religious  doctrine.  Kow  1  think  you  will  not 
consider  us  very  far  gone  in  heresy  so  long  as 
we  retain  that  in  our  creed.  And  in  this  regard 
we  do  not  claim  to  be  an  exception  to  the  Church- 
es of  Kew  England." 

The  Eev.  gentleman  then  adverted  to  the  mis- 
sionary spirit  which  had  been  rife  in  the 
Churches  of  Vermont,  and  New  England  gener- 
ally; and  to  the  pleasure  it  gave  him  to  meet 
with  so  many  in  his  travels  at  the  West,  who 
were  in  some  way  or  other  connected  with  his 
native  State,  and  named  among  the  many  sons  of 
Vermont  who  had  become  eminent  in  the  Church, 
William  G.  T.  Shedd  of  Union  Theological  Sem- 
inary; referred  to  Congregationalism  as  having 
unfolded  individuality  and  a  sense  of  personal 
responsibility  in  the  little  farmer  boys  of  New 
England  and  thus  brought  many  of  them  into 
the  foremost  ranks  of  other  Church  organi- 
zations, and  concluded  his  remarks  as  follows: 

"There  is  one  more  bond  between  us  which  I 
believe  must  ever  unite  us,  and  that  is  represen- 
ted by  the  symbol  above  your  own  seat.  We 
love  you,  bretheren,  because  you  have  set  forth 
unmistakably  your  spirit  as  the  spirit  of  li- 
berty, as  the  spirit  of  freedom,  as  a  law  abiding 
and  government  loving  Church,  and  could  we  of 
the  free  Green  Mountain  air  do  else  than  love 
the  body  planting  itself  on  the  Declaration  which 
we  have  heard  from  you  for  the  last  few  years  ? 
We  must  love  you.  We  hope  to  claim  your  re- 
gard in  the  future.  We  bid  you  as  a  Church  re- 
forming intelligent  body  "go  forth,  occupy  as 
Providence  shall  open  to  you— we  never  will 
envy — we  never  will  try  to  supplant  you  ;  if  we 
can  only  labor  with  you,  we  will  almost  be  con- 
tent to  follow  after  you,  if  God  will  speed  you 
in  the  great  work  which  devolves  upon  you." 

The  Moderator  in  response  assured  the  dele- 
gate that  it  gave  the  Assembly  the  greatest  plea- 
sure to  receive  the  Christian  salutation  of  his 
constituents  in  words  so  fitly  spoken,  and  that 
the  Assembly  was  very  far  from  contemplating 
with  disrespect  or  want  of  cordial  alfection  the 
Church  he  represented  ;  that  Kew  England  was 
dear  to  all  of  this  Assembly,  who  could  almost 
all  of  them  trace  by  a  very  short  descent 
their  origin  in  Kew  England  ;  alluded  to  Prof. 
Shedd  in  terms  of  great  appreciation  and  friend- 
ly regard  ;  expressed  the  thought  that  the  two 
Churches  loved  each  other  the  better  because 
they  had  drawn  a  little  apart,  and  requested  the 
delegate  to  return  to  the  bretheren  he  represent- 
ed the  very  kind  Christian  salutation  of  the  As- 
sembly, and  its  desire  for  their  utmost  Christian 
prosperity. 


21 


Dr.  Hatfield  then  stated  the  contents  of  a  let- 
ter from  Eev.  Frederick  Mouod,  with  regard  to 
the  union  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  France, 
from  which  it  appeared  that  the  time  of  meeting 
had  been  changed  to  October  25th,  1866  ;  a  new 
and  important  step  had  been  taken  towards  the 
separation  between  the  Evangelistic  and  the 
liberal  parties  in  the  established  Protes- 
tant Churches.  The  meetings  had  lost  their 
pastoral  and  Christian  character,  and  had 
changed  into  exciting  and  unprofitable  dis- 
cussions. They  had  pronounced  their  own  dis- 
solution by  a  vote  of  162  to  50,  after  which  a 
new  conference  was  immediately  organized. 
The  letter,  after  reference  to  natiohal  affairs, 
closed  with  the  following  sentiment: 

"God  grant  to  you  all,  beginning  with  the 
President  and  Congress,  the  wisdom  which  is 
first  pure,  then  peaceful,  justice  to  all,  charity 
|;o  all,  and  malice  to  none,  as  your  glorious 
Lincoln  did." 

Dr.  Hatfield  then  read  the  report  of  Dr.  Nel- 
son, delegate  to  the  General  Assembly  now  in 
session  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  as 
follows : 

St.  Louis,  May  23,  1866. 
To  the  General  Assemhly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  sitting  in 

the  F irst  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  Louis: 

Beloved  Brethren  :  I  have  the  honor  and  pleasure 
to  reporc  that  I  have  presented  to  the  General  As- 
sembly silting  in  the  Second  Church  the  commission 
with  which  I  was  honored  by  our  General  Assembly 
of  last  year,  to  convey  to  that  body  the  fraternal 
saluratiuns  of  our  own. 

I  was  received  by  the  Moderator  of  that  body, 
Rev.  Dr.  Stanton,  with  a  degree  of  fraternal  kind- 
ness quite  remarkable,  both  pertonally  and  ofiici- 
aUy.  1  was  aDundantly  satisiied  by  the  reception 
accorded  to  me,  and  1  am  sure  that  the  pubhslied 
report  ol  Dr.  Stanton's  address  will  abundantly 
satisfy  all  my  constituents. 

1  need  not  speak  ot  the  delightful  meeting  of  the 
two  Assemblies,  on  a  subsequent  evening,  to  the 
members  of  this  Assembly  who  were  prestnt,  but 
may  be  pernutted  most  fhankfuUy  to  say  that  it 
seeined  to  me  that  the  clock  of  Presbyterian  history 
then  struck,  rmging  in  a  new  era  of  peace  and  love". 
Most  respectfully,  H.  A.  NELSON. 

Dr.  Hatfield  next  read  a  letter,  received  after 
the  last  session  of  the  General  Assembly^  ac- 
companying a  communication  from  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and 
also  the  communication,  as  follows: 
To  ilie  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 

in  the  United  Mates,  if.  S. 

Deab  Christian  Brethren  :  We  take  advan- 
tage of  the  meeting  of  our  General  Assembly 
at  present  convened,  to  greet  you  cordially  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  We  feel  constrained  to 
do  so  in  consequence  of  the  singularly  momen- 
tous character  of  recent  events  in  your  coun- 
try, and  of  their  mighty  influence  on  your  re- 
spective churches.  It  may  be  premature  to  say 
much,  as  the  echoes  of  war  have  scarce  yet  died 
away,  and  the  future  may  be,  in  other  ways,  as 
eventful  as  these  four  years  of  conflict ;  but, 
without  snticipating  Providence,  we  have  a 
plain  Christian  duty  to  discharge,  in  conse- 
quence of  what  falls  already  within  the  province 
ot  history, 

"  God  has  assuredly  been  speaking  to  your 
country  by  terrible  things  in  righteousness. 
The  plowshare  of  war  has  gone  deep  into  the 
soul  of  your  people.  You  have  been  long  fa- 
miliar with  set  nes  of  bloodshed,  such  as  the 
world  never  saw  before,  and  we  pray  God,  if 
consistent  with  his  holy  will,  it  may  never  wit- 


ness again.  But,  even  in  this  respect,  good  has 
come  out  of  evil ;  for  the  agony  and  ruin  of 
war  have  opened  up  to  you  many  new  fields  of 
Christian  philanthropy.  We  refer  in  particular 
to  the  work  of  your  '  Christian  Commission,' 
with  its  rich  provision  for  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  wants  of  your  soldiers  and  sailors  ; 
and  we  hope  that  all  churches  shall  profit  by 
this  noble  exhibition  of  Christian  love  in  a  sin- 
gularly arduous  and  self  sacrificing  sphere  of 
labor. 

"We  have  special  pleasure  in  referring  to  the 
sympathy  lately  awakened  on  behalf  of  Amer- 
ica among  all  classes  in  Britain,  by  the  assassi- 
nation of  your  great  and  good  President;  and  we 
adore  the  Most  nigh,  who  has  thus  turned  one 
of  the  blackest  crimes  of  our  age  into  a  means 
of  softening  down  asperities  of  feeling,  of  cor- 
recting grave  misunderstandings,  of  fusing  the 
hearts  of  nations  in  love,  above  all,  of  calling 
forth  in  full  measure  the  prayers  of  Christ's 
people  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  on  behalf  of 
your  sorely-stricken  land.  We  rejoice  that 
your  country  is  to  have  rest  from  war,  and  that 
the  restoration  of  peace  is  to  be  followed  by  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  No  words  could  better 
express  our  views  than  those  of  your  lamented 
President,  written  in  ■  April,  1S64 :  '  I 
claim  not  to  have  controlled  events,  but 
confess  plainly  that  events  have  controlled  me. 
Now,  at  the  end  of  three  years'  struggle,  the  na- 
tion's condition  is  not  what  either  party,  or 
an.y  man  devised  or  expected.  God  alone  can 
claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending  seems  plain. 
If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of  a  great  wrong, 
and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North,  as  well  as 
you  of  the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complici- 
ty in  that  wrong,  impartial  history  will  find 
therein  new  causes  to  attest  and  revere  the 
justice  and  goodness  of  God.'  The  divergence 
of  sentiment  and  action  formerly  existing  be- 
tween you  and  us  as  to  this  question  thus  ceases, 
and  we  give  the  glory  to  Him,  who  is  righteous  in 
all  His  ways  and  holy  in  all  His  works.  As 
there  is  really  nothing  now  to  prevent  a  com- 
plete and  cordial  understanding  between  the 
British  and  the  American  Churches,  we  take  the 
earliest  possible  opportunity  of  giving  utter- 
ance to  this'conviction  and  desire  of  our  hearts. 
Our  prayers  rfhall  rise  with  yours  to  the 
throne  of  grace  in  asking  for  your 
rulers  and  your  people  all  heavenly  wis- 
dom in  dealing  with  one  of  the  weightiest  social 
problems  ever  presented  to  any  country  for 
solution.  We  shall  watch  with  the  liveliest  in- 
terest the  future  history  of  the  negro  race  within 
your  borders ;  and  you  have  our  best  wishes 
"for  the  success  of  every  scheme  bearing  on  their 
temporal  6>r  spiritual  welfare.  We  are  by  no 
means  forgetful  of  our  former  share  of  National 
guilt  as  to  negro  slavery,  and  it  would  ill  be- 
come us  to  judge  you  harshly  or  unadvisedly. 
But,  it  is  right  and  proper  that  we  should  en- 
cottrage  you  by  our  British  experience— for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  our  West  India  Islands 
removed  a  great  stumbling  block  out  of  our 
path—it  led  to  a  marked  quickening  of 
the  public  conscience— it  gave  our  country 
a  far  higher  Christian  place  among  the  nations, 
and  it  enabled  all  the  churches  to  proclaim  with 
fullness  and  sincerity  the  gospel  of  salvation 
through  Ilim,  who  came  to  undo  the  heavy  bur- 
dens and  to  break  every  yoke.  We  have  no 
doubt  that  your  churches  will  be  ready  to  fol- 
low where  Providence  now  points  the  way. 

"As  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church 


22 


of  Scotland,  wc  Eavo  every  cause  to  reciprocate 
seiitiiucnts  of  lirothcrly  kindness  and  chiirity 
towards  members  of  the  same  Presbyterian 
family  with  ourselves.  We  must  all  feel  the 
necessity  for  closer  fellowship  between  churches 
that  have  a  common  language,  a  common  an- 
cestry, a  common  faith.  Presbyterianism  would 
thereby  become  vastly  more  influential  for  good, 
it  would  bulk  more  largely  in  the  eye  of  Christen- 
dom and  every  section  of  nurecclesiiistical  com- 
monwealth would  gtt  enlargement  of  heart 
by  partaking  of  the  lieritage  of  truth  and 
grace  common  to  all.  We  beg  to  add  that  the 
greatest  advantage  would  follow  from  the  oc- 
casional visits  of  accredited  deputies  from 
your  churches  to  us,  and  irom  us  to  you.  "We 
have  much  to  learn  from  your  varied  schemes 
ot  Christian  usefulness  in  dealing  with  a  state 
of  society  so  different  from  ours ;  and  we 
know  from  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Duff  and  many 
others,  that  in  the  fieUl  of  heathenism  there  are 
nv  missionaries  of  more  truly  apostolic  spirit 
than  those  sent  forth  li>y  the  churches  of  Ameri- 
ca. You  on  your  part  might  also  tind  it  not 
unprofitable  to  study  the  working  of  Presbyte- 
rianism in  Scotland,  fragrant  as  our  beloved 
country  is  with  the  meinories  of  the  martyrs, 
and  earnestly  contending,  as  it  still  does,  for 
the  fai  th  once  delivered  to  the  Saints.  We  must 
not  forget,  however,  that  there  are  other 
churches  beyond  the  circle  of  Presbyterianism, 
with  which  we  desire  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of 
concord,  and  from  the  field  of  whose  experience 
we  seek  to  gather  like  precious  fruit.  Let  us 
]irovoke  one  another  to  love  and  to  got)d  works. 
Let  us  strive,  as  in  the  fire,  to  prevent  at  any 
subsequent  time  the  possibility  of  estrange- 
ment between  our  respective  nations.  Let  us 
pray  that  the  same  blessed  spirit,  poured  down 
so  largely  on  your  land  during  the  period  of 
your  revival,  may  become  the  living  bond  of 
unity  and  peace  between  us.  And  let  us  ever 
realize  the  solemn  fact  that,  humanly  speaking, 
the  «  hristiau  Interests  of  the  world  hang  mainly 
<m  the  efforts  put  forth  by  Christ's  people  in 
Great  Britain  and  America. 

"And  now,  dear  brethren,  we  beseech  the  God 
of  all  grace  to  overrule  these  shakings  of  the 
nations  for  the  nv  building  of  thatjj  kingdom 
which  i!annot  be  moved  ;  and  we  affectionately 
commend  you  to  Him  who  will  give  strength  to 
His  people,  and  who  will  bless  His  people  with 
peace.  For  of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to 
Uim,  are  all  things — to  whom  be  glory  forever 
and  ever.    Amen. 

"Signed  in  name  and  by  authority  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Seotland,  at  Edinburg,  the  thirtieth 
day  of  May,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  ixty-Hve,  by  James  Begg,  D.  D., 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland." 

Dr.  Hatfjeld.  1  have  the  honor  to  move  that 
this  communication  be  accepted,  and  that  a  re- 
sponse be  prepared  by  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  Moderator,  to  be  sent  to  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland,  and  that  this  communication  be 
printed  in  the  appendix  to  the  minutes  of  this 
Assembly.    Adopted. 

Dr.  Hatfield  then  read  a  communication  from 
several  members  of  the  Free  church  of  Scotland, 
introducing  to  American  Christians  Eev,  Dr. 
McCosh,  of  Belfast,  Ireland.  Dr.  Hatfield  stated 
that  James  JMcCosh,  L.  L.  D.,  was  present,  and 
called  upon  him  to  address  the  Assembly. 

The  Assembly  rose  to  receive  Dr.  McCosh  as 
he  ascended  the  platform.     His  address  was 


marked  with  deep  feeling  and  earnestness,  and 
was  listened  to  with  profound  attention  and 
respect,  and  greeted  with  frequent  applause. 
He  explained  that  he  did  not  come  officially  aa 
a  delegate  from  any  church,  but.  wearied  with 
his  writing  and  his  classes,  having  visited  re- 
peatedly the  Continent,  ami  not  feeling  inclined 
there  again,  lie  felt  a  longing  to  spend  his  vaca- 
tion in  visiting  some  new  country,  that  he 
might  have  a  glimjjse  of  the  future  "that  is  be- 
fore the  world.  He  had  taken  part  with  this 
great  nation  in  its  great  struggle.  In  his  little 
field  of  influence,  both  as  an  author  and 
speaker,  he  had  declared  his  attachment  to  the 
cause,  and  had  never  for  a  moment  doubted  of 
our  success.  He  was  anxious  to  see  the  country 
engaged  in  the  great  work  of  reconstruction. 
Such  were  the  motives  which  induced  him  to 
come  to  this  country;  'but  when  it  became 
known  among  his  friends  that  he  was  about  to 
proceed  to  the  United  Statics,  he  reccivetl  com- 
munication after  communication,  asking  that 
he  mij;ht  accomplish  another  end.  'the  Evan- 
gelical Alliance  had  a  meeting  for  the  special 
purpose,  and  enjoined  upon  him  to  say 
to  American  Christians  how  much  it 
was  desired,  on  account  of  that  Alli- 
ance, that  the  American  and  British  churches 
should  be  brought  into  a  more  thorough  un- 
derstanding and  unity.  His  friends  forwarded 
to  him  the  letter  which  had  been  read.  He  had 
been  received  by  the  two  bodies  that  have  met 
in  this  place  in  a  way  altogether  disproportion- 
ate to  his  position  as" an  individual,  but  never- 
theless accepted  it  all  because  he  knew  it  pro- 
ceeded from  genuine  and  loving  hearts,  and  be- 
cause he  regarded  it  as  a  declaration  ot  res- 
pectful feeling  towards  ihe  British  churches. 
He  would  take  care  to  repeat  this  to  the  British 
Churches,  and  he  knew  the  general  body  of 
tnem  will  receive  it  with  joy.  Declared  that 
America  and  Great  Britain  were  bound  together 
by  strong  bands — were  one  in  race,  one  in  lib- 
erty, and  one  in  the  love  of  education,  and  es- 
pecially and  above  all,  one  in  believing  in  one 
God  and  one  Savior ;  that  the  Presbyterians  in 
both  countries  were  one  in  faith,  discipline,  and 
polity  generally.  He  referred  to  the  troubles 
of  the  Church  in  Scotland,  and  to  some  facts  in 
bis  own  history,  illustrating  what  the  Churches 
in  Great  Britain  had  had  to  contend  with,  and 
passed  to  the  present  condition  of  the  Churches. 
The  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  though  not 
a  numerous  body,  had  contributed  for 
the  year  ending  May  1st,  1S65,  the 
sum  of  £350,000  for  the  support  of  the 
gospel;  had  set  going  a  general  sustaining 
fund  for  poor  congregations,  a  benevolence 
instituted  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  which  had  been 
carried  on  with  great  vigorjand  liberality,  and 
to  which-  the  church  contributed  in  1865, 
£180,000,  and  for  22  years  ending  May,  1S65,  the 
total  sum  of  £6,000,000.  The  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing 
about  a  state  of  things  that  looked  to  the  union 
of  all  the  churches  of  like  faith  and  government 
not  only  in  the  United  Kingdom,  hut  in  the 
Colonies,  and  the  speaker  took  the  opportunity 
to  say  that  the  British  churches  were  most 
anxious  to  be  in  some  way  ofhcially  connected 
with  the  Presbyterian  bodies  in  this  country, 
by  having  delegates  reciprocally  accredited  to 
the  General  Assemblies  who  might  have  a  voice 
and  a  vote  on  the  more  important  questions  of 
general  interest  to  the  church. 

Dr.  Hatfield  moved  that  the  suggestion  of  Dr. 


2^ 


McCosh  be  referred  to  the  committee  about  to 
be  appointed,  to  answer  the  letter  received 
from   the   Free   Church  of  Scotland.    Carried. 

The  Moderator  announced  that  action  upon 
the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Church  Erec- 
tions was  in  order. 

Eussell  Scarrett,  Esq.,  moved  to  reconsider  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  whereby  it  voted  to  ac- 
cept the  report  of  the  committee,  and  to  go  into 
its  consideration  article  by  article,  and  stated 
that  he  did  so  for  the  purpose  of  moving  the 
adoption  of  the  following  plan: 

1.  To  repeal,  as  to  the  guidance  and  control 
of  the  future  operations  of  the  committee,  all 
present  laws  or  instructions  of  the  Assembly, 

2.  That  this  committee  be  the  channel  through 
which  our  denomination  may  do  its  work  of 
church  erection  as  fully  and  finally  as  it  does 
its  home  missionary  work  through  its  Home 
Missionary  committee. 

3.  That  this  committee  may  freely  loan  and 
donate  its  funds  lor  the  erection  of  churches 
according  to  its  ability,  and  the  need  of  the 
churches, making  its  own  rules,  only  limited  as 
follows: 

First.  It  shall  execute  its  duties,  both  in  re- 
spect to  its  present  and  future  funds,  in  confor- 
mity with  the  spirit  of  its  trust  and  the  obliga- 
tions of  its  charter. 

Second.  It  shall  not  reduce  the  fund  by  dona- 
tions to  a  less  amount  than  *100,000, 

Third.  It  shall  not  loan  or  donate  to  any 
one  church  an  aggregate  sum  of  more  than 
$3,000 

Fourth.  That  it  shall  not  charge  interest  on 
loans  until  from  and  after  the  maturity  of  the 
debt. 

Fifth.  That  loans  shall  not  be  for  a  longer 
term  than  five  years,  reasonably  secured  on  real 
estate. 

4.  That  this  Assembly  appoint  a  Secretary, 
or  agent,  who  shall  be  to  this  work  what  Dr. 
Kendall  is  to  the  Home  Missionary  work. 

Dr.  Humphrey,  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Church  Erection,  rose  to  explain  how  it 
happened  that  the  report  of  the  committee  ap- 
peared in  the  Democrat  this  morning,  though  the 
Assembly  had  recconsidered  its  vote  to  publish 
it.  He  said  he  found  on  consultation  with  the 
reporter  of  the  Democrat,  the  reporter  was  un- 
willing to  pledge  himself  that  it  should  appear 
in  the  paper  of  Tuesday  morning,  unless  the 
report  of  the  remainder  of  the  proceedings 
were  omitted,  but  nevertheless  thought  that  it 
might  be  done,  though  he  was  unwilling'  to  take 
theires^onsibility  of  saying  so  ;  that  he  (Dr.  H.) 
immediately  took  the  papers  and  went  to  the 
office  of  the  Demscrat,  and  while  he  was  gone 
the  resolution  to  reconsider  was  passed. 

The  result  was  that  the  report  in  full,  and  a 
condensed  form  of  the  plan  wsa  pub- 
lished in  the  morning  papers,  notwith- 
standing the  decision  of  the  Assembly. 
Dr.  H.  further  stated  that  any  change  in 
the  existing  plan  would  require  a  two-thirds 
vote,  in  number  about  150. 

After  prayer,  the  Assembly  adjonrned  until 
afternoon. 

AFTERNOON     SESSION. 

Opened  with  prayer. 

Mr.  Scarritt's  motion  of  the  morning  to  re- 
consider prevailed,  and  after  some  discussion  as 
to  what  was  before  the  Assembly,  the  Modera- 
tor decided  that  the  question  was  upon  the  adop- 


tion or  rejection  of  the  report  of  the  Committee 
on  Church  Erections. 

Mr.  Scarritt  addressed  the  Assembly  at  length 
in  regard  to  the  management  of  the  fund, 
claiming  that  the  existing  plan  looked  more  to 
the  continuance  and  reservation  of  the  fund 
than  to  the  building  of  churches,  and  illustra- 
ting the  need  of  a  change  in  the  plan  of  admin- 
istering the  fund  by  reference  to  the  congrega- 
tion of  Webster  Grove.  Was  opposed  to  the 
adoption  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  be- 
cause it  wouldn't  build  the  churches. 

Dr.  Humphrey  stated  that  the  Committee  in 
framing  the  report  and  recommendation,  was  in 
full  sympathy  with  the  last  speaker  in  the  de- 
sire to  make  the  utmost  amount  of  money 
available  for  the  erection  of  churches,  and 
claimed  that  those  who  were  in  the  cities  could 
understand  the  state  of  the  case  as  well 
as  those  in  the  country,  for  they 
were  continually  receiving  applications 
for  assistance  which  press  upon  them  the 
necessity  which  he  has  urged  to-day,  and  ii 
certainly  is  their  desire  to  relieve  the  people 
from  these  incessant  calls,  though  they  would 
be  willing  that  they  should  give  more  than  they 
have  been  accustomed  to  give  in  a  desultory 
way.  It  had  been  the  desire  of  the  committee 
throughout  to  propose  and  bring  forward  to  the 
Assembly  such  a  plan  as  would  secure  the 
largest  possible  amount  for  the  churches,  and 
on  such  terms  as  would  be  most  favorable  to 
them.  He  stated  that  the  plan  placed  no  re- 
striction upon  the  trustees  in  loaning  any 
amount  whatever  to  any  Church,  if  they 
considered  in  their  judgments  as  business 
men  that  the  Church  could  afford  to  give  good 
security  for  the  money.  He  explained  at  length 
the  difficulties  that  arose  from  churches  con- 
tracting loans,  both  as  it  regarded  the  churches 
hemselves  and  the  fund. 

Dr.  Clarke  opposed  the  plan  as  recommended 
by  the  Committee.  He  claimed  that  this  ;J;liiO,- 
0()0  should,  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  be  put 
into  the  form  of  churches,  and  not  continued  in 
the  form  of  a  fund;  that  the  churches  of  the 
East  would  respond  to  all  calls  when  once  this 
amount  was  exhausted  ;  that  of  the  $5,0oo  pro- 
posed to  be  expended  each  year,  Missouri  would 
receive  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  and  asked  what 
kind  of  a  provision  that  was  for  chuich  erec- 
tion in  this  great  State  ?  Proposed  that  the 
whole  amount  should  be  loaned  out  to  churches 
in  average  sums  of  ^1,im.»ii  for  ten  y*ears,  which 
would  build  at  least  eighty  ohurches  within  the 
next  year,  and,  as  the  yearly  installments  be- 
came due  and  were  paid,  would  build  eight 
churches  each  year  thereafter. 

Judge  Williams,  of  Pittsburg,  advocated  the 
adoption  of  the  report,  which  he  stated  had 
been  drawn  up  in  accordance  with  the  legal 
opinions  as  reported  by  the  Permanent  Com- 
mittee. 

The  discussion  was  further  continued  by 
Messrs.  Hebard,  Tyndall  and  Foot,  when  the 
hour  of  adjournment  arrived. 

Mr.  Starr,  at  the  request  of  E.  B.  Kellogg,  gave 
the  following  notice  in  regard  to  the  excursion 
on  Thursday : 

The  depot  of  the  Iron  Mountain  railroad  is  on 
Plum  street  and  Main  about  half  a  mile  below 
the  termination  of  Olive  Street.  Persons  who 
desire  t»  go  must  be  present  at  the  depot  by 
6.80  in  the  morning.    The  street  cars  do  not 


24 


generally  ruu  so  early  as  that  in  the  morninj? 
and  they  will  have  to  start  earlier  on  foot  Irom 
the  north  and  west  parts  of  the  city. 

All  persons  must  be  punctual  as  the  cars  will 
start  at  the  minute  specified. 

There  are  no  accomodations  except  a  well  of 
water  at  the  mountain,  and  a  spring  at  Pilot 
Knob.  All  persons  must  bring  their  own  pro- 
visions, as  the  company  does  nothing  but  fur- 
nish transportation.  It  is  hoped  that  the  train 
will  reach  the  city  on  its  return  by  6  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  The  committee  have  sent  special 
invitations  to  such  of  the  hosts  as  can  be  con- 
veyed in  the  train. 

After  prayer  by  the  Moderator  the  Assembly 
adjourned. 


[The  following  report,  read  in  Monday's  ses- 
sion of  the  Kew  School  Presbyterian  Assembly, 
but  crowded  out  of  yesterday's  issue,  is  pub- 
lished to-day  by  special  request.] 

The  standing  committee  to  whom  was  referred 
the  Second  Annual  Eeport  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Ministerial  Belief  Fund,  respect- 
fully report : 

That  they  have  had  the  same  under  careful 
consideration,  and  find  in  it  much  cause  for 
gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for  the  success  which 
has  already  crowned  our  efi'orts  in  this  matter, 
and  much  also  for  serious  thought  in  view  of 
that  which  remains  to  be  done. 

The  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  shows 
that  the  General  Assembly  did  not  move  one 
moment  too  soon  to  provide  for  the  wants  of 
her  disabled  ministers  and  their  families — we 
now  wonder  that  it  was  a  subject  neglected  so 
long — and  shows  also  how  ready  the  Church  as 
are  to  respond  to  this  just  appeal  when  once  it  is 
brought  before  them.  It  is  no  small  thing  that, 
with  so  little  effort,  the  contributions  to  this 
cause  should  have  doubled  in  the  past  year. 

And  yet  it  is  manifest  that  we  have  but  just 
made  a  reasonable  beginning  in  the  work  thus 
committed  to  our  hands.  There  must  be  many 
clergymen  and  families  of  deceased  ministers 
in  want,  whose  cases  are  not  yet  reached.    Many 


cannot  yet  know  that  such  relief  is  provided  for 
their  need,  or  how  to  obtain  it;  and  many  of  the 
Churches  manifestly  do  not  seem  to  know  that 
such  a  fund  has  been  projected,  and  needs  their 
generous  contributions,  for  only  13'i  out  of  the 
1,4*71)  Churches  connected  with  this  Assembly 
have  remembered  this  cause  in  the  past  year. 

Your  Committee  are  confident  that  if  all  our 
Churches  could  have  heard  the  reading  of  the 
report  of  the  Executive  Committee,  as  it  was 
presented  to  this  body,  or  could  look  in  upon 
some  of  the  families  of  dear  and  honored  min- 
isters of  the  gospel  whose  wants  were  presented, 
there  woald  hardly  be  a  church  in  all  our  con- 
nection which  would  fail  to  remember  this 
cause  by  a  generous  contribution. 

Your  Committee  are  sure  that  this  subject  is 
not  yet  before  our  Churches  as  it  should  be,  and 
has  not  that  consideration  which  its  great  im- 
portance demands. 

To  express  the  sense  of  the  Assembly  on  this 
subject,  your  Committee  propose  the  following 
resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  the  ministers  of  our  Churches 
be  requested,  at  an  early  day,  to  preach  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Ministerial  Belief  Fund,  calling 
the  attention  of  their  people  to  these  peculiar 
wants,  for  which  this  fund  aims  to  provide. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  considered  the  duty  of 
every  Church  to  take  an  annual  collection  for 
this  cause. 

Resol'ved,  That  the  attention  of  the  Presbyte- 
ries be  again  called  to  this  subject,  and  that 
they  be  earnestly  requested  each  year  to  appoint 
one  of  their  own  number  specially  to  look  after 
this  matter,  and  to  see,  if  possible,  that  collec- 
tions be  taken  in  all  the  Churches  within  their 
bounds. 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  in- 
structed to  publish  their  annual  report,  or  an 
abstract  thereof,  in  the  religious  newspapers, 
for  the   information  of  the  Churches. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 
la  behalf  of  the  Committee 

CHAS.  P.  BUSH,  Chairman. 


SIXTH  DAY  — WEDNESDAY,  MAY  23,  1866. 


Minutes  of  last  session  read  and  approved. 

The  unfinished  business  of  yesterday  was 
taken  up. 

Eev.  "W.  A.  Niles  spoke  in  support  of  the 
Church  Erection  Committee's  report.  He  depre- 
cated any  slighting  allusions  to  the  Church  Erec- 
tion Fund,  as  if  it  had  not  cost  sacrifices  and 
great  labor,  and  was  not  the  result  of  large  bene- 
volence ;  and  deprecated  very  much  the  position 
that  some  have  taken,  that  it  was  better  this  fund 
were  drowned  in  the  depths  of  the  sea.  This 
fund  had  done  too  much  for  the  Presbyterian 
Church — was  a  noble  fund  in  its  origin,  and  had 
been  nobly  administered,  whatever  maybe  said 
about  it,  because  it  had  been  administered 
strictly  on  the  principles  on  which  it  had  been 
established.  He  referred  to  the  history  of  this 
fund,  the  disposition  of  the  donors  of  the  fund 
towards  the  Western  Churches ;  to  his  own  ex- 
perience with  regard  to  its  early  workings  and 
to  the  good  it  had  done ;  to  the  fact  that  all  the 
Church  Erection  Funds  in  the  land  are  but  the 
result  of  this  present  fund,  which  was  secuted 
at  great  sacrifice,  and  had  aided  so  many 
churches.  He  asked  that  this  fund  of  $100,000 
should  not  be  regarded  as  a  small  thing ;  could 
not  see  why  a  Church  should  object  to  a  perma- 
nent fund;  claimed  that  circumstances  had 
changed,  and  it  was  desirable  that  there  should 
be  a  great  deal  more  money  expended  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church  for  building  sanctuaries. 

The  speaker  next  adverted  to  the  objections 
which  come  up  year  by  year  to  the  administra- 
tions of  this  fund  ;  that  the  great  objection  was 
to  the  loaning  system  ;  that  loaning  had  the  ef- 
fect of  estranging  the  Churches ;  the  dunning 
letters  of  the  Secretary  became  so  distasteful 
that  he  failed  to  get  answers  to  them,  and  had  to 
resort  to  writing  to  the  postmasters  as  to  the  ex- 
istence of  the  churches  assisted  and  their  con- 
ditions. Another  objection  was  to  the  small- 
ness  of  the  amount  either  as  a  donation  or  a 
loan. 

There  were  three  distinct  propositions  before 
the  Committee.  The  first  proposition  ^ave  the 
whole  fund  away.  It  was  said  that  Daniel  Lord 
had  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  money  could 
be  given  away  ;  other  lawyers  said  you  could 
not  give  it  away,  that  the  trustees  could  not 
give  it  away  upon  the  order  of  the  General  As- 
sembly without  rendering  themselves  liable  as 
such  trustees,  and  it  was  understood  that  if  such 
course  were  attempted,  there  would  be  applica- 
tions in  the  courts  for  injunctions,  and  conse- 
quently that  plan  was  laid  aside  as  impractica- 
ble. The  next  plan  presented  was  the  enlarged 
old  plan — the  recommendation  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  and  of  the  standing  committee  of  last 
year— but  this  plan  was  a  system  of  loans,  and 
the  cry  from  all  sides  was  don't  touch  it  at  all. 
The  Committee  were  urged  to  make  a  radical 
change  in  the  plan.  Other  denominations  were 
gimng  money  to  build  churches,  and  to  maintain 
its  position  this  Church  must  do  so  too.  The 
loaning  system  had  proved  a  failure,  and  the 
next  proposition,  the  one  adopted  by  the  Com- 
mittee, was  to  give.  Aad  gimng,  to  give  how 
much  ?  All  the  law  would  allow,  It  was  thought 


that  the  increase  of  the  fund  was  not  a  part  of 
the  fund,  and  that  the  increase  could  legally  be 
given. 

Dr,  Humphrey  interrupted  the  speaker  to  say 
that  the  amount  of  money  uncollected  already, 
it  was  thought,  would  not  be  legally  con- 
strued as  a  part  of  the  fund,  but  subject  to  gift. 

A  member  rose  to  ask  information.  I  wish  to 
ask  if  in  the  old  plan  the  entire  fund  may  not 
be  loaned  to  the  churches  in  sums  of  .|5(hj  i  and 
is  not  that  Committee  competent,  according  to 
their  understanding  of  the  term  donation,  to 
give  the  whole  sum  to  the  churches  in  sums  of 
$200  ? 

Moderator.  If  I  understand  the  questions,  I 
answer  the  first  in  the  affirmative,  an  the  se- 
cond in  the  negative. 

Mr.  Kiles,  continued  to  say  that  if  the  Church 
would  go  to  work  earnestly  in  the  matter  they 
could  raise  a  sufficiently  large  sum  of  money  in 
addition  to  the  proceeds  of  the  fund  to  accom- 
plish the  desired  ends.  If  the  secretary  of  the 
trustees  have  an  opportunity  to  present  his 
claims  before  the  Churches,  §40,000,  $50,000  or 
$60,000,  could  annually  be  raised  for  this  ob- 
ect. 

Here  John  A.  Foot  moved  that  a  vote  be  taken 
upon  this  report  of  the  committee  at  half  past 
11  o'clock,  and  by  an  amendement  to  the  motion 
speeches  were  limited  to  five  minutes.   Carried. 

Eev.  P.  S.  Van  Nest  oflFered  a  resolution  as  a 
substitute  to  the  motion  before  the  Assembly,  to 
the  eftect  that  this  Assembly  enjoins  upon  the 
presbyteries  under  its  care  or  within  its  juris- 
diction, that  at  their  first  meetings,respectively, 
after  this  injunction  shall  reach  them,  tLey 
shall  take  action  upon  the  question,  shall  the 
General  Assembly  make  application  to  the  Le- 
gislature of  the  State  of  Kew  York  for  the  repeal 
of  the  charter  in  such  a  manner  that  the  fund 
can  be  donated  to  the  feeble  Churches  belonging 
to  it ;  that  the  General  Assembly  at  this  session 
appoint  a  committee  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
make  such  application  to  the  Legislature  of 
New  York  after  three  fourths  of  the  presbyte- 
ries shall,  have  voted  affirmatively  upon^  the 
proposition  and  that  said  committee  report  ac- 
tion to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

Hon.  J.  Allison  stated  that  the  resolu- 
tion was  wholly  impracticable  ;  that  neither 
the  General  Assembly,  nor  the  Presbyterian, 
nor  the  State  of  New  York,  through  its  Legisla- 
ture, have  a  right  to  touch  that  fund  in  the 
manner  proposed,  for  any  such  action  would  be 
impairing  the  integrity  of  a  trust. 

Mr.  Benedict  explained  that  the  trust  was  cre- 
ated by  the  resolutions  of  this  Assembly,  passed 
in  1SC3,  and  that  the  Assembly  having  accepted 
the  trust  by  those  resolutions,  no  power  on  earth 
could  alter  it ;  that  the  difficulty  was  not  in  al- 
tering the  charter  or  altering  the  plan,  but_  in 
impairing  the  obligation  of  the  trust  which  im- 
posed the  necessity  of  retaining  this  as  a  per- 
manent fund ;  that  the  difficulties  experienced 
by  the  churches   who  had  sought  and  received 


26 


aBsistance  from  the  fund  arose  not  so  much 
from  the  plan  as  from  their  disobedience  of  the 
regulations  of  the  Assembly  with  regard  to 
this  fund  ;  that  the  churches  which  had  strictly 
followed  the  regulations  had  always  been  thank- 
ful for  the  assistance  rendered,  and  those 
churches  only  were  in  trouble  who  had  incurred 
large  indebtedness  in  addition  to  their  indebt- 
edness to  this  plan. 

At  the  request  of  the  Assembly.  Mr.  Benedict 
read  the  resolutions  referred  to  in  his  remarks. 

The  question  was  put  upon  the  substitute  of 
Mr.  Van  Nest,  and  it  was  rejected.  Eev.  Henry 
Fowler  thought  that  Western  men  were  mista- 
ken in  following  the  lead  of  Dr.  Clarke  of  Buffa- 
lo, and  deserted  their  representative  on  this 
floor,  Dr.  Humphrey  of  Chicago;  that  the  Com- 
mittee on  Churcn  Erection  had  been  constituted 
with  special  reference  to  the  interests  of  the 
West ;  that  the  plan  proposed  by  the  committee 
was  the  best  thing  that  could  be  done  ;  that  not 
§50,000,  but  $100,000,  ought  to  be  raised  this 
year  in  the  Churches  for  Church  erection :  called 
to  mind  the  objection  of  Dr,  Clarke  that  the 
Churches  would  not  give  as  long  as  this  fund 
was  unexpended,  and  asked  if  the  permanent 
fund  of  the  A.  B.  C,  F.  M.,  the  Bible  and  Tract 
Societies  were  obstacles  in  the  way  of  collections 
lor  these  objects ;  was  sure  that  Dr.  Clarke  could 
take  §10,000  or  |;loo,(H;)Oout  of  the  pockets  of 
his  people  in  Buffalo  for  this  object,  and  if  he 
would  raise  §10,i)0i.)  in  Buffalo,  pledged  another 
§10,000  from  Auburn,  and  was  confident  of  an- 
other 110,000  from  Kochester. 

Mr.  Hebard  asked  if  the  proposition^made  by 
the  Committee  was  understood  by  the  trustees  to 
be  in  harmony  with  the  resolutions  just  read  by 
Mr.  Benedict  ? 

Mr.  Benedict  replied  that  there  had  been  a 
difference  of  opinion  among  the  trustees  on  that 
point,  but  the  legal  opinion  that  had  been  given 
declared  the  plan  proposed  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  resolutions. 

Dr.  Clarke,  after  reference  to  the  ppetic  re- 
marks of  Mr.  Fowler,  and  to  the  experiment  of 
raising  a  Church  Erection  Supplemental  Fund 
last  year,  proposed,  as  an  amendment  to  the 
Committee's  report,  the  adoption  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  Permanent  Committee,  made 
in  its  annual  report,  upon  the  tenth  page 
of  that  report,  with  this  modification, 
striking  out  from  Article  xiv,  (already  pub- 
lished,) the  words  '"nor  exceed  the  sum  of  $750, 
nor  shall  the  amount  given  to  any  congregation 
as  a  donation  be  in  any  case  more  than  $300." 

Mr.  Allison  reiterated  the  evils  of  the  loan 
sytem  of  administering  the  fund :  stated  the  ob- 
ject of  the  committee  tohave  been,  while  observ- 
ing the  resolutions  of  1S63,  to  get -rid  of  this 
loan  system,  which  has  been  the  cause  of  all 
this  discontent  which  has  come  up  to  this  As- 
sembly, and  which  is  the  only  demon  which  it 
is  necessary  for  us  to  cast  ©ut.  When  this  is 
done,  and  by  means  of  the  proper  machinery 
this  matter  is  laid  before  the  Churches,  a  sup- 
plemental fiind  can  be  raised. 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  the  speaker  spoke 
feelingly  against  repudiation,  and  the  violation 
of  the  trusts  under  which  this  fund  exists,  and 
warned  the  Assembly  against  following  the  sug- 
gestions to  that  end,  at  the  same  time  looking 
and    gesticulating   towards   Dr.   Clarke. 


Dr.  Clarke  called  the  gentleman  to  order,  and 
desired  him  to  retract  the  charge  that  he 
(Dr.  C.)  had  advocated  repudiation  or  violation 
of  any  trust. 

Mr.  Allison  stated  that  he  did  not  mean  to 
impugn  the  motives  of  Dr.  Clarke  or  intimate 
that  he  intended  any  such  result  to  his  sug- 
gestions, but  simply  to  say  that  the  suggestions 
made  by  him  would  have  that  effect. 

The  hour  of  half  after  eleven  having  ar- 
rived, it  was  voted  that  the  vote  be  further 
postponed  until  twelve  o'clock,  and  that  the 
speakers  be  confined  to  three  minutes  each. 

Dr.  Knox  thought  it  the  duty  of  the  Assembly 
to  attend  to  its  character  as  regards  the  perma- 
nency of  the  fund;  and  that  the  East  and  the 
West  could  join  together  in  this  good  work  of 
putting  int»  the  hands  of  the  Committee  funds 
for  church  erection  just  as  far  as  their  necessi- 
ties shall  demand. 

Eev.  E.  B.  Miner  declared  the  whole  system  of 
loans  a  perfect  failure  ;  was  from  a  Presbytery 
which  had  not  a  self-supporting  Church,  and 
there  was  not  a  Church  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Columbus  that  would  ever  derive  any  benefit 
from  this  fund  from  loans. 

A  Member.  We  do  not  want  loans.  If 
we  refuse  to  follow  the  example  of  the 
Congregational  and  Old  School  Church  in 
giving  our  money,  we  shall  be  compelled  to 
give  it  throU;gh  another  channel.  1  am  one  of  a 
Church  which  is  saddled  with  one  of  these  debts, 
but  for  which,  and  with  a  very  small  donation 
a  year  ago,  it  would  have  been  self-supporting, 
and  not  obliged  to  rely  upon  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society. 

Another  member  lived  in  a  neighborhood 
where  most  of  the  children  had  never  seen  a 
church,  but  the  congregation  met  in  school- 
houses.  He  was  opposed  to  the  system  of  loans, 
and  favored  the  report  of  the  Committee;  thought 
that  the  cause  of  his  Presbytery  was  being  de- 
cided to-day. 

Mr.  Bailey  made  a  proposal  that  the  money 
should  be  loaned  to  the  churches  without  limi- 
tation of  amount  or  time,  with  the  expectation 
of  having  it  returned  again  when  the  church  is 
able  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Whittaker  heartily  endorsed  the  amend- 
ment as  proposed  by  Dr.  Clarke. 

Judge  Williams  opposed  the  amendment  of 
Dr.  Clarke. 

The  question  was  about  to  be  put  by  the  Mod- 
erator upon  the  amendment,  when  it  was  sug- 
gested that  the  time  had  arrived  for  voting 
upon  the  adoption  of  the  Committee's  re- 
port, and  the  Moderator  decided  that  the 
question  should  be  taken  upon  the  motion  to 
adopt  the  report. 

On  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Modera- 
tor, the  Moderator  was  sustained. 

The  Assembly  having  adopted  the  report  by 
a  majority  vete,  it  was  suggested  that  as  the  re- 
port involved  a  change  iuithe  plan  a  two-thirds 
vote  was  necessary.  The  roll  was  then  called 
and  the  vote  was  announced  ISO  ayes,  9  noes,  ab- 
sent or  not  voting  26. 

It  was  voted  to  take  up  the  amendements  in 
the  plan  proposed  by  the  committee  at  half  past 


27 


three  in  the  afternoon  and  vote  upon  them  at 
half  after  four. 

An  additional  annoncement  in  regard  to  the 
excursion  was  made,  and  alter  prayer,  the  As- 
sembly adjourned  until  afternoon. 


AFTEENOON  SESSION. 

Opened  with  prayer  by  Dr.  Campbell. 
Minutes  were  read  and  approved. 
The  report  of  the  special  committee  on  man- 
ses and  ministers'  libraries  was  then  read  by 
Dr.  J.  G.  Butler,  as  follows : 

Rev.  J.  Glentworth,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  Special 
Committee  on  Manses  and  Ministerial  Libraries, 
made  tlie  following  report  : 

Tlie  Special  Committee  on  Manses  and  Ministerial 
Libraries,  respectfully  report: 

That  in  the  autumn  of  last  year  a  circular  of  in- 
quiry was  forwarded  and  sent  to  700  pastors ,  atid 
stated  supplies,  and  also  published  in  our  religious 
journals.  To  these  circulars  100  replies  have  been 
nciived.  From  these  replies,  it  appears  that  one- 
fifth  ot  ihe  churches  have  manses,  and  ote-tfnth 
have  libraries  for  the  use  of  ministers. 

These  replies  convey  a  strong  impression  of  the 
great  importance  of  the  subject  matter  of  the  circu- 
lar, and  express  the  hope  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly will  use  every  means  in  its  power  to  bring  the 
subject  before,  and  urge  it  upon  the  attention  and 
practical  regard  of  the  churches.  They  also  sug- 
gest the  idea  of  creating  a  general  fund  for  the  erec- 
tion of  manses. 

Without  expressing  any  opinion  upon  the  expe- 
diency of  the  latter  suggestion,  your  committee 
deem  it  both  advisable  and  practicable  to  bring 
the  matter  deflnitely  before  the  churches  through 
the  action  of  the  Presbyteries. 

They  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolutions : 

Resolved,!.  That  this  General  Assemely  direct 
its  Presbyteries  to  send  to  the  churches  under  their 
care  a  pastoral  lef.er  of  inquiry,  and  suggestions 
with  reference  to  the  provision  of  a  manse  and  a 
library  for  the  use  of  the  member  in  charge  of  each 
congregation . 

2.  That  the  Presbyteries  be  requested  to  embody 
in  a  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly  any  in- 
formation that  may  be  obtained  in  the  answers  to 
the  proposed  inquiry,  with  their  judgment  concem- 
'ing  the  creation  of  a  manse  fund,  and  also  any 
practical  suggestions  appertaining  to  the  subject 
matter  of  manses  and  ministerial  libraries. 
All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

J.  GLENTWORTH  BUTLER, 
Z.  M.  HUMPHREY. 
The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted. 
Dr.  Butler.  I  move  that  J.  M.  Wilson,  who  has 
labored  in  this  matter  at  his  own  cost  for  many 
years  out  of  a  simple  interest  in  this  great  mat- 
ter, be  invited  to  address  the  Assembly  for  a 
few  minutes.    Carried. 

Joseph  M.  Wilson  thanked  the  Assembly  for 
the  privilege  of  speaking  in  behalf  of  manses 
and  ministers'  libraries.  Haviug  introduced 
the  subject  to  the  Assembly  of  1862,  he  had  been 
identified  with  the  prosecution  of  the  enter- 
prise ever  since.  The  proper  support  of  the 
ministry  is  involved  in  the  question,  as  well  as 
the  liberal  sustentation  of  the  various  objects 
of  benevolence  which  characterize  the  Church. 
The  large  amount  paid  by  the  ministry  for  rent 
is  equal  to  the  whole  amount  contributed  by 
the  Churches  to  the  various  objects  of  benevo- 
lence, and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  thoughtful  and 
earnest  men  in  the  Church  would  take  up  this 
interesting  subject.    In  connection  with  man- 


ses will  be  found  libraries  in  the  manse.  He 
spoke  of  forming  periodical  associationSjformed 
of  members  of  Bible  classes  and  Sabbath  school 
teachers,  and  set  forth  clearly  how  there  is  work 
for  every  one  in  a  well  ordered  congregation. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  then  adopted, 
and  the  Committee  continued. 

Mr.  Fowler,  of  the  standing  Committee  on 
Sabbath  Schools,  read  the  report  of  that  Com- 
mittee, as  follows : 

The  Standing  Committee  on  Sabbath  Schools  res- 
pectfully submit  the  following  report : 

This  Committee  is  now  constituted  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  our  Church,  in  consequence 
ot  overtures  from  Presbyteries,  in  accordance  with 
the  desire  of  many  members  of  the  Churches,  and 
by  order  of  the  General  Assembly  of  186i. 

The  Committee  do  not  hesitate  to  assume  thit  th» 
Assembly  appreciates  the  value  and  discerns  the 
scope  of  the  sabbath  school  as  the  auxiliary  of  the 
pulpit  in  the  salvation  of  souls,  as  oftentimes  its 
lorerunner  in  the  providing  of  churches,  and  at  all 
times  its  best  substitute  when  the  strength  of 
Christ's  collected  followers  may  not  be  sufhcient  to 
sustain  the  stated  preaching  of  the  Word. 

We  believe  that  the  Sabbath  School  is  the  nursery 
of  the  Christian  Church,  one  bulwaris  of  Christian 
doctrine,  a  promoter  of  Christian  union,  and  the 
organizer  of  Christian  labor.  In  other  words,  it 
saves  the  young,  it  secures  thefiiith,  ii,  settles  difler- 
ences,  and  it  develops  power. 

The  first  proposition  is  made  manifest  by  the  fact 
that  of  5,086  members  belonging  to  311  churches 
(which  have  the  last  year  reported  to  the  Committee 
of  Inquiry,  appointed  by  the  Eldership),  2,387  were 
added  from  the  Sabbath  School. 

The  second  proposition  is  evidenced  by  compari- 
son of  the  lapsed  convictions  of  chnrches  without 
Sabbath  Schools  with  the  sound  faith  of  those  which 
sustamthem.  Sabbath  School  work  is  the  healthy 
outgrowth  of  a  grounded  faith;  the  branches,  leaves 
and  fruit  return  vitality  to  the  root. 

The  third  proposition  is  seen  in  the  happy  union 
existing  between  the  members  of  different  and  of  the 
same  denominations  who  join  in  Sabbath  School  en- 
terprises. Diversities  are  ignored;  agreements 
multiply;  they  sing  the  same  Zion-songs;  they  meet 
at  the' same  mercy  seat:  they  speak  from  the  same 
platform;  they  fraternize  at  the  union  convention; 
there  is  one  book,  the  Bible;  one  Lord,  who  said 
"Suffer  the  children;"  one  Savior,  who  is  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life. 

The  fourth  proposition  is  demonstrated  from  in- 
dividual experience  as  well  as  church  experience. 
The  young  Christian  who  lays  hold  of  mission 
school  woik  grows  in  knowledge  and  grace,  with  no 
stinted  increase,  sometimes  the  sad  sequel  of  a  vig- 
orous germination.  The  older  Christian,  becoming 
a  Sabbath  School  teacher,  exchanges  spiritual  slug- 
gishness for 'an  iuppiritingivitality .  The  Church  with 
a  good  Sabbath  School,  even  though  in  the  present 
small,  18  master  of  the  situation. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  the  Assembly  has 
ordered  the  appointment  of  a  permanent  Committee 
on  Sabbath  Schools.  It  is  recommended  that  their 
duties  (subject  to  future  modification  or  enlarge- 
ment) shall  be: 

1.  To  supervise  the  Sabbath  School  literature  of 
the  Church,  in  co-operation  with  the  Permanent 
Committee  on  Publication.  Their  recommendation 
will  promote  the  circulation  of  the  many  good 
books;  their  disapproval  tvill  eliminate  the  few  not 
good  books ;  their  suggestions  will  open  new  classes 
of  subjects  upon  whicti  books  may  be  written;  and 
even  their  suence  will  discourage  the  use  of  weak 
and  wordy  trash, 

2.  To  issue  circulars  which  may  help  the  cause, 
and  use  other  appropriate  methods  of  the  press. 

3.  To  collect  data,  and  from  facts  to  work  out 
practical  theses,  which  may  assist  pastors,  super- 
intendents and  teachers  in  the  Sabbath  School 
work. 


4.  To  promote  the  estabhshment  of  Sabbath 
Schools  in  localities  needing  them,  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Assembly,  among  the  freedmen  of  the 
SouCli  and  the  Grrmans  of  the  West.,  in  co-ojjera- 
tion  with  the  Permanent  Committee  on  Home 
Missions. 

5.  To  promote  the  Sabbath  School  cau^e  in 
hciithen  lands  in  co-operation  with  the  American 
Hoard  of  (,'ommissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

(i.  To  promote  the  establishment  of  Sabbath 
Schools  in  Mexico,  Central  America,  France,  Italy 
and  Geroiary,  in  co-operation  with  the  American 
and  Foreign  Christian  Union. 

7.  To  promote  the  increase  of  the  Ministry 
through  mflueuce  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Sab- 
bath Schools,  and  thus  prove  an  auxiliary  of  the 
Education  Comoiittee. 

Your  committee  further  recommend  that  the  Pres- 
J)yteries  be  icstructed  by  General  Assembly  to 
appoint  a  Preshyterial  Committee  on  Sabbath 
Schools,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  attend  to  the  in- 
terehts  of  the  Sabbath  School  cause  within  ihe 
bounds  of  Presbytery,  and  that  suc*i  committee  re- 
pc'rt  itself  for  instructions  to  the  Permanent  Com- 
mittee. 

Your  committee  pass  over  to  the  Permanent  Com- 
mittee the  consideration  of  two  propositions 
suggeeted  by  members  of  the  Assembly.  1st — The 
devising  of  a  plan  to  be  presented  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly  by  which  the  students  of  our  Theo- 
logical Semiaarits  may  receive  special  instruction 
in  the  relations  of  the  Pastor  to  the  Sabbath 
School,  in  the  best  modes  of  conducting  Sabbath 
Schools  and  in  the  approved  methods  of  Sabbath 
School  work.  2d — The  devising  of  a  plan  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  next  General  Assembly  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Normal  Schools  for  the  instruction  of 
Sabbath  School  teachers. 

It  is  also  recommended  that  the  Publication  Com  ■ 
mittee  be  authorized  to  send  the  publications  of  our 
Church  to  the  Sabbath  School  Committee,  in  re- 
eponse  to  their  address. 

Your  Committee,  in  the  selection  of  names  for  the 
Permanent  Committee,  have  been  coatrolled  by  the 
considerations,  1st,  that  a  majority  of  the  Committee 
should  be  within  easy  call  from  a"  favorable  center. 
2d,  that  the  members  of  the  Committee  shall  not  be 
preoccupied  on  other  permanent  committees. 

The  following  nomination  is  submitted:  James  B. 
Shaw,  D.  D.,  Grosvenor  W.  Heacocb,  D,  D., 
Charles  Hawley,  D.  D.,  William  E.  Knox,  D.  D., 
Samuel  M.  Campbell,  D.  D.,Ilev.  Charles  P.  Bush, 
Rev.  William  A.  Niles,  Rev.  Marvin  R.  Vincent, 
Rev.  Charles  E.  Knox,  Ralph  Wells,  E.  F.  Hunt 
ington,  George  W.  Parsons,  Josiah  P.  Bailey,  Tru- 
man P.  Handy,  Samuel  Field. 

In  conclusion  it  is  recommended  that  the  Perma- 
nent Committee  hold  its  first  meeting  at  Rochester, 
New  York,  at  the  call  of  the  stated  Clerk  of  the  As- 
sembly ;  that  it  be  guided  in  its  action  by  the  prac- 
tice and  rules  of  the  other  Permanent  Committees, 
and  that  its  expenses  for  the  first  year  be  met  by 
individual  tubscriptions  from  residents  of  Western 
and  Central  New  York. 

All  of  which  is  veey  respectfully  submitted  in 
behalf  of  the  Committee. 

HENRY  FOWLER,  Chairman. 

Mr.  Edward  Winans  invited  the  members  of 
the  Assembly  to  attend  the  devotional  exercises 
held  at  the  City  University,  commencing  at  half 
past  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Mr.  Kendall  moved  a  reconsideration  of  the 


vote  by  which  Thursday  was  appointed  as  the 
day  for  the  excursion  to  Pilot  Knob,  and  stated 
as  his  reason  that  he  thought  it  was  goingto 
rain,  which  would  interfere  very  much  with 
the  health  of  the  Assembly  ;  and  more  particu- 
larly because  there  was  so  much  business  still 
to  be  attended  to,  and  that  by  Friday  a  large.j 
number  of  the  members  expect  to  leave,  parti- 
cularly the  elders,  upon  whom  so  much  de-J 
pendence  is  made  to  take  hold  of  the  homemis-j 
sionary  cause  which  is  yet  to  be  considered  by 
the  Assembly.  Ue  thought  the  matter  could  b« 
set  before  the  kind  friends  whu  had  projected 
this  excursion  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent 
any  ill  feeling  or  suspicion  of  discourtesy. 

After  considerable  discussion  regarding  the 
amount  of  business  still  to  be  done  by  the  Ash 
sembl.y  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  impropriety  of 
reconsidering  the  vote  at  this  time,  when 
the  preparation  had  been  made,  both  by  the  rail- 
road company  an  4  the  hosts  of  the  Assembiy| 
the  motion  to  reconsider  was  rejected  by  a  large 
majority. 

The  recommended  changes  in  the  "plan"  of 
church  erection,  as  made  by  the  standing  com- 
mittee on  that  subject,  (published  in  our  issue 
of  Tuesday,)  were  then  considered,  article  by 
article,  and  after  much  discussion  and  close 
questioning  of  the  committee,  and  of  Mr.  Bene- 
dict, Secretary  of  the  Trustees,  as  to  the  intent 
and  effect  of  the  proposed  changes,  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Committee  was  adopted  by  a 
vote  of  172  to  20,  with  one  amendment,  viz:  the 
striking  out  of  the  words  "of  its  members" 
from  the  article  providing  for  the  appointment 
of  a  committee. 

Voted  that  the  Trustees  be  instructed  to  ap- 
point a  suitable  person  as  Secretary,  as  requir- 
ed by  the  amended  plan. 

Voted  that  the  first  order  of  the  day  for  Fri- 
day morning  be  to  hear  the  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Educatioh. 

Voted  that  the  amended  plan  for  church  erec- 
tion take  effect  on  the  first  of  August  next. 

Dr.  Nelson  gave  notice,  with  explanations  of 
the  arrangements  which  had  been  made  for  the 
conveyance  by  railroad  and  boat  of  the  members 
of  the  Assembly,  free  of  charge,  on  their  return, 
upon  certificates  of  their  having  been  in  at- 
tendance upon  the  Assembly,  and  having  paid 
full  fare  on  the  same  road  or  boat  in  coming  to 
St.  Louis. 

After  prayer,  the  Assembly  adjourned  until 
Friday  morning  at  9  o'clock. 


"'  The  following  appointment  was  inadvertent- 
ly ommitted  in  our  report  of  the  proceedings 
of  Tuesday  afternoon : 

The  Moderator  appointed  the  following  as  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  next  Gener- 
al Assembly : 

Eev.  J.  B.  Shaw,  DD.,  Eev.  J.  W.  Campbell, 
Eev.  C.  P.  Bush  and  Louis  Chapin. 


:>9 


SEVENTH   DAY— FRIDAY,  MAY  25,  1866. 


MORNING   SESSION. 

Met  ot  9  o'clock. 

First  hour  spent  in  devotional  exercises. 
Minutes  were  read  and  approved. 
Eev.  Dr.  Curtis  read  the  report  of  the  stand- 
ing Committee  on  Education. 

REPORT    OF    THE    STANDING     COMMITTEE     ON   EDUCA- 
TION. 

The  Standiner  Commitrne  on  Education  for  the 
Gospel  Miaistry  report  that  they  have  given  their 
attention  t>  the  annual  rrport  of  the  Permanent 
OommUtt^e  on  Educatiou,  which  was  placed  in  their 
ham!  8. 

They  find  a-ratifvine;  evidence  of  enlargement  in 
both  direciious — that  of  means  and  that  of  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry.  The  amount  of  funds  is 
about  the  same  as  last  year.  The  increase  in  young 
men  is  o5  per  cent.  Though  the  aaiouut  paid  to  each 
young  mttn  is  considerably  in  advance  of  former 
years,  as  ordered  by  the  Jast  General  Assemlily, 
the  Permanent  Comiuittee  haye  been  enabled  to  ful- 
fill their  engagements.  No  i^uitable  appUcnit  for 
aid  lias  been  turned  away  empty.  It  is  believed 
the  importi'ice  of  the  educational  cause  in  success- 
fully carrying  forsfam  tiie  Kingdom  of  Cluist  is 
being  more  generally  realized,  and  a  deepn'r  and 
more  permanent  state  of  feeling  is  being  awakened 
on  the  subject. 

Nevertheless,  notwithstanding  all  that  is  ca'cu- 
latert  to  cheer  our  hearts,  and  encourage  the  Per- 
manent Committee  to  go  ibrward  in  their  chosen 
work,  the  pressing  demands  of  the  Obmch  in  this 
direction  have  not  been  met.  All  our  eflbrts  are 
disproportionate  to  the  cills  of  ProvidHrice.  At  the 
present  rate  of  briu^jing  forwcii-d  young  men  into  the 
ministry,  the  vacancies  maue  by  the  superannuated 
and  the  dead  only  are  tilled.  When  it  is  connid- 
erert  how  many  are  taken  from  the  active  duties 
of  the  ministry  to  become  presidents  and  professors 
in  our  colleges,  instructors  in  our  theological 
seminaries,  and  secretaries  aud  agents  in 
our  benevolent  operations  (and  there  seems 
to  be  no  better  way)»  and  the  number  who  turn 
aside  through  failure  of  health,  it  is  m  t  sur- 
prising that  the  demand  should  outniu  the  supply, 
not   to  mention    ttie   wants    of  the   slave   States. 

WTien  we  consider  the  lields  that  are  constantly 
opening  before  us  in  the  newer  portions  of  the  coun- 
try, the  case  is  truly  aiatmiug.  Our  excelieut 
Secretary  of  Home  Missions  tells  u-s  in  his  report 
that  we  have  no  missionary  in  Idaho,  Utah.  Ari- 
zona, Wa^hiugton  and  the  htate  of  Oregon— not  be- 
cause there  are  not  catis  for  men,  but  because  the 
men  cannot  be  found.  The  report  also  on  Foreign 
Missions  speaks  of  an  equal  vvuut  of  men  for  the 
missionary  work  abroad.  They  cry  for  men, 
almost  Irantic,  from  East  Tenntssee  uttered  on  this 
floor  still  rings  in  our  ears.  The  claims  of  the 
freedraen,  albO.  for  a  preached  Gospel  cannot  be 
ignored. 

Standing,  as  we  do,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Missouri,  pouring  their  flood-tide  of 
waters  at  our  feet  to  tne  ocean;  turning  the  ejefrom 
this  central  position  to  the  North,  the  West  and  the 
South;  viewing  the  present  population  and  the  long 
lines  of  emigration,  both  home  and  foreign,  passing 
up  these  mighty  rivers  and  their  numerous  tribu- 
taries; marking  the  moral  forces  already  at  woi-k  on 
this  field,  the  man  of  sin,  as  in  this  city,  strongly 
intrenched  with  churches,  schools  aud  institutions 
for  cuaritable  purposes,  and  commanding  millions 
of  mOQey,  the  old  fanaticism  of  the  early  <;hurch 
revived  on  the  banks  of  the  Khine  in  the  form  of 
Rationalism  and  Pantheism  now  transplanted 
and  made  to  flourish  on  American  soil,  and 
the  motley  crew  of  materialism  and  infi- 
delity of  indigenous  oiigin— contemplating  all 
this,  the  educational  course  in  preparing  men  for 
the  ministry  becomes  of  vital   importance,   be- 


ciuse  in  its  related  aspects,  and  in  the  interests  de- 
penflent  upon  an  educated  ministry,  the  educational 
course  should  receive  tar  more  of  the  prayers  and 
coutributions  of  the  Church .  Pious  parents  should 
dedicate  their  sons  to  the  ministry.  The  elders 
should  seek  out  promising  young  men,  and  confer 
with  them  on  the  subjict.  Pastors  should  confer 
witli  yi  ung  men  recently  converted  to  God,  and  roll 
the  burden  of  preaching  the  Gospel  upon  their 
hearts.  Presbyterian  committees  on  this  subject 
should  be  more  faithful.  Scholarshins  to  the 
amount  of  $2, 5U0  each  should  be  secured, the  iuterest 
of  M'liich  will  yield  the  annual  appropriation  to  one 
young  man. 

The  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  colleges,  sem- 
inaries and  other  iustilutions  of  learning  should 
be  more  gauerally  observed.  Collections  not  in 
a  few  but  in  all  the  churches  should  be  statedly 
taken  up.  The  plan  of  the  General  Assembly  is 
a  good  one  and  has  worked  well.  It  is  only  need- 
ful that  Presbyteries,  and  pastors,  and  churches 
be  more  f.iithful  in  putting  it  into  operation. 

The  committee  would  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  demand  for  educated  min - 
if-ters  in  our  country  was  never  greater  than  at  the 
present  time. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  educational  cause  should 
cccupy  a  higher  place  in  the  eatinitttion  of  pastors 
and  the  Church. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
for  colleges  arid  other  institutions  of  learning  be 
faithfully  observed;  that  pious  parents  consecrate 
their  sons  to  the  wort  oi  the  ministry;  that  this 
subject  lie  annually  presented  from  the  pulpit;  and 
that  Continual  prayer  be  offered  to  the  Lord  of  the 
l)arvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  many  more  laborers 
into  his  harvest. 

Resolved,  4.  That  the  appropriation  to  young 
meu  for  the  past  year  be  the  same,  namely:  33  per 
cent  above  what  the  rule  requires ;  $160  to  a  theolos- 
ical ;  $130  to  a  collegiate,  and  $100  lO  a  preparatory 
student. 

The  names  of  the  following  persons  are  presented 
to  till  the  vacancy  occurring  by  the  expiration  of 
the  term  of  office  in  the  class  elected  in  1863:  Rev. 
John  J.  Owen,  Jonathan  F.  Stearns,  Jesse  W.  Ben- 
edict, Wm.  W.  Wicks  and  Chas.  Taylor. 

As  supplementary  to  their  report,  the  committee 
report  that  they  have  examined  the  "Memorial  of 
Union  Presbytery  to  the  General  Assembly  in  rela- 
tion to  Mary  ville  College,"  and  also  have  listened 
to  remarks  from  brethren  in  relation  to  other  insti- 
tutions of  learning  inE.'st  Tennessee. 

The  committee  are  giatifnMl  to  see  so  much  inter- 
est manifested  in  the  subject  of  education,  and  ex- 
press the  hope  that  all  these  institutions  may  be 
retained  in  the  service  of  the  Church. 

Rer-olved,  That  the  general  subject  of  education, 
in  connection  with  our  Church  in  East  Tennessee, 
be  favorably  received  by  our  churches  ,  and  that 
what  lunds  may  be  raised  shall  be  expended  under 
the  direction  of  the  Presbyteries  of  East  Tennessee, 
until  the  Syncd  of  East  Tennessee  shall  have  taken 
the  whole  subject  under  its  care. 

Resolved,  'ihat  this  Assembly  recommend  the 
Rev.  Lucius  J.  Root  as  an  agent  to  raise  funds  for 
this  object,  according  to  the  above  resolution. 

Kev.  Dr.  ilills,  Secretary  of  the  Permanent 
Committee  on  Education,  addressed  the  Assem- 
bly, stating  that  there  never  was  a  greater  want 
of  ministers  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  than  at 
the  present  time;  that  thirty-two  years  ago  he 
happened  to  preach  in  this  city,  and  found  here 
the  Stated  Clerk  of  this  Assembly  laboring  as  a 
missionary  pastor,  and  any  one  who  could  con- 
trast the  present  condition  of  the  country  with 
what  it  was  then  would  have  some  idea  of  what 
there  was  to  be  accomplished ;  he  called  to  mind 


no 


the  uttprancea  of  Et>v.  Jamea  Gallaher,  who  fin- 
ished his  earthly  career  in  St.  Charles,  of  this 
State,  at  an  antdvers  iry  in  Cincinnati.  He  had 
been  chI led  upon  to  make  a  home  missionary 
BPeecb,  and  closed  his  spepch  somewhat  in  this 
style:  It,  occurred  to  me  lately  to  stand  at  tbe 
confluence  of  the  Mississippi  find  Missouri 
rivers.  As  T  stood  there  I  thought  of  the  3,000 
miles  that  the  Missouri  bad  come,  from  the 
Kocky  Mountains,  to  that;  meeting  of  the  waters. 
I  thought  of  the  1,800  mile-s  that  the  Mississippi 
had  come  from  the  North  to  mingle  its  clearer 
waters  with  the  more  turbid  stream  of  the  Mis- 
souri. 1  thought,  of  the  1,000  miles  that  the 
Ohio  had  come  from  the  slopes  of  the  AUegha- 
iiies  to  .ioin  this  great  meeting  of  waters,  and 
the  question  came  to  my  mind,  "Shall  this  land 
be  given  up  to  Satan?"  and  raising  his  giant 
form  be  said,  "I  raised  my  hands  to  heaven 
and  said,  Lord  Jesus,  all  this  land  shall  be 
thine.  The  Church  will  never  give  up  a  foot  of 
it,  until  every  foot  of  it  owns  thy  sway." 

This  work  must  be  done  by  the  ministry. 
Preachers  are  needed,  until  we  have  enough  to 
evangelize  the  land. 

The  Lord  has  favored  us  with  revivals,  but 
the  question  comes,  what  will  be  the  result  of 
these  revivals  ?  will  they  increase  the  ministry 
largely?  Fewer  minirjters  came  out  of  the  re- 
vival of  '57  than  we  hoped  for.  The  report  men- 
tions that  prayer  was  necessary.  The  Savior 
gave  but  one  direction  about  the  increase  of  the 
ministry,  and  that  was,  "when  you  need  the 
ministry,  go  to  God  for  it."  A  miaistry'is 
needed  that  shall  be  ready,  in  the  strength  of 
God,  to  undergo  any  and  every  sacrifice. 

The  congregation  should  be  taught  to  pray 
for  this  object.  There  is  rarely  a  prayer  for 
this  object  ofi'ered  at  a  General  Assembly,  until 
the  matter  has  been  brought  forward  and  urged 
upon  it.  When  he  commenced  his  work  as  Sec- 
retary, he  was  advised  to  confer  with  Dr.  Van 
Eensalaer.  of  the  Old  School  Board,  and  he  said 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  get  the  people 
to  pray. 

Thought  that  Satan  had  produced  an  extraor- 
dinary blindness  of  mind  and  hardness  of  heart 
in  their  matter.  Isogood  cause  had  ever  prevail- 
ed in  the  Church  and  received  its  prayers  and 
confidence,  which  had  not  first  received  the 
confidence  and  labors  of  the  ministry.  Out  of 
1200  churches  but  834had  contributed  during  the 
last  year.  Some  churches  had  begun  to  work 
well,  and  fallen  away,  thus  denying  the  Calvan- 
istic  doctrine  of  the  ''perseverance  of  the  saints." 

Desired  to  call  attention  to  the  importance  of 
giving  due  attention  to  tbe  circulation  of  the 
Presbyterian  Monthlv;  it  had  as  yet  but  3000 
subscribers — ought  to  have  20,000.  The  Educa- 
tijnal  Manual  ought  to  be  widely  distributed. 
It  contained  the  whole  plan  of  ministerial  edu- 
cation. 

There  were  some  subjects  that  needed  special 
preaching ;  one  of  them  was  the  duty  of  a  Christ- 
ian people  to  educate  their  sous.  Young  men 
were  now  a  days  tempted  away  from  the  schools 
and  colleges  by  business ;  another  was  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  young  men  should  choose 
their  pi'ofessioris  for  life!  Eelated  the  instance  of  a 
minister  in  the  State  ofKew  York,  asking  a  weal- 
thy merchant  and  Church  member  to  educate 
his  son  for  the  ministry;  the  merchant  replied, 
"  There  is  a  pen  and  ink  and  a  check  ;  .you  may 
sit  down  and  fill  up  that  cneck  with  any  amount 
you  think  proper  under  $10,000,  and  you  may 


have  it  for  the  cause,  but  you  must  not  aslj  mo 
for  my  son ;  I  want  to  send  him  into  finance." 

A  young  man  came  into  his  office,  last  winter 
and  handed  him  a  recommendation  from  on( 
of  the  Presbyteries,  stating  that  he  had  j  -ist  re 
ceived  a  note  from  his  father,  in  which  he  refus 
ed  to  furnish  him  any  more  funds,  though 
member  of  the  Church,  and  a  man  of  abundaQi 
means,  because  the  son  had  written  him  that  ii 
was  his  intention  to  go  abroad  and  preach  th< 
Gospel  to  the  heathen.  There  was  a  growing 
tendency  in  this  uirection,  and  ministers  must 
preach  on  these  matters. 

Kev.  J.'F.  Kendall  remarked  that  the  Home 
and  Foreign  Missionary  Committees  both  com- 
plained of  tbe  want  of  men.  They  must  be  got 
from  the  Education  Committee,  and  the  Educa-^ 
tion  Committee  make  the  same  complaint,  Tht 
men  must  come  from  the  churches.  Ministers 
and  elders  must  take  an  inierest  in  this  matter 
He  was  rejoiced  when  the  requests  came  in  from 
Christian  parents  for  the  prayers  of  tbe  Assem' 
bly  that  their  sons  might  be  raised  up  to  the 
Christian  miuistry.  Another  want  was  money. 
Though  there  might  be  money  enough  for  the 
present  number  of  men,  there  wasn't  enough  to 
educate  the  number  of  men  needed;  was  sur- 
prised to  hear  a  brother  say  that  he  had  never 
taken  a  contribution  for  this  cause  in  his  pul- 
pit. Enjoined  upon  the  ministers  and  elders  to 
go  home  with  this  cause  in  their  hearts,  and  ask 
that  their  churches  might  give  to  this  cause. 

The  third  want  was  a  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  It  required  the  Holy  Spirit  in  a  young 
man's  heart  to  turn  him  into  the  ministry,  when 
there  were  so  many  avenues  open  before  him  to 
make  money. 

Mr.  Scarritt  thought  that  the  idea  that 
the  young  minister  must  sacrifice 
so  much,  was  brought  too  prominent- 
ly before  young  men  and  their  fathers. 
He  told  his  Jboys  it  was  safer  for  their  main- 
tenance and  comfort  in  life,  and  respectability 
of  position,  to  devote  themselves  to  God's  minis- 
try than  as  if  their  father  was  able  to  leave  them 
a  large  fortune. 

Eev.  Mr.  Smith  of  Kansas,  stated  that  he  had 
for  18  years  been  laboring  on  the  border;  allud- 
ed to  tne  troubles  and  difficulties  to  be  met  with 
and  which  he  had  encountered,  particularly  du- 
ring the  war  ;  that  he  only  received  a  salary  of 
$600— while  laborers  in  the  same  community 
were  receiving  $2.50  c*  $3.00  a  day.  Did  not 
wonder  that  young  men  were  discouraged  in 
view  of  such  a  life,  yet  for  himself  he  prefer- 
red to  labor  in  the  West,  in  thisgreat  valley  rath- 
er than  in  the  East ;  afiirmed  that  half  a  dozen 
men  were  now  needed  in  Kansas,  and  as  many 
churches  might  be  built  in  that  State  during 
the  next  year,  with  a  little  assistance  from  this 
Assembly.  Dr.  Smith,  regarded  this  as  an  im- 
portant subject.  We  were  entering  upon  a  new 
era,  which  should  be  characterized  essentially 
by  the  spread  of  education,  intelligence  and  re- 
liii;ious  spirit  and  character  of  the  nation.  There 
must  be  educators  in  sufficient  numbers,  and  of 
sufficient  zeal  to  go  wherever  there  were  men  to 
be  educated  in  morals,  and  in  religion.  The 
great  need  of  the  Church  was  to  raise  up  men 
for  this  emergency,  to  carry  on  this  work.  That 
was  the  great  thing  to  be  accomplished.  There 
was  money  enough— the  money  would  come, 
just  as  soon  as  the  channels  were  prepared  for 
it.  Did  not  believe  in  extemporized  educators 
—there  was  need  of  the  best  and  wisest,  the  best 
trained  men  precisely  in  the  van  of  the  advance 


81 


of  the  civilization  of  our  land.  Believed  that  the 
ministry  was  and  alwas  would  be  a  self  sacrifi- 
cing body  of  men— would  not  have  it  otherwise. 
It  was  better  for  the  Church  and  better  for  the 
land  that  those  who  engage  in  this  work  should 
give  up  something  of  the  riches  and  comforts 
of  this  life.  Young  men  who  are  willing  to  en- 
ter upon  the  ministry  should  be  carried  through 
their  studies  so  as  not  to  be  saddled  with  a  debt 
when  peradventure  tney  enter  upon  the  work  of 
preaching  to  a  feeble  Church  and  to  be  able  to 
do  that,  the  Theological  Seminaries  must  be 
strengthened. 

Mr.  Edwards  adverted  to  the  fact  that  there 
were  many  churches  from  which  there  were 
never  any  contributions  received.  The  reason 
was  because  the  pastors  neglected  to  bring  the 
matter  before  them ;  cited  his  ownChurch,which 
had  had  a  pastor  for  seven  years  who  never  asked 
them  for  a  contribution  towards  any  obj  ect  what- 
ever, alleging  as  a  leason  that  the  Church  was 
too  feeble  to  do  more  than  support  itself.  The 
ifsult  was  that  the  pastor's  salary,  about  two 
years  out  of  three,  came  out  short,  and  the  trus- 
tees hfid  to  make  up  the  balance.  At  last  he 
was  induced  to  make  the  attempt,  and  the  first 
year  presented  two  objects  of  benevolence  to 
the  attention  of  the  Church.  He  came  in  one 
morning,  and  without  any  previous  announce- 
ment presented  the  subject  of  foreign  missions, 
and  collecied  $91,  and  a  few  months  after  that 
presented  the  cause  of  home  missions,  in  the 
same  way,  and  collected  about  $50.  At  the  end 
of  that  year  the  minister's  salary  was  paid  in 
full  and  the  Church  fairly  reorganized-  1^'or  the 
last  year  the  minister  was  paid  $1200  for  his 
services,  which  was  supplemented  with  a  cash 
donation  of  $300,  and  contributions  taken  for 
four  of  the  boards,  averaging  from  $40  to  $75. 
He  thought  the  brother  who  got  but  $600  a  year 
had  never  presented  these  objects  of  Christian 
benevolence  to  the  Church  to  which  he  minis- 
tered, and  imagined  that  that  was  the  reason  he 
Was  so  poorly  paid  himself.  His  Church  had 
found  that  the  more  they  did  for  these  great  ob- 
jects the  more  they  were  able  to  do  for  them- 
selves, and  he  believed  that  would  be  found  true 
always  and  everywhere.  One-third  of  the  min- 
isters were  afraid  to  touch  upon  these  subjects, 
for  fear  that  it  would  touch  on  their  own  sala- 
ries, but  the  fact  was  that  was  the  best  way  to 
raise  their  own  salaries. 

Dr.  Mattoon  was  in  favor  of  adopting  this 
report.  Desired  to  go  back  a  little  further 
in  this  matter,  lest  when  thej^  left  this  Assembly, 
where  they  had  been  sitting  together  in 
heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus,  they  torget  the 
vital  points.  Money  would  not  buy  the  men,  if 
there  were  no  additions  of  converted  young 
men  to  the  churches.  He  called  upon  the  min- 
isters and  elders  of  the  churches  to  go  about 
among  the  families  and  prayerfully  and 
earnestly  seek  out  young  men  and  bring  them 
into  the  Church  and  ministry.  In  his  opinion 
this  was  the  beginning  of  the  education  cause; 
that  there  would  be  no  need  of  money  when  the 
men  are  ready. 

Mr.  Tindall  believed  in  all  that  had  been  said, 
but  did  not  believe  that  any  man  ought  to  be  in 
the  ministry  who  couldn't  get  a  living  by 
preaching.  The  ministry  was  a  heroic  calling, 
was  captivating  by  reason  of  the  influence  it 
exerted ;  he  regarded  that  it  was  infinitely 
higher  than  any  other  in  the  world. 

Dr.  Paul  stated  that  he  had  had  considerable 
experience  with  young  men,   and   knew  the 


power  a  man  could  exert  over  a  young  man  in 
turning  his  course  in  life.  God  h^d  honored 
him  in  turning  many  a  young  man  to  Christ 
and  the  ministry,  and  at  so  little  trouble  that 
he  had  been  perfectly  astonished.  Whenever 
we  had  a  right  motive  and  a  right  desire  to 
work  for  Christ,  Christ  worked  with  us  r.nd  met 
us  half  way.  If  the  two  hundred  and  thirtefu 
elders  and  ministers  would  only  solemnly 
promise  God  that  they,  when  they  go  home, 
would  endeavor  to  turn  some  young  man  to 
Christ  and  the  ministry,  he  thought  they  would 
have  in  a  few  months  two  hundred  and  thirteen 
young  men  ready  to  enter  into 'the  ministry, 
and  if  they  continued  their  prayers  and  efforts, 
they  could  have  two  hundred  and  thirteen  more 
over  and  over  again. 

Mr.  Watterbury  asksd  that  there  might  be  a 
division  of  the  subjects  embraced  in  the  report, 
that  the  resolution  in  regard  to  East  Tennessee 
might  be  considered  by  itself. 

Mr.  Tindall  moved  that  the  vote  upon  the 
adoption  of  the  report  be  preceded  by  prayer. 
Carried. 

Dr.  Mills  offered  prayer,  after  which  the  re- 
port was  adopted,  e'xcept  the  East  Tennessee 
resolution. 

Dr.  Curtis  then  read  the  resolution  in  regard 
to  East  Tennessee. 

Eev.  Mr.  Brown,  of  East  Tennessee,  addressed 
the  Assembly  at  length  in  regard  to  the  situa- 
tion and  prospects  of  his  State,  educationally 
and  religiously;  stating  that  before  the  war 
there  were  forty-three  or  forty-four  ministers 
in  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  and  at  one  time  all 
the  ministers  were  educated  at  Marysville  Col- 
lege. During  the  war  that  institution  had  been 
broken  up.  The  loyalty  of  East  Tennessee  was 
owing,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  influence  of 
that  institution.  The  ministers  educated  at 
that  institution  had  generally  been  loyal  men, 
and  had  exerted  an  influence  for  good  during 
this  rebellion.  He  had  ministered  to  two 
churches  since  1828,  alternately,^ and  with  the 
exception  of  perhaps  one  individual  in  each 
church,  there  had  been  no  sympathy  with  rebel- 
lion. [Applause.]  They  had  been  loyal  men 
and  loyal  women,  while  other  congregations  in 
the  vicinity,  under  the  iofluence  and  pastoral 
care  of  disloyal  men,  had  been  almost  to  a  man 
disloyal.  He  remarked  that  the  negroes  were 
all  anxious  to  obtain  an  education,  not  only  for 
themselves,  but  for  the  children,  and  comment- 
ed upon  the  conscientious  piety  of  the  negro 
race. 

The  time  for  adjournment  being  near  at  hand, 
it  was  voted  that  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
the  State  of  the  Country  be  received  at  four 
o'clock  this  afternoon. 

After  prayer  the  Assembly  adjourned  until 
afternoon. 


AFTEENOON  SESSION. 

Three  o'clock,  r.  m. 

Opened  with  prayer  by  Moderator. 

Minutes  read  and  approved. 

Mr.  L.  I.  Eoot  addressed  the  Assembly  upon 
the  present  state  of  East  Tennessee,  the  subject 
under  consideration  being  the  supplementary 
resolutions  proposed  by  the  Committee  on  Edu- 
cation. He  spoke  at  length  of  the  desolation  of 
the  country,  owing  to  the  war,  of  the  injury  done 
to  the  institutions  of  learning,  of  the  fact  that 
several  seminaries,  whose  former  owners  had 
been  rebels,  were  about  to  be  sold  under  the 


8^ 


hammer,  and  urged  the  propripty  of  tlieir  being 
secured  to  the  interests  of  the  Presbyterian 
G&urch.  The  institutions  to  which  he  particu- 
larly referred  are  situated  at  Jone.sborouiih, 
iMarysville  and  Greenville. 

Ke^^.  Mr.  Waterbury  staled  that  the  utter  deso- 
Inrion  of  East  lennessee  could  not  be  described. 
When  the  rebels  got  the  mastery  in  East  Ten- 
nessee they  swept  away  everything  into  their 
ireasury— ihe  college  fund,  the  educational  fund 
were  uiterly  gone  forever,  annihilated — libraries 
were  used  to  kindle  fires  with,  and  the  leather 
covers  of  the  books  for  making  shoes.  'Ihe 
iliurch  denomination  which  laid  the  broadest 
Inundations  for  educational  institutions  iu  East 
I  ennessee  vrould  be  predominant  there. 

Dr.  Ciark  moved  that  this  pirt  of  the  report 
be  recommitted,  with  a  view  of  having  the  com- 
mittee recommend  f-ome  permanent  committee 
or  special  committee,  whose  business  it  should 
be  to  supervise  this  matter. 

-Mr.  Waterbury  objected. 

Mr.  Gritfis  didn't  see  the  advantage  of  such  a 
motion. 

After  some  further  discussion  Dr.  Clark  with- 
drew his  motion. 

Eev.  Mr.  Gritlis,  of  East  Tenuessee,  added  a 
few  words  on  the  subject  of  his  native  State; 
said  there  were  from  50  to  G*  in  his  own  con- 
gregation who  desired  to  avail  themselves  of 
educational  advantages,  most  of  them  with  the 
purpose  of  entering  the  ministry. 

The  resolution  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Griffis  moved  a  resolution  to  the  effect 
that  the  Assembly  recommend  Eev.  L.  1.  Eoot 
as  ageuc  to  raise  funds  for  this  object,  accord- 
ing to  the  resolution.  Carried. 
.  ihe  Committee  on  Church  Erection  submitted 
a  resolution  to  the  etiect  that  $35,i)00  being 
needed  t'ot  the  aid  of  feeble  churches  during 
the  coming  year,  the  third  Sabbath  of  De- 
cember next  be  tixed  as  the  day  for  raising 
said  sum.    Adopted. 

!  he  Committee  was  discharged. 

Eev.  Mr.  Miller  addressed  the  Assembly  upon 
the  condition  of  the  freedmen  in  North  Caroli- 
na, soliciting  aid  in  the  establishment  of  a 
manual  lab(U'  college  for  freedmen. 

A  committee  was  appointed,   of  which  Dr. 
.  Ciark  was  chairman,  to  confer  with  Mr.  Miller 
in  retereuce  to  his  project. 

Eev.  Dr.  Smith  read  the  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  osteite  of  the  Country,  as  follows : 

ihe  omumirtee  on  ilie  ritate  of  trie  uountry  pro- 
pose to  Ihe  As.-^euibly  toe  follosvinff  Deciaiatii>nr,: 

lliis  a»sembly  rtcords  its  devout  gratitude  to 
Almigtity  God, chat  lie  has  delivered  us  trom  the  ca- 
Ittniities  and  horrors  of  civil  war,  and  restored  peace 
liir(ju»:hout  our  borders. 

That  He  has  so  far  quelled  the  spirit  of  secession 
that  tile  supreme  and  ri^ntlul  authority  of  our 
bfUf  fluent  National  Government  is  now  restored  in 
all  oui  States  and  Territories,  and  we  remaiu,  aa 
we  were  intended  to  be,  one  Nation,  with  one  (Jon- 
sritutioii  and  oiie  destiny. 

That  lie  has  so  ovei ruled  the  progress  and  results 
f.f  this  unparalleled  conflict  as  to  mate  it  manifest 
that  our  republican  insiitutuma  are  as  well  titled 
10  beai  the  Brrei-s  and  sliock  of  war  as  to  give  pros- 
perity and  ircease  in  times  of  peac^. 

fhac,  by  his  wise  and  constraiuin?  Providence, 
guiding  us  in  wavs  we  knew  not  He  has  caused 
tti*'  pasbions  and  wratli  of  man  t  >  enure  to  the  wel- 
taie  of  Imman'ty,  so  that  a  wliole  race  has  been 
t-maticipatea  from  an  unjust  bnd  cruel  syfetein  if 
boiida.e  and  aa  unced  to  the  rights  and  dignity  of 
lueiiit-Ui  fOthat  uow  involiiutary  seivi  ude,  except 
for  crime,  is  iPetcal  and  uiico'.stitutlonal  wher-iver 
our  isiiiidua:  mi-Dority  extend:). 

Tu^c   He  gitve  to  our  peooie  sucti  a  spoeomntan, 


inipaasioned,  and  unbought  loyalty — a  loyalty  that 
can  neiilier  be  forced  uor  leigned— such  reaoluteand  ' 
abiding  laitU,  and  such  a  supreme  consciousness  of 
our  National  unity,  that  we  were  able  in  the  darkest 
hours  to  bear  with  cheerliil  ijiitriotism  our  heavy 
burdens  and  our  costly  sacrifices,  so  that  our  verv 
sacrifices  have  knit  us  more  closely  together  and 
made  us  love  our  country  more. 

That  He  has  purged  and  enlightened  our  National 
conscience  in  respect  to  our  National  sins,  especially 
the  sin  of  slavery;  and  has  also  made  us  recognize 
more  fully  than  before  the  reality  oi  Divine  Provi- 
dence, the  snreness  and  justice  of  retribution  for 
Nat  local  guilt,  and  the  grand  fact  that  a  narion  can 
be  exilted  and  safe  only  as  it  yiflds  obedience  to 
His  ritihteous  laws. 

That  He  bestowed  such  ^race  upon  our  churches 
and  ministry,  that,  witii  singular  unanimity  and  zeal 
ttiey  upheld  onr  riglitiul  Government  by  their  un- 
wavering testimony  and  eflectual  supplications, 
identifying  the  succ^jfis  of  the  nation  svith  the  wel 
fare  of  "the  Church. 

That  above  all  these  things,  He  has,  according  to 
His  g:racious  promise,  watched  over  his  Churcsiand 
kept  it  safe  during  these  troublous  times; 
so  that  not  only  has  our  American  Christian- 
ity been  vindicated,  our  faith  and  order 
maintained  intact,  and  our  Christian  benevolence 
enhanced,  but  our  purpose  and  plans  for  the  future 
have  been  also  erdari?ed  in  some  proportion  to  the 
needs  and  growth  of  our  country :  while,  to  crown 
all  these  favors  with  his  specia!  benediction.  He  has 
also,  in  these  Ibtter  days,  rained  down  spiritual 
blessings  in  abundant  measure  upon  so  many 
churches  all  over  the  land. 

This  Assembly,  while  humbly  recognizing  these 
juds;mpnts  and  mercies  in  the  past  and  the  present, 
also  bears  testimony  in  respect  to  our  urgent  needd 
und  duties  as  a  nation  in  view  of  the  new  era  upon 
which  we  are  now  enterma-,  as  follows,  viz: 

1.  Our  most  solemn  National  trust  concerns  that 
patient  race,  so  long  held  m  unrighteous  bondage, 
tlnly  as  we  are  just  to  them  cin  we  iive  in  peace  and 
saleiy.  Freed  by  the  National  army  they  must  be 
protected  in  all  their  civil  rights  by  the  National 
power.  And,  as  promoting  this  end,  which  far 
transcenos  any  mere  political  or  party  object,  we 
rejoice  that  the  active  functions  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  are  still  continued,  and  especially  that  the 
Civil  Kights'  rill  has  become  the  law  of  the  land.  In 
respect  to  the  concession  of  the  right  of  suffrage  to 
the  colored  race,  this  Assembly  adheres  to  the 
resolution  passed  by  our  Assembly  of  1865 
(Minutes,  p  42):  "That  the  colored  man 
should  in  this  country  enjoy  the  right  of  suffrage, 
in  connection  with  all  other  men,  is  but  a  simple 
dictate  of  justice.  The  Assembly  cannot  perceive 
any  good  reason  why  be  should  be  deprived  of  this 
right  on  the  ground  of  his  color  or  his  race. ' '  Even 
if  suffrage  may  not  be  universal,  let  it  at  least  be 
impartial. 

2.  In  case  such  impartial  suffrage  is  not  con- 
ceded, that  we  may  still  reap  the  legitimate  fruits  of 
our  National  victory  over  secession  and  ilavery, 
and  that  treason  and  rebellion  may  not  enure  to  the 
direct  political  advantage  of  the  guilty,  we  judge  it 
to  be  a  simple  act  of  justice,  that  the  constitutional 
basis  of  representation  iu  Congress  should  be  so  f4r 
altered  as  to  meet  the  exigencies  growing  out  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery;  and  we  likewise  hold  it  to  be 
the  solemn  duty  of  our  National  Executive  and 
Congress  to  adopt  only  such  methods  of  reconstruc- 
tion as  shall  effectually  protect  all  loyal  persons  in 
the  States  lately  in  revolt. 

3.  As  loyalty  is  the  highest  civic  virtue,  and 
treason  the  highest  civil  crime,  so  it  is  necessary 
for  the  due  vindication  and  satisfaction  of  National 
justice,  tha^  the  chief  ;fomenter8  and  representatives 
of  the  rebellion  should,  by  due  course  and  process 
of  law,  be  visited  with  condign  punishment. 

4.  The  Christian  religion  being  the  underlying 
source  of  all  our  power,  prosperity,  freedom  and 
National  unity,  we  earnestly  exhort  all  our  min- 
isters and  churches  to  cou.»tant  and  earnest  prayer 
for  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  his  con- 
stitutional counsellors;  for  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  in  Congress  assembled;  for  the 
Judges  in  our  National  Courts;  for  those  that  bear 
riile;in  our  army  and  navy,  and  lor  all  persons  eU' 


33 


trusted  Avitli  authority;  that  they  msy  be  endowed 
wuii  heavenly  wisdom,  ana  rule  in  ttie  fear  of  the 
Lfird,  and  so  administer  their  high  trusts,  withouc 
self-seeking  or  pariiulity,  that;  this  great  Republic, 
being  dellvtred  from  its  euemie-i,  may  reuew  its 
youth,  and  )  ut  foith  all  its  strength  iu  the  ways  of 
truth  and  riyhtedussjess,  for  the  goud  of  our"own 
land  and  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

5  And  we  furilifr  exhrrt  and  admonish  the  mem- 
bers of  eur  churches  to  diiigenr  and  personal  efforts 
for  the  saff^ty  and  prosperity  of  the  Nation,  to  set 
aside  all  (lartisivn  and  sectional  aims  and  low  am- 
bitions, and  to  do  tlieir  lull  fiuly  as  Chritiaii  free- 
men; to  the  end  that  our  Chribtian  and  Protestant 
civilization  may  maiutaiu  its  legitioiaie  ascetidaicy, 
and  that  we  become  rot  the  prei*  of  any  form  of 
intideluy,  or  subject  to  any  foreign  priestly  di.mi- 
nation;  thai  the  sacred  interests  it  civil  and  re- 
ligious freedom,  of  huraia  rights  and  justice  to  all, 
01  National  loyalty  and  National  unity,  may  be 
enlarged  and  perpt:tuated,  making  our  Ohristiau 
(Joajiof  nwea.ltii  a  praise  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  exemjilifyiiig  and  speediag  the  progrebS  of 
the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  Jesus  Christ. 
N.  8.  S.  BENAN, 

hi:nry  b.  smith, 
william  hogarth, 
thomas  buovvn, 
henry  fovvlkr, 
jo;^eph  allison, 
f.  v  chamberlain, 

.1.  A.  FOOTE, 
R.  SOARRETf. 

Eev.  Mr.  Fowler  moved  that  the  consider- 
atiou  of  that  report  be  made  the  special  order 
for  Monday  evening.    J-ost 

Eev.  Mr.  (iibson,  of  Illinois,  moved  that  the 
article  that  condemned  the  leaders  of  the  re- 
bellion.to  punishment  he  stricken  out,  because  it 
was  not  becoming  for  the  Assembly  to  say  a 
single  word  about  it. 

Mr.  Gibson's  amendment  was  lost  and  the  re 
port  adopted  without  a  dissenting  vote. 

Voted  that  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  for- 
warded to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
through  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  to  the  Fresi 
dent  of  the  Senate  and  Chairman  of  the  House. 

Eev.  Dr.  Knox  read  report  of  Committee  on 
Home  Missions. 

Dr.  Xendall  called  the  attention  of  the  As- 
sembly to  the  fact  that  more  money  was  needed  ; 
that  they  were  bankrupt  in  six  mouths  unless 
more  money  was  provided  than  had  been  com- 
ing in  in  the  last  six  months,  'there  had  been 
§15,11110  more  money  spent  the  last  year  than 
had  been  collected.  There  was  need  of  about 
§10,000  a  month.  Would  have  to  borrow  $30,000 
before  the  middle  of  September. 

After  remarks  by  Messrs.    Scarrit  and  Van 


Xest,  the  further  consideration  of  the  report 
was  deterred. 

On  motion, 

Hesohed,  Ihat  the  General  Assembly  pledges 
the  Church  to  furnish  the  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety $120,000  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  instructs 
the  committee  to  go  forward  on  that  basis. 

The  following  appointments  for  Saturday 
evening  and  Sunday  were  then  read: 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  corner  Fourteenth 
street  and  Lucas  Place— Rev  W.Hogarth,  D  D., 
10 J^  A.  M.  Service  for  child;  en  by  Rev.  Josepn 
Chester,  4  p.m. 

Nortii  Presbyterian  Church,  comer  Eleventh  and 
Chamhers  streets — Rev.  W.  S.  Karr.  lOj^  a.  m.; 
R'-v.  D.  L.  Kiehle,  m.  p.  m. 

Union  Methooist  Church,  corner  of  Eleventh  and 
Locust  street.- — Rev.  J.  T.  Kinaan,  lOX  a.m.;  Rev. 
Isaac  Clark,  1%  p.  m. 

Seconrt  Union  Methodist  Epi-copal  Church,  Sixtli 
street,  Dctween  Fraukliii  avenue  aud  W^sh  street — 
Rev.  G.  P.  lindall,  lOM  a.  m.:  Rev.  John  Mon- 
telth,  Jr.,  "%  p.  M. 

Simpson  Chapel,  corner  Tc'-th  and  North  Market 
streets— Rev.  H    L    Siaoley,  lOH  a.  m. 

Pratt  Avenue  Mi  smn,  Prarr,  avenue,  between 
Clark  av»'nue  and  Gamble  avenue — Rev.  Stephen 
Bush,  10«   A.  M.;  Rev.  (ieo.  O.  Phelp<,  IH  P.  M. 

First  Congregational  Church,  corner  Tenth  and 
Locust  streets-Rev.  WaUer  Clarke,  D.  D..7H  p.m. 

Fourth  Baptist  Church,  corner  Bentoo  and 
Twelfih  streeta— Rev.  W.  A.  Niies.  10«  a.  m. 

Coloied  CliU'Ch,  atFreedmen's  Orphan  Asylum, 
Twelith  street,  nean.'a^s  avenue — Rev.  L.  P.  Craw- 
forfl,  1054  A.  M. ;  Rev.  F.  fa    Adam^^,  3  p.  m. 

City  Hospital,  corner  St.  Ange  and  Lafayette 
avenues— Rev.  J.  A.  Griffes. 

I  City  Jail,  corner  Sixth  ana  Chesnut  streets — Rev. 
J.  A    R»nney,  2H  P.  M. 

Reck  Hill— Rev.  B.  B.  Parsons,  D.  D. 

Burker  Hill— Rev.  Thos.  Harries. 

Monticfllo— Rev.  J.  L.  Morton. 

RoUa— Rev.  L.  B.  V/ilson. 

Alton— Rev.  E.  F.  Hattield,  D.  T). 

Warsaw— Rev.  G.  D.  A.  Heb*rd. 

Jer-ieyville,  III. — Rev.  Isaac  (i.  Ogden. 

Upper  Alton— Rev.  W.  E.  Knox,  D.  D. 

Baptist  Church,  Alton— Rev.  H,  Fowler. 

A  meeting  for  children  and  young  p»-roOns  at  four 
O'clock  p.  M.,  in  the  First  Pre.shyteian  Church. 

Addresses  by  Rev.  Dr.  J  Parker,  R^-v.  a.  L. 
Biuokse,  and  Messrs.  E  S.  Wells  and  D.  H.  Inger- 
soll. 

Notice  was  also  given  of  a  meeting  of  the  El- 
ders of  the  two  Assemblies,  to  be  held  in  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  on  Saturday  even- 
ing. 

After  prayer  the  Assembly  adjourned  until 
halt  after  8  o'clock — the  business  session  to 
commence  at  9  o'clock. 


N  S- 


34 


EIGHTH   DAY— SATURDAY,   MAY    26,   1866. 


MORNING  SESSION. 

Met  at  S  12  o'clock. 

First  half  hour  spent  in  devotional  exercises. 
Kev.  Dr.  Campbell,  Secretary  of  the  American 
Christian  Union,   addressed    the  Assembly    at 
length  upon  the  interests  and  condition  of  the 
Union.    Mated  that  it  bad  a  fund  of  at  least 
$30,011(1  or  §40.000,  secured  from  theOld  and  New 
Kchool  Presbyterian  Churches,  and  from  these 
two  branches  and  the  Congregation alists  it  had 
received  about  $40,000,  and  but  little  trom  any 
other  denomination.     1  here  were  a  great  many 
things  connected  with  the  work  which  it  was 
not  proper  to  publish,  or  even   speak  of,  before 
this  Assembly,    'ihere  were  many  things  which 
gave  a  great  deal  of  trouble.    Two  years  ago,  at 
an  anniversary  in  Italy,  there  were  some  Catho- 
lic priests  present,  who,  eight  weeks  afterwards, 
published  a  pamphlet  whichcame  back  to  us  bear- 
ing  bad  reports  in  regard  to  the  missionary 
work,  throwing  prejudice  upon  that  work  until 
it  was    ascertained  from   whom  the  pamphlet 
emanated.    A  great  work  has  been  done  in  Italy 
during  the  past  live  years  ;  had  sent  thorough 
going  Americans  and  Yankees  to  that  field,  who 
understood   the  value  of  money  and  our  mode 
of  doing  things.    About  ten  years  ago  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  toleration  in  Italy;  the  priests 
had  it  all   tUeir  own  way.      We  now  had  our 
American  Chapel  there,  the  Scotch  Church,  and 
Waldeuses  have  a  seminary  there,  and  during  the 
past  year,  with  the  agency  of  the  American  Bible 
fcociety,  we  have  been  able  to  print  and  circulate 
10,000  copies  of  the  ISew  Testament.    There  were 
three  colporteurs  there  and  several  bibie  readers 
who  were  laboring  for  the  distribution  of  the 
word  01  God.    Altogether  there  were  forty  seven 
laborers  in  Italy.    Among  other  things  tne  gov- 
ernment hart  declared  marriage  a  civil  contract, 
so  that  tne  Protestant  ministers    could  marry 
members  of  tne  Protestant  Churches  and  the 
Waldenses,   without    the    intervention    oi   the 
Ijriests.    During  the  past  year  there  had  been 
"(0,000  who  proiessed    Eomanism  come   to   the 
missionaries  and  left   the  faith.    That  was  the 
work  in  It  Uy.    They  were  a  noble  band  of  mis- 
siouaries,  wuo  had   been  able  to  convert  even 
some  of  tne  priests.     Gave  an  account  of  Mr. 
Constauiine,  of  Italy,  who  came  to  this  country 
lor  an  education  and  was  now  laboring  in  Italy. 
Described  the  work  that  had  been  acGomj-)lished 
in  South  America,  at  Valparaiso,  by  Mr.  Trum- 
bull, who  first  went  there  seventeen  years  ago, 
in  the  service  of  the  American  Seamen's  Aid 
Society,  and  had  been  fighting  the   battles  lor 
toleration  ;  was  first  obliged  to  labor  on  ship- 
board, where   he    could    be   protected   by  tne 
American  hag.    Also  gave  a  brief  history  of  the 
labors  and  success  of  Mrs.  Eankiu,  who  from 
Brownsville  had  penetrated  to  Monterey,    in 
Mexico,  and  was  now  in  this  country  in  order 
to  procure  the  sum  ot  $15,o0o,  with  which  to 
build  a  seminary  at  Monterey. 

rheoroerof  the  day  was  taken  up,  the  first 
thing  in  order  being  the  adoption  of  the  report 
of  the  standing  Committee  on  Home  Missions, 
wtjich  was  read  to  the  Assembly  yesterday  by 
Dr.  Knox,  and  was  as  follows : 


HOME  DIISSIONS. 

The  Stanfling  Committee  on  Home  Missions  in 
making  their  rej)ort  would  suggest  that  there  are 
inree  itiings  in  whicn  the  Assembly  is  aKretd,  viz: 
That  the  work  before  us  is  great  beyond  conceijtion 
and  ciimpetiiion,  lUat  the  Church  is  the  proper 
agency  lor  doing  it,  and  ?io«;  the  lavoring  time,  ad- 
mitting no  pipstponeinenr. 

Love  of  advfuturi';  lust  of  gain,  the  march  of  en- 
terprise, the  great  ri'lal  movement  westward  of  the 
natiims,  and,  tlmilly,  but  not  bss  providentially, 
seiiitiou  aud  war  nave  been  busy  clearing  and 
w  ideniug  the  home  tiekl  lor  the  Church's  occnpaticy. 
"Within  the  monr,h;i  just  past  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
anew  and  most  earnestly  invited  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  ground,  and  m  many  instances  to  tlie  gather- 
ing ot  ulreaay  rich  harvests.  Tne  Church  could  nut 
be  heedless  of  thtse  signs  without  ignoring  her 
manliest  mission  and  desiiny  ia  this  land.  She  has 
heeded  them,  and  hence  che  marvels  that  have  ac- 
com|)anied  her  way,  as  in  the  ancient  journeying 
from  Goshen  to  Canaan.  "'God  has  been  in  the 
niiiJst  of  her;  he  has  helped  her,  and  that  right 
early."  Is  tier  mis.-^ion  theretore  fulfilled?  I)i/we 
not  know  ,on  the  contrary  that  the  land  to  be  f;0s- 
sessfcd  IS  more  than  the  territory  already  subdued? 

From  Maine  to  Mexico,  trom  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Piiclfic  wave,  from  the  great  lakes  to  the  Southern 
Gulf,  how  wide  the  field  stretches  out;  its  needs 
evi'ii  in  the  older  States,  East,  Midole  and  South 
how  numerous;  in  the  States  and  Territories  West 
aifd  JS'ortbwest  how  immense  and  stupendous. 

Tiie  quesiion  of  opporuinity  and  doty  being  set- 
lied  by  Divine  Providence,  that  of  clie  'way  and 
nifaus  of  luitilltng both  press  heaviiy  on  our  uearts. 
We  can  hope,  on  this  point,  to  do  little  more  rhan 
emphasize  the  suggestions  of  the  report  already  sub- 
mititd. 

We  need,  of  course,  to  this  end,  a  great  increase 
of  the  Cuirtian  ministry.  We  say  increase,  be- 
cause its  actually  effective  portion  'is  already  em- 
ployed up  lo  the  fuU  measure  of  its  capabdity.  It 
the  West  has  not  an  adequate  supply  of  ministers, 
)t  is  because  the  tEasi  cannot  spare  tiiem.  Taose 
whom  she  can  spare  as  well  as  not,  are  suca  as  the 
West,  do  not  want,  and  those  she  knows  not  how  to 
Spare  have  already  been  drawn  upon  beyond  her 
means.  The  weakening  of  an  l^astern  CDurch  by 
withdrawing  an  elhcienr  pastor  is  simply  at  the  cost 
of  the  Western  by  cutting  off  the  supplies  of  men 
and  money  necessary  to  its  sustenance,  aud  it  is 
allowable  only  under  the  plea  of  simie  peculiar"  and 
dom  nant  necessity.  We  can,  tnerefore,  me^t  the 
demand  for  ministers  only  by  an  increase  of  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry.  And  to  accomplish  this, 
the  piety  of  the  Church  must  be  deepened,  and  its 
channels  opened  and  widened  in  this  direction.  The 
attention  of  our  youth  must  be  summoned  to  This 
claim  on  their  talents,  as  a  reason  v^hy  they  should 
anew,  or  for  the  lirsc  time,  consecrate  iheni  to 
Christ.  Parents  must  be  made  to  feel  the  duty  of 
training  and  vlelding  their  children  to  a  work  so 
inviting  and  remunerating. 

Mlnisteis  aud  elders  must  take  this  matter  into 
their  specirtl  charge;  seeking  to  gam  our  young  men, 
not  by  worldly  considera'  ions,  whether  of  a  literary 
or  pecuniary  sort,  but  by  pointing  them  f  >  the 
grand  opportunities  here  offered  of  usefulness  to 
God  and'  their  country  through  the  same  earnest 
ccnseci-iJition  and  chetrful  self-denial  so  conspicu- 
ously illustrated  in  the  examples  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles. 

Kext  to  the  provision  of  preachers  is  that  of 
preacning  places.  By  this  is  not  meant  congrega- 
tions which  already  exist  in  greater  numbers  than 
we  can  supply,  but  houses  ot  worship  for  these 
congregations.  We  have  come  to  understand  that 
there  can  be  no  progressive  aud  permanent  church 
edification  without  a  church  edifice.    It  is  as  much 


35 


needed  for  ministers  and  people  as  houses  to  live  in 
are  neetled  for  them.  The  attention  of  the  As^era- 
bly  has  been  so  thoroughly  called  to  this  subject  the 
present  setssion  that  we  need  not  en'ari^e  upon  it. 

What  ^\e  have  mcst  reijuirnl  is  a  >eitled  policy, 
tbatshiiul"!  not  be  constantly  discussed  an rl  revised, 
bur  fbat  thonld  be  put  into  instant  and  persistent 
operation.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  from  action  just  taki-n 
by  the  Assembly,  that  \^k  hi»ve  now  reaciied  ihat 
point.  We  know  better  than  heretoT^re  what  we 
have  need  to  do  and  what  we  are  able  to  do;  tliat 
■wlijch  remains  ic  to  do  it.  The  chief  discoura^inj? 
hindraiJCf'  of  a  debated  plan  beius  reuioved,  let  us 
arise  and  build.  L(t  the  gilt  fund  be  swelled  as  the 
loan  fund  never  •was.  The  wants  of  the  Great 
West  have  become  measurably  appreciated  by  this 
cimvocauon  on  the.  right  bank  ot  the  Mississippi, 
and  let  us  return  to  our  congregations  to  report 
w  haf  our  eyes  have  seen  and  our  ears  heard,  and 
thus  orepaie  our  people  fur  new  and  more  liberal 
benefactions  to  tiiis  object,  at  some,  not  r^mote  day 
to  be  agreed  upon  for  a  united  effort.  In  this  way  we 
shall  best  silence  tlie  voice  of  complaint  issuing 
from  so  many  promising  missionary  centers,  and 
telling  how  tbe  work  of  God  is  stayed  for  lack  of 
houses  of  worship.  The  next  report  at  our  Gen- 
eral Assembly  will  be  that  of  gratitude  for  the  un- 
hindered upbuilding  of  Zion's  waste  places. 

rtie  tuone;  question,  however,  does  not  pertain  to 
the  Churcli  erection  luud  only,   but    to    all  depart- 
ments ()t  tlie  missionary  work.     That  it  demands 
i    new  difecn.s.-ion  Is  evident  from  the  treasurers  statis- 
I    tic:<.    One  of  these  discloses  the  average  con  ribu- 
'    tuiion  on  the  part  ot  our   membership  of  barely  63 
I    cts.,  wiiich  i-i  5  3-5  cents  per  month,  or  a  cent  and 
a  quarter  per  week.     Itwehave  made  advances  in 
the  latter  over  toriuer  years,  it  is  clear  there  is  still 
wide  room  lor  improvement.    It  needs  but  a  glance 
I    at  the  greatness  of  our  work  to  reveal  the  inadequa- 
1   cv  of  our  eflbrts.     It  n  eds  but  another  glance  at  tlie 
,   vas-tness  of  our  resources  to  expose  au  exceeding 
1  parsimony  in  their  disposal. 

j  One  Important  suggestion  the  committee  would 
I  ofler  in  this  Connection.  It  relates  to  christian  giv- 
i  iog  as  a  du  y  to  be  enforced  on  every  church  not 
i  only,  but  on  every  individual.  It  is  not  enougli 
that  contributicms  should  be  taken  in  the  Sabbath 
congregation;  hut  in  addition  to  this,  or  instead  of 
it,  by  collectors  i  assing  through  the  congregation, 
and  calling  upon  each  family  and  person.  A  gen- 
eral observance  of  tbis  plan  would,  it  is  believed, 
immediately  increase  our  total  receipts  Tr>  or  100  per 
cent.  Ihe  committee  recommend  toat  au  effort  be 
made  to  realtze  an  average  contribution  of  at  least 
ene  dollar  per  member  tlie  present  year.  This 
would  in.^ure  a  total  collection  of  $120,000,  and 
would  ivquire  a  marked  advance  in  our  wealthy  as 
well  as  IVeble  churches. 

Meanwhile  ttie  h(>me  missionary  work  enlarges 
upon  our  bands,  and  calls  for  auiuimediate  increase 
ot  faitb,  l.ibor  and  prayer.  There  is  no  real  source 
of  discouragement  but  in  tbe  narrowness  of  our  own 
hearts.  There  is  no  denartnient  of  effort  into  which 
we  bave  entered  with  any  vigor  upon  which  God  has 
not  fched  his  aoproving  and  inspiring  favor.  Wit- 
ness to  this  the  blessing  attending  our  special  effort 
in  behalf  of  East  Tennessee,  in  a  discouraged  and 
distracted  church  reinspiriied,  dispersed  congrega- 
tions regatbered,  in  pastors  settled  over  long  vacant 
parishes,  and  the  revival  of  religion  experienced  in 
unprecedented  power.  Witness  the  story  told  by 
df  legates  from  all  parts  of  the  land  of  the  descending 
;iiid  quickening  iSpirit.  Even  the  labors  employed 
0!t  behaUof  our  foreign  population,  u.'rually  regarded 
as  ijrlrom  hopeful  acce.-is,  have  not  been  without 
signilicunt  results.  The  Presbytery  of  Newark, 
alter  a  sixteen  years  experiment  among  the  Ger- 
mans, have  now  as  is  fruits,  six  churches  organized 
,  on  a  Presbyterian  basis;  all  but  one  provided  with 
I  houses  of  wor-hp,  with  settled  pastors,  good  con- 
;  gregatioiis,  a  vigorous,  prospective  growth  and  an 
healthful,  positive  influence  soing  out  upon  thesur- 
rouniliug  population  in  behaU'  of  Sabbath  observ- 
ance, tetnperauce,  social  order  and  every  moral  and 
spiritual  interest.  The  example  thus  set  us  by  New- 
ark Presbytery,  and  already  emulated  by  Phila- 
delphia and  Cincinnati,  should  rebuke  the  prevail- 
ing skepticism  on  this  subject.  There  is  a  grave 
reBponsibility  laid  upon  lib  here,    and  we  may  not 


shirk  it.  Let  us  remember  that  while  the  Irish  Im- 
migration IS  fed  by  a  home  supply  of  six  and  a  half 
millions,  the  German  sprioes  from  a  fouoiain  head 
of  forty  millions.  Not  to  oai-e  for  thw  iodustriou-, 
enterprl'-ing  and  accessible  people  is  to  take  very 
pi>r\r  care  of  our  own  interests. 

Our  labors  for  trie  native  fri'edman.  so  fur  as  we 
have  iirosecured  them,  hiivfe  been  reasonably  puc- 
c°ssful.  Here  again  it  is  our  straishtener)  faith 
that  produced  our  limited  efficiency.  If  th"  mil) tons 
ofChipa  and  Caff'raria  ate  to  be  evangelized,  how 
much  more  those  muithudes  at  our  own  doors. 
While  slavery  has  depre.ssed  the  adalt  negro  popu- 
lation too  low  for  even  Christianltv  e^silV  to  ele- 
vate them,  it  is  to  benr'ttd  that  i,l.'iO,000  of  this 
race  are  between  the  ages  oftiveand  lifieeii,!ind  thus 
as  impressible  as  any  class  ofourlwbite  popul.atioa 
by  educating  and  evangelizing  influences.  This, 
with  the  almost  equally  needed  work  to  be  done  for 
the  poorer  whites  of  the  South  is  a  labor  suflicient 
of  itself  to  tax  our  utmost  energies. 

Truly  God  has  everywhere  set  before  us  an  open 
door  throughout  this  broad  and  free  land,  and  that 
which  we  need  is  the  strength  of  Christian  faith, 
love  and  patience  to  pass  iu  and  accept  the  goodly 
heritage. 

The  following  persons  are  recommended  lor  re- 
election in  the  place  of  those  members  of  the  prea- 
ei't  committee,  whese  term  of  service  expires  with 
this  Assembly,  viz:  Jonath.in  F.  Stearns,  D.  T)., 
Rev.  Charles  S.  Robinson,  Howard  Crosby,  D.  D., 
A.  C.  Post    M.  D.,  and  George  Lockwodd,  Esq. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted . 

W.  E.  KNOX,  Chairman. 

Dr.  Campbell.  ThouR-ht  that  the  simple  re- 
commendation that  $150,000  should  be  raised 
would  n  .it  meet  the  case ;  that  there  ought  to  be 
a  co-operating  Secretary  at  the  West,  instead  of 
at  Philadelphia;  that  more  collecting  agents 
should  be  put  into  the  field,  the  best  men  in  the 
Church,  to  go  among  the  churches.  Explained 
what  Eev.  Mr.  Winis  had  accomplished  in  the 
establishment  of  German  Presbyterian  Churches 
in  Newark,  and  insisted  upon  the  need  of  Pres- 
byterian publications  in  the  German  language. 

Dr.  Parsons.  Believed  that  the  General  As- 
semblies did  not  feel  the  importance  of  this 
subject  of  Home  Missions  as  they  should  feel  it. 
The  time  was  when  we  could  preach  the  Gospel 
in  this  country  to  every  creature,  bat  we  neg- 
lected to  do  the  work  then  as  we  should  have 
done  it,  caring  more  for  the  roods  and  acres 
of  these  prairie  farms  than  for  the  souls  of 
men.  It  was  novsr  again  possible  for  us  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  There  were 
some  ministers  on  the  frontier  who  felt  the  im- 
portance of  this  matter  sufficiently  to  convince 
them  that  they  must  work  and  induce  others  to 
work.  We  had  given  to  this  object  of  our 
abundance  and  not  of  our  penury.  It  was  not 
enougli  for  us  to  say  that  we  recommend  that 
$120,000  be  raised  for  this  object  during  the  cur- 
rent year.  It  was  necessary  something  should 
be  done  here  which  would  reach  individual 
members  of  the  churches.  Last  year  they  had 
besought  the  General  Assembly  to  care  for  and 
assist  them  in  f-  orthwest  Missouri.  The  General 
Secretary  and  those  associated  with  him  had 
done  what  tliey  could,  but  the  work  had  not  been 
done.  There  were  churches  to  be  occupied — 
numbers  of  men  were  wanted.  Should  they  who 
are  placed  at  the  outposts  of  Zion  go  home  from 
this  Assembly  aad  say  that  ihey  had  an  able 
report  on  tfome  Missions,  which  wsm  received 
with  marked  interest;  that  man.y  elaborate 
speeches  were  made,  aud  the  recommendations 
of  the  committee  passed  without  a  dissenting 
voice  to  raise  $120,000  this  year,  and  be  com- 
pelled to  stop  there  ?  Should  they  be  permitted 
to  go  home  and  say  to  those  who  look  up  to  them 
from  the  right  aud  left  and  ask  them  couldn't 


Uiey  find  a  man  to  send  into  their  country  who 
'.vill  visit  thirteen  or  fourteen  couiities  in  that 
Heetioii  niu)  only  say  they  hoped  and  trusted, 
hut  couklii'r,  say  anytiiing  definite  about  it.  It 
seemed  to  biru  tliat  the  time  had  come  when 
they  should  not  only  feel  deeply  the  obligations 
resting  upon  them,  but  should  also  do  some- 
thiiig  commensura'e  with  the  demand  — when 
the  giving  must  be  not  only  from  their  abun 
dance  but  from  our  penury.  An  utterance 
from  this  Assentbly  was  needed  that  should 
reach  the  Church  which  should  say  th:it  this 
work  of  Home  Missions  must  be  prosecutea  as 
the  W(irk  of  Foreign  Missions  is. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Foote  introduced  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved  by  this  Assembly,  that  the  deliver- 
ance on  the  state  of  the  country  be  read  in  the 
several  churches  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  the 
month  of  July,  and  advocated  the  adoption  of 
the  same  in  a  few  remarks,  to  the  etFect  that  the 
restoration  of  peace  to  the  country  was  in  a 
great  measure  due  to  the  clergjj  and  that  the 
clergy  might  now  exert  a  large  influence  tow- 
ards settling  the  matter,  now  in  controversy 
upon  a  proper  basis. 

Eesolution  adopted. 

Dr.  Parsons,  of  the  Committee  on  Bills  and 
Overtures,  made  report  as  follows  : 

"Overture.  A  church  member  comes  before  the 
session,  makes  a  voluntary  confession  of  hereti- 
cal sentiments,  acknowledges  a  breach  of  cov- 
enant and  waives  the  formality  of  a  trial,  in 
view  of,  and  in  order  to  excommunication  from 
the  Church:  can  such  church  member  be  excom- 
municated on  such  confession  and  declaration 
without  the  actual  process  prescribed  by  the 
book?" 

The  committee  find  that  the  question  thus  rais- 
ed wai5  answered  substantially  by  the  jast  As- 
sembly, [see  minutes,  page  12,]  and  whilst  they 
recommend  that  the  parly  asking,  be  referred  to 
that  response,  also  recommend  that  the  Assem- 
bly affirm  the  impropriety  of  a  Church  court 
reaching  and  recording  such  a  grave  result  of 
discipline  as  excommunication  from  the  Church 
without  a  strict  adherence  to  these  forms  of  lair, 
impartial  trial,  by  which  alone  the  result  may 
be  justified.  If  an  accused  person  confess  judg- 
ment the  actual  process  may  be  shortened,  but 
Bhould  not  be  dispensed  with. 

Eev.  Mr.  Kendall,  thought  there  was  no  neces- 
sity for  a  trial  when  a  person  pleaded  guilty, 
and  asserted  his  readiness  to  be  excommuni- 
cated. 

Mr.  Fowler  said  the  Assembly  should  be  very 
careful  h  jw  it  nullifies  the  decisions  of  a  pre- 
vious Assembly  ;  advocated  following  the  exam- 
ple of  civil  courts  in  this  matter,  stating  that 
trial  was  never  dispensed  with  in  the  civil  courts 
by  reason  of  a  plea  of  guilty,  though  the  testi- 
mony might  be;  that  both  in  the  civil  and  reli- 
gious courts  a  fair  and  itnpartial  trial,  in  cases 
of  confession  had  lis  advantages,  which  ought 
not  to  be  overlooked. 

Eeport  adopted. 

Dr.  Parsons  reported  another 

"Overture.  From  certain  members  of  Madison 
Presbytery,  who  desire  to  make  the  following 
inquiries: — 

"A  person  is  under  suspension  in  one  of  our 
own  churches.  He  removes  and  unites  on  ex- 
amination with  another  of  our  churches,  the  ses- 
sion of  the  latter  one  being  wholly  ignorant  of 
his  former  membership,  and,  of  course,  of  his 
suspension.    The  facts  are  however  afterwards 


discovered.  Would  this  discovery  of  itself  vi- 
tiate his  second  membership  and  leave  him  sim- 
ply a  suspended  member  of  the  former  church  ? 

''Would  unworthiness  for  church  member- 
ship, clearly  manifested  while  in  the  latter 
church,  and  befoie  said  discovery,  rightfully 
add  efBcacy  towards  producing  these  results?" 

To  the  first  of  the  above  questions  the  com- 
mittee recommend  an  answer  in  the  affirmative. 

To  the  second,  if  the  questioa  means  whether 
the  session  of  the  second  church  has  jurisdic 
tion  in  the  case  of  unworthiness  manifested  in 
the  second  relation,  the  committee  recommend 
an  answer  in  the  negative;  but  if  the  question 
means  whether  the  unworthiness  manifested  in 
the  second  relation  be  proper  ground  of  sep- 
arate process  by  the  session  of  the  first  church, 
the  committee  recommend  an  answer  in  the 
affirmative. 

In  respect  to  the  whole  matter,  the  committee 
agree  in  the  statement  following: 

The  person  uniting  with  the  second  church 
an  examination,  unites  deceptively.  As_  soon 
as  the  facts  are  ascertained  by  the  session  of 
this  second  church,  the  proper  order  of  proced 
ure  is  i'or  that  session  after  conference  with  the 
accused  person,  to  strike  his  name  from  their 
roll  of  church  members,  as  not  under  their  jur- 
isdiction; to  communicate  their  action  to  the 
session  suspending  him,  with  the  reasons  for  it, 
and  to  request  the  said  session  to  jiroceed  against 
him  on  separate  process,  for  duplicity  and  dis- 
order. 

Eecommendation  adopted. 

Eev,.lohn  W.C^ickeriDg,  Jr., delegate  from  the 
General  Association  of  Congregational  Church- 
es in  New  Hampshire,  was  invited  to  address  the 
Assembly. 

He  tendered  to  the  Assembly  the  Christian  sa- 
lutations and  congratulations  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Churches  of  New  Hampshire.  Of  those 
who  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church  it  might  be 
said  nulla  vestigia  retrorsum^  through  the  Congre- 
gationalists  had  received  from  that  church  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Smith,  who  was  now  engaged  in  recon- 
structing 'Old  Dartmouth,'  and  was  succeeding 
most  gloriosiy.  There  were  ISS  churches  in  this 
association,  6  of  them  presbyterian,  with  a 
membership  of  over  2o,00ii  and  177  ministers. 
He  referred  to  the  large  accessions  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  from  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  in  of  Kew  England  to  the  re 
vivals  of  the  past  year;  to  the  reliance 
of  Congrugationalists  upon  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible,  rather  than  upon  the  decisions  of  any 
church  organization,  and  the  readiness  of  his 
constituents  to  unite  with  any  and  all  denomi- 
nations who  held  to  the  truth  as  laid  down  in 
the  Bible,  in  eft'orts  to  Christianize  the  world. 
He  concluded  by  expressing  his  joy  that  he  was 
where  he  could  see  the  old  flag  over  the  pulpit ; 
that  among  this  Assembly  there  had  been  not 
even  the  taint  of  treason,  and  that  the  Assembly 
had  seen  fit  to  utter  the  noble  sentiments  of 
yesterday's  session  on  the  state  of  the  country. 

The  Moderator  responded  in  fitting  terms,  af 
firming  that  a  converted  Congregationalist,  if 
only  thoroughly  converted,  made  a  pretty  good 
Presbyterian ;  that  the  Assembly  were  all  lovers 
and  friends  of  New  England;  that  there  never 
was  a  more  senseless  babble  or  disgraceful  out- 
cry of  insignificant  politicians  than  that  which 
was  raised  in  some  parts  of  the  West,  that  New 
England  should  be  left  out  in  the  cold  ;  that  that 
cry  of  senseless  party  hacks  deserved  to  be 
hooted  with  contempt ;  that  Kew  England  had 


37 


a  cold  place  geographically,  but  had  a  warm 
place  in  the  hearts  of  all  this  great  people. 

Dr.  Samuel  D.  Burchsird  then  read  the  report 
of  the  Standing  Committee  on  Publication,  as 
follows: 

KEPORT   ON   PUBLICATION. 

The  conimitfeo  bavitj)?carefu]ly  examined  thedoc- 
unieiifs  plKceil  in  their  hands,  woulu  redpectrully 
mbuiit  Ihi^  following; 

'lliHt  Iroin  the  t,itn»^  tlie  General  Assembly  resolved 
to  ishue  u  distinctive  Jiteralure,  bearing  its  own 
imprimatur,  settiDR  forth  and  delending  its  own 
doctrinea,  there  has  been  a  gradual  and  growiufr  in- 
terest in  the  woik.  Uoubt  and  distrust  have  given 
way  to  cmtidence;  funds  and  facilities  ot'usefuhiess 
have  i-teadily  increased;  so  that  wow  there  is  an 
open  lield,  hearty  co  operation  and  the  ur.iversal 
conviction  that  tiie  publication  cause  is  one  of  the 
nuprhtiest  instrumeutalities  committed  to  the  Church 
for  her  vindication,  her  spirituitl  vitality,  and  her 
promised  ai  d  permuneiit  victory.  Books  issued  by 
h»T  owp  press  are  both  the  source  and  the  indication 
ot  ecoiesiistical  iind  spiritual  life,  a  power  and  a 
bles.^ing  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  wit  Id  and  to  en- 
joy. 

Your  Committee  iejoice,  therefore,  that  the  cause 
has  passed  the  period  ot  the  doubtful  experiment 
anit  is  trow  to  be  pushed  and  prosecuted  wiih  a  vigor 
t  qual  to  its  importance  and  to  the  increasing  wants 
01  the  liehl  we  occupy. 

Tile  past  year  is  a  prophecy  of  what  is  to  be.  The 
receipts  have  been  grearly  in  advance  of  any  previ- 
I  m  year,  and  there  has  beeu"a  consequent  increase 
in  the  number  and  value  of  the  tracts  and  bot'ks 
13-ued  and  circulated.  Still  tbefitldis  widening; 
tile  CiiUs  are  becoming  more  imperative  and  uni\  er- 
f-al ;  tne  enrire  Soutti  and  West  are  open;  ttie  cry 
comes  up  from  tl\e  niiesionary,  in  his  open  >et  half 
occupied  field,  for  books  and  tracts  authorized  by 
the  Church  wherewith  to  snpjiliment  his  labors,  and 
this  is  met  by  a  v.  Pole  chorus  of  voices  from  the 
Sabbath  schools  of  the  land  pleading  for  a  life  giving 
and  heaven-inspiring  literature. 

God's  voice  to  the  Church  in  this  department  of 
service  i-i  evidently  ''Go  Forward!"  W^e  cmnot 
ah'ord  to  pause;  we  must  go  up  and  possess  the  land. 

It  is  the  judgment  of  your  committee  that  some 
fystem  of  culportage  should  he  inaugurated,  under 
the  .'supervision  of"  the  Svuods  or  Presbyteries,  se- 
curing a  more  extended  circulation  to  thepuoiica- 
t  ions  of  the  committee.  The  plan  suggested  is  this : 
Let  each  Synod  or  Presbytery  enipioy'a  colporteur, 
wnose  work  shall  be  two-fold — th-i  disposal  or  sale 
of  booKs,  rtceivifig  his  talary  largely  from  com- 
missions allowed,  and  co  operation  with  pastors  in 
attending  upon  social  meetings  and  aiming  to  extend 
a  deep  religious  interest  throughout  the  bounds  of  the 
Pres-bytery  or  Synod.  This  would  help  miay  a  de- 
serving young  man  in  liis  preparatory  course,  give 
a  wide  circulation  to  our  literature,  and  encourage 
and  facilitate  the  pastors  in  their  work. 

As  this  arrangement  is  des  gned  to  be  only  occa- 
sional and  temporary,  your  c  mmittee  suggests  that 
a  place  of  sale  be  designated  in  every  jirincipal 
town  throughout  the  find,  where  the  publications 
of  the  committee  can  be  obtained  after  the  retiring 
colporteur  shall  have  sown  the  seed,  awakened  an 
interest  and  done  his  work. 

Your  cnncnittee  oeg  leave  to  call  special  atten- 
tion to  the  llymn  and  Tune  Book  as  in  their  judg- 
ment well  adnpted  to  the  devotional  exercises  of  the 
lecture  room,  the  prayer  meeting,  and  even  to  con- 
gregational singing  on  the  Sahbuth.  The  book  eve- 
rywhere will  be  found  a  grand  aid  to  worship. 

The  Presbyterian  Monthly  is  hailed  as  a  benedic- 
tion wherever  ir,  is  taken,  and  the  only  re.!ret  is  that 
it  should  not  be  taken  by  every  Pr.  sbyterian 
within  our  bounds.  The  information  it  con- 
tains IS  needed  by  every  pastor  and  ses- 
sion, while  every  family  -  would  be 
greaiJy  enriched  by  its  monthly  advent.  A  large 
circulatl'n  which,  by  a  little  effort  on  the  part  of 
pastors  and  elders  might  be  realized,  would  make 
It  self-suspporting  at  the  low  crice  of  titty  cents  a 
year.  Your  committee  would'  recommend  that  a 
copy  be  sent  to  every  pastor,  sine  sumptu,  in  the 
hope  that  his  Church  will  take  a  collection  during 


the  year  for  each  of  the  objects  represented  in  this 
monthly 

While  your  committee  have  suggested  measures 
by  which  the  remunerative  circulation  or  sale  of 
the  committee's  publications  may  be  vastly  in- 
creased, they  are  not  unmindful  of  the  purely  bene- 
volent character  of  the  work.  Thousands  of  pages 
must  be  gratuitously  circulated  in  the  hope  not  of 
pecuniary  but  of  moral  returns  in  the  actual  good 
done,  and  a  full  reward  on  the  great  jjay  day  ot  the 
world,  when  every  man  thall  receive  according  to 
his  works.  Wiih  this  view  coUecticns  arencom- 
mendtd  in  all  our  churches. 

There  i^  one  more  item  to  which  yot'r  committee 
would  call  I  he  attention  ot  the  assembly — ibewano 
of  ihe  rapidly  iucrea-iog  German  immigration. 

The  numbers  landed  monthly  on  our  snores  are 
immense.  These  are  the  most  inquiring,  the  most 
uiven  to  reaoing,  of  all  the  people  that  come  to  us 
from  abroad.  Though  many  of  them  are  f  keptical 
in  their  tendtncies,  yet  the  Protestant  portion,  in 
their  eccle^^iastical  sflicites  are  with  us.  True, 
on  tceir  arrival  they  are  ignorant  of  us,  and  sKep- 
tleism  would  misrepresent  us  and  mitlead  them; 
but  properly  instructed  by  means  of  our  Presbyte- 
rian publicatious,  ttiey  ifhliate  most  nuturally  with 
us  in  doctrine  and  polity,  and  become  an  .element 
of  strength.  They  "may"  be  easily  turned  to  inhdel- 
ity,  or  to  a  Protestant,  and  viral  cbrictianity,  ac- 
cording (O  the  influences  first  brought  to  bear.  It 
is  the  opinion  of  your  committee  that  no  more  hope- 
ful field  is  now  open  for  the  circulation  of  our  re- 
ligious literature . 

In  conclusion  and  in  a  leview,  the  committee 
w(  uld  respectfully  propose  the  following  resolu- 
tious : 

1.  That  we  gratefully  acknowledge  the  favor  of 
God  to  this  cause  during  the  pa.'^t  and  previous 
years. 

2.  That  the  Synods  or  Presbyteries  be  recommend- 
ed to  appoint  students,  unemployed  ministers  or 
earnest  Christian  laymen,  as  colporteurs,  to  circu- 
late the  nooks  of  the  Publication  Committee,  and  to 
co-operate  with  pastors  in  every  good  word  and 
work. 

3.  That  a  place  of  sa'e  be  designated  m  every 
town,  where  it  shall  be  known  that  the  cimroittee's 
publications  may  be  obtained,  and  ac  the  lowest  re- 
tail price. 

4.  That  the  "Social  Hymn  and  Tune  Book,"  re- 
cently published  by  the  Committee,  be  commended 
as  pre-eminently  adajjted  to  cocial  and  congrega- 
tional worship. 

5.  That  more  vigorous  elTorls  be  put  forth  to  iu- 
trodnce  the  Presbyterian  Monthly  to  all  our  con- 
gregations. 

tj  That  it  is  recommended  that  collections  be 
taken  to  aid  in  the  gratuitous  circulation  of  the  com- 
mittee's publications. 

7.  That  a  special  committee  of  live  be  appointed, 
who  shall  in-epare  tresh  tracts  ana  books, 
or,  if  thought;  desirable,  trauslations,  to  be 
published  in  the  German  language,  in  co-operation 
with  the  Assembly's  Publication  Committee,  an(l 
who  shall  take  into  consideration  the  expediency  of 
publishing  a  Geiman  religious  newspaper  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  GermiiU  popuhitio  i  of  the  coun- 
try. The  following  persons  Hfe  nominated  for  that 
committee,  viz.:  D.  W.  Poor,  D.  D.,  Geo.  L. 
Prentiss.  D.  D.,  Rev.  Johann  U.  Guenther,  Rev.  J. 
J.  F.  Brunow,  and  Rev.  Nelson  Millard.  ' 

The  committee  recommed  that  Rev.  Daniel  Marsh, 
D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  G.  Butter,  D.  D.,  Win.  F.  Jud- 
son,  Esq.,  Samuel  C.  Perkins,  Esq,,  Hon.  William 
Strong,  whose  term  of  service  now  expire,  be  re- 
elected for  the  ensuing  three  years. 

The  committee  would  also  recommend  that  John 
A.  Brown,  Esq.,  W.  A.  Balkvvin,  Esq.,  Samuel 
H.  Perkins,  Esq.,  Rev.  'Jbos.  Brainer,  D.  D  , 
Rev.  Ezra  Adams,  D.  D.,  whose  terms  of  service 
now  expire,  be  re-elected  Trustees  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian House  for  the  ensuing  tnree  years. 

Eev.  J.  W.  Dulles,  iSecretaryof  the  Permanent 
Committee  on  Publications,  addressed  the  As- 
sembly upon  the  subject  of  the  report— alluded 
te  the  addition  that  had  been  made  to  the  pub- 
lishing house,an  establishment  which  did  not  be* 
long  to  the  committee,  but  to  the  Church.  Called 


the  attention  of  the  Assembly  to  the  publica- 
tions of  the  committee,  which  were  to  be  dis- 
po?ed  of  by  donations  and  sale;  that  every  one 
might  become  a  preacher  by  beinjr  instrumental 
iu  distributing  the  tracts  of  the  cummittee. 
Collections  were  needed  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  donations  and  th<^  publication  of  German 
books  and  papers.  The  circulation  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Monthly  ought  to  be  extended  until  it 
was  to  be  found  in  every  family. 

Eev.  Mr.  U.  O.  Little  bslieved  the  way  to  have 
books  read  was  to  circulate  them  by  means  of 
colporteurs.  They  had  employed  a  colporteur  in 
the  Wabash  Synod,  guaranteeing  him  §.5(i'>,  and 
thinking  that  they  would  have  to  contribute 
§250  of  that  amount.  He  commenced  on  the 
first  of  January,  and  has  now  more  than  paid 
all  his  expenses. 

Dr.  Hatfield  informed  the  Assembly  that  Dr. 
Gurley  and  Judge  Clark  were  present  with  the 
Assembly  as  Commissioners  from  the  Assembly 
in  session  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  moved  that  they  be  received  at  one  quarter 
after  eleven  o'clock.    Carried. 

Eev.  Mr.  Bradford  considered  the  Presbyte- 
rian Monthly  the  most  valuable  of  ail  the  pub- 
lications, and  urged  its  extensive  circulation. 
Stated  that  all  the  publications  of  the  committee 
could  be  obtained  at  No.  9  North  Sixth  street, 
in  this  city,  at  Mr.  Mclntire's. 

Dr.  Parsons  bore  witness  to  the  avidity  with 
which  these  books  were  read  in  his  congi'egation, 
and  to  the  manifestly  good  results  growing  out 
of  their  circulation. 

Dr.  Clarke  stated  that  having  found  in  Buifalo 
that  the  books  of  the  committee  were  too  far 
off  they  had  already  raised  ^l,2u0  towards  a 
fund  to  found  a  depository  among  themselves. 
Thought  if  this  were  done  generally  in  the  Pres- 
byteries these  books  would  be  more  within  the 
reach  of  the  people. 

lev.  Mr.  Grift'es.  They  had  commenced  the 
work  in  Tennessee ;  had  an  experienced  col- 
porteur in  the  field  there. 

PiCv.  Mr.  Eansom,  of  Mich.,  spoke  of  the  great 
need  existing  in  the  Home  Missionary  Churches 
for  these  publications;  the  Congregations  on 
the  border  were  mixed  congregations  of  differ- 
ent denominations,  and  several  denominations 
were  striving  to  get  a  foothold  among  them. 
Many  of  the  preachers  with  whom  thev  were 
brought  in  contact  were  without  education,  or 
without  that  education  which  Presbyterians 
consider  necessary;  they  come  and  go,  and 
many  of  them  present  their  views  and  doctrines 
with  a  degree  of  plausibility  which  is  attractive, 
and  often  gain  very  much  by  misrepresenting 
the  views  and  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterians. 
Could  they  have  a  full  supply  of  tracts  and  pub- 
lications of  the  Ci*mmitteethey  would  be  a  great 
help  in  the  work.  The  influence  of  the  Presby- 
terian Monthly  was  very  much  needed  there.  At- 
tributed the  difficulty  in  getting  contributions 
from  the  people  to  a  lack  of  intelligence  among 
them  in  regard  to  these  great  interests. 

Dr.  Parker  alluded  to  a  publication  of  the 
committee,  "Bowen's  Daily  Meditations,"  as  be- 
ing the  best  book  for  family  devotions  that  he 
was  acquainted  with,  and  urged  the  necessity  of 
religious  German  papers  and  periodicals  ;  con- 
sidered ihe  use  of  tracts  very  advantageous  in 
meeting  points  of  doctrine  raised  from  time  to 
time  by  other  denominations. 

Mr.  Ehodes,  had  been  very  successful  as  a  col- 
porteur, though  he  had  entered  upon  the  work 
feeling  himself  unfitted  for  it ;  heard  a  great 


many  inquiries  for  German  books  from  those 
who  said  their  children  could  read  English  but 
they  could  not. 

Ihe  reporc  of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

The  Eev.   Dr.  P.   D.  Gurley    and  Hon.  

Claik,  Commissioners  from  the  Old  School 
Assembly  then  appeared  upon  the  platform,  and 
Dr.  Gurley  addressed  the  Assembly  as  follows: 

SI'EF.CH   OF   DK.  OUKLEY. 

Mr,  Moderator,  and  Members  of  the  General 
Assembly:  The  Hon.  Mr.  Clark  and  myself  are 
here  by  appointment  of  the  Assembly  which 
holds  its  session  in  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  city  to  convey  to  you  the  frater- 
nal salutntions  of  that  body  ;  and  this  we  do  with 
all  earnestness  and  sincerity.  Jt  is  not  a  mere 
matter  of  courtesv  and  form.  I  think  I  can  say 
it  is  an  utterance  of  the  heart.  We  recognize 
you  as  our  brethern  in  the  Lord — bought  with 
the  same  blood — renewed  by  the  same  spirit — 
servants  of  the  same  Master — engaged  iu  the 
same  work,  and  going  with  us  to  the  same  Heav- 
enly Home,  and  therefore,  with  all  our  hearts, 
we  can  say,  "Ihe  Lord  bless  you  and  keeo  you. 
The  Lord  make  his  face  to  shine  upon  you  and 
be  gracious  unto  you.  'J  he  Lord  lift  up  his 
countenance  upon  you  and  give  you  peace." 

We  have  heard  of  yourgrowth— of  your  steady 
advancement  in  strength  and  influence— of  your 
fidelity  to  Christ,  and  all  the  interests  connec- 
ted with  His  glory,  and  especially  of  recent  and 
copious  outpourings  of  the  holy  spirit  upon  your 
Churches  ;  and  as  we  have  heard  these  things  we 
have  been  ready  to  say  with  blended  joy  and 
gratitude  "Ihe  Lord  hath  donegreat  things  with 
them,  whereof  we  are  glad."  May  He  continue 
to  revive,  and  strengthen,  and  enlarge,  and  bless 
you,  and  make  you  a  blessing  to  the  world— is 
the  steady  and  earnest  prayer  of  our  heart. 

I  am  glad  and  grateful  to  be  able  to  say  that 
during  the  past  year  the  Lord  has  not  left  us 
without  some  tokens  of  His  favor.  Many  of  our 
congregations,  schools,  academies  and  colleges 
have  been  blessed  with  His  holy  spirit  which 
has  been  shed  down  upon  them  like 
rain  upon  the  mown  grass,  and  as  show- 
ers that  water  the  earth,  and  the  result 
is  that  hundreds  of  our  de.ir  youth,  and  others, 
who  a  year  ago  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  in 
sin,  are  now  alive  unto  God,  and  engaged  in  his 
service. 

It  is  the  Lord's  doings,  and  marvelous  in  our 
eyes.  But  as  you  have  been  similarly  blessed 
in  this  regard,  and  perhaps  more  largely,  we 
may  well  exclaim  as  we  stand  before  you,  "O 
magnify  the  Lord  with  us,  and  let  us  exalt  His 
name  together." 

It  has  been  a  great  pleasure  for  us  to  meet 
you  as  brethren  in  this  city,  to  mingle  with  you 
in  conference  and  prayer,  and  to  sic  down  with 
you  at  the  sacramental  table;  and  when  on  last 
Wednesday  evening — an  evening  never  to  be 
forgotten — the  two  Assemblies  filled  this  house, 
and  partook  together  of  the  symbols  of  our  Ee- 
deemer's  death,  doubtless  we  all  felt  that  it  was 
good  to  be  here,  and  that  our  little  denomina- 
tional differences  and  distinctions  were  all 
swallowed  up  and  lost  in  that  greatest  and  best 
distinction  that  "One  is  our  Master,  even  Christ 
and  we  all  are  brethren." 

Yes,  we  are  brethren.  We  have  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father 
of  us  all,  who  is^  above  all,  and  through 
all,  and  in  us  all ;  and  why  then  should  we  not 
love  one  another  with  a  pure  heart,  and  fer- 
vently?   And  why   should  we   not   bear  one 


e§ 


ariother's   burdens,   and    so   fulfil    the  law  of 
Christ  ?    We  should,  and  I  believe  we  do — 
' '  We  sliare  our  mutual  woes. 

Our  mutual  burdens  bear, 

And  olten  for  each  other  flows 

The  sympathizing  tear." 

Mtich  has  been  said  of  late  on  the  subject  of 
our  becoming  organically  one  ;  and  why  may 
we  not  become  so  at  no  very  distant  day  ?  We 
are  both  thoroughly  Presbyterian  in  doctrine, 
in  government  and  discipline.  Our  forms  of 
worship  are  the  same.  The  means,  methods  and 
agencies  by  which  we  seek  to  promote  the  cause 
of  our  Eedeeiuer  and  advauce  His  kingdom  in 
the  world,  are  now  substantially  the  same; 
and  though,  since  we  became  two  bands,  we  have 
been  called  by  diiferent  names,  you  beiug  desig- 
nated as  Newt^chool  and  we  as  Old  School,  yet  it 
is  manifest  enough  that  we  have  both  been  ed- 
ucated in  the  same  school— a  school  where  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  faith,  and  the  longer 
and  shorter  catechisms  are  the  prominent  and 
venerated  text  books,  the  teachings  of  which  we 
adhere  to  now  as  setting  forth  most  clearly  and 
ably  what  we  are  to  believe  concerning  God, 
and  what  duties  God  requires  of  us. 

Moreover,  recent  events  have  brought  us  into 
a  closer  alliance  and  fellowship,  than  we  have 
ever  felt  beiore.  In  the  years  of  our  country's 
peril  we  have  rallied  together  round  the  dear 
old  flag,  and  while  the  conflict  was  going  on,  we 
have  suDg  and  prayed  together: 
"The   Star   Sijangled   Banner— Oh,   long    may    it 

wave, 
O'er   the   land   of  the   free,    and    the  home  of  the 
brave." 

[Applause.]  And  when,  at  last,  the  rebel  flag 
went  down,  and  with  it  slavery,  On  !  then  we 
lifted  our  hands  and  hearts  together  unto  God, 
and  said:  "  Kot  unto  us,  oh  Lord,  not  unto  us, 
but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory,  for  Thy  mercy 
and  Thy  truths' sake.  Thy  right  hand  and  Thy 
holy  arm  have  gotten  Q'hee  the  victory." 

ihese  are  recent  events,  and  they  have 
brought  us  into  the  bonds  of  a  nearer  and  a 
heartfelt  fellowship. 

We  know  not  how  you  may  feel  on  the  sub- 
ject, but  as  for  ourselves,  we  feel  that  the  time 
perhaps  has  now  come  when  some  practical 
step  should  be  taken  looking  to  the  securing  of 
an  organic  unity,  and  accordingly  the  General 
Assembly  which  1  represent,  on  yesteraay,  bj'^ 
an  almost  unanimous  vote,  adopted  the  follow- 
ing resolutions,  which,  with  your  permission, 
sir,  I  will  read,  and  then  will  leave  them,  as  1 
am  directed  to  do,  upon  your  table. 

[Dr.  Gurley  then  read  the  resolutions  of  the 
Old  School  General  Assembly,as  published  in  our 
issue  of  Saturday  in  the  report  of  Fridays  pro- 
ceedings,which  were  received  with  applause,and 
concluded  as  follows  :j 

And  now,  sir,  having  expressed  to  you  our 
whole  mind  on  this  subject,  as  well  as  our  feel- 
ings of  fraternal  affection  towards  you,  and  the 
Church  you  represent,  it  only  remains  for  me  to 
thank  you  for  your  courtesy,  and  to  ask,  if  you 
please,  that  you  w^ill  extend  a  similar  courtesy 
t3  my  associate.  Judge  Clark,  who  is  here  with 
me. 

SPEKCH  OF  HON.  W.  CLAKK. 

Moderator  and  Brethren :  In  the  discharge 
of  the  humble  part  which  devolve/  upon  me 
touching  the  mission  with  which  we  are  charged 
to  you,  what  better  words  or  sentiments  could 
I  utter,  than  those  which  pertain  to  the  reanion 
of  our  branches  of  the  Cnurch,  and  the  estab- 


lishment of  fellowship  between  us?  In  doing 
this  I  shall  not  subject  myself  to  the  charge  of 
arrogance  in  speaking  of  the  ways  and  means 
by  which  this  can  be  done,  nor  in  saying  that 
this  is  the  time  when  it  can  be  done.  All  this 
will  be  done  by  concerted  means,  at  a  proper 
time,  but  1  surely  may  speak  of  the  desirable- 
ness of  the  consiimmation,  and  if  the  cloud  is 
tinged  with  light  to  cheer,  1  may  look  at  it,  and  I 
may  ask  you  to  look  at  it  also.  And  1  think  1 
see  the  light  there. 

Mr.  Moderator,  if  tnere  is  any  blame  which 
lies  anywhere  respecting  the  divisions  which 
have  pervaded  us,  1  have  to  sny  that  the  blame 
is  by  no  means  all  yours.  But  if  there  is  fault 
let  us  see  wherin  it  consists.  If  there  are  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  let  us  endeavor  to  ascertain 
what  they  are,  and  to  study  the  means  by  which 
they  can  be  removed. 

l"raay  speak  of  facts,  I  trust,  without  dis- 
turbing harmony  of  feeling  in  the  heart.  U 
has  occurred  to  me  that  if  St.  Paul  were  to 
write  another  letter  to  the  churches,  especially 
to  ours — and  when  I  say  ours,  I  mean  your 
branch,  and  that  to  which  I  am  attached  also — 
he  would  say,  "I  hear  that  there  are  divisions 
among  you,"  and  I  believe  it  fully. 

My  friends,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  unity 
of  tae  Spirit,  and  the  bond  of  peace,  and  this 
means  something.  It  should  not  be  regarded  as 
merely  theoretical,  for  if  weshould  so  regard  it, 
we  should  dishonor  a  high  precept.  Mylrieuds, 
I  remember  that  a  worthy  puritan  pastor  once 
said  in  his  parting  injunction  to  a  portion  of  his 
beloved  flock,  that  he  was  persuaded  there  was 
more  truth  yet  to  be  broken  out  of  the  word  of 
God.  This  certainly  was  a  clear  declaration 
that  there  was  more  for  them  to  learn,  and  it 
clearly  implied  another  thing — that  there  was 
more  of  grace  to  be  imbibed,  and  shall  we  not 
heed  the  injunction? 

My  friends,  it  has  been  said  by  some  tha 
divisions  in  the  house  of  God  were  advauta- 
geous.  For  myself,  I  could  never  see  the  force 
of  it.  I  have  to  say  here  now  to  you  that  I  do 
not  believe  it.  It  is  a  poor  commentary  on  the 
precepts  of  the  Gospel,  if  the  family  of  Christ  is 
to  be  divided  into  segments  in  order  that  one 
portion  may  watch  over  the  other — constitute 
itself  the  guardian  of  the  other,  so  that  it  do  not 
go  astray— to  keep  it  in  what  it  would  consider 
the  proper  road.  1  say  that  this  is  assuming 
— it  is  wrong — it  is  derogatory  to  the  Gospel 
and  to  the  Savior.  It  is  clear  to  me  that 
divisions  in  the  house  of  God  are  not  desirable, 
but  prejudicial,  and  in  many  important  re- 
spects. The  very_  name,  where  one  title  is  set 
against  another,  is  disadvantageous,  as  well  as 
to  the  condition  of  society.  When  one  is  called 
by  the  name  of  Apolles  and  the  other  by  the 
name  of  Cephas,  it  implies  antagonism,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  antagsnism  has  been  the  fruit- 
ful result.  I  do  not  suppose  that  members  of 
the  Church  are  in  all  respects  unlike  other  men. 
Wherever  there  are  divisions  there  are,  at  least 
to  some  extent,  criticisms,  jealousies,  and  a 
failure  to  accomplish  that  which  union  would 
accomplish.  Does  it  not  result  in  the  divisions 
respecting  churches  and  the  ministry  that  one 
minister  might  discharge  all  the  work  of  a  sin- 
gle field  in  many  cases  where  there  are 
two  ?  Doer  it  not  work  prejudice,  these 
church  divisions,  as  regards  our  literary 
and  thelogical  institutions?  Does  it  not  di- 
vide the  resources  of  the  Church,  and  conse- 
quently weaken  the  cause?    To  my  mind  all 


40 


this  is  cloar,  ami  we  ought,  if  we  possibly  can, 
to  remove  this  objection  out  of  the  way  ;  and  it 
sef  ms  to  me  that  some  concession,  and  some- 
Ihiug  of  an  increase  of  the  spirit  of  charity 
might  eflect  this  thing.  My  friends,  how  long 
shall  it  be  said  that  "  They  eat  each  other's 
hearts,  Ephraim  Manasseh,  and  Manasseh 
Ephraim,  and  both  Judah  ?"  It  is  time  this 
religious  misanthropy  should  be  done  away. 

My  friends,  the  angles  have  heretofore  been 
acute  ;  can  we  not  render  them  obtuse— can  we 
not  swell  the  obtuse  angles  into  something  like 
a  circle  ?  This  would  certainly,  as  it  appears 
to  me,  be  most  desirable. 

My  friends,  my  ministerial  brother,  who  is 
charged  with  the  chief  portion  of  this  mission 
has  alluded  to  the  difficulties,  the  troubles 
which  have  prevailed  in  oui  land  for  the  last 
four  or  five  years,  andlthey  have  been  of  a  degree 
never  before  equalled  in  this  country,  ihey 
have  created  division,  they  have  caused  separa- 
tions by  deep  and  dark  lines — they  have  divided 
the  church.  Whether  these  lines  shall  ever  be 
obliterated,  whether  the  chasm  shall  close 
up,  whether  they  shall  come  together  again, 
and  be  as  afore  time,  it  is  not  for  me  to 
say;  but  if  the  agitations  which  have  divided 
society  have  wrought  such  results,  why  should 
they  not  come  with  some  healing  results  too?  If 
they  have  wrought  divisions,  why  should  they 
not  bring  segments  t  gether?  It  seems  to  me 
that  this  is  reasonable,  and  that  it  may  be  rea- 
sonably expected. 

iViy  friends,  united  we  have  a  glorious 
mission  before  us,  and  united  we  can 
accomplish  vaslly  more  •  than  we  can 
by  being  separated  as  we  are  now.  It  is  said 
that  large  things  move  slow.  I  do  not  believe 
that  this  is  always  the  case;  but  even  if  they  do, 
they  move  with  increased  momentum,  and  with 
surer  results.  If  then,  with  a  broad  gauge,  aud 
a  grand  trunk,  we  can  assume  that  gauge,  and 
travel  upon  that  trunk,  what  may  we  not  expect 
to  do  in  scattering  abroad  the  blessings  of  evan- 
gelism, in  attacking  the  strongholds  of  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places,  in  all  their  forms, 
and  in  all  places  on  earth,  whether  liberalism, 
rationalism,  deism,  or  infidelity,  and  all  the  va- 
rious forms  of  heathenism  all  over  the  world? 
To  me  it  is  clear.  Moderator  and  friends,  that 
we  shall  accomplish  vastly  more  being  united, 
than  we  can  do  being  separated.  My  friends, 
can  we  not  here  set  up  a  standard,  inscribe  on 
it  "Truth  and  Eighteousness,"  add  display  on 
all  its  ample  folds  the  ensign  of  the  '"Lion  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah  ?"  Christ  is  our  great  teacher; 
we  must  go  forth  under  his  instruction.  lie  is 
the  great  Captain  ;  we  must  go  forth  under  his 
lead,  aud  fight  these  moral  battles,  and  then  in 
the  accomplishment, 

"When  that  illustrious  day  shall  rise 

And  all  these  armies  shine. 
In  robes  of  victory  through  the  skies. 
The  glory  shall  be  thine. ' ' 

[Applause.] 

The  Moderator.  My  dear  brothers.  Dr.  Gurley 
and  Jtidge  Clark :  It  is  with  very  great,  and  un- 
affected feeling  that  1  now  attempt  to  reply  to 
the  salutations  and  addresses  which  you  have 
brought  us — ou  the  part  of  this  Assembly.  I 
count  it  one  of  the  very  principal  happinesses 
ot  my  life,  that  I  should  be  the  organ, 
in  tiio  providence  of  God,  for  communi- 
cating such  suggrestions  as  you  have  made  to 
this  Assembly,  and  to  the  Church  which 
it  represents.  You  will  permit  me  to  say  that 
we  regard  it  as  an  especial  happiness  that  not  i 


only  our  honored  brother,  who  has  just  ad- 
dessed  us,  but  that  you  yourself,  (addressing 
Dr.  Gurley),  who  have  become  known  to  us  ia 
connection  with  the  conspicuous  ond  honored 
position  you  lately  held  in  the  Capitol  of  this 
country,  "and  more  especially  with  the  place  you 
occupied  during  the  closing  hours  of  our  dear 
and  martyred  President,  should  have  been  made 
the  commissioners  on  the  part  of  our  brethren 
of  the  other  Assembly  to  bring  to  us  these  salu- 
tations. 

All  that  you  have  said,  dear  brethren,  in  re- 
gard to  our  existing,  substantial  unity,  in  re- 
spect to  doctrine  and  order,  and  the  desirable- 
ness or  closer  union,  resulting  in  a  true  and 
proper  organic  union  between  these  bodies, 
finds  a  response,  as  you  already  perceive,  in  the 
hearts  of  this  Assembly.  We  know  that  it  is 
true,  as  you  yourselves  will  be  pleased  to  ac- 
knowledge, that  this  body  is  Presbyterian,  and 
thoroughly  so  in  all  respects,  both  as  to  its 
doctrine  and  order.  I  can  answer  for  a  very 
large  number  of  the  churches  represented  in 
this  Assembly — those  which  are  congregated  so 
numerously  in  Central  and  Western  New  York, 
and  1  know  those  churches  love  the  doctrines 
and  polity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  These 
two  bodies,  thus  being  Presbyterian,  have  been, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  approaching  each 
other  during  all  these  past  years.  We  have 
come  to  feel  more  and  more  that  we  have 
great  interests  and  great  sympathies  that 
bound  us  together,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  demands  laid  upon  us  by  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  and  the  influences,  as  we  believe, 
of  the  spirit  of  God,  which  is  calling  for  greater 
unity  on  the  part  of  Christ's  disciples,  we  have  (? 
felt  that  we  are  called  upon  to  meet  all  thpse 
kind  advances  which  you  are  pleased  to  make, 
and  to  throw  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  such  a 
union. 

Our  dear  and  honored  brother  from  Ireland 
has  told  us,  and  we  were  rejoiced  to  hear,  how 
they  were  there  drawing  new  unification,  and 
how  those  various  minor  details  of  ditl'erence 
were  disappearing  and  melting  away. 

'this  is  the  tendency  of  the  times— the  man- 
date of  Providence  to  us  that  the  churches  of 
Christ  should  be  brought  nearer  to  each  other. 

You  have  referred  to  the  precious  revivals  of 
religion,  with  which  your  churches  have  been 
favored,  and  with  which  ours  have  been  favored 
during  the  past  year.  In  the  portion  of  coun- 
try from  which  1  came,  in  carrying  oh  tbe^^e 
most  precious  revivals  ot  religion,  we  have 
found  it  most  fitting  and  proper  to  work  with 
brethren  of  other  denominations.  Our  Baptist 
and  Methodist  brethren  have  come  in  most 
kindly,  and  worked  with  us.  They  believed 
with  us  in  the  alienation  of  the  natural  heart 
from  God,  in  the  total  depravity  of  human  na- 
ture, and  the  necessity  of  the  application  of  the 
atoning  blood  of  Christ,  and  in  justification  by 
faith  in  his  atoning  sacrifice  alone,  and  this  has 
furnished  ground  enough  for  us  to  work  te- 
gether  in  promoting  the  interests  of  Christ's 
Kingdom.  Kow,  if  we  can  work  together  in  this 
way,  we  of  different  denominations,  it  would 
certainly  be  a  shame  if  we  Avho  are  members 
of  one  family,  and  one  household,  should  not  be 
prepared^to  work  together  also. 

1  have  regarded  it  for  years  as  a  foregone  con- 
clusion that  these  bodies  were  to  be  reuniteJ, 
but  as  a  Church,  we  had  not  hoped  for  the  h^ip 
piiiess  of  seeing  tliis  consummation,  so  much  to 
be  desired,  brought  so  near  to  us,  as  it  appears 
to  be  at  the  present  time. 


41 


"We  accept,  with  tbe  most  hearty  satisfaction, 
the  seutirnents  .you  liave  expressed  in  regard  to 
that  substantial  unity  which  exists  between  u.s, 
and  the  desirableness  of  a  closer  organic  unity. 
There  may  be  dilHculties  in  arranging  details 
for  such  a  unity,  but  those  difficulties  can  be 
obviated.  You  will  permit  me  to  say  that  it 
will  be  very  desirable  that  neither  you  on  your 
side,  nor  we  on  ours,  should^be  discouraged,  if 
there  should  be  some  want  of  sympathy  with 
this  tendency  in  individual  cases  in  both 
Churches.  We  should  be  prepared  to  extend  in- 
dulgence in  such  cases.  We  should  nnt  think 
it  hard  if  there  were  some,  indeed  many  of  our 
own  brethren  who  were  not  prepared  for  this 
unification.  There  may  also  be  found  some  in 
the  other  branch  of  the  Presbyteiian  Church, 
who  are  not  yet  prepared  for  such  a  union,  but 
let  us  htve  iudnlgeuce  towards  these  brethren. 

Be  pleased,  dear  brethren,  tn  bear  back  to  the 
venerable  Assembly  which  you  represent,  the 
sentiments  which  you  perceive  upon  the  coun- 
tenances and  in  tbe  actions  of  these  brethren, 
the  sentiments  of  affection,  confidence  and 
friendship,  and  our  earnest  desire  for  the  closest 
possible  urjiiy  with  you  at  the  earliest  possible 
day.     [Applause.] 

Eev.  H.  B.  Smith,  D.  D.,  read  the  report  of  the 
Standing  Committee  on  Church  Polity  in  rela- 
tion to  overtures  I\os.  5  to  15,  on  the  subject  of 
reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  from  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York. 
3d  and  4th  Dubuquo,  Greeucastle,  Athena,  Steu- 
ben, Alton,  Monroe,  Keokuk,  Long  Island  and 
Trumbull.  All  these  Presbyteries,  with  dlfler- 
ent  dogreesof  urgency,  recommend  to  this  As- 
sembly to  inidate  or  to  respond  to  proposals 
looking  to  an  entire  reunion  of  the  Churches 
represented  by  the  two  (ieneral  Assemblies 
now  in  session  in  the  cityef  St.  Louis. 

The  General  Assembly  now  in  session  in  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  city  have 
also  adopted  resolutions  appointing  a  commit- 
tee to  confer  with  a  similar  committee  of  our 
own  Church  in  regard  to  the  desirableness  and 
practicability  of  such  a  reunion. 


Your  committee  recommend  to  this  Assembly     ji 
the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions  •  l| 

Kesiilved,  That  ttiis  A.'Seai'jly  tender  to  the  As-  '' 
setnbly  rfpresentiDs?  tbe  other  iirauch  of  the  Presby- 
terian Ctturctk  its  cordiul  »hiii-rian  salutation  and 
fellowship  and  the  exinession  of  its  eanif-st  wisti 
for  a  reunion  on  the  ba^in  -  f  our  common  srand»rds 
received  in  a  coninion  sijiiit. 

Re-ioived,  That  a  con)niit'ee  of  fifteen,  nnie  of 
whom  shall  be  miiiirtiTci  ol  tde  Go.-pel  and  ;*ix  elders, 
be  aoiJi'luted  to  confer  on  this  suf)jeot  in  tue  receso 
of  the  Assemiily  w  tli  the  cumniittee  to  be  appointed 
by  the  other  General  Asstmbiy,  ard  to  report  the 
result  at  our  next  General  A.-sembly. 

Resolved,  That  we  enjoin  upon  the  committee, 
upon  all  our  ministry  and  Ctiurcli  memt)ers,  lo  ab- 
btani  from  whatever  niiy  Idnder  a  tiue  'hrisilun 
teliowfhip,  to  clieri  li  and  cultivate  this  feelnii?  and 
pnrpope,  yvhich  looks  to  the  pep ce  and  pro-perity  of 
Zini,  th-- edittcaiion  ut  the  body  of  (Jtirist  and  the^ 
cmolete  union  of  all  believers,  especially  ofthost; 
living  in  the  same  land,  haviny  the  same  history  and 
the  same  standards  of  <Joc  liue  and  poli'y. 

Ke>olvtd,  That  a  copy  of  the-e  re.'-oiutions,  with 
the  names  of  our  couimitt-e,  he  Pent  ro  tbe  other 
General  Assembly,  now  in  session  in  this  city. 

'ihe  report  of  the  committee  was  unanimously 
adopted  amid  applause  and  demonstrations  of 
great  satisfaction. 

Dr.  Knox  moved  that  a  commiUee  of  five  be 
appointed,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  nominate 
the  committee  of  fifteen  as  proposed  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Church  Prolity.    Carried. 

The  Moderator  appointed  the  following  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly  on  tliat  co'umittee. 

Eev.  Drs.  Knox,  batfield,  Hotckius,  Hon.  John 
A.  Foote  and  Judge  Williams. 

An  invitation  was  announced  to  the  members 
to  visit  the  Public  School  Library. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Devotional 
Exercises  gave  notice  that  there  would  be  a  fare- 
well service  in  Dr.  Nelson's  Church  this  (Mon- 
day) evening,  at  one  quarter  before  eight  o'clock, 
in  case  the  Assembly  finished  its  business  to- 
day. 

Adjourned  until  Monday,  May  28th,  at  8  1-2 

A.   M. 

Closed  with  prayer. 


NINTH   DAY  — MONDAY,  MAY  28,  1866. 


MORNING    SESSION. 

Met  at  eight  and  a  half  o'clock. 

First  half  hour  spent  in  devotional  exercises. 

Minutes  of  last  session  read  and  approved. 

Motion  made  in  regard  to  8120,000. 

On  motion,Kesolved,  That  the  Assembly  pledge 
the  churches  the  largest  possible  amount  of  coii- 
tributiou  for  Home  Missions,  and  that  the  Com- 
mittee be  authorized  to  go  forward,  relying 
upon  thechurciies  for  all  it  needs. 

Judge  Allison  jjresented  the  certificate  of 
Eev.  David  Ilerron,  of  the  Presbytery  ofShar 
umpon,  of  the  Synod  of  Northern  India,  as 
delegate  from  the  Eeformed  Presbyterian 
Church  of  North  AmericM.  Rev.  David  Herron 
was  invited  to  address  the  Assembly,  and  did 
so,  excusing  the  lateness  of  his  appearance  in 
the  session,  by  the  fact  that  his  attendance 
seemed  imperatively  demanded  at  the  Assem- 
bly of  his  own  Church ;  presented  the  frater- 
N    S — 6 


nal  greetings  of  the  Church  he  represented  ;  ad- 
verted to  the  Synod  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected in  Northern  hdia;  they  had  5  ordained 
ministers,  1  native,  3  licenciates,  lo  students  of 
theology,  all  ordained  as  Bible  readers,  and 
teachers,  200  native  Christian  communicants, 
old  and  young,  and  about  1,000  native  youths 
under  their  instructions;  expressed  the])leasure 
ot  his  own  Church  in  view  of  tje  prospect  of  an 
early  union  between  the  two  branches  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,wkose  Assemblies  are  now 
in  se-siou  in  this  city,  and  its  hope  that  the 
union  would  be  upon  such  a  basis  that  all  the 
chufthes  of  the  Presbyterian  family  ,itself  among 
the  rest,  could  be  joined  therein. 

ihe  Moderator  m.ide  fitting  response. 

'ihe  ibllowing  reso  utiona  were  proposed  by 
P.  L.  Davis: 

Eesolved,  In  view  of  the  general  prevalence 
and    great  increase  of   intemperance    in    thia 


42 


country,  this  General   Assembly   bear  the  fol- 
lowing lestiinony,  viz: 

1st.  We  rejoice  iu  the  renewed  diligence 
shown  by  the  Church  iu  correctinj;:  this  great 
evil. 

2d.  That  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxi- 
cating drinks  as  a  beverajie  is  demanded  by 
every  Onristian,  by  the  condition  of  society,  the 
puriiy  of  the  Church  and  the  word  of  God. 

3d.  We  recommend  that  on  tlie  last  Sabbath 
ot  June  next,  ministers  in  our  connection 
preach  on  the  subject  ot  Temperance. 

A  ineiuber  proposed  an  amendment  to  the 
effect  that  the  words  "and  the  word  of  God" 
be  stricken  out,  asserting  that  God  required 
temperance  but  not  total  abstinence. 

Ainendmenl  hist;  resolutions  adopted. 

The  standing  committee  on  mileage  reported, 
and  their  report  was  accepted  and  adopted,  with 
the  thanks  of  the  Assembly  to  the  Committee 
lor  their  continued  and  arduous  labors. 

The  report  of  the  standing  Committee  on 
Pabbath  techools  was  theu  adopted,  with  the  fol- 
lowing amendment,  viz: 

ihatpartof  the  report  stylinj;  the  Sabbath 
School  ibe  nursery  of  the  Church,  was  changed 
so  as  to  read  a  nursery  of  the  Church. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  then  elected  as 
Trustees  of  the  Church  Erection  Jb'und  for  three 
years: 

Dr.  J.  Fen.  Smith,  Dr.  S.  D.  Burchard,  W,  A. 
Booth,  Esq. 

The  toUowing  resolution  was  adopted: 

Kesolved,  That  a  sum  not  less  than  $120,000 
is  necessary  lor  the  work  of  Home  Missions 
during  the  coming  year,  and  that  the  Assembly 
pledge  the  churches  to  all  faithfulness  and  dili- 
gence in  collecting  that  amount. 

lue  loUowiug  reooJutioii  Wad  presented  by  Rev. 
Henry  1^'owler,  d,Ld.  adopted: 

Wliereas,  This  Assembly,  in  its  Deliverance  on 
the  state  oftiie  country,  has  affirmed  ihe  truth  that 
'  'Our  moat  sjiemu  Maiioual  trust  conceriiB  that  ua- 
tient  race  so  long  held  in  unrighteous  boudaije, ' ' 
aud 

Whereas,  The  education  of  the  freedmen  is  essen- 
tial lo  their  eiutowmeni,  with  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  American  citizens,  and  is  promotive 
ut  a  sale  and  permuneut  reconstnicliou;  ihtrefore, 

Ile-oived,  That  the  Churches  be  recommended  to 
taJie  up  coilectious  iu  behalf  ot  the  Ireedmeu,  sup- 
plemejutaiy  to  the  legular  collections  sor  Home 
Missions,  said  colleciions  to  be  forwarded  to  such 
assi  elation,  in  h>  halt  the  freedmen,  as,  t^y  tlie  wis- 
dom and  ime};rity  of  its  management  shall  nest  com- 
mend itself  to  tne  conUdence  tithe  congregations. 

Dr.  Knox  of  the  special  committee  to  nomi- 
nate a  committee  of  conference  with  the  old 
t'chool  Assembly  reported  the  following  names: 

MINISTERS. 

Eev.  Thomas  Brainard,  D,  D. 

"  Wm.  Adams,  D.  D, 

"  E.  F.  Hatfield,  D.  D. 

"  J.  F.  Stearns,  D.  D. 

"  V.  H.  Fowler,  D.  D. 

"  J.  B.  Shaw,  D.  D. 

"  H.  L.  Hitchcock,  D,  D. 

"  E.W.  Patterson,  D.D. 

"  H.  A.  Kelson,  D.D. 

ELDERS. 

Hon.  Joseph  Allison. 
"     E.  A.  Lambert. 
"     H.  W.  Williams. 
T.  P.  Handy,  Esq, 
E.  W.  Steele,  Esq, 
W,  H.  Brown,  Esq. 
Report  adopted. 


A  resolution  was  then  adopted  recommendino: 
the  use  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  Catechism 
in  all  Sabbath  Schools  where  it  was  not  already 
in  use. 

'Jhe  following  p-entlemen  were  theu  elected  as 
Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House  for  three j 
years. 

John  A.  Brown,  Esq.;  M.W.Baldwin,Esq.;  S.  H. 
Perkins,  Esq.;  Thomas  Brainard,  D.  D.;  E,  E. 
Adams,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Smith,  of  the  committee  appointed  to  pre- 
pare a  letter  to  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  re- 
ported the  following  resalulions  and  letter: 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  in  a  letter  bearing  date  May  3oth,  1SG5, 
having  proposed  to  us  a  closer  fellowship  by 
"occasional  visits  of  accedited  deputies'"' from 
our  respective  Cliurches,  and  the  same  proposal 
having  been  confirmed  in  the  address  of  Kev. 
James  McCosh,  LL.  D.,  therefore. 

Kesolved,  Tliat  tliis  Assembly  accede  to  this  pro- 
pc.sal  lor  an  intercliange  of  deputies  on  such  spccilio 
terms  as  may  hen  alter  be  designated,  and  that  two 
deputies  be  afpoinied  to  represent  our  Ccnrch  at  the 
next  (ieneral  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot, 
land,  in  Edinburgh,  May,  1867. 

Kesolved,  That  I  lie  cuuimittee  having  in  charge 
the  correspondence  with  the  Free  Churcli  of  Scot- 
land be  authorized  to  make  this  appoiutmeut  iu  the 
name  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Kesolved,  That  we  tender  to  the  Rev.  James  Mc- 
Cosh, LL.D.,  our  sincere  thanks  for  the  able 
and  eloquent  manner  m  which  he  has  dis- 
charged uis  office  as  virtual,  if  not  technical, 
representaiive  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland ;  ihat 
we  oiler  him  the  assurance  ot  our  personal  honor 
and  reg  jrd;  and  that  we  pray  for  his  continued  and 
uncasing  success  and  influence  in  the  great  and  1 
useful  labors  to  which  his  life  is  devoted. 

Ihe  committee  to  answer  the  letter  addressed' 
to  our  Church  by  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
propose  to  t'le  Assembly  the  following  reply: 

'1  he  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  iu  the  United  States,  (N.  S.)  iu  session 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  May  'iStli,  1S66,  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  ol  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
greeting : 

Dear  Brethren:    The  most  welcome  letter  of  i 
your  venerable  Assembly  bearing  date  Edin- 
burgh, May  30th,  1SG5,  aud  subscribed  by  your 
Moderator,  the  Eev.  James  Begg,  D.  D., has  been 
received    by   our   Assembly     with    heart  felt 
gratitude  and  approval.    We  warmly  recipro- , 
cate  your  affectionate  Christian  salutations,  and  ; 
respond  with  lively  emotions  to  your  expres- 
sion of  sympathy  and  confidence,  and  to  your 
jiroposals  for  a  closer  fellowship.    Though  sep-  | 
arated  by  a  broad  ocean,  we  are  bound  together  ' 
by  no  ordinary  ties.   No  Church  of  another  land  ; 
has  a  stronger  hold  than  yours  upon  our  love 
and  honor.    The  one  reformed  faitb  is  our  com-  I 
mon  heritage.     We  express  tbat  faith  in  the 
same  symbols ;  we  have,  in  essence,  the  same  I 
Presbyterian  polity;  and  , we  are  equally  en- 
gaged in  kindred  Evangelical  labors  at  home  j 
and  abroad.     There  are  also  between  us  many  * 
ties  of  a  common  ancestry,  aud  we  venerate  the 
names  of  your  early  reformers;  our  ministry  j 
are  still  instructed  by  the  reading  of  your  great ' 
divines;  our  faith  is  strengthened  by  the  bright  i 
example  of  your  heroic  martyrs,  who  fought  a  i 
good  fight  for  religious  aud  civil  liberty;  andia 
your  special  coufiicts  and  sacrifices  for  a  free 
Church,  you  have  had,  these  twenty  years,  our 
constant  and  warmest  sympathy.     We  honor  • 
the  high  wisdom  and  extraordinary  liberality 
which  have  made  you  prosperous  and  strong 


48 


and  the  new  testimony  .you  have  given  to  tbe 
self-sustaining  power  of  the  Christian  Church, 
when  contending  for  its  righteous  liberties.  It 
is  a  good  tiling  that  the  sacred  fire  liindied  by 
the  old  covenanters  is  still  burning  in  the  heart 
of  Scotland,  and  that  their  flaming  torches  have 
been  handed  down  from  sire  to  son.  In  all 
these  things,  dear  brethren,  we  rejoice  and  will 
rejoice. 

It  is  then,  with  no  ordinary  satisfaction  that 
we  have  received  your  proposal  for  an  inter- 
change of  accredited  (iepnties  between  our 
Churches,  as  occasion  may  serve.  As  you  will 
see  by  an  accompanying  Tninute,  this  Assembly 
has  unanimously  resolved  to  appoint  two  such 
deputies  to  represent  us  before  your  venerable 
Assembly  in  May,  18G7.  They  will,  in  due  tihic, 
be  named  and  commissioned,  and  we  bespeak 
for  them  a  fraternal  welcome.  We  also  invite 
you  to  send  deputies  to  our  own  Church,  at  its 
next  session  in  the  city  of  Eochester,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  May,  LSiiT,  assuring  them  a 
most  cordial  reception. 

We  have  this  year  been  favored  with  an  ad- 
dress made  in  your  behalf  by  the  Eev.  James 
McCosb,  L.L.  D.,  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  who  came 
to  us  with  ample  testimonials  from  several  of 
the  honored  ministers  of  your  Church.  Already 
known  to  us  by  his  elaborate  and  thoughtful 
works,  so  important  in  relation  to  the  great 
conflict  between  Christianity  and  some  of  the 
modern  infidelity,  he  hardly  needed  any  exter- 
nal recommendation  to  insure  him  an  attentive 
hearing.  His  eloquent  and  sympathetic  words 
have  drawn  us  to  you  by  the  cords  of  a  common 
faith  and  love. 

The  sympathy  you  express  in  the  calamities 
and  sufferings  brought  upon  us  by  our  recent 
war,  in  the  assassination  of  our  beloved  and 
venerated  President  Lincoln,  a  martyr  to  the 
cause  of  human  freedom,  and  your  fervent  con- 
gratulations ujjon  the  abolition  of  slavery 
throughout  our  States,  as  well  as  your  wise  sug- 
gestions, derived  in  part  from  your  British  ex- 
perience in  respect  to  the  future  condition  of 
the  negro  race,  call  for  ourgi-uteful  recognition. 
These  things  have  weighed,  and  still  weigh  upon 
the  mind  and  the  conscience  of  this  Nation. 
God  has  guided  us  by  his  wonder  working 
Providence,  bringing  good  out  of  evil.  He  has 
sorely  chastised  us  for  our  National  sins,  and 
we  bow  in  penitence,  yet  in  trust,  beneath  His 
mighty  hand.  He  has  indeed  caused  the  wrath 
of  man  to  promote  His  own  high  purposes 
of  grace  and  wisdom,  and  in  the 
difficulties  and  perplexities  that  still  beset  our 
path,  in  the  vast  social  and  political,  as  well 
as  religious  problems,  that  we  are  called  upon 
to  solve,  we  humbly  invoke,  and  rely  upon  His 
wisdom  and  grace.  Here,  too,  we  feel  assured 
thnt  your  prayers  will  mingle  with  ours. 

You  say  that  '"the  divergence  of  sentiment 
and  action  formerly  between  us,  on  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery,  has  now  ceased,"  and  "as  there 
is  really  nothing  now  to  prevent  a  complete 
and  cordial  understanding  between  the  British 
and  the  American  Churches,  we  take  the  earliest 
possible  opportunity  of  giving  utterance  to  this 
conviction  and  desire  of  our  hearts."  We  thank 
you  for  these  words;we  unite  with  you  in  the  peti- 
tion for  the  removal  of  all  estrangement  and 
the  establishment,  not  only  of  our  old,  but  even 
of  a  better  and  nearer  friendship.  And  because 
of  this  our  common  wish  and  purpose,  we  are 
emboldened  to  say  to  you,  with  the  utmost 
Christian  frankness,  as  well  as  affection,  that 
during  the  progress  of  our  recent  and  terrible 


struggle  for  the  very  life  of  our  nation, involv- 
ing as  it  did  by  a  vital  necessity  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  slaves,wehave  at  times  been  deeply 
pained  and  grieved  by  the  apparent  indifference 
of  the  British  Churches  to  the  great  principles 
and  the  manliest  moral  issues  that  were  here 
at  stake.  From  the  beginning  of  the  great  re- 
bellion, our  American  Churches,  as  with  one 
voice,  proclaimed  the  real  nature  of  the  con- 
test. 

Our  own  Assembly  never  faltered  or  wavered 
in  the  declarations,  that  it  was  essentially  a 
conflict  between  freedom  and  slavery,  and  that 
national  unity  was  necessary  to  national  free- 
dom. And  we  shall  ever  more  regret  that  in 
our  darkest  days,  when  we  were  in  travail  in 
the  throes  of  a  new  birth,  and  when  sympathy 
would  most  have  cheered  our  hearts,  we  had, 
with  few  exceptions,  such  light  encouragement 
from  those  so  nearly  allied  to  us  in  faith  and  in 
the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty.  But  those  dark  hours 
are  past,  nevermore,  we  trust,  to  return,  and  we 
are  glad  that  the  clouds  are  dispersing,  and  the 
mists  vanishing  away,  and  that  we  are  coming 
to  see  eye  to  eye,  and  to  know  better  each  others' 
hearts  and  minds. 

You  allude  to  the  interest  with  which  you 
"shall  watch  the  future  history  of  the  negro  race 
within  our  borders."  The  views  o' this  Assem- 
l>]y  cm  some  of  the  points  herein  involved  are 
set  forth  in  a  declaration  just  adopted  on  the 
state  of  the  country,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  sent 
to  you.  The  freedom  of  that  unhappy  and 
long-suffering  race  has  been  bought  at  a 
great  price  of  blood  and  treasure.  Sla- 
very is  now  prohibited  by  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution.  The  civil  rights  of 
the  freedmen  have  been  secured  by  law.  Other 
guarantees  will  doubtless  follow  in  due  time, 
ihis  nation  is  under  the  most  solemn  respon- 
sibility as  to  the  future  destiny  of  this  class  of 
its  citizens.  Meanwhile,  our  chief  reliance 
must  be  on  those  social,  moral  and  religious 
iniluences  which  alone  can  make  men  fit  for 
freedom  and  truly  free — and  which  alone  can 
fully  retain  the  Union  of  the  States,  and  bisd 
us  to  together  in  a  common  brotherhood. 

In  these  troubled  times,  even  when  the  hor- 
rors of  war  were  upon  us,  the  Great  Head  of 
the  Church  has  given  us  fresh  occasion  to 
magnify  his  faithfulness.  Our  American 
Churches,  no  less  than  our  Eepublic,  have 
emerged  from  this  conflict  still  strong  in  their 
faith  and  order.  The  principles  of  our  American 
Christianity  have  receivea  a  new  vindication. 
Our  benevolent  institutions  have  been  constantly 
increasing.  And  we  are  now  girding  ourselves 
for  the  great  task  that  is  laid  upon  us,  especial- 
ly in  our  Southern  and  Western  States,  among 
our  freedmen  and  our  emigrant  population,  and 
against  the  progress  of  Eomanism,  of  material-- 
ism,  and  of  a  false  rationalism,  in  humble  reli- 
ance, as  we  trust,  upon  the  grace  and  wisdom  of 
Him  who  will  not  leave  us  if  we  lean  upon  His 
mighty  arm  and  follow  the  guidance  of  His  all- 
wise  Providence.  An  increased  desire  for 
Christian  union,  too,  has  been  kindled  through- 
out our  laud.  Many  of  our  Churches,  also,  have 
been  visited  with  fresh  outpourings  of  the  spirit 
of  grace,  showing  that  the  Law  is  ai  work 
amongst  us  as  of  old. 

We,  too,  desire  with  you  in  a  special  manner 
a  closer  fellowship  between  the  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  our  own  and  other  lands.  We  are 
glad  to  see  the  movements  in  this  direction  in 
England  and  Scotland,  and  in  your  colonial  dC' 


44 


pGndoncies.  The  srvme  spirit  is  at  work 
araoug  ourselves.  'J  he  two  great  branches  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country  are 
drawing  nearer  together;  this  year  they  have 
touched  each  other,  aad  each  of  our  Assemblies 
has  uppoinr.ed  a  Committee  of  Conference  and 
lieunion.  Our  Deputies  will  inform  you  of  the 
progress  of  this  desirable  object.  And  we 
ferventl.y  hope  that  here,  as  never  before,  all 
Christian  Churches  may  forget  their  lesser  dif- 
ferences and  unite  together,  so  far  as  possible, 
in  the  great  v?ork  of  the  Lord. 

Dear  breUiren,  beloved  in  the  Lord,  we  send 
to  you  these  our  Christian  salutations,  beseech- 
ing you  to  pray  for  us.  We  commend  you  unto 
God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace.  May  the  one 
Great  Head  of  the  Church  bless  you  with  all 
spiritual  blessings.  M;iy  our  Churches  and  our 
lands  live  in  amity  and  unity.  May  we  all  live 
lor  the  Glory  of  God  in  the  kingdom  of  His  .Son, 
our  Lord,  two  whom  be  praise  forever.    Amen. 

The  resolutions  and  draft  of  the  letter  were 
adoi)ted  by  the  Assembly. 

Judge  Allison,  called  up  the  report  of  the 
special  committee,  (an  abstract  of  which  has 
been  published)  on  Overture  (of  the  last  Assem- 
bly) Iso.  14,  find  pending  an  argument  in  favor 
of  the  adoption  of  the  report,  the  Assembly 
took  a  recess  until  afteriioon.  Closed  with 
prayer. 

AFIEENOON  SESSION. 

Opened  with  prayer. 

Judge  Allison  concluded  his  argument. 

Dr.  Hogarth  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  re- 
port. 

Judge  Williams  addressed  the  Assembly  in 
favor  of  the  report. 

Hon.  W.  J.  Cornwall  opposed  the  report. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Clarke,  of  the  special  committee,  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  Eev.  Mr.  Miller  in  regard 
to  the  establishmcKt  of  a  manual  labor  college 
for  freedmen  in  Isorth  Carolina,  reported  thut 
after  an  ample  conference  that  they  had  agreed 
that  the  matter  had  not  sufficiently  matured  to 
come  before  this  body,  and  asked  that  the  com- 
mittee be  discharged. 

Voted  that  the  committee  be  discharged. 

Dr.  Knox  moved  that  the  Committee  of  Con- 
ference have  power  to  fill  such  vacancies  as  may 
occur  during  the  recess  of  the  Assembly.  Car- 
ried. 

Dr.  Hatfield  ofl'ered  the  following  resolution : 

Whereas,  Mr.  Joseph  M.  Wilson,  of  Philladel- 
pbia,  has  for  some  time,  been  engaged  in  collecting 
miormacion  regarding  the  hihtovies  of  Presbyterian 
(.;hurches,  to  be  pubiished  in  his  Presbyterian  His- 
torical Almanac,  therefore, 

lleaolved.  Thai,  ihe  Mini.-ters  and  Elders  of  the 
Churches  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  be 
earnest Jy  requested  to  co- operate  with  Mr.  WiLon 
in  his  valuable  labors  m  behalf  of  the  Church. 

Dr.  II.  remarked  as  follows  : 

I  scarcely  need  say  a  word  in  regard  to 
our  friend  and  brother,  who  has  distinguished 
himself  in  his  love  for  the  Presbyterian  Chnrch, 
not  only  in  his  va.luable  labors  for  years  past, 
but  also  in  the  expendittire  which  he  has  so 
freely  subjected  himself  to,  iu  publishing  his 
Presbyterian  Historical  Almanac,  and  various 
other  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the 
Church,  andl  propose  we  hear  Mr.  Wilson  in  re- 
gard to  these  propositions  which  he  has  to  make 
to  the  Assembly,  and  what  he  proposes  to  ac- 
coraplish  by  his  labors. 


Mr.  Wilson,  after  thanl;iiig  the  Assembly, 
stated  that  he  hid  issued  a  circular  making 
inquiries  to  obtain  the  history  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Churches  throughout  the  world.  Ihese  cir- 
culars would  reitch  every  Church,  an. I  from  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  in;  needed  the  active  co- 
operation of  the  itiinislers,  the  elders  and 
the  people,  as  it  must  be  evident 'that, 
in  _  order  to  place  upon  record  a  full, 
reliable  and  well  arranged  history  of 
every  Presbyteriiin  Chnrch,  reduced  to  one  gen- 
eral plan,  classified  by  Presbyteries  and  Synods, 
replete  wi'h  statistics  suggesiive  and  interest- 
ing. All  intelligent  Presbyterians  must  feel  and 
manifest  to  a  certain  extent  a  personal  interest 
in  its  success.  But  this  eiTort,  to  obtain  those 
histories  upon  such  a  large  scale,  is  on'y  a  fur- 
ther development  of  the  idea  that  prompted  me 
to  begin  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Almanac, 
v/hich  I  did  a  number  of  years  ago.  That  work, 
comprehending  within  the  limits  of  a  large  vol- 
ume the  anuunl  operations  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  throughout  the  world,  commends  itself 
to  the  earnest  attention  of  the  Church.  I  began 
it  because  1  felt  that  much  of  the  diflerence  of 
opinion  existing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
arose  from  the  want  ot  information  about  each 
other,  and  this  annual  volume  proves  that  how- 
ever they  may  difter  outwardly,  in  the  Almanac 
they  are  a  unit,  in  practice  they  may 
"be  distinct  as  the  oillows;"  in  the 
Almanac  they  are  "one  as  the  sea." 
As  my  observation  and  experience  increased, 
I  enlarged  the  plan  of  the  work  and  introduced 
my  Biographical  Department,  in  which  is  re- 
corded the  memories  of  all  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  who  die  during  the  year.  It  has  been 
a  melancholy  reflection  upon  the  Church  to 
think  that  at  times  it  did  seem  as  if  the 
righteous  died  and  no  man  took  it  to  heart.  I 
felt  that  it  was  wrong  to  let  the  grave  rob  us  of 
all  we  hold  most  dear,  and  by  placing  uijou  the 
pages  of  the  Almanac  a  full,  impartial  and 
faithful  record  of  the  lives  of  those  whonn  God 
had  called  to  enter  upon  the  saints'  everlasting 
rest,  we  could  profit  by  their  example,  and  it 
would  be  a  source  of  stratification  to  those  who 
come  after  us.  In  a  further  expansion  of  the 
Almanac  I  included  tables.entitled  "The  Cler- 
ical Eeeord  of  the  Brethren,"  then  the  histories 
of  the  various  Boards  and  Seminaries,  and  to 
render  it  still  more  effective  as  an  element  of 
power  in  the  Church  I  introduced  the  Manse 
question  and  the  Almaniic  is  committe<l  to  the 
great  plan  of  inducing  the  Churches  to  erect 
Manses,  so  that  Presb^'terian  ministers  will 
have  comfortable  homes  for  their  families  free 
of  rent.  As  the  work  grew  upon  me  I  felt  that 
the  time  had  come  when  the  histories  of  each 
Presbj'terian  Church  ought  to  be  recorded,  and 
this  labor,  in  which  I  am  engaged  as  a  servant 
of  the  Churh,  1  hope  will  meet  with  favor.  If 
there  are  any  persons  in  the  Church  who  have 
any  suggestions  to  make  by  which  the  objects 
of  the  Almanac  can  be  fully  carried  out,  they 
will  have  their  views  carefully  considered;  and  I 
hope  that  Presbyterians,  especially  those  in  my 
native  land,  will  join  and  sustain  the  Almanac, 
which  has  a  reputation  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
Apart  from  the  labor,  the  expense  attending 
such  a  work  can  only  be  met  by  a  generous 
support,  such  as  I  have,  up  to  this  time,  only 
been  able  to  hope  for,  surely  a  work  which  places 
in  the  hands  of  its  friends  a  yearly  photnuraph 
of  every  branch  of  the  great  Pre.^byterian  family 
should  be  sought  for,  especially  iu  these  days  of 
union.    If  we  would  unite  wisely,  our  zeal  must 


u 


be  io  accordance  with  our  knowledge.  The 
Almanac  meets  all  the  requirements  of  the  oc- 
casion. When  repiifs  are  received  to  the  cir 
eular  referred  to  in  the  resolution,  I  intend 
publishiog  tbem  in  the  Almanac,  arranged  by 
rresbyteries?  andbynoda.  These  Synodical  His- 
tories will  be  accompanied  by  ecclesiastical 
maps,  sbowiug  tbe  location  of  each  Church,  the 
boundary  of  each  Presbytery  and  the  extent  of 
the  Synod. 

Mr.  Wilson  concluded  by  hoping  that  these 
efforts  would  awaken  that  active  co-oporation 
so  necessary  to  carry  out  the  object  contem- 
plated, and  if  this  appeal  would  meet  with  that 
result,  then  would  he  feel  that  his  visit  to  St. 
Louis  had  not  been  in  vain. 

Eev.  Dr.  Kiles  followed  in  an  earnest  appeal 
to  his  brethren,  not  oaly  of  the  ministry,  but 
the  eldership.  He  had  supposed  that  from  the 
known  value  of  the  work  that  it  had  been  as 
successful  as  it  was  meritorious.  And  he  finds 
that  such  is  not  the  case,  and  is  ashamed  to  own 
it.  This  ought  not  to  be  so,  and  Presbyteries 
owed  to  themselves  to  sustain  an  enterprize  so 
worthy  and  so  useful. 

The  Moderator,  on  putting  the  motion,  asked 
the  privilege  of  urging  upou  his  brethren  the 
absolute  necessity  of  giving  such  a  circulation 
to  the  Almanac  as  to  place  it  above  the  fear  of 
failure.  He  was  somewhat  familiar  with  Mr.Wil- 
son's  plans  and  details  and  he  has  been  amazed 
at  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  on  subjects  per- 
taining to  the  Presbyterian  Church:  not  only  does 
his  Almanac  put  into  the  hands  of  its  friends 
all  that  relates  to  the  current  history  of  the 
Church,  but  the  histories  of  the  seminaries,  the 
memories  of  our  deceased  brethreu,  the  accounts 
of  our  missions,  aud  every  thing  having  any  di- 
rect or  remote  tendency  to  develop  a  love  for 
the  Presbyterian  Church— and  then  the  tho- 
roughness of  his  efforts  comprehending  every 
conceivable  item  of  interest  and  value.necfssary 
for  a  developement  of  his  plans.  H*  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  the  times, 
and  an  honor  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  he 
ought,  as  he  must  be  sustained. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

A  letter  was  read  from  Dr.  Porter,  of  Brook- 
lyn, who  had  been  appointed  by  the  (Synod  of 
the  Eeformed  Dutch  Church,  at  their  meeting 
last  year,  to  attend  this  Assembly,  in  which, 
after  expressing  his  regret  that  circumstances 
prevented  his  presence  in  person,  he  presented 
10  the  Assembly  the  salutation  of  fraternity  in 
Christ. 

The  report  of  the  Delegate  to  the  Presbyteri- 
an Assembly  that  met  at  Pittsburg  last  year, 
was  then  read. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Knox  stated,  that  he  was  not  present 
when  the  resolutions  on  the  subject.of  temper- 
ance were  passed,  or  he  would  then!  have  sub- 
mitted a  resolution  he  would  now  propose; 
made  a  few  remarks  in  regard  to  a  l^ational 
Temperance  Society  organized  in  New  York,  by 
which  Drs.  Hatfield,  Humphrey  and  himself  had 
been  appointed  commissioners  to  this  Assem- 
bly, aud  then  olfered  the  following  resolution : 

Kesolved,  Tnat  we  regard  the  New  National  Tem- 
perance Society  with  favor,  as  well  adapted  in  the 
lorm,  vigor  and  scope  of  its  organization,  to  grap- 
ple witn  the  great  national  eiu  of  intemperance, 
and  as  such  commend  It  to  the  faUhiui  prayers, 
liberal  support  and  earnest  oo-operatioa  of  our 
Cfiarcbea. 

Adopted, 


The  report  of  the  Committee  to  nominate  del- 
egates to  corresponding  bodies  was  read  and 
adopted,  rs  follows : 

Old  School  General  Asspimlilv— Principal,  Eev. 
E.  D.  Morris,  DD.;  E,  D.  Mansiiel.l  LLD.  Alter- 
nate, Eev.  E.  P.  Pratt,  DD.,  aud  F.  V.  Chamber- 
lain. Esq. 

Cumberland  General  Assembly  —  Principal, 
Eev.  Henry  Little.  AUt-rnate,  Eev.  Joseph 
Chester. 

United  Presbyterian  General  Assembly — Prin- 
cipal, Eev.  H.  L.  Hitchcock,  DD.  Alternate, 
Eev.  Eicbard  Craighead. 

General  Synod  Eeformed  Dutch  Church— Prin- 
cipal, Eev.  Joel  Parker,  DD.  Alternate,  Eev.  A. 
£.  Campbell,  DD. 

General  Synod  Eef.  Presbyterian  Church — 
Principal,  Eev.  E.  J.  Eichards.  Alternate,  Eev, 
T.  J.  Shepherd,  DD. 

Maine  General  Convention  Congregational 
Churches— Principal,  Eev.  Stephen  Bush.  Alter- 
nate, Eev.  A.  B.  Lambert,  DD. 

Vermont  General  Association  —  Principal, 
Eev.  J.  H.  Noble.  Alternate,  Eev.  E.  A.  Buck- 
ley. 

New  Hampshire  General  Association — Prin- 
cipal, Eev.  D.  H.  Allen,  DD.  Alternate,  Eev.  A. 
E.  Kittridge. 

Massachusetts  General  Association— Princi- 
pal, Eev.  F.  S.  McCabe.  Alternate,  Eev.  Henry 
M.  Field,  DD. 

Connecticut  General  Association — Principal, 
Eev.  Conway  E.  Wing,  DD.  Alternate,  Eev.  F. 
Ealston  Smith. 

Wisconsin  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
Association — Principal,  Eev.  George  J.  King. 
DD.    Alternate,  Eev.  E.  A.  Pierce. 

Union  of  Evangelical  Church  of  France— Eev. 
A.  Eldridge,  DD. 

Mr.  Wiswell  stated  that  Eev.E.  B.  Walsworth, 
of  the  Presbytery  of  San  Jose,  California,  met 
with  an  accident  in  New  York,  on  his  way  to 
the  Assembly.  His  commission  was  duly  for- 
warded. 

Dr.  Taylor  read  the  report  of  the  standing 
Committee  on  the  Narrative,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  abstract: 

Eighty-nine  out  of  the  110  Presbyteries  on  the 
roll  had  forwarded  their  annual  reports  for  ex- 
amination. 113  churches  were  reported  to  have 
enjoyed  revivals  of  religion  during  the  previous 
year,  and  in  response  to  the  prayers  of  the 
Churches,  214  revivals  were  specially  mentioned 
this  year.  The  subjects  of  the  work  had  been 
mainly  youth  between  twelve  and  twenty.  Many 
of  them  had  commenced  in,  but  they  had  rarely 
been  confined  to  the  Sabbath  Schools.  The  chief 
agencies  of  the  work  had  been  "  the  ordinary 
means  of  grace."  One  Evangelist  is  mentioned 
in  the  narratives — Eev.  E.  P.  Hammond — whose 
labors  are  spoken  of  with  gratitude  as  very 
abundant  and  faithful.  The  revivals  had  been 
most  fruitful  in  churches  under  the  care  of  set- 
tled pastors.  The  ingathering  is  still  going  for- 
ward. Six  Presbyteries  give  an  aggregate  of 
1,043  additions  by  profession.  A  number  of 
Churches  had  doubled  their  membership,  sev- 
eral had  received  over  two  hundred  oa  profes- 
sion of  faith,  since  their  revivals  began.  The 
eye  of  faith  could  see  many  promising  omens  of 
the  continuance  of  the  work.  Three  thousand 
five  hundred  conversions  were  reported  by  our 
home  missionaries;  fifty  Churches  have  beeii 
organized,  and  many  old  churches  resuscitated. 
Noticeable  In  the  narratives  is  a  strong  desire  for 
reanioa  with  the  other  branch.  In  some  placesj 


46 


where  the  Spirit  of  God  has  been  poured  out  the 
most  abundantly,  the  work  of  revival  begun  in 
ail  open  and  bold  attack  of  all  the  most  promi- 
nent vices  of  society.  The  Sabbath  schools  were 
mentioned  as  being  in  a  very  flourishing  con- 
dition. Churches  had  generously  contributed 
in  the  efforts  for  religious  education  among  the 
freedmen. 

The  benevolence  of  the  Church  is  shown  to  be 
somewhat  on  the  increase  ;  aggregate  of  its  con- 
tributions laig'r  than  during  any  previous 
year,  yet  the  sti^ndard  of  giving  was  below  the 
ability  of  the  Cburch  as  a  whole.  The  lack  of 
means  to  build  cluirches  is  the  great  drawback 
in  the  frontier  States.  Looking  at  the  condition 
of  the  Church  from  either  a  worldly  or  a  reli- 
gious standpoint,  its  prosperity  appears  great- 
er than  at  any  previous  period. 

The  following  ministers  have  died  during  the 
year: 

Eev.  Milton  Kimball,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Schuyler. 

Eev.  0.  P.  Hoyt,  D.  D.,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Kalamazoo. 

Eev.  Samuel  Lee,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cleve- 
land and  Portage. 

Eev.  Truman  Baldwin,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Onondaga. 

Eev.  Abraham  Luce,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Long  Island. 

Eev,  Horner  B.  Morgan,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Watertown. 

Eev.  Joseph  L.  Eiggs,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Wellsborough, 

Eev.  Jacob  Tuttle,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Patas- 
kala. 

Eev.  Edmund  D.  Holt,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Winona. 

Eev,  J.  Holmes  Agnew,  D.  D.,  of  the  4lh  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York. 

Eev.  Daniel  A.  Abbey,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Tioga, 

Eev.  A.  D.  Hollister,  of  the  Presbytery  of  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

The  report  was  adopted,  and  the  Assembly 
adjourned  to  meet  in  the  evening  for  farewell 
services. 

EVENING  SESSION. 

"Was  devoted  to  religious  exercise?.  Eev,  T, 
H.  Eobinson,  of  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  made 
the  opening  address,  in  which  he  set  forth  the 
beauty  of  Christian  love,  and  foreshadowed  the 
grand  union  of  Christians  of  all  names,  but  who 
hold  the  common  faith  of  the  evangelical  world, 

Eev.  Dr,  aogarth,of  Detroit,  Mich.,  spoke  of  the 
strong  social  feelings  created  by  the  intercourse 
with  the  people  of  this  city,  and  the  kindly  as- 
sociations awakened  by  meeting  so  many  of  the 
brethren  whom  he  had  only  known  by  reputa- 
tion. He  spoke  of  the  early  labors  of  th'i  pio- 
neers of  our  Christianity,  who  preached  and 
planted  the  Gospel  in  this  Western  country  long 
years  a^. 

Eev,  Dr.  Knox,  of  EomCj  New  York,  took  a 
general  view  of  the  peculiar  relations  exist- 
ing between  the  Assembly  and  the  good  peo- 
ple of  St.  Louis.  Eeferred  to  the  influence 
of  Hamilton  Collecre,  New  York,  and  his  early 
recollections  of  the  pastor  of  the  church,  Dr. 
Nelson,  and  the  noble  stand  taken  by  him,  sus- 
tained as  he  was  by  his  people.  He  spoke  of  the 
hospitality  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  of 
their  great  kindness, 

Eev.  Dr.  Wiswell,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware, 


offered  the  following  resolutions,  which  were 
adopted  unanimously: 
Resolved,  That  this'General  Assembly  take  pe- 
culiar pleasure  in  here  publicly  recording  their 
warmest  gratitude  for  the  large  and  generous 
provision  made  for  their  comfort  and  enjoy- 
ment by  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  in  circumstan- 
ces of  great  diiliculiy,  owing  to  the  unexpected 
pressure  of  so  many  delegates  from  other  reli- 
gious bodies  as  their  guests. 

Eesolved.  That  we  specially  tender  sincere 
thanks  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  the 
Honored  Pastors  of  the  First  and  North  Pres- 
byterian Churches  and  their  excellent  people, 
for  their  thoughtful  regard  and  provident  ar- 
rangements for  all  our  sessions,  and  their  kind 
and  persistent  efforts  to  make  their  homes  our 
own  during  our  stay ;  to  the  choir  of  the  First 
Church  for  their  valuable  services;  also  to  the 
President  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Eailroad  Com- 
pany for  the  pleasant  excursion  to  Pilot  Knob 
and  his  personal  attention  on  that  occasion; 
to  the  Mercantile  Library  Association,  to  the 
President  of  the  City  University,  to  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  the  Girls'  Industrial  Schools, 
for  invitations  to  visit  these  respective 
institutions ;  to  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools  for  copies  oi  the  last  repsrt;  to  the  St. 
Louis  Transfer  Company  for  the  generous  offer 
of  their  omnibusses;  to  the  four  steamboat  com- 
panies who  have  furnished  dinners  from  day  to 
day  to  many  of  our  members  from  a  distance; 
to  the  several  railroad  companies  who  have 
granted  commissioners  a  reduced  fare  over 
their  roads;  to  the  press  of  this  city,  and  es- 
pecially to  the  Missouri  Daily  Democrat,  for 
faithful  reports  and  a  full  report  of 
our  proceedings  in  pamphlet ;  to  our 
beloved  and  excellent  Moderator  for  the 
promptness  with  which  he  has  so  cheerfully, 
ably  and  impartially  presided  over  our  deliber- 
ations, and  as  we  say  farewell  to  the  people 
with  whom  it  has  been  our  delightful  privilege 
to  mingle  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus, 

Eesolved,  That  it  is  in  all  our  hearts  to  pray 
constantly  that  grace,  mercy  and  peace  from 
our  common  Lord  and  Saviour  may  ever  re- 
main with  them. 

Eev.  Dr.  Nelson  addressed  the  Assembly 
in  behalf  of  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  congregations,  of  the  interest  mani- 
fested by  the  pastor  and  members  of  the  North 
Presbyterian  Church  to  carry  out  the  known 
hospitality  of  the  people;  he  spoke  of  the  im- 
X)ortant  events  now  transpiring  in  our  Church, 
of  the  prospective  union  of  the  two  branches  of 
the  Church. 

Dr.  Hatfield,  of  New  York,  spoke  of  his  early 
ministerial  career,  which  began  thirty-three 
years  ago  in  this  city  of  St,  Louis,  where  there 
was  only  one  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city, 
and  but  7,000  inhabitants  within  the  corporate 
limits  of  this  great  and  beautiful  city  of  the 
West ;  that  when  he  sat  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  1S35,  it  was  as  a  CommiseioBcr  from  the 
Presbytery  of  St.  Louis,  the  only  Presbytery  be- 
tween the  Mississippi  and  the  Pacific  oceaA, 
and  recollecting  these  earlv  scenes,  his  heart  is 
filled  with  the  tenderest  emotions,  and  now  to 
see  that  in  this  city  there  are  two  General  As- 
semblies of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  he  could 
not  fail  to  exclaim,  "what  hath  God  wrought." 

The  Moderator,  Dr.  Hopkins,  addressed  the 
Assembly  in  a  few  pertinent  remarks,  the  min- 
utes were  read  and  approved,  the  roll  called, 
and,  on  motion,  it  was 


i  - 


47 


Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  he  dissolved, 
and  that  another  General  Assembly,  convened 
in  like  manner,  meet  in  the  Presbyterian 
-Church,  Eochester,  New  York,  on  the  third 
Thursday  of  May,  1867. 

Closed  with  prayer  and  singing  the  Doxology, 
and  the  benediction  by  the  Moderator. 

Thus  closed  the  interesting  session  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
(New  School.) 

We  are  requested  to  correct  our  report  of  Dr, 
Campbell's  remarks,  as  published  on  Monday, 
as  follows : 

On  the  fifth  line  it  is  said  "it  bad  a  fund  of 


$30,000."  It  should  be  "we  have  received  dur- 
ing the  past  year  $30,ooo  from  New  and  Old 
Schools,  and  140,000  from  Congregationalists." 

On  line  fifteen  from  top  an  anniversary  in 
"  New  York,"  not  "Italv."  The  Catholic  priests 
in  Sienna,  Italy,  published  the  pamphlet  and 
sent  it  to  this  country. 

About  forty,  fifth  line  70,000  less  as  reported  by 
the  Bishop  of  Milan  came  to  mass  and  confes- 
sional than  the  year  previous. 

Line  fifty,  Mr.  Constantine  of  Athens,  Greece. 

Mr  .Trumbull  went  out  under  the  Seamen's 
Friends  Society. 


ADDRESS  BY  REV.  Z.  M.  HUMPHREY,  D.D., 

Delivered  at  an  Evening  Meeting  of  the  New  School  Preshyterian  Church. 


Of  the  ideal  representations  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  one  of  the  most  impressive  has  been 
given  us  by  that  commentator  of  the  pencil, 
Aug  Scheffer,  and  is  known  by  the  title  Ghristus 
Gonsolator.  It  represents  the  Savior  as  seated 
in  the  center  of  a  group  of  men  and  women,  all 
of  whom  have  been  drawn  about  him, apparently, 
by  some  irresistible  attraction.  Each  face  is 
marked  by  a  strong  individuality.  Each  heart 
revealing  itself  through  the  features  has  its 
peculiar  want ;  all  turn  for  satisfaction  to  the 
same  Being.  On  one  side  are  representative 
fiijures  of  the  Jew,  Greek  and  Barbarian  ;  on 
the  other  are  figures  representing  men  of  dif- 
ferent occupations.  The  three  Marys  are  there; 
the  penitent  thief  holds  his  dagger  in  hands 
folded  over  a  contrite  heart ;  a  woman,  perhajjs 
the  Magdalln,  leans  her  head  upon  his  arm  as  if 
bathing  it  with  tears";  at  his  feet  bows  a  mother 
over  the  dead  body  of  her  babe ;  the  slave  kneel- 
ing stretches  out  his  manacled  hands ;  the 
warrior  with  broken  blade  beside  him  sinks 
back  in  death,  while  the  chains  of  mor- 
tality fall  from  him  at  the  touch  of 
Jesus.  One  only  is  turned  from  Christ.  It 
is  a  poet,  his  head  crowned  with  the  laurels 
which  did  not  assuage  his  great  sorrow,  and 
who,  mourning,  refused  to  be  comforted.  The 
scripture  beneath  the  picture  is,  "He  hath  sent 
me  to  bind  up  the  broken  hearted,  and  to  pro- 
claim liberty  to  the  captives."  It  might  have, 
perhaps,  better  been,  "There  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek ;  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free ;  but  ye 
are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus." 

This  picture  is,  indeed,  a  vivid  interpreta- 
tion of  tae  latter  scripture.  The  union  of  be- 
lievers with  Christ  is  perfect,  notwithstanding 
all  outward  diversities— notwithstanding  all 
inward  peculiarities  of  nature.  It  is  common 
to  represent  this  union  by  the  figure  of  a  circle, 
from  whose  circumference  all  lines  converge  to 
a  common  center.  The  figure  does  not  accu- 
rately answer  to  the  fact,  for  the  unity  thus  pre- 
sented is  mechanical  rather  than  organic.    Our 


Savior  himself  represents  this  union  as  vital. 
His  figure  is  that  of  living  branches  joined  to  a 
living  vine.  Christ  is  equally  the  Savior  of  all, 
and  afi'ords  to  each  the  strength  and  sympathy 
he  needs.  His  nature  is  so  broad  and  full  that 
in  Him  all  are  satisfied.  He  is  divine,  and  has 
all  the  perception  of  Omniscience  to  enable  him 
to  appreciate  our  wants.  He  is  human,  and  has 
all  that  quickness  of  sympathy  which  is  need- 
ful, that  he  may  completely  identify  himself 
with  us,  "being  made  in  all  points  like  as  we 
are,"  having  tasted  of  experiences  like  ours, 
that  he  might  succor  us  in  every  ex- 
tremity. Christ  was  not  in  his  hu- 
man nature  a  perfect  man,  simply.  He  was 
a  representative  of  all  men.  He  was  more 
than  "many  sided  ;"  he  had  in  himself  all  that 
is  peculiar  to  man  in  all  his  conditions.  In 
him  there  is  "neither  Jew  nor  Greek,"  but  both. 
Men  diifer  in  constitutional  i3eculiaritie8,  in 
habits  of  thought  and  of  feeling.  There  is  that 
in  Christ  which  fits  him  to  be  the  most  helpful 
friend  of  each.  In  him  was  the  sum  of  all 
temperaments,  in  him  were  the  qualities  of  all 
forms  of  manhood.  This  was  indeed  a  matter  of 
necessity  that  he  might  be  the  Savior  of  all. 
He  must  be  able  to  understand  all  our  peculiar 
temptations  to  sin,  that  he  might  be  our  sacri- 
fice, our  advocate,  our  friend.  The  record  of 
his  life  shows  that  he  was  capable  of  occupying 
any  position.  We  are  constituted  with  peculiar 
aptitudes.  One  is  an  orator,  one  a  poet,  one  a 
mechanic  by  natural  gift.  He  would  have  ex- 
celled in  anything  which  the  best  of  us  can  do 
but  poorly.  He  had  all  the  fervor  of  the  poet, 
all  the  graces  of  the  orator,  all  the  taste  of  the 
artist,  all  the  sagacity  of  the  statesman,  all  the 
capacity  of  the  artisan.  This  is  abundantly 
evident  from  his  words,  his  counsels  and  his 
habits.  He  could  suit  himself  to  all  whatever 
their  peculiarities.  In  him  was  "neither  bond 
nor  free."  He  had  liberty  for  the  one  and  sym- 
pathy for  the  other.  In  him  was  "neither  male 
nor  female. "    The  peculiarities  of  both  sexes 


48 


were  blacded  in  him.  He  had  all  the  qua- 
lities whicn  make  man  most  manly,  all 
xiiat  make  wooiau  most  womanly.  He  was 
lovol  by  ilary  aud  Martha  as  if  he  had  been  a 
Bister.  Lazarus  could  ask  for  no  more  m  a 
broiner.  He  had  tbe  smif  in  him  from  which 
■warriurs  are  made,  yet  there  was  ttiat  gentleness 
ju  tiiiu  whieli  iudLiced  wouieu  to  briog  their 
cliilureu  lo  nim  as  if  Hehiuibelf  were  a  mother. 
He  provided  with  a  woman's  thoughtluluess  for 
tiie  Woiits  of  the  huugry  multitudes  on  the 
enoie  of  Geuessaretj  ana  then,  whtn  a  woman 
Would  have  eutreated  him  to  seek  shelter  and 
rts  ,he  went  awiiy  into  the  mountains  to  spend 
ttie  nours  of  aurkness  amid  tne  roclisin  prayer. 
Uen  aud  women  loved  him  with  an  equal  devo- 
tion. I  he  sisters  ot  BeiiiaDy  turned  to  him  for 
couifort  in  their  affliction,  and  the  impulsive 
but  mauiy  Peter  was  ready  to  die  in  his  defeuse. 
ihusinhim  is  all  that  auy  might  wish.  1 
have  thought  it  proviUential  that  there  is  no 
authentic  portrait  of  Christ  in  existence.  It 
seems  sirauge  at  hrst  that  no  artist  should  have 
ever  reproduced  the  likeness  of  so  remarkable 
a  -iieing,  but  there  is  no  reliable  portrait.  Ihat 
said  to  htive  been  copied  from  the  handkerchief 
of  the  "holy  Jseionica"  is  spurious;  the  story 
of  iSeronica  is  but  a  legend,  ihe  intaglio  pre- 
served as  a  likeness  has  no  valid  authority.  The 
very  description  of  the  iSavior  ascribed  to  Pub- 
lius  Leutmus  is  a  forgery.  AVhy  have  we 
nothing  to  make  the  features  of  Christ 
lamiiiur  to  us,  as  are  those  of  the 
great  men  of  history?  hecause  we  are  to 
lorm  our  own  ideas  ox  this  our  personal  savior 
aud  should  only  be  confused  by  any  traditional 
represeutation  of  him.  Inow,  every  man  may 
shape  for  himself  a  conception  of  Jesus,  an- 
isweriug  in  every  line  and  feature  to  his  own 
iaeal.  Each  is  his  own  artist  and  m«y  paint  in 
colors  aud  alter  forms  which  are  borrowed 
Irom  his  own  heart.  Isay!  better  than  any 
portrait.  Each  of  us  may  have  his  personal, 
uving  ISavior,  in  whose  face  is  just  what  is 
noblest  or  sweetest  to  us  all,  a  perpetual  guest 
in  his  heart. 

touch  oeing  the  nature  of  the  union  of  the 
disciple  with  Christ,  we  have  next  to  consider 
the  union  of  the  disciples  in  him  with  each 
oHier.  Such  a  union  logically  tollows  from 
that  which  has  already  been  described,  lor  if 
all  are  one  in,  Christ,  all  are  one  wit/i,  him. 
Each  of  us  joined  to  Christ  partakes  of  his 
nature,  and  thus  all  are  one.  When  the  magnet 
is  presented  to  the  filaments  of  iron,  all  the 
particles  cling  by  a  natural  affinity  to  the  at- 


tracting pole.  Each  of  the  filaments  is  im- 
bued with  the  magic  virtue  of  the  magnet. 
All  together  are  imbued  with  the  same  subtle 
principle,  t^o  all  believers  in  Christ  are  one  t» 
liim  and  one  with  him. 

By  such  a  union,  my  brethren,  are  we  united 
to  Christ  and  to  each  other  as  we  gather  about 
this  table  to-day.  He  is  here,  and  it  is  ai 
if  we  could  see  him  and  hear  from  hia 
blessed  lips,  as  he  extends  his  hands  ia 
benedictiou  over  us  all,  "Ye  are  all  one  la 
me."  Not  even  the  imaginary  line  of  deuomi- 
nation  separates  us.  We  are  one.  And  here  we 
may  commune  with  each  other  without  re- 
straint—as we  also  commune  with  Christ.  At 
this  table  all  difference  of  speech  are  forgotten. 
When  persons  of  different  nations  come  tjgether 
at  a  table  with  sharpened  appetites  for  food  they 
do  rot  remember  that  in  the  language  of  each 
there  is  a  peculiar  word  iovbread.  They  eat  aud 
are  satisfied,  without  discussing  whether  the 
French,  the  English  or  the  Asiatic  word  is  the 
most  expressive.  So,  as  we  gather  here  with 
true  hunger  of  heart,  we  do  not  think  of  our 
peculiar  forms  of  statement,  if  we  ha,ve  any,  re- 
specting this  bread  of  heaven  ;  we  eat  and  are 
filled. 

Families  widely  scattered  gather  about  the 
thanksgiving  board  in  some  New  England  home, 
to  which  with  true  migratory  instinct  they  turn 
when  the  season  of  the  annual  festival  returns, 
and  forget  all  their  varied  tastes  and  habits. 
Oiie  has  come  with  face  browned  by  the  sun 
upon  the  tropical  wave.  Another  has  beeu 
breathed  upou  by  the  frosts  of  the  Pole.  Anoth- 
er has  driven  his  plough  along  the  hill-side. 
Another  has  come  from  the  dusty  counting- 
house  of  the  city.  All  sit  down  together  as  one. 
Ail  bend  as  one  to  receive  the  blessing  of  a 
common  parent.  This  is  our  thanksgiving  table 
to-day.  We  have  been  separated  as  a  family, 
ihe  common  Father  looks  down  upon  us  in  love. 
Some  of  us  are  kindred  by  blood.  I  cannot  for- 
get that  you,  sir,  (turning  to  Dr.  E.  P.  Hum- 
phrey,) are  my  brother  in  the  tlesh.  Whsa  we 
sit  down  together  at  the  table  of  our  mother,  or 
stand  at  the  grave  of  our  sire,  do  we  ever  think 
of  any  possible  differences  which  may  have 
separated  us  in  our  ecclesiastical  relations  ? 
Why  then  should  we  here  ?  We  will  not.  We 
do  not.  We  will  all  come  to  this  our 
thanksgiving  table— our  table  of  communion — 
to-day,  aud  rejoice  that  in  Christ  there  is  neither 
Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free, 
there  is  neither  male  nor  female,  but  we  are  all 
one. 


LETTER  FOR  WHICH  REV.  MR.  W.  M.  FERGUSON  WAS  EXPELLE 
FROM  THE  OLD  SCHOOL  PRESBYTERIAN  ASSEMBLY. 


The  following  is  the  letter  to  the  Columbus 
(Ohio)  Statesman,  for  -writing  which  Eev^.  Mr. 
Ferguson  was  expelled  from  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Old  School  Presbyterian  Assembly : 

The  debate  in  the  Assembly  ran  higher  to-day, 
or  rather  lower^  than  ever.  It  was  reserved  for 
Mr.  Galloway,  of  Ohio,  to  cap  the  climax  of  vul- 
garity and  demagogueism.  He  certainly  outdid 
himself  in  low  allusions,  false  assumptions, 
bitter  invective,  personal  abuse,  and  in  every 
other  mean  thing  that  could  characterize  an 
orator  who  appeared  to  be  at  the  same  time  both 
a  fool  and  a  fiend  ! 

I  grant  this  is  strong  language,  but  not  a  whit 
more  so  than  the  truth  will  warrant.  His  man- 
ner was  monstrous  !  A  dancing  monkey's  mo- 
tions were  graceful  to  it.  Indeed  it  was  awful  ! 
Sublimely  ridiculous.  His  twistings  and  bodily 
contortions,  could  they  have  been  photographed, 
would  have  furnished  comi^  almanac-makers 
with  an  almost  limitless  number  of  grotesque 
samples  for  all  time  to  come.  Besides  his  dis- 
gusting egotism — his  self-righteous  laudations 
—his  canting  use  of  Scripture — his  boasting, 
dirty  insinuations — in  a  word,  his  scurrility 
and  blackguardism  excepded  anything  of  the 
kind  it  was  ever  my  painful  misfortune  to  hear. 

The  fact  is,  he  disgraced  himself — his  Presby- 
tery— his  Church — this  Assembly,  and  religion 
generally,  by  his  long,  vile,  illogical  and  most 
wickedly  impassioned  harangue.  It  brought  a 
tinge  of  shame  on  the  cheek  of  his  be.«t  friends. 
Some  who  had  no  personal  acquaintance  with 
him  thought  he  had  a  "Highland  gill  "  in  his 
cheek.  But  it  is  declared  that  he  is  a  radical 
temperance  man.  'I  his  most  unfortunate  exhi- 
bition of  vulgarity  and  malignity  was  called 
forth  by  a  rpsolution  of  Dr.  Boardman  on  yes- 
terday, on  the  unwarranted  and  wicked  course 
being  pursued  by  the  majority  of  the  Assembly 
in  regard  to  Gov.  Wicklitfe,  Jr.,  Stewart  Kohin- 
son  and  Dr.  Wilson,  Delegates  from  the  Presbjr- 
tery  of  Louisville,  because  said  Presbytery  did 
publish  to  the  world  a  strong  statement  on  the 
illegal  procedure  of  the  General  Assembly  of 


last  year  in  Pittsburgh.  Mr.  G.  boldly  afflrm( 
that  "a  word  spoken  against  the  Assembly  w 
treason,  and  the  speaker  a  traitor;"  that  "B 
Boardman  was  a  traitor,  and  his  speech  vest? 
day  treason^  and  till  he  washed  hishand^of  tl 
blood  of  this  hellish  crime,  he  (Mr.  G.)  wou 
never  sit  down  with  him  at  the  Lord's  table 
These  were  his  words.  His  speech, as  publish* 
in  the  Democrat,  may  be  bad  enough  :  but  ; 
that  sheet  i«  exceedingly  radical,  and  the  on' 
one  that  pretends  to  give  verbatim  reports  ph' 
nographically  taken,  and  as  Mr.  G.'s  frienc 
were  shocked  at  the  outlandish  indecencies  an 
fallacies  of  this  unfortunate  affair,  some  of  th 
more  vulgar  and  blasphemous  parts  may  I 
omitted. 

But  I  weary  you.  Mr.  Galloway  surelv  foi 
QTot  himself  to-day.  He  has  disgraced  himse 
forever  in  the  estimation  not  only  of  Christia 
gentlemen,  but  in  the  opinion  of  the  ungodl 
world.  Why  he  did  so  no  one  can  tell.  It  wf 
unprovoked  and  unexpected.  Hewasnot  calle 
to  order  by  either  member  or  Moderator,  as  tl 
latter  reauested  the  Assembly  to  permit  "gre! 
latitude  "  of  discussion.  It  was  as  good  as 
monkey  show  to  the  populace — some  of  thei 
hissed,'  others  cheered  ! 

Thus  we  go — go  to  pieees  as  a  Church  of  Chrie 
It  is  alarming  to  witness  how  rapidly  and  st 
perficially  the  legitimate  business  of  the  Assen 
bly  is  passed  over,  and  how  eager  many  are  \ 
"  take  ut)  the  unfinished  business"  relating  1 
Louisville  Presbytery,  &c.  It  is  painful  to  sa 
it,  but  many  think  ^nd  say  that  this  Assembl 
has  done  far  more  against  the  interest  of  tni 
religion  in  this  city  since  it  convened  last  wee 
than  the  big  horse  races  that  have  been  in  pre 
gress  here  for  some  time.  What  a  curse  Eadi 
calism  is ! 

But  I  weary  you.  So,  for  the  present,  I  closi 
sorry  that  the  great  State  of  Ohio  has  been  dis 
graced  by  the  only  two  really  unsufferabl; 
Eadical  and  disgustingly  vulgar  speeches  1 
this  Assembly  so  far. 


I^  n  o  r  E  S  T 


The  undersigned,  for  themselves  and  others,  re- 
spectfully protest  against  the  entire  proceedings  of 
the  General  Assembly  concerning  the  Louisviile 
Presbytery  and  the  signers  of  the  "Declaration  and 
Testimony," 

1.  The  summary  exclusion  from  this  house  ot  the 
Commissioaerd  ol  the  Liouisville  Presbytery,  uuder 
the  operation  of  the  previous  question,  witliouc  al- 
lowing them  or  their  friends  one  word  of  deteuae  or 
explanation,  was,  in  our  judgment,  a  usurpation 
of  powers  not  belouging  to  tae  General; Assembly, a 
fsross  invasion  of  tne  rights  of  tha  Preobyttry,  aa 
act  of  oppr^bsion  toward:*  the  Commissionerstliem- 
selves,  aua  a  violation  of  those  principles  of  justice 
and  equity  whicn  every  deliberative  assembly,  and 
especially  a  Court  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  bound  to  bold 
inviolate.  For  a  proper  analysis  of  this  procedure 
we  reler  to  a  protest  of  certain  members  of  this 
body,  to  be  found  in  the  minutes  of  the  22d  ult., 
auU  in  most  of  the  reasons  for  which  the  unuersign- 
ed  concur. 

We  lay  the  utmost  stress  upon  this  point,  because 
everytbiug  tnat  fallowed  pertaining  to  this  business 
must  be  judged  in  the  light  of  the  fact  tiiat  tlnj  As- 
Btmbly  was  past.ingupon  the  conduct  of  men  wlio, 
by  its  iicr,  not  their  own,  were  not  present  to  di'- 
ttnU  themselves.  Tbe  allegation  ttiat  the  Assembly 
oiieriid  to  hear  them  when  a  report  was  lutroduct.d 
proposing  to  visit  upon  them  tlie  severest  penaii.its, 
can  be  ot  no  avail;  for  in  the  resolution  ol  expulsion 
It  was  their  Presbytery  which  was  arraigued,  and 
the}' couid  uot  properly  return  to  their  seats  witli- 
out  consulting  ttieir  Presbytery.  Nor  is  it  believed 
that  there  was  a  single  member  ot  the  Assembly 
who  expecied  them  to  plead  at  the  bar  of  a  court 
wuich  had  opened  their  case  by  ejecting  them  from 
tuitir  seats  unheard,  and  three  days  alter,  vottd 
down  a  resolution  to  readmit  them  to  tueir  seats 
Until  their  case  snould  be  disposed  of. 

2.  Throughont  the  entire  course  of  these  proceed  - 
ings,  ana  pervading  the  elaborate  arguments  of  the 
majority,  it  was  maintained  that  this  was  a  "judi- 
cial cai'e, ' '  and  tnat  these  bretlu-en  were  '  'on  trial' ' 
before  tne  Assembly.  Whereas  the  notorious  fact 
is  ttiat  they  bad  never  been  arraigned  and  tried; 
that  neitlier  in  Presbytery  nor  Synod  uad  tUcre  been 
any  mention  of  formal  charges,  of  citations,  wit- 
nesses, or  any  of  the  steps  essentia!  under  our  Con- 
stitution, to  a  judicial  process.  The  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment and  Tbe  J)igest  show  that  it  is  not  compe- 
tent to  a  judicatory  to  lake  up  a  case  judicially 
on  "fieUeiV  and  Control."  And  this  plea  is  fur- 
ther oarred  by  the  fact  that  the  records  of  the  Pres- 
bytery ot  JjOui:iVille  were  not  before  the  Assembly. 
AS  the  General  Assembly  has  no  original  jurisdic- 
tion in  cas«s  ot  otteuse,  the  whole  x^roceeding,  in 
so  far  as  the  case  was  treated  judicially,  wbs,  in 
our  judment,  irregular  and  unconstitutional. 

3.  The  case  was  biased  by  the  action  of  a  Conven- 
tion CctUed  together  to  consider  these  very  matters 
on  the  eve  of  the  Assembly's  meeting,  and  sitting. 
It  was  currently  reported,  with  closed  doors.  TUe 
inflammatory  memorial  sent  to  the  Assembly  by 
this  Convention  (jome  of  them  members  ol  the  As- 
sembly) discloses  a  btare  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the 
authors  ill  suited  to  calm  and  impartial  deliberation 
upoH  such  questions  as  were  involved  injhis  case. 

4.  The  severity  of  the  judgment  visited  upon  these 
breilu'en  was  greatly  iiispropordoned  lo  their  ol- 
lense.  Ko  one  had  cliart;ed  inem  with  hereby,  or 
with  immorality.  Tne  pruieiples  affirmed  in  ih-ir 
pamphlet  are  suostantiaily  ihe  principles  iucorpora- 
ied  ID  our  uonfcBsion  of  Faith  and  held  by  our  whole 


Church.  They  believed  that  General  Assemblies 
had  violated  the  principles,  and  especially  that  the 
Assembly  of  ISC')  had  undenaken  to  impose  cer- 
tain laws  upon  the  Church  in  derogation  oi  the  plain 
provisions  of  our  constitutijn.  In  this  belief  they 
are  sustained  by  the  Synods  of  New  Jersey  and 
Philadelphia,  by  several  Presbyteries,  and  by 
numerous  ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Church. 
Their  error  lay  in  the  measures  by  which  they 
sought  to  redress  the.-e  evils.  We  do  not  jusiify 
them  in  these  measures.  We  condemn  them.  But 
we  insist  that  they  t-honld  have  been  allowed  to 
pleaa  their  own  cause  without  its  bting  prejudged, 
as  it  was  by  theii-  inslant  exclusion  from  their  seats 
on  the  second  flay  of  our  session.  We  insist  that 
they  should  have  heen  allowed  time  to  review  their 
proceedings,  and  cancel  (if  so  disposed)  the 
ulfeusive  terms  they  had  applied  to 
ibe  General  Assemblies  of  the  Church. 
We  do  not  object  to  their  being  required  to  do 
this,  and  to  answer  to  their  Presbyteries  and  Synods, 
und  to  the  next  Aasemoly  as  to  what  they  may  have 
done  in  tne  premises;  nut  we  reuard  the  spirit  and 
terms  ol  their  excluaioo  fiom  all  the  church  judica- 
tories, (ihe  Session  excepted,)  until  the  next  As- 
sembly, and  the  contingent  disaolution  of  Pres'.iyte- 
ries,  as  needlessly  harsh  measures,  pregnant  with 
evil  to  the  Church.  And  we  lortify  this  conclusion 
b>  the  fact,  fuily  estaulisaeil  in  debate  and  cout'o- 
vertt  il  b>  no  one,  thiit  one  of  the  Presbj  teries  now 
lepresented  m  this  house,  and  even  one  or  more  of 
the  iiieinl)-rs  of  this  Very  Assembly,  had  used  lan- 
guage and  performed  acts  quite  as  pregnant  with 
rehellion  towards  the  Assembly,  without  being  sub- 
jected to  the  blightest  censure. 

5.  We  protest  against  these  measures  because  they 
Wiil  inevitably  tend, "as  we  believe,  to  foment  strite 
and  alienation.  Tne  Church  needs  repose.  Kent 
asunder  by  the  war  and  agitaied  with  conflicting 
passions,  it  requires  to  be  soothed  and  cemented  and 
comtorted.  The  linal  action  of  the  Assembly,  aa 
connected  with  the  previous  measures  and  debates, 
(for  the  whole  must  be  tatien  together,)  can  hardly 
tail  to  hring  about  another  secession  or  separation, 
to  divide  congregations,  to  instigate  lawsuits,  to 
difluse  and  prc»ioug  a  bitter  but  hitherto  local  con- 
troversy, to  create  widi-spread  dissatisfaction  with 
the  deliveianCrS  of  the  Assembly  and  to  alienute 
many  ot  the  best  fiiends  of  our  instiiuiious  With 
one  accord,  our  several  Boards  have  appeared  beiore 
us  deploring  the  falling  off  in  their  receipts  and  the 
decay  of  symoathy  in  their  operations.  We  greatly 
lear  that  the  measures  against  Which  we  protest  will 
aggravate  these  evils. 

6.  We  believe  that  the  interests  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  oountry  are  identified.  And  thus  believing, 
we  protest  against  thete  proceedings  as  adajited  to 
impair  the  c^picity  ot  the  t_/hurch  for  its  legitimate 
and  beneticeat  work,  and  to  increase  and  perpetuate 
the  jealou.-^ies  and  animosities  which  stiU  vex  the 
land. 

7.  And  finally,  we  protest  against  these  ordi- 
nances, because  ibey  are  likely  to  defer,  if  not  pre- 
vent, tnat  Christian  co- operation  between  the  Pres- 
byterian Churches,  North  and  South,  which  is  so 
needful  to  the  evairgelizing  of  our  people,  ai>d  es- 
pecieily  to  the  religious  inotructiou  of  tour  millions 
of  freedmen,  most  of  them  now  as  sheep  without  a 
shepherd. 

In  General  Assembly  a-.  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  2, 
1866.  HKNRY  A.  BOARDMAN, 

J.  S.  McCLELLaN, 
J.  E.  SPLLMAN, 
CHAS.  A.  MARSHALL 


MINUTES 


,    SYNOD  OF  MISSOURI. 


Held  in  St.  Louis.  October  11,  1865. 


ST.     LOUIS: 

GKOKGE   KNAPP   &   CO.,   PRINTEES  AND   BIXDEKE 
1865. 


MINUTES. 


Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
St.  Louis,   October  11,  1865,  TJ  P.  M. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Moderator, 
Rev.  Thos.  Cole.  Pleading  indisposition,  the  Moderator  de- 
clined to  preach  the  opening  sermon.  At  the  unanimous 
request  of  the  Synod,  Rev.  Dr.  Yantis,  of  Transylvania  Pres- 
bytery, preached  the  opening  sermon  from  Phil.  4:  6. 
The  following  members  answered  to  their  names : 
Presbytery  of  Missouri. — Ministers  :  R.  L.  McAfee,  W.  W. 
Robertson,  M.  M.  Fisher,  C.  D.  Simpson,  J.  A.  Quarles,  Jas. 
Morton,  J.  F.  Cowan,  J.  T.  Paxton.  Elders  :  F.  W.  Digges, 
H.  Crumbaugh,  W.  McPheeters,  W.  H.  McKamey,  M.  G.  Sin- 
gleton, W.  S.  Myers,  I.  Tate,  E.  P.  Mathews,  J.  Quarles,  R. 
Lyman. 

Presbytery  of  Palmyra. — Ministers  :  J.  B.  Poage,  Jno. 
Leighton,  J.  P.  Finley,  J.  M.  Travis,  J.  P.  B.  Forman,  Chas. 
Fuller,  Geo.  Sluter,  H.  P.  S.  Willis.  Elders :  J.  W.  Pryor, 
W.  F.  Smithey,  J.  H.  Underwood,  J.  B.  Woods,  J.  Forsythe, 
J.  Newland. 

Presbytery  of  Potosi. — Ministers  :  A.  Munson,  D.  A.  Wil- 
son, J.  Spencer.     Elder:  M.  P.  Cayce. 

Presbytery  of  St.  Louis. — Ministers :  S.  K.  Sneed,  Thomas 
Cole,  E.  S.  Schenck,  S.  J.  P.  Anderson,  Jno.  N.  Gilbraith,  J.  F. 
Fenton,  W.  H.  Parks,  Thos.  C.  Smith.  H.  A.  Booth,  R.  P.  Far- 
ris,  Jas.  H.  Brookes,  S.  J.  Niccolls,  Jas.  A.  Paige,  A.  Van- 
derlippe,  A.  D.  Madeira,  H.  F.  Albright,  H.  C.  McCook,  E. 
P.  Cowan,  J.  V.  Barks,  S.  Pettigrew.  Elders:  D.  H.  Bishop, 
J.  R.  Little,  J.  S.  Brown,   J.  J.  Johns,  L.  T.  Wood,  J.  C.  Ha- 


vens,  G.  W.  Wade,  J.  W.  Gibson,  A.  W.  Webster,  J.  Wliiteliill, 
A.  G.  Edwards,  J.  Conway,  S.  Bragg,  Reuben  Niccolls. 

Presbytery  of  Upper  Missouri. — J.  N.  Young. 

Presbytery  of  Wyaconda. — Minister:  W.  H.  Hicks.  Eld- 
ers: A.  Wayland,  J.  W.  Lynn. 

Presbytery  of  Lafayette. — Ministers:  D.  Coulter,  J.  M. 
Clianey,  G.  W.  Harlan,  J.  Montgomery.  Elders :  W.  G.  Mc- 
Causland,  R.  H.  Chambers. 

Presbytery  of  South-west  Missouri. — Minister:  J.  Giffen. 

Dr.  Anderson  nominated  as  Moderator,  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris. 
Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  was  also  nominated.  Rev.  Dr.  Montgomery 
was  put  in  nomination,  but  by  vote  was  allowed  to  withdraw 
his  name.  The  vote  stood  R.  P.  Farris,  50;  D.  A.  Wilson,  8. 
So  R.  P.  Farris  was  declared  to  be  duly  elected  Moderator. 

Rev.  Messrs.  J.  P.  Finley  and  J.  A.  Quarles  were  elected 
temporary  clerks. 

The  Presbytery  of  Lafayette  was  ordered  to  meet  to-morrow, 
at  U  A.  M. 

The  affairs  of  Westminster  College  were  made  the  first  order 
of  the  day  for  to-morrow  afternoon. 

The  hours  of  business  were  fixed  at  from  9  A.  M.  to  1  P. 
M.,  and  from  3  to  5  P.  M. 

It  was  resolved  to  spend  the  first  hour  of  to-morrow  morn- 
ning  in  devotional  exercises. 

Synod  adjourned.     Closed  with  prayer. 


October  12,  9  o'clock  A.  31. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer.  An  hour  was  spent 
in  devotional  exercises. 

It  was  announced  that  the  Presbytery  of  Lafayette  had  re- 
ceived Rev.  J.  L.  Yantis,  D.D.  The  Presbytery  of  South-west 
Missouri  having  been  organized  in  accordance  with  the  order 
of  the  General  Assembly,  Rev.  J.  F.  Giffen  appeared  as  a 
member  of  that  Presbytery,  and  filed  evidence  of  its  organiza- 
tion, with  the  number  of  members  and  churches  belonging 
to  it. 


Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  of  Synod  were  read. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Anderson,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  enquire 
whether  the  minutes  of  Synod,  just  read,  are  a  full  and  fair 
record  of  the  proceedings. 

Ayes. — Ministers :  R.  L.  McAFee,  W.  W.  Robertson,  M.  M. 
Fisher,  J.  A.  Quarles,  Jas.  Morton,  J.  F.  Cowan,  J.  T.  Paxton, 
J.  B.  Poage,  J.  Leighton,  J.  M.  Travis,  J.  P.  B.  Forman,  Chas. 
Fuller,  Geo.  Sluter,  H.  P.  S.  Willis,  A.  Munson,  S.  J.  P.  An- 
derson, J.  N.  Gilbraith,  W.  H.  Parks,  T.  C.  Smith,  H.  A. 
Booth,  R.  P.  Farris,  J.  H.  Brookes,  A.  D.  Madeira,  H.  F.  Al- 
bright, J.  Y.  Barks,  S.  Pettigrew,  W.  H.  Hicks,  J.  M.  Chaney, 
G.  W.  Harlan,  J.  L.  Yantis.  Elders  :  W.  G.  McCausland,  R. 
H.  Chambers,  H.  Crumbaugh,  W.  McPheeters,  W.  H.  McKa- 
mey,  M.  G.  Singleton,  I.  Tate,  E.  P.  Mathews,  J.  Quarles,  R. 
Lyman,  J.  W.  Pryor,  W.  F.  Smithey,  J.  H.  Underwood,  J. 
Forsythe,  J.  Newland,  M.  P.  Cayce,  D.  H.  Bishop,  J.  R.  Little, 
J.  S.  Brown,  J.  J.  Johns,  L.  T.  Wood,  G.  W.  Wade,  J.  W. 
Gibson,  J.  Whitehill,  J.  Conway,  T.  Bragg,  A.  Wayland,  J, 
W.  Lynn— Total,  58. 

Noes. — Ministers :  J.  P.  Finley,  D.  A.  Wilson,  J.  Spencer, 
T.  Cole,  E.  S.  Schenck,  J.  F.  Fenton,  S.  J.  Niccolls,  J.  A. 
Paige,  A.  Yanderlippe,  E.  P.  Cowan,  J.  N.  Young,  D.  Coulter, 
J.  Montgomery,  J.  Giffen.  Elders:  F.  W.  Digges,  J.  B. 
Woods,  J.  C.  Havens,  A.  G.  Edwards— Total,  18. 

Recess  till  3  P.  M.,to  meet  in  Walnut-street  Church,  on  ac- 
count of  the  noise. 


Walnut- Street  Church,  3  P.  M. 

The  special  order  (the  affairs  of  Westminster  College)  was 
taken  up. 

Prof.  M.  M.  Fisher  presented  the  Report  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  which  is  as  follows : 

"As  some  years  have  passed  since  there  was  a  full  meeting  of 
the  Board,  it  may  not  be  unwise  to  call  your  attention  briefly 
to   the  condition  of  the  College,  during  the  last  two  years. 


The  year  before  last,  there  were  matriculated  about  80  stu- 
dents, who  were  under  the  care  of  five  regular  Professors.  At 
the  commencement  in  1864,  three  young  gentlemen  were  grad- 
uated: Preston  Breckinridge  Dunn,  Wm.  Bronaugh  Dunn, 
and  I.  Van  wart  Sclienck. 

"  During  the  year  closing  June,  1865,  there  were  in  attend- 
ance about  90.  We  opened  the  session  in  September,  1864, 
with  five  members  in  the  Faculty  ;  four  of  whom  were  engaged 
in  the  duties  of  the  class  room,  while  the  President  (Rev,  J. 
Montgomery,  D.D.)  was  engaged  as  financial  agent.  As  the 
institution  was  straitened  for  funds,  in  accordance  with  what 
was  understood  to  be  the  advice  of  Synod,  the  number  of  in- 
structors was  reduced,  so  that  during  the  last  session  there 
were  only  three  Professors  at  work.  At  our  recent  commence- 
ment, the  degree  of  A.B.  was  conferred  on  Mr.  John  H,  Scott, 
now  in  charge  of  the  chair  of  Mathematics.  It  is  gratifying 
to  be  able  to  state,  that  harmony  prevailed  uniformly  in  the 
deliberations  and  plans  of  the  Faculty. 

"Attention  is  specially  called  to  the  fact,  that  notwithstanding 
the  calamitous  days  through  which  we  have  just  passed,  we 
have  always  had  all  the  regular  College  classes.  This  is  more 
worthy  of  notice,  inasmuch  as  many  of  our  institutions  of 
learning  throughout  the  country  were  entirely  suspended.  It 
is  felt  that  our  Church  in  Missouri  has  great  reason  to  be 
sincerely  thankful,  that  our  Syndodical  College  has  lived  at  all 
to  the  present  hour.  God  has  been  gracious  to  us  amid  all 
the  storms  of  civil  strife,  and  this  gives  us  strong  hopes  for 
days  to  come.  As  to  our  present  attendance,  there  are  Q6  who 
attend  regularly.  The  four  College  classes  are  represented, 
though  small.  These  66  are  nearly  all  young  men,  and  gen- 
erally from  Presbyterian  families.  We  have  reason  to  be 
grateful  as  to  the  kind  of  young  men  now  with  us.  Their  con- 
duct thus  far  has  been  liighly  commendable,  and  such  as  would 
be  expected  from  studious  young  gentlemen. 

"  There  are  about  2,200  volumes  accumulated  in  the  various 
libraries  in  the  College  ;  of  these,  513  belong  to  the  Philological 
Society;  612  to  the  Philalethian  Society;  the  rest,  1,100  vol- 
umes, are  in  the  College  Library.  Near  100  volumes  have 
been  added  since  the  meeting  of  Synod  in  1863,  in  Fulton, 


and  these  are  standard  works  of  reference,  of  wliich  we  have 
been  almost  destitute.  It  is  proper  to  state  that  these  works 
were  purchased  with  funds  furnished  by  our  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, to  supplement  the  salaries  of  our  Professors,  who,  by 
agreement,  appropriated  it  to  the  purpose  mentioned.  What 
is  more  gratifying  still  is,  that  we  have  now  at  our  disposal,  for 
library  purposes,  some  four  or  five  hundred  dollars  ;  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three  of  which  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Treas- 
urer, and  the  rest  in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Education 
awaiting  our  order.  By  judicious  purchases,  this  will  furnish 
us  valuable  assistance  in  our  preparation  for  the  Lecture 
Room. 

"  It  is  exceedingly  important  that  attention  should  be  called 
to  the  working  of  our  scholarship  system.  But  whatever  its 
tendency  as  a  method  of  endowment  may  be,  it  is  evident  that 
either  some  new  regulations  are  necessary,  or  a  more  strict 
interpretation  of  the  old  laws  on  the  subject  must  be  promul- 
gated and  enforced.  Of  the  QQ  students  now  in  attendance, 
only  ten  pay  tuition ;  and  they,  with  a  single  exception,  are  in 
the  English  school,  where  the  tuition  is  only  $8  per  term  of 
five  months ;  and,  of  course,  in  that  school  there  is  litttle  to 
be  gained  in  seeking  the  use  of  a  scholarship. 

"As  will  be  remembered,  the  work  of  instruction  is  divided 
among  six  associated  schools;  these  are  yet  in  existence,  and 
yet  there  are  but  three  instructors  in  the  Institution.  And  the 
opinion  is  sincerely  entertained,  after  considerable  experience 
in  such  labor,  that  we  cannot  do  justice  either  to  ourselves  or 
the  students  under  our  care.  When  all  the  classes  in  College 
proper  are  to  be  heard,  there  is  as  much  labor  involved  in  hear- 
ing 70  pupils  as  200.  Though  we  are  straitened  for  means, 
yet  we  must  sincerely  present  the  necessity  of  having  a  fourth 
Professor.  At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  College  has  so 
much  labor  devolved  on  three  Professors.  The  place  demand- 
ing special  attention  is  the  English  school.  Our  success — our 
very  life — depends  upon  the  management  of  that  department ; 
there  our  higher  classes  are  trained ;  and  in  fact  these  classes 
have  always  kept  pace,  in  size,  with  the  prosperity  of  that  de- 
partment. Prof.  Hersman  is  temporarily  in  charge,  and  is 
filling,  faithfully  and  successfully,  a  very  laborious  position. 


8 

Cannot  we  have  a  President  or  fourth  Professor  ?  Our  anx- 
iety for  assistance  grows  out  of  the  very  necessity  of  the  case. 

"  The  force  of  what  has  been  said  will  perhaps  be  more  clearly 
seen  when  it  is  stated,  that  our  course  of  study  is  just  what 
it  was  at  the  opening  of  the  war.  The  Curriculum,  as  will  be 
seen  by  a  reference  to  the  Catalogue,  is  an  extensive  one,  and 
really  as  high  as  any  institution  in  our  country.  It  has  been 
the  constant  endeavor  of  the  Faculty  to  bring  each  class  fully 
up  to  the  required  standard ;  but,  with  only  three  to  perform 
the  work,  we  despair  of  success.  To  lower  our  standard,  so  as 
to  bring  the  teaching  within  the  ability  of  three,  is  certainly 
undesirable,  to  say  the  least.  The  College  is  well  supplied  with 
philosophical  and  chemical  aparatus,  but  time  is  required  to 
prepare  experiments. 

"  The  condition  of  the  College  Campus  demands  notice.  Three 
hundred  dollars,  judiciously  expended,  would  place  these 
grounds  in  a  much  more  desirable  state,  and,  in  the  end,  really 
save  money.  As  it  is  now,  they  are  daily  becoming  more  un- 
sightly, and  are,  in  fact,  a  disadvantage  to  the  institution. 

"The  first  hour  Monday  morning  is  devoted  to  the  Bible ;  the 
College  classes  reciting  in  the  Greek  Testament,  and  all  the 
rest  in  the  English  Old  Testament.  So  far  this  session,  there 
has  been  no  service  in  the  Chapel  on  Sabbath,  designed  espe- 
cially for  students  ;  but  they  almost  universally  attend  the  dif- 
ferent Churches,  and  are  held  responsible  for  so  doing ;  the 
roll  being  called  on  Monday,  to  ascertain  the  fact  of  their 
compliance. 

"Hoping  that  God  will  put  it  into  the  heads  of  His  people  to 
devise  liberal  things  for  the  College  over  which  you  preside,  we 
respectfully  submit  this  Report." 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Brookes,  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,   That  Synod  has  heard  with  deep   interest   the 

statements  of  Rev.  Prof.  Fisher,  Rev.  Dr.  Montgomery,  and 

Rev.  W.  W.  Robertson,  in  relation   to  Westminster  College, 

and,  as  an  expression  of  our  feelings,  adopt  the  following  paper  : 

1.  We  record  our  sense  of  obligation  to  Almighty  God  for 
the  favor  He  has  already  shown  this  cherished  Institution, 
especially  as  exhibited  in  the  considerable  number  of  faithful, 


zealous  and  successful  ministers  of  the  Gospel  who  have  there 
received  their  education. 

2.  We  express  our  high  appreciation  of  the  self-denying 
labors,  and  our  strong  approbation  of  the  valuable  instruction 
which  have  distinguished  the  various  Professors  employed  in 
the  College. 

3.  We  most  earnestly  commend  the  Institution  to  the  sym- 
pathies, to  the  prayers  and  the  contributions  of  all  our  people, 
entreating  their  hearty  co-operation  in  placing  it  on  a  substan- 
tial foundation. 

4.  We  hereby  direct  the  Board  to  take  immediate  action 
concerning  the  present  scholarship  system,  and,  if  possible, 
secure  the  surrender  of  these  scholarships  by  their  owners. 

The  following  Trustees  were  elected  for  the  times  specified  : 

1866— Rev.  J.  P.  Finley,  Rev.  W.  W.  Robertson,  Rev.  A. 
Munson,  T.  B.  Nesbit. 

1867 — Rev.  Geo.  Sluter,  Rev.  James  H.  Brookes,  D.D.,  Da- 
vid H.  Bishop,  Jno.  B.  Henderson. 

1868— Dr.  A.  Wayland,  Rev.  R.  S.  Symington,  R.  L.  Todd, 
Geo.  Nicholson. 

1869— M.  Baker,  Prof.  G.  C.  Swallow,  S.  S.  Watson,  Rev. 
A.  P.  Forman. 

1870— Rev,  J.  F.  Cowan,  W.  W.  Tuttle,Dr.  A.  Allen,  Rev. 
S.  J.  P.  Anderson,  D.D. 

1871 — Rev.  J.  F.  Fenton,  Rev.  T.  Montgomery,  D.D.,  Joseph 
Culbertson,  Isaac  Tate. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Montgomery,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  should  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Westmin- 
ster College  think  proper  to  appoint  a  Professor  of  the  Eng- 
lish School,  we  will  use  our  efforts  as  a  Synod  to  pay  the 
salary  of  such  Professor. 

The  following  Committees  were  then  announced  by  the 
Moderator : 

Judicial  Committee. — Ministers :  D.  Coulter,  M.  M.  Fisher, 
D.  A.  Wilson.     Elders :  Wm.  McKamey,  Jacob  Brown. 

Bills  and  Overtures. — Ministers :  J.  L.  Yantis,  R.  L.  Mc- 
Afee, Joseph  F.  Fenton.     Elders  :  J.  J.  Johns,  John  Forsyth. 

Minutes  of  the  Assembly. — Ministers  :  J.  H.  Brookes,  W. 


10 

W.  Robertson  H.  T.  S.  Willis.  Elders  :  Isaac  Tate,  Luther  T. 
Wood. 

Committee  on  Devotionat  Exercises. — Ministers :  S.  J.  Nic- 
colls,  A.  D.  Madeira.     Elders :  D.  H.  Bishop,  Jas.  R.  Little. 

Committee  on  Narrative.— W^wiBiQvs:  J.  M.  Chaney,  J.  P. 
Forman.     Elders  :  A.  Wayland,  M.  P.  Cayce. 

Minutes  of  Lafayette  Presbytery. — J.  F.  Cowan,  J.  M. 
Travis,  E.  P.  Mathews. 

Minutes  of  St.  Louis  Presbytery. — A.  Munson,  J.  Leigh- 
ton,  Dr.  Chambers. 

Minutes  of  Missouri  Presbytery. — H.  A.  Booth,  W.  H.  Hicks, 
J.  H.  Underwood. 

Minutes  of  Potosi  Presbytery. — J.  H.  Brookes,  A.  Vander- 
lippe,  H.  Crumbaugh. 

Minutes  of  Upper  Missouri. — J.  B.  Poage,  C.  Fuller,  J.  W. 
Pryor. 

Minutes  of  Palmyra  Presbytery. — Jas.  Morton,  J.  Y.  Barks, 
Jas.  Quarles. 

Minutes  of  Wyaconda. — J.  T.  Paxton,  E.  P.  Cowan,  G.  W. 
Wade. 

Minutes  of  South-west  Missouri. — C.  D.  Simpson,  Geo.  Sin- 
ter, W.  H.  McKamey. 

Committee  07i  Records  of  Westminster  College. — A.  Munson, 
J.  Montgomery,  J.  N.  Gilbraith,  Joseph  Conway,  M.  G.  Sin- 
gleton. 

It  was  made  the  first  order  of  to-morrow  morning,  to  hear 
Dr.  C.  0.  Waters  on  Colportage. 

A  complaint  of  Mr.  George  P.  Strong  was  referred  to  Judi- 
cial Committee. 

This  reference  was  re-considered,  and  the  complainant  was 
allowed  to  withdraw  and  amend  if  he  sees  fit. 

Synod  took  recess  till  7|  o'clock  P.  M. 


Thursday,  7^  o'clock  P.  M. 

After  recess,  Synod  met. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  M.  M.  Fisher,  the  following  paper  was 
unanimously  adopted : 


11 

Whereas,  The  fundamental  law  of  our  Church  organization 
enjoins,  "  That  Synods  and  Councils  are  to  handle  or  con- 
clude nothing  but  that  which  is  ecclesiastical ;"  and  not  to 
"intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which  concern  the  common- 
wealth," (Conf.  of  Faith,  c.  xxxi.  s.  4,)  Therefore, 
Resolved,  That  in  view  of  this  injunction,  this  Synod  will 
not  permit  the  introduction  of  secular  topics,  nor  the  discus- 
sion of  political  resolutions  during  its  sessions. 

Committee  on  Synodical  Records  of  last  Synod  reported  as 
follows  : 

The  Committee  to  inquire  whether  the  minutes  of  Synod 
are  a  full  and  fair  record  of  the  proceedings,  find  the  follow- 
ing facts : 

1.  That  the  Moderator  demanded  of  members,  before  allow- 
ing them  to  participate  in  the  proceedings,  conformity  witli 
Special  Order  62,  commonly  called  the  Rosecrans  order. 

2.  That  a  Deputy  Provost  Marshal  was  present  in  the  Synod, 
and  decided  who  should  or  should  not  be  allowed  the  privi- 
leges of  membership. 

3.  That  the  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris  and  S.  S.  "Watson  demanded 
seats  in  Synod,  declining  to  furnish  evidence  of  having  con- 
formed with  said  order,  and  that  they  were  refused  the  privi- 
leges of  membership  by  the  decision  of  the  Moderator  ;  to 
which  the  Synod  assented,  by  making  no  appeal  from  said 
decision. 

4.  That  no  record  of  any  kind  was  made  of  these  acts ;  but 
that  late  on  the  last  day  of  the  meeting,  the  clerk  was  directed 
to  record  Messrs.  Farris  and  Watson  as  admitted  to  the  roll  of 
membership  on  the  morning  of  the  previous  day. 

This  paper  was  made  the  second  order  of  the  day  for  to- 
morrow morning. 

By  request  of  Rev.  Geo.  Van  Eman,  of  Palmyra  Presbytery, 
Rev.  T.  H.  Dinsmore  and  W.  H.  Hicks,  of  Wyaconda  Presby- 
tery, also  Thos.  Chorry  and  A.  Wayland,  Elders  of  Wya- 
conda Presbytery,  a  meeting  of  Wyaconda  Presbytery  was 
appointed  to  be  held  in  St.  Francisville,  Nov.  17,  1865,  and 
that  Rev.  Geo.  Van  Eman  be  transferred  from  Palmyra  to  Wy- 
aconda Presbytery,  and  be  authorized  to  act  in  constituting  a 
quorum  of  Wyaconda  Presbytery. 


12 

On  motion,  Boonville  Wcas  unanimously  chosen  as  the  place 
of  next  meeting  of  Synod. 

A  Committee,  consisting  ofRer.  M.  M.  Fisher,  was  appointed 
to  prepare  a  Life  of  Rev.  Jeptha  Harrison,  D.D.,  deceased. 
Also,  RcY.  W.  W.  Robertson  and  R.  L.  Symington  were  ap- 
pointed a  Committee  to  prepare  a  similar  sketch  of  the  Life  of 
Rev.  Stephen  Scott,  deceased. 

The  assessment  of  $75  on  the  Synod  by  order  of  the  Assem- 
bly was  approved,  and  a  collection  to  meet  this  and  the  con- 
tingent expenses  of  Synod  was  requested  to  be  taken  up  in 
each  Church  of  this  city  on  the  succeeding  Lord's  day. 

A  pamphlet  styled  a  "  Declaration  and  Testimony,"  was 
read  by  Rev.  J.  H.  Brookes,  D.D.  A  Committee  consisting 
of  R.  L.  McAfee,  M.  M.  Fisher,  J.  N.  Gilbraith,  Isaac  Tate 
and  J.  Conway,  was  appointed  to  report  on  this  pamphlet. 

Adjourned.     Closed  with  prayer. 


Walnut- Street  Church,  Friday,  Oct.  13,  9  A.  M. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer. 

Rev.  H.  A.  Nelson,  D.D.,  Rev.  E.  Wright,  of  the  Synod  o\ 
Missouri  (N.  S.),  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Pugh,  Horn,  F.  A.  Morris, 
J.  Boyle,  D.D.,  of  tlie  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South, 
were  invited  to  sit  as  corresponding  members. 

Dr.  E.  T.  Scott  of  Fulton,  and  Robt.  Carr  of  South  Fork, 
appeared  and  took  their  seats. 

Dr.  C.  0.  Waters  was  then  heard  on  the  claims  of  the  Board 
of  Publication.  On  \n.oi\o\\,  Resolved,  1.  That  we  have  heard 
with  deep  interest  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Waters  in  regard  to  the 
Colportage  Department  of  the  Board  of  Publication  of  our 
Church.  2.  That  we  will  earnestly  endeavor  to  do  our  part 
in  carrying  out  the  noble  ends  proposed  by  our  Board,  in  send- 
ing their  excellent  publications  throughout  our  bounds. 

Rev.  E.  Wright  was  then  heard  in  behalf  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  and  resolutions  commendatory  of  that  object 
were  then  passed. 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  records  of  last  year 
was  taken  up  and  amended,  so  as  to  read  as  follows  : 


13 

The  Committee  to  inquire  whether  the  Minutes  of  Synod  are 
a  full  and  fair  record  of  its  proceedings,  find  the  following 
facts :  1.  That  the  record  is  defective,  inasmuch  as  no  men- 
tion is  made  of  the  unusual  manner  in  which  members  were 
qualified  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings,  to-wit :  that  the  Mod- 
erator demanded  of  the  members,  before  allowing  them  to  par. 
ticipate  in  the  proceedings,  conformity  with  Special  Order  62, 
commonly  called  the  Rosecrans  order.  2.  That  a  Deputy  Pro- 
vost Marshal  was  present  in  Synod,  and  decided  who  should  or 
should  not  be  allowed  the  privileges  of  membership,  and  that 
this  decision  was  accepted  by  the  Synod.  3.  The  Committee 
find  the  minutes  defective,  because  no  mention  is  made  of  the 
fact  that  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris  and  S.  S.  Watson  were  denied  the 
right  to  take  their  seats  and  to  act  as  members  by  a  decision 
of  the  Moderator  and  Provost  Marshal,  to  which  decision  the 
majority  of  Synod  assented  by  making  no  appeal  therefrom. 
4.  The  Committee  find  minutes  unfair  and  incorrect,  inasmuch 
as  the  names  of  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris  and  S.  S.  Watson  appear 
on  the  record  as  though  they  had  been  granted  the  privilege  of 
taking  their  seats  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  whereas  this 
privilege  was  denied  them,  and  their  names  were  not  placed 
on  the  record  until  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day. 

The  Report  was  adopted  on  division,  by  a  vote  of  sixty-one 
to  nineteen. 

The  following  resolution  was  presented  and  laid  on  the  table  : 
Resolved,  That  in  our  action  in  regard  to  the  last  meeting 

of  Synod,  it  is  not  at  all  designed  to  censure  those  brethren 

forming  the  Synod,  who  desired  to  act  in  accordance  with  the 

usages  of  our  Church. 

The  following  paper  was  presented  by  Dr.  Montgomery,  and 

placed  on  docket  : 

"  Whereas  it  is  vital  to  the  permanent  success  of  Westminster 
College  that  the  endowment  in  money  be  greatly  increased  '■> 
and  whereas  the  Board  of  Trustees  may  hesitate  to  em- 
ploy an  agent  to  go  into  the  general  field  and  labor  for  secu- 
ring such  endowment,  by  reason  of  their  inability  to  sustain 
such  agent ; 
^^  Resolved,  That  should  it  seem  to  the  Board  that  this  is  a 


.       14 

proper  time  to  employ  such  agent  and  secure  such  endowment, 
this  Synod  will  sustain  the  Board  in  paying  for  the  services  of 
such  agent." 

Synod  then  took  recess  till  3  o'clock  P.  M. 


Friday,  3  P.  M. 
Synod  re-assembled. 

The  following  paper  was  presented  by  Dr.  Anderson  : 
"  Whereas  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  assembled  in  this  place  on 
October  12th,  1864,  met  under  military  supervision  and  con- 
trol, and  required  an  oath  imposed  by  military  authority, 
and  administered  by  a  military  officer  in  open  Synod — he  not 
being  a  member  of  Synod — or  a  certificate  of  having  taken 
an  oath  of  loyalty,  as  a  qualification  for  membership  in  that 
body,  and  did  reject  a  minister  and  ruling  elder,  duly  quali- 
fied ecclesiastically,  and  refused  them  any  participation  in  its 
deliberations  because  they  did  not  present  such  evidence  : 
And  whereas  said  body  did  entirely  suppress  any  mention 
of  these  acts,  and  did  record  that  these  persons  were  received 
and  enrolled,  when,  in  fact,  they  were  rejected ;  Therefore, 
^^  Resolved,    1.  That  said  body  was  not  a  free  court  of  our 
Church,  duly  constituted  according  to  our  form  of  government. 
2.  That  the  acts  of  said  body  are  null  and  void,  and  of  no 
binding  force." 

This  paper  was  adopted  by  ayes  and  noes,  as  follows  : 
Ayes. — Ministers :  R.  L.  McAfee,  W.  W.  Robertson,  M.  M. 
Fisher,  C.  D.  Simpson,  J.  A.  Quarles,  J.  Morton,  J.  F.  Cowan, 
J.  T.  Paxton,  J.  M.  Travis,  J.  P.  B.  Forman,  C.  Fuller,  Geo. 
Sluter,  H.  P.  S.  Willis,  A.  Munson,  S.  J.  P.  Anderson,  J.  N. 
Gilbraith,  W.  H.  Parks,  T.  C.  Smith,  H.  A.  Booth,  R.  P.  Far- 
ris,  J.  H.  Brookes,  A.  D.  Madeira,  H.  F.  Albright,  J.  V. 
Barks,  D.  Coulter,  J.  M.  Chaney,  G.  W.  Harlan,  J.  L.  Yantis 
—28.  Elders:  W.  G.  McCausland,  P.  H.  Chambers,  H. 
Crumbaugh,  W.  McPheeters,  W.  H.  McKamey,  M.  G.  Single- 
ton, W.  S.  Myers,  Isaac  Tate,  E.  P.  Mathews,  J.  Quarles,  E. 
T.  Scott,  R.  Lyman,  J.  W.  Pryor,  W.  F.  Smithey,  J.  H.  Un- 
derwood, R.  Nicholls,  J.  Forsyth,  T.  Newland,  R.  Carr,  M.  P. 


I 


15 

Cayce,  D.  B.  Pogue,  D.  H.  Bishop,  T.  R.  Little,  J.  S.  Brown, 
J.  J.  Johns,  L.  T.  Wood,  G.  W.  Wade,  J.  W.  Gibson,  J. 
Whitehill,  J.  Conway,  T.  Bragg,  A.  Wayland,  T.  W.  Lynn— 
33.     Total,  61. 

Noes. — Ministers:  J.  B.  Poage,  J.  P.  Finley,  D.  A.  Wilson, 
J.  Spencer,  S.  K.  Snead,  T.  Cole,  J.  F.  Fenton,  S.  J.  Niccolls, 
J.  A.  Paige,  A.  Vanderlippe,  E.  P.  Cowan,  S.  Pettigrew,  J. 
N.  Young,  J.  Montgomery,  J.  Gififen,  J.  Leightou — 16.  Eld- 
ers :  F.  W.  Digges,  J.  B.  Woods,  J.  C.  Havens,  A.  G.  Ed- 
wards, B.  W.  Horr— 5.     Total,  21. 

Elders  B.  W.  Horr,  of  the  First  Church,  and  D.  B.  Pogue, 
of  the  Second  Church,  Hannibal,  appeared  and  took  their 
seats. 

Recess  till  7|  P.  M. 


Friday,  1^  P.  M. 
The  Report  of  the  Committee  on  "  Declaration  of  Testimo- 
ny" was  made  and  received  ;  is  as  follows  : 

"Whereas  it  is  the  sincere  opinion  of  the  Committee  that  the 
paper  committed  to  us  does  not  contemplate  or  design  the 
disruption  of  our  beloved  Church,  the  Church  of  our  fathers, 
inasmuch  as  it  distinctly  states  as  follows :  '  We  declare  our 
deliberate  purpose,  trusting  in  God,  who  can  save  by  few 
as  well  as  by  many,  to  use  our  best  endeavors  to  bring  back 
the  Church  of  our  fathers  to  her  purity  and  integrity  ;'  and 
again,  '  It  is  our  steadfast  aim  to  reform  the  Church,  or  tes- 
tify against  its  errors,  until  testimony  will  be  no  longer 
heard' :  And  whereas  in  every  place  where  separation  is 
even  alluded  to,  that  separation  is  spoken  of  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  leave  the  abiding  impression,  that  the  authors  of 
this  '  Declaration  and  Testimony'  deprecated  such  a  result 
and  were  influenced  by  an  earnest  love  of  the  truth  ;  and 
whereas  we  believe  the  adoption  of  this  paper  lays  the  best 
foundation  to  hope  that  our  Church,  already  practically  divi- 
ded, can  be  brought  together  as  in  days  past :  Therefore, 
'■^Resolved  1.  That  we  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  paper 

with  the  following  interpretation  of  No.  1  in  the  proposed  ac- 


16 

tion :  '  That  we  refuse  to  give  our  support  to  ministers,  elders, 
agents,  editors,  teachers,  or  to  those  who  are  in  any  other  capa- 
city engaged  in  religious  instruction  or  effort,  who  may  come 
among  us  for  the  purpose  of  propagating  the  errors  against 
which  we  protest,  or  for  sowing  the  seeds  of  disruption  in  our 
Church.  2.  That  we  endorse  the  action  proposed  in  No.  7, 
only  so  far  as  it  concerns  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions.  3. 
That  in  recommending  its  adoption  we  do  most  earnestly  dis- 
claim any  desire  whatever  to  see  our  beloved  Church  divided." 

The  Judicial  Committee  made  the  following  Report,  which 
was  accepted  and  docketed  : 

"  The  Judicial  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  com- 
plaint of  G.  P.  Strong  to  this  Synod,  against  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  of  St.  Louis  touching  the  case  of  the  dissolution  of 
the  pastoral  relation  of  Dr.  S.  B.  McPheeters  and  the  Pine- 
street  Church,  beg  leave  to  report  that  they  find  the  complaint 
in  order,  and  hence  ready  for  the  action  of  Synod,  according 
to  the  provisions  of  our  form  of  government ;  the  Commit- 
tee are  of  opinion,  however,  that  to  take  up  the  case  in  this 
way  would  require  more  time  than  the  Synod  could  be  kept 
together  at  the  present  session,  and  would  therefore  suggest 
that  the  case  be  referred  to  a  Judicial  Commission,  or  to  defer 
the  whole  to  the  next  meeting  of  Synod." 

Closed  with  prayer.     Adjourned  till  to-morrow,  9  A.  M. 


Walnut- Street  Church,  Saturday,  9  A.  M. 

Synod  met ;  opened  with  prayer. 

Eev.  J.  Leighton  was  allowed  to  record  his  vote  on  the  re- 
port of  the  Synodical  Record,  and  voted  no. 

On  motion,  the  complaint  of  G.  P.  Strong  was  referred  to 
a  Judicial  Committee,  consisting  of  Rev.  Messrs.  D.  Coulter, 
R.  L.  McAfee,  CD.  Simpson,  A.  Munson,  and  Elder  M.  P. 
Cayce. 

The  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis  was  directed  to  meet  in  this 
house  this  afternoon,  2|  o'clock,  to  enable  the  Kirkwood 
Church  to  prosecute  its  call  for  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Pinkerton,  before  the  Presbytery  of  Sangamon,  Illinois. 


I 


17 

A  protest  was  presented  by  Rev.  J.  A.  Paige  and  others,  re- 
ceived and  committed  to  record,  and  a  Committee  consisting 
of  Rev.  Messrs.  Anderson  and  Yantis,  and  Elders  Bishop  and 
Tate,  was  appointed  to  answer  it,  which  protest  is  as  follows  : 

"  We  do  hereby  enter  our  respectful  but  earnest  protest, 
against  the  action  of  this  body  '  declaring  null  and  void,  and 
of  no  binding  force  whatever,'  the  entire  acts  and  proceedings 
of  the  Synod  of  October,  1864. 

"1.  Because  it  is  founded  upon  ea;  joar^e  and  inadequate 
statements  of  the  facts  in  the  case. 

"  2.  Because  it  transcends  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  resolu- 
tion appointing  the  Committee  of  Investigation,  which  was  to 
correct  and  amend  the  minutes,  and  not  altogether  to  annul 
them. 

"  3.  Because  such  sweeping  action  is  an  extreme  and  arbi- 
trary exercise  of  ecclesiastical  power,  condemning  the  act  of 
the  other  meeting,  recognizing  its  error,  and  correcting  its  own 
minutes  by  enrolling  the  excluded  member  in  his  proper 
place ;  while  this  meeting,  of  the  same  permanent  body,  as- 
sumes to  abolish  those  minutes  altogether ;  and  it  wears  the 
appearance  of  a  resentful  spirit  towards  the  members  of  that 
previous  meeting,  acting  under  constraint  of  military  orders, 
branding  them  with  willingly  ^  accepting'  that  constraint,  in 
the  face  of  their  persistent  disavowal,  both  in  that  meeting  and 
this,  and  which  their  refusal  to  record  any  reference  to  the 
circumstances  and  even  their  alleged  irregularities  impliedly 
repudiate. 

"  4.  Because  it  is  liable  to  invalidate  official  acts,  deriving 
their  authority  from  that  meeting,  which  may  jeopardize  se- 
rious pecuniary  and  other  interests  of  innocent  parties,  one  of 
which  has  become  part  of  a  process  in  the  civil  courts. 

"  5.  Because  it  sets  a  precedent  of  anarchical  tendency  in 
the  government  of  the  house  of  God,  inasmuch  as  those  min- 
utes have  already  been  examined  and  approved,  and  a  particu- 
lar case  of  alleged  grievance  decided  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  last  May. 

"  Ministers — ^J.  A.  Paige,  S.  J.  Niccolls,  John  Leighton,  J. 
B.  Poage,  S.  Pettigrew,  Jos.  F.  Fenton,  E.  P.  Cowan,  A. 
Vanderlippe,  J.  N.  Young,  J.  P.  Finley,  Julius  Spencer, 
2 


18 

S.  K.  Sneed,  Elias  S.  Schenck,  J.  Giffen,  D.  A.  Wilson, 
Thos.  Cole.  Elders — A.  G.  Edwards,  J.  C.  Havens,  F. 
W.  Digges,  J.  B.  Woods,  H.  B.  Horr." 

The  Committee  appointed  to  answer  the  complaint  of  Rev. 
J.  A.  Paige  and  others,  made  the  following  Report : 

"  1.  The  testimony  as  to  the  facts  on  which  Synod  relied 
was  duly  sworn  to  before  a  regular  Church  Court,  and  was 
given  in  part  by  members  of  the  last  Synod,  one  of  the  wit- 
nesses being  the  Moderator  of  that  body, — so  that  it  was  in 
no  sense  ex  parte.  Indeed,  the  facts  on  which  this  Synod  re- 
lied in  its  decision  were  not  denied,  but  repeatedly  admitted 
in  the  discussions  on  its  floor. 

"  2.  The  object  of  the  Synod  in  appointing  a  Committee 
was  to  ascertain  the  facts  as  the  ground  of  forming  a  judgment 
of  the  real  character  of  the  proceeding  of  the  Synod  of  1864. 
^And  when  these  facts  were  ascertained,  it  was  every  way  com- 
petent for  this  Synod  to  pronounce  a  judgment  upon  them. 

"  3.  The  power  to  annul  the  action  of  a  former  Synod  can- 
not be  denied  by  the  protestants,  for  a  considerable  part  of  their 
own  number  assented  to  the  decision  of  1864  in  rescinding 
the  deliverance  of  the  Synod  of  1861,  and  directing  the  clerk 
to  write  this  rescinding  act  across  the  face  of  the  records.  Nor 
did  these  members  express  any  regret  for  what  they  had  done ; 
on  the  contrary,  several  of  them  justified  the  exclusion  of 
Messrs.  Farris  and  Watson,  and  affirmed  that  they  would  do 
the  same  again  under  similar  circumstances.  But  even  if  they 
had  all  repented  of  the  wrong  done  these  members,  the  act  of 
this  exclusion  remained  uncorrected  as  a  reproach  to  the  fair 
fame  of  the  body,  and  needed  to  be  distinctly  reversed  so  as 
to  remove  the  stigma  from  our  records.  Nor  did  our  action 
manifest  any  vindictive  spirit  towards  the  wrong-doers,  but 
was  merely  tardy  justice  to  those  who  had  been  grievously 
wronged. 

"  4.    The  Synod  is  not  aware  of  any  pecuniary  interests  that 
are  jeopardized  by  their  annulling  act ;  but  if  such  there  be 
it  would  still  be  our  duty  to  declare  null  and  void  those  acts 
which  were  passed  by  a  body  not  duly  constituted  according 
to  our  form  of  government. 

"  5.    The  course  of  Synod  is  not  anarchical,  even  if  the  As- 


19 

sembly  had  decided  on  the  merits  of  the  case  ;  for  we  are  in 
the  habit  of  appointing  a  Committee  to  examine  the  records 
of  the  Assembly,  and  no  one  will  contend  that  we  are  at  lib- 
erty to  approve  their  deliverances,  but  have  no  power  to  con- 
demn. Such  an  interpretation  would  make  our  annual  ap- 
pointment a  mere  mockery.  But  the  truth  is  that  the  merits 
of  the  case  were  not  decided  by  the  higher  court,  but  a  decis- 
ion was  evaded  by  that  body  on  the  plea  (manifestly  incor- 
rect) that  the  act  of  the  Moderator,  unappealed  from,  was  not 
the  act  of  the  Synod,  and  that  there  was  therefore  no  ground 
of  complaint. 

S.  J.  P.  Anderson,  Chairman.^'' 

The  paper  referring  to  the  permanent  endowment  of  West- 
minster College  was  taken  from  the  docket  and  passed. 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Declaration  and  Testi. 
mony  was  taken  up.  The  following  substitute  for  that  Report 
was  presented  and  referred  to  a  Committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Yantis,  Montgomery,  Singleton,  Johns  and  Niccolls, 
to  wit : 

*'  The  Synod  having  had  read  a  paper  entitled  a  '  Declaration 
and  Testimony,'  &c.,  and  having  heard  the  report  of  a  Com- 
mittee appointed  to  consider  the  same,  and  finding  that  said 
Committee  recommends  with  certain  alterations  the  adoption 
of  said  paper ;  in  these  circumstances  the  Synod  would  recog- 
nize the  zeal  of  the  brethren  presenting  the  aforesaid  '  Testi- 
mony' for  the  purity  and  integrity  of  the  Church,  and  espe 
cially  their  desire  to  secure,  that  the  Church  shall  not,  contrary 
to  its  avowed  and  constitutional  principles,  in  any  way  inter- 
meddle with  the  political  affairs  of  the  commonwealth ;  but 
inasmuch  as  said  document  is  very  voluminous  and  involves 
questions  requiring  nice  and  accurate  discrimination,  which 
the  time  and  opportunity  of  this  Synod  do  not  permit  them 
fully  and  carefully  to  consider ;  inasmuch  as  further  the  pub- 
lic discussion  which  the  said  '  Declaration  and  Testimony'  has 
received  in  Synod,  and  generally  throughout  the  Church,  will 
probably  accomplish  such  results  as  the  brethren  presenting  it 
contemplate  by  its  adoption  ;  Resolved^  therefore,  to  lay  said 
testimony  on  the  table ;   at  the  same  time  expressing  a  hope 


20 

that  the  general  principles   which  it  advocates  may  meet  with 
consideration  and  acceptance  by  the  Church." 

The  Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly 
made  the  following  Report : 

"I.  We  commend  to  the  attention  and  observance  of  the 
Churches  under  our  care,  the  following  resolution  found  on 
page  548 : 

^^  ^Resolved,  In  view  of  the  marked  manifestation  of  God's 
favor  and  blessing  upon  the  observance  in  the  past,  that  the 
General  Assembly  recommend  that  all  our  Churches  unite 
with  other  Christian  bodies,  in  setting  apart  the  last  Thursday 
in  February  as  a  day  of  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  upon  our  children  and  youth,  and  especially  upon  those 
assembled  in  the  schools,  colleges,  and  all  institutions  of  learn- 
ing in  our  land.' 

"  II.  We  also  earnestly  approve  the  recommendation  found 
on  page  592,  in  the  following  words  ; 

"  ^Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  recommend  to  the 
sessions  of  our  Churches,  to  set  apart  as  a  period  of  special 
prayer  for  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  Churches 
and  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  the  week  beginning  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1866,  including  also  the  last  Sabbath  of  December, 
and  the  first  Sabbath  of  January.' 

"  III.  It  is  with  profound  regret  that  your  Committee  are 
constrained  to  express  their  dissent  from  the  proceedings  of 
the  General  Assembly,  (1.)  touching  the  political  condition  of 
the  country ;  (2. )  toucliing  their  action  in  relation  to  the 
Southern  Church ;  (3.)  touching  their  order  to  Presbyteries, 
Synods,  and  Sessions,  requiring  an  examination  upon  the  sub. 
jects  of  loyalty  and  slavery,  of  all  who  appear  from  Southern 
States  before  these  various  spiritual  courts;  and,  (4.)  touch- 
ing their  injunction  to  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  di- 
recting that  no  ministers  be  appointed  by  the  Board  '  but  those 
who  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  their  loyalty  to  the  National 
Government,  and  that  they  are  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  her  testimony  on  doctrine,  loyalty  and 
freedom.'      (See  pages  554,  560,  563,  and  566.) 

*'  Concerning  these  proceedings,  your  Committee  recommend 


21 

that  we  re-affirm  the  testimony  borne  by  this  Synod  during  its 
Sessions  in  November,  1861,  with  regard  to  the  action  of  the 
Assembly  of  the  same  year,  upon  the  political  condition  of  the 
country.  That  testimony,  as  our  records  show,  was  in  the  fol- 
lowing words : 

"  '  It  was  unanimously  Resolved,  That  the  action  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  May  last,  in  relation  to  the  political  condition 
of  the  country,  was  unscriptural,  unconstitutional,  unwise, 
and  unjust ;  and  we  therefore  solemnly  protest  against  it,  and 
declare  it  of  no  binding  force  whatever  on  this  Synod,  or  upon 
the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  within  our  bounds.' 

"  Your  Committee  beg  leave  to  employ,  in  relation  to  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Assembly  of  1865,  the  language  of  certain  emi- 
nently loyal  ministers  in  relation  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly 
of  1861 ;  partly  because  we  wish  to  preserve  in  our  records 
the  noble  testimony  which  these  men  were  then  enabled  by 
the  grace  of  God  to  bear  for  the  truth,  and  partly  because  they 
have  expressed,  in  better  phraseology  than  we  can  command, 
our  sense  of  the  proceedings  of  the  late  General  Assembly. 

"  It  appears,  then,  from  the  Minutes  of  1861,  that  a  protest 
was  presented  to  that  body  against  its  action  upon  the  state  of 
the  country.  This  protest  was  signed  by  Rev.  Dr.  Hodge  and 
Rev.  John  Leighton  of  this  Synod,  and  about  sixty  other  per- 
sons, several  of  whom  have  been  as  much  distinguished  for 
their  loyalty  to  the  country,  as  for  their  services  to  the  Church. 
In  tljis  important  paper,  the  following  language  occurs  con- 
cerning the  action  of  the  Assembly  : 

" '  It  pronounces  or  assumes  a  particular  interpretation  of 
the  Constitution.  This  is  a  matter  clearly  beyond  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Assembly.  *  *  *  The  General  Assembly  in 
thus  deciding  a  political  question,  and  in  making  that  decision 
practically  a  condition  of  membership  to  the  Church,  has,  in 
our  judgment,  violated  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  and 
usurped  the  prerogative  of  its  Divine  Master.  *  *  *  We 
protest,  because  we  regard  the  action  of  the  Assembly  as  unjust 
and  cruel  in  its  bearing  on  our  Southern  brethren.  *  *  * 
And  finally,  we  protest,  because  we  believe  the  act  of  the  As- 
sembly will  not  only  diminish  the  resources  of  the  Church,  but 
greatly  weaken  its  power  for  good,  and  expose  it  to  the  danger 


22 

of  being  carried  away  more  and  more  from  its  true  principles, 
by  a  worldly  or  fanatical  spirit.' 

"  Whether  the  belief  and  the  fear  here  expressed  have  been 
fully  realized,  let  all  mankind  judge. 

"  Concerning  the  same  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1861,  we 
find  the  following  language  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
as  reported  to  them  by  their  Committee,  consisting  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Robert  J.  Breckenridge,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Matthews,  and  Rev. 
Dr.  R.  W.  Landis,  together  with  two  Ruling  Elders : 

'"In  the  judgment  of  a  large  minority  of  the  Assembly, 
and  of  multitudes  in  the  Church,  the  subject  matter  of  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  in  the  premises  being  purely  political^ 
was  incompetent  to  a  spiritual  court.  Undoubtedly  it  was  in- 
competent to  the  Assembly,  as  a  spiritual  court,  to  require  or 
to  advise  acts  of  disobedience  to  actual  governments,  in  the 
manner  and  under  the  circumstances  which  existed  ;  and  still 
further,  it  was  neither  ivise  nor  discreet  for  the  Assembly  of 
the  whole  Church  to  disregard,  in  its  action,  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  which  rendered  it  impossible  for  large  portions  of 
the  Church  to  obey  its  order,  without  being  liable  to  the  high- 
est penalties.  The  action  of  the  Assembly  being  exhausted  by 
the  occurrence  of  the  day  of  prayer  recommended,  and  no 
ulterior  proceedings  under  the  order  of  the  Assembly  being 
contemplated,  this  Synod  contents  itself  with  this  expression 
of  its  grave  disapprobation  of  this  action  of  the  General  As- 
sembly.' 

"  To  this  testimony  of  Rev.  Drs.  Breckenridge,  Matthews, 
Landis,  and  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey, 
added  the  following  emphatic  declaration,  and  it  was  unani- 
mously adopted : 

"'Which  action  of  the  Assembly  the  Synod  judges  to  be 
repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God,  as  thai  Word  is  interpreted  in 
our  Confession  of  Faith.' 

"  Your  Committee  feel  that  the  language  in  relation  to  the 
Assembly's  act  of  1861,  employed  by  these  gentlemen,  so  re- 
nowned for  their  loyal  devotion  to  the  Government,  becomes 
far  more  appropriate  in  its  application  to  the  Assembly  of 
1865,  which  certainly  surpassed  all  previous  Assemblies  in  their 
unscriptural,  unconstitutiunal,  unwise,  and  unjust  legislation. 


23 

"1.  The  action  of  the  last  Assembly  was  unscriptural,  he. 
cause  it  violated  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  Word  of 
God.  The  Divine  Redeemer,  in  whose  name  and  by  whose 
authority  they  were  constituted  an  Ecclesiastical  Court,  has 
said,  '  Ye  shall  not  add  unto  the  word  which  I  command  you, 
neither  shall  ye  diminish  aught  from  it,'  and  yet  the  Assembly 
did  both  add  to  that  word  on  the  subject  of  loyalty,  and  dimin- 
ish from  it  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  did  '  bind  heavy 
burdens,  and  grievous  to  be  borne,  on  men's  shoulders  ;  but 
they  themselves  will  not  move  them  with  one  of  their  fingers.' 
They  surely  have  no  scriptural  authority  to  go  further  than 
the  Word  of  God  in  enjoining  upon  every  soul  to  be  subject 
unto  the  higher  powers  ;  they  surely  had  no  scriptural  author- 
ity to  require  cordial  sympathy  with  the  conflicting  testimony 
of  the  Assembly  upon  the  subject  of  slavery ;  and,  above  all, 
they  surely  had  no  scriptural  authority  to  establish  conditions 
of  Church  membership  unknown  to  the  Bible,  unsanctioned  by 
their  own  previous  declarations,  and  unequal  in  their  bearing 
upon  those  who  came  from  the  South,  and  those  who  have  re- 
mained in  the  North.  '  Though  we,  or  an  angel  from  Heaven,' 
says  the  Apostle,  '  preach  any  other  Gospel  unto  you,  than  that 
which  we  have  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed.  As 
we  said  before,  so  say  I  now  again,  if  any  man  preach  any 
other  Gospel  unto  you  than  that  ye  have  received,  let  him  be 
accursed.' 

"  The  powers  of  the  General  Assembly  are  necessarily  lim- 
ited by  their  Divine  commission,  and  they  are  forbidden  to  act 
as  lords  over  God's  heritage,  or  to  be  a  judge  and  divider  over 
their  brethren  in  things  temporal  and  spiritual.  As  members 
of  an  ecclesiastical  body,  they  belong  to  a  kingdom  not  of  this 
world,  and  they  are  not  constituted  to  have  dominion  over  our 
faith,  but  as  helpers  of  our  joy.  When,  therefore,  they  require 
conformity  to  acts  that  are  clearly  beside  the  Word  of  God, 
even  according  to  their  own  testimony  up  to  the  very  time 
these  acts  were  passed,  it  is  manifest  that  they  have  established 
an  unscriptural  rule.*     Your  Committee  are  compelled  to  say, 

*  The  following  sentence  was  inserted  in  the  originallleport,  but  was  stricken 
out  at  the  request  of  Rev.  S.  J.  Niccolls,  who  asserted  that  Judge  Ewin^  in  the 
remark  ascribed  to  him,  referred  only  to  the  proceedings  of  a  single  session  of 
the  Assembly  :  "And  this  becomes  all  the  more  manifest,  when  we  hear  one  of 


24 

that  the  charity  which  suffereth  long  and  is  kind,  the  love 
which  thinketh  no  evil,  and  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of 
Christ,  do  not  seem  to  have  controlled  some  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  our  venerable  Assembly. 

"  2.  That  the  proceedings  from  which  we  express  this,  our 
respectful  dissent,  were  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
Church,  few,  we  presume,  will  be  bold  enough  to  deny.  That 
Constitution  explicitly  states,  that  '  Synods  and  Councils  are 
to  handle  or  conclude  nothing  but  that  which  is  ecclesiastical ; 
and  are  not  to  intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which  concern  the 
commonwealth.'  (Confession  of  Faith,  Chap.  XXXI.,  Sec. 
IV.)  And  yet  not  only  was  a  large  portion  of  the  Assembly's 
time  occupied  in  the  discussion  of  civil  affairs  which  concern 
the  commonwealth,  but  they  actually  declared  against  the 
'  erroneous  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of  State  rights,^  which 
has  prevailed  in  the  seceded  or  rebellious  States,  and  which 
has  been  a  subject  of  purely  political  agitation  as  to  the  proper 
interpretation  of  our  Federal  Constitution,  ever  since  the 
organization  of  our  government. 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  Church  explicitly  states,  that  '  all 
Synods  or  Councils  since  the  Apostles'  times,  whether  general 
or  particular,  may  err,  and  many  have  err6d ;  therefore  they 
are  not  to  be  made  the  rule  of  faith  or  practice.'  (Confession 
of  Faith,  Chap.  XXXI.,  Sec.  III.)  And  yet,  in  the  face  of  this 
law,  the  General  Assembly  has  made  its  decisions  upon  loyalty 
and  freedom  a  rule  both  of  faith  and  practice,  inasmuch  as  all 
applicants  from  the  South  for  membership,  to  Churches,  Pres- 
byteries and  Synods,  are  to  be  examined  touching  their  opin- 
ions and  conduct  upon  these  points ;  and  if  they  do  not  come 
up  to  the  standard  fixed  by  the  Assembly,  they  are  to  be  ex- 
cluded from  ecclesiastical  privileges. 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  Church  explicitly  states,  that  'God 
alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience ;  and  hath  left  it  free  from  the 
doctrine  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything 
contrary  to  His  word,  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  and  wor- 
ship :    therefore,  they  consider  the  rights  of  private  judgment 

their  own  number,  a  distinguished  and  loyal  Ruling  Elder,  declaring  that  these 
acts  were  carried  in  a  spirit  of  relentless  persecution,  such  as  he  never  before 
had  witnessed." 


25 

in  all  matters  that  respect  religion,  as  universal  and  inaliena- 
ble.'    (Form  of  Government,  Chap.  I.,  Sec.  I.) 

"  They  also  believe  that  there  are  truths  and  forms,  with 
respect  to  which  good  men  may  differ.  And  in  all  these,  they 
think  it  the  duty,  both  of  private  Christians  and  societies,  '  to 
exercise  mutual  forbearance  towards  each  other.'  (Form  of 
Government,  Chap.  I.,  Sec.  Y.) 

"'All  Church  power,  whether  exercised  by  the  body  in  gen- 
eral, or  in  the  way  of  representation  by  delegated  authority,  is 
only  ministerial  and  declarative ;  that  is  to  say,  that  the  Holy 
Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  manners ;  that  no 
Church  Judicatory  ought  to  pretend  to  make  laws  to  bind  the 
conscience  in  virtue  of  their  own  authority  ;  and  that  all  their 
decisions  should  be  founded  upon  the  revealed  will  of  God.' 
(Form  of  Government,  Chap.  I.,  Sec.  VII.) 

" '  These  Assemblies  ought  not  to  possess  any  civil  jurisdic- 
tion, nor  to  inflict  any  civil  penalties.      Their  power  is  wholly 
moral  or  spiritual,  and  that  only  ministerial  and  declarative.' 
(Form  of  Government,  Chap.  YIII.,  Sec.  II.) 

"  '  Before  any  overtures  or  regulations  proposed  by  the  As- 
sembly to  be  established  as  constitutional  rules  shall  be  obliga- 
tory on  the  Churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them  to 
all  the  Presbyteries,  and  to  receive  the  returns  of  at  least  a 
majority  of  them,  in  writing,  approving  thereof.'  (Form  of 
Government,  Chap.  XII.,  Sec.  VI.) 

"And  yet,  in  the  face  of  these  laws,  the  General  Assembly  has 
not  left  the  conscience  free  from  the  doctrine  and  command- 
ments of  men,  which  are  clearly  beside  the  Word  of  God,  for 
it  requires  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  called  to  preach  under 
the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  cordial  sympathy  with 
its  new  testimony  on  loyalty  and  freedom.  It  has  not  exer- 
cised that  forbearance  required  by  the  Constitution  with  re- 
spect to  truths  and  forms  about  which  good  men  have  been 
permitted  hitherto  to  differ;  for  it  requires  a  rigid  adherence 
to  certain  views,  about  which  both  the  Word  of  God  and  all 
preceding  Assemblies  are  silent  as  the  grave.  It  has  made 
laws  to  bind  the  conscience  in  virtue  of  its  own  authority,  and 
so  far  from  its  decisions  being  founded  upon  the  revealed  will 


26 

of  God,  your  Committee  cannot  discover  that  it  even  refers  to 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  as  the  foundation  of  its  most  objectiona- 
ble proceedings.  It  has  certainly  assumed  civil  jurisdiction, 
for  it  undertakes  to  settle  the  long  vexed  question  of  State 
rights,  and  much  of  its  legislation  is  concerning  matters  purely 
civil.  It  has  adopted  certain  regulations  as  constitutional 
rules,  and  made  them  obligatory  on  the  Churches  without 
transmitting  them  to  all,  or  even  to  any  of  the  Presbyteries  for 
their  approval.  In  these  respects,  your  Committee  judge  that 
the  action  of  the  Assembly  was  in  violation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Church. 

"  3.  That  these  proceedings  were  unwise,  let  the  unhappy 
condition  of  our  Church  testify.  Instead  of  presenting  a  uni- 
ted front  in  resisting  the  progress  of  error  and  in  advancing 
the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  everywhere  behold  dissen- 
sion, strife,  and  alienation  among  those  who  should  be  brethren 
in  reality  as  well  as  in  name.  These  deplorable  results  we  be- 
lieve to  be  owing,  largely  at  least,  to  the  course  of  our  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  intermeddling  with  civil  affairs  which  concern 
the  commonwealth. 

"  4.  We  feel  that  the  proceedings  from  which  we  dissent 
are  unjust: — First,  in  their  bearing  upon  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  rebellious  or  seceded  States.  Our  Assembly 
affirm  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America  was  organized  '  in  order  to  render  their  aid  in  the 
attempt  to  establish  by  means  of  the  rebellion  a  separate  na- 
tional existence,  and  to  conserve  and  perpetuate  the  system  of 
slavery.'  But  that  Assembly  expressly  disavowed  any  such 
purpose  at  the  very  time  of  its  organization,  and  whatever 
their  sins  or  crimes,  it  was  surely  unjust  to  charge  them  with 
designs  and  aims  which  they  solemnly  declare  they  did  not  en- 
tertain. Second,  These  proceedings  are  unjust  in  their  bear- 
ing upon  ministers  in  our  own  Church.  Your  Committee  have 
had  placed  in  their  hands  a  letter  addressed  by  Dr.  Janeway, 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  to  a  member  of 
this  Synod.     The  letter  is  in  the  following  words : 

'''■'■  Dear  Sir:  The  General  Assembly  have  enjoined  the  Board 
to  commission  no  one  except  of  loyal  submission  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  to  the  deliverances  of  the  Church  on  the  subject 


27 

of  slavery.     We  are  informed  your  record  is  not  fair,  and  we 
decline  sending  you  a  commission. 

Yours,  truly, 

Thos.  L.  Janeway, 
Cor.  Secretary^  Sfc.'' 
"  Your  Committee  have  also  seen  the  reply  to  this  commu- 
nication, in  which  the  writer  says  : 

"  '  I  am  and  have  always  been  a  loyal  man.  *  *  *  Since 
I  have  been  preaching  here  during  these  trying  times,  with  all 
the  vigilance  of  the  military  I  have  been  permitted  to  preach 
the  Gospel  without  let  or  hindrance.  The  officers  and  soldiers 
have  frequently  attended  my  preaching,  and  none  have  ever 
disturbed  me.  If  I  am,  or  have  been  disloyal,  it  is  remarka- 
ble that  nothing  of  the  kind  has  ever  been  shown  against 
me.' 

"And  yet  this  Brother,  deprived  of  the  assistance  of  the 
Board,  has  been  compelled  to  resort  to  hard  labor  to  meet  the 
wants  of  his  dependent  family,  and  has  been  driven  to  this  ne- 
cessity by  the  action  of  the  Assembly,  without  the  form  of  a 
trial — even  without  the  means  of  knowing  his  accuser. 

"Another  member  of  this  Synod  made  application  to  the 
Board  for  aid,  endorsed  by  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs, 
and  by  the  Presbytery's  Committee  on  Domestic  Missions,  and 
after  much  delay  and  trouble  in  waiting  a  reply,  the  following 
letter  was  forwarded  to  him,  addressed  to  Rev.  John  Leighton: 

"  '■Dear  Bro. :  Mr.  Forman  will  hardly  come  up  to  the  re- 
quisitions of  the  last  General  Assembly.  His  is  quasi  loyalty, 
and  he  is  hardly  in  accord  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  its 
declaims  on  freedom.  It  may  be  hard  for  him,  but  he  reaps 
as  he  sowed.  Such  men  have  well  nigh  ruined  the  Church, 
and  it  is  hardly  expected  that  loyal  men  will  contribute  to  sup- 
port one  in  affiliation  with  rebellion.     *     *     * 

Yours,  truly, 

T.  L.  Janeway.' 

"  This  Brother,  too,  has  been  driven  from  his  field  of  minis- 
terial labor,  and  forced  to  resort  to  secular  employment  to  sup- 
port his  family.  He  informs  your  Committee  that  he  is  now 
and  always  has  been  a  Union  and  loyal  man ;  but  without  any 


28 

opportunity  of  defence,  he  is  pronounced  guilty  of  quasi  loy- 
alty, and  compelled  to  abandon  his  pastoral  work. 

"  Your  Committee  cannot  express  their  sense  of  the  cruel 
injustice  which  thvis  follows  the  action  of  our  Assembly,  but 
turn  away  from  the  contemplation  of  it  with  unutterable 
sadness. 

"  5.  We  recommend  an  expression  of  dissent  from  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Assembly,  in  refusing  to  entertain  the  complaint 
and  appeal  of  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris  and  the  St.  Charles  Church. 

"  In  the  foregoing  declaration,  your  Committee  do  not  wish 
to  be  understood  as  desiring  to  take  any  step  that  looks  to- 
wards schism  in  our  beloved  Church,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  out  of  regard  and  love  for  our  Church,  and  with  the  earnest 
desire  to  promote  its  purity,  unity,  and  peace,  that  we  make 
this,  our  solemn  protest." 

Synod  took  a  recess  till  3  P.  M. 


Saturday^  3  o'' clock  P.  31. 

Synod  met. 

Rev.  A.  Hageman,  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  was  invited 
to  sit  as  a  corresponding  member. 

On  motion,  the  speeches  on  the  adoption  of  the  Report  on 
the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  were  limited  to  fifteen 
minutes. 

That  Report  was  then  taken  up,  amended  and  passed  by  the 
following  vote  : 

^^65.— Ministers :  R.  L.  M'Afee,  W.  W.  Robertson,  M.  M. 
Fisher,  C.  D.  Simpson,  J.  A.  Quarles,  J.  Morton,  J.  F.  Cowan, 
J.  T.  Pax  ton,  J.  M.  Travis,  J.  P.  B.  Forman,  C.  Fuller,  G. 
Sluter,  H.  P.  S.  Willis,  A.  Munson,  S.  J.  P.  Anderson,  J.  N. 
Gilbraith,  W.  H.  Parks,  T.  C.  Smith,  H.  A.  Booth,  R.  P.  Far- 
ris, J.  H.  Brookes,  A.  D.  Madeira,  J.  Y.  Barks,  D.  Coulter,  J. 
M.  Chaney,  G.  W.  Harlan,  J.  Montgomery,  J.  L.  Yantis,  W. 
Dixon.  Ruling  Elders :  W.  G.  McCausland,  P.  H.  Ciiambers, 
W.  McPheeters,  W.  H.  McKamey,  M.  G.  Singleton,  W.  S.  My- 
ers, I.  Tate,  E.  P.  Mathews,  J.  Quarles,  E.  T.  Scott,  D.  B. 
Pogue,  J.  W.  Pryor,  W.  F.  Smithey,  J.  H.  Underwood,  R. 


29 

Nichols,  J.  Forsyth,  J.  Newland,  R.  Carr,  M.  P.  Cayce,  D.  H. 
Bishop,  J.  R.  Little,  J.  S.  Brown,  J.  J.  Johns,  L.  T.  Wood,  J. 
W.  Gibson,  J.  Whitehill,  J.  Conway,  T.  Bragg,  A.  Wayland, 
J.  W.  Lynn— Total,  59. 

Noes. — Ministers  :  J.  B.  Poage,  J.  P-  Finley,  D.  A.  Wilson, 
J.  Spencer,  T.  Cole,  B.  S.  Schenck,  J.  F.  Fenton,  S.  J.  Nic- 
coUs,  J,  A.  Paige,  A.  Vanderlippe,  E.  P.  Cowan,  J.  N.  Young, 
W.  H.  Hicks.  Ruling  Elders  :  F.  W.  Digges,  J.  B.  W^oods,  J. 
C.  Havens,  A.  G.  Edwards,  B.  H.  Horr— Total,  18. 

Synod  took  recess  till  1^  P.  M. 


Saturday^  7J  o'clock  P.  M. 

Synod  met. 

Presbytery  of  St.  Louis  was  directed,  after  adjournment  this 
evening,  to  appoint  a  Commissioner  to  represent  them  before 
the  Judicial  Commission  in  the  case  of  G.  P.  Strong-. 

The  following  brethren  were  appointed  a  Visiting  Commit- 
tee to  attend  the  examination  of  Westminster  College  : 

Presbytery  of  Missouri. — C.  D.  Simpson,  M.  G.  Singleton. 

Presbytery  of  St.  Louis. — S.  J.  Niccolls,  D.  H.  Bishop. 

Presbytery  of  Potosi. — A.  Munson,  M.  P.  Cayce. 

Presbytery  of  South-west  Missouri. — J.  McFarland,  

Scruggs. 

Presbytery  of  Wyaconda. — T.  H.  Dinsmore,  A.  Wayland. 

Presbytery  of  Upper  Missouri. — J.  N.  Young,  J.  F.  Bruner. 

A  Committee  consisting  of  Rev.  S.  J.  P.  Anderson,  D.D., 
Rev.  J.  Spencer,  and  Elder  D.  Keith,  was  appointed  to  take 
into  consideration  the  propriety  of  establishing  a  Presbyterian 
paper. 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

"  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  is 
voluminous,  and  contains  many  important  statements  which 
there  is  not  sufficient  time  to  examine  with  due  consideration, 
and,  furthermore,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Synod  has  already 
borne  its  testimony  in  the  adoption  of  the  Report  on  the  Min- 
utes of  the  Assembly  ;  Therefore, 


30 

^'•Resolved,  That  the  further  discussion  of  the  said  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  be  for  the  present  postponed." 

It  was  Resolved^  That  the  temporary  clerk  be  enjoined  to 
write  the  following  words  upon  the  Resolution  of  the  Synod 
of  1861,  on  page  324  of  the  Records :  "  Re-affirmed  by  order 
of  Synod  of  1865." 

It  was  Resolved,  That  a  Synodical  Committee  consisting  of 
Rev.  J.  H.  Brookes,  D.D.,  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris,  and  D.  H.  Bish- 
op, be  appointed  to  receive  funds  that  may  be  placed  in  their 
hands  by  the  Churches  within  our  bounds,  for  the  purpose  of 
supporting  ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  our  State  who  cannot 
conscientiously  submit  to  the  test  to  which  the  Board  of  Do- 
mestic Missions  requires  applicants  for  aid  to  be  subjected. 

Resolved,  That  the  said  Committee  be  instructed  to  commu- 
nicate with  brethren  abroad,  who  are  known  to  have  sympathy 
with  us  in  the  trials  through  which  we  are  now  passing. 

The  following  resolution  was  taken  from  the  table  and  again 
tabled : 

Resolved,  That  in  our  action  in  regard  to  the  last  meeting 
of  Synod,  it  is  not  at  all  designed  to  censure  those  brethren 
forming  that  Synod  who  desired  to  act  in  accordance  with  the 
usages  of  our  Church. 

Adjourned  till  Monday,  9  o'clock  A.  M.  Closed  with  prayer. 


Walnut- Street  Church,  Monday  9  A.  M. 

Synod  met ;  opened  with  prayer. 

Rev.  C.  Fuller  was  appointed  Assistant  Clerk  for  the  remain- 
der of  the  session. 

Reports  of  Committees  on  Minutes  of  Presbytery  of  Palmy- 
ra, Wyaconda,  Lafayette,  and  St.  Louis,  were  accepted  and 
adopted. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Minutes  of  Presbytery  of  Missouri 
was  received.  A  motion  was  made  to  except  to  so  much  of  the 
record  as  relates  to  its  deliverance  on  the  acts  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

This  motion  was  lost  and  the  Report  was  adopted. 

It  was  Resolved,   1.  That  the  Stated  Clerk  be  instructed  to 


8i 

publish  the  minutes  of  the  present  meeting,  and  furnish  a  copy 
to  each  member.  2.  Tliat  a  part  of  the  funds  raised  in  yes- 
terday's collection  be  appropriated  to  meeting  the  expense  in- 
curred in  carrying  out  this  resolution. 

A  motion  was  made  and  carried  to  reconsider  the  action  of 
Synod  in  appointing  a  Judicial  Commission  to  consider  the 
complaint  of  G.  P.  Strong.  This  case  was  then  referred  to  the 
next  meeting  of  Synod. 

On  motion,  the  Committee  to  answer  the  protest  of  James 
A.  Paige  and  others,  were  allowed  to  prepare  their  answer, 
and  insert  it  in  the  minutes  after  the  adjournment  of  Synod. 

The  Committee  on  the  Narrative  on  the  State  of  Religion 
reported  that  no  information  had  been  placed  in  their  hands. 
Whereupon  Rev.  W.  W.  Robertson  was  directed  to  prepare  a 
narrative  and  forward  it  to  Stated  Clerk,  which  report  is  as 
follows : 

"  We  have  great  reason  to  bless  the  Head  of  the  Church  for 
His  abundant  mercy  to  the  Churches  under  our  care  since  we 
were  last  permitted  to  meet  as  a  Synod.  We  record  His  lov- 
ing kindness  in  keeping  the  most  of  our  Churches  in  peace  and 
unity,  while  there  was  so  much  within  and  without  to  dis- 
tract, divide  and  alienate  brethren.  From  many  of  our 
Churches  we  have  the  cheering  tidings  that  the  Lord  has  not 
forgotten  to  be  gracious.  Many  have  enjoyed  special  and  some 
protracted  revivals  of  religion  in  their  midst.  We  mention 
Etna  Ciuirch,  in  Wyaconda  Presbytery ;  Fulton  and  Aux- 
vausse  Churches,  in  Presbytery  of  Missouri ;  Walunt-Street 
Church,  in  St.  Louis,  and  South  Fork  Church,  in  Palmyra  Pres- 
bytery. 

"  The  preaching  of  Christ  crucified  has  been  the  means  used 
and  which  God  has  blessed  to  the  saving  of  many  souls.  The 
Synodical  College  shared  largely  in  the  revival  at  Fulton  ; 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  students  were  hopefully  convert- 
ed. Many  other  Churches,  though  they  have  not  enjoyed  a 
special  revival,  have  nevertheless  been  cheered  by  the  contin- 
ued manifestation  of  God's  presence  attending  the  ordinary 
means  of  grace.  The  Word  preached  has  been  made  quick 
and  powerful ;  prayer  has  been  answered ;  God's  people  re- 
vived ;  sinners  convicted  and  converted,  and  many  added  to 


32 

the  Church  of  such  as  shall  be  saved.  The  attendance  upon 
Divine  service  is  encouraging,  and  in  many  parts  of  our  Zion 
the  voice  of  supplication  is  heard,  and  the  earnest  cry,  '  Lord, 
increase  our  faith  ;  revive  thy  work.'  May  we  not  hope  that 
the  Head  of  the  Church  has  in  reserve  for  his  people  rich  Pen- 
tecostal blessings,  and  that  he  will  bestow  these  mercies  in 
overflowing  plenitude  in  answer  to  their  fervent  and  importu- 
nate prayers  ? 

"  Your  Committee  would  further  state,  that,  while  there  is 
much  to  cheer  and  encourage,  there  is  much  to  make  the  heart 
sad.  Intemperance,  with  all  its  attendant  evils,  has  made 
fearful  advance  within  the  last  two  or  three  years.  The  chief 
cause  of  this,  no  one  is  at  a  loss  to  divine.  We  have  to  lament, 
also,  that  many  of  the  professed  followers  of  Christ  walk  ac- 
cording to  the  course  of  this  world,  and  evince  the  sad  ascen- 
dency of  a  carnal  mind  ;  a  want  of  faith,  and  of  personal  and 
family  piety.  In  view  of  these  things,  let  every  minister  and 
member  of  our  beloved  Zion  say  with  the  prophet :  '  For 
Zion's  sake  I  will  not  hold  my  peace,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake 
I  will  not  rest,  until  the  righteousness  thereof  go  forth  as 
brightness,  and  the  salvation  thereof  as  a  lamp  that  burnetii.'  " 

It  was  Resolved,  1.  That  we,  as  a  Synod,  return  our  sincere 
thanks  to  the  citizens  af  St.  Louis  for  their  generous  hospi- 
tality during  tlie  sessions  of  this  body.  2.  That  we  earnestly 
pray  that  God's  blessing  mny  rest  upon  the  whole  Church  in 
this  city,  in  building  them  up  in  their  most  holy  faith.  3.  That 
we  tender  our  thanks  to  the  Pacific  and  North  Missouri  Rail- 
road and  Keokuk  Packet  Companies  for  facilities  furnished 
in  attending  this  meeting. 

The  Stated  Clerks  of  Presbyteries  were  directed  to  send  such 
statements  to  the  Rev.  W.  W.  Robertson  as  will  enable  him  to 
prepare  a  Narrative  of  the  State  of  Religion  within  the  bounds 
of  this  Synod. 

The  Presbytery  of  Potosi  was  directed  to  meet  in  order  to 
receive  Rev.  G.  W.  Harlan. 

The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  Westminster  College  re- 
ported. The  Report  was  accepted  and  adopted,  and  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  was  directed  to  spread  the  Report  upon 
the  minutes  of  the  College. 


33 

Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  Potosi  reported,  and  the  Re- 
port was  accepted  and  adopted. 

Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  South-west  Missouri,  reported 
that  the  Minutes  liad  not  been  placed  in  their  hands. 

The  Minutes  of  Synod  were  read  and  approved. 

Synod  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  Boonville,  second  Wednes- 
day in  October,  1866. 

Closed  with  singing,  prayer,  and  the  Apostolic  benediction. 

S.  J.  P.  ANDERSON, 
Stated  Clerk, 


% 


REPLY 


TO   THE    ATTACK   OP 


REV.  R.  J.  BRECKINRIDGE,  D.D,,  LL.D., 


UPON    THi; 


LOUISVILLE    PRESBYTERY, 


I 


AND 


DEFElSrCE 


OF    THE 


'DECLARATION  AND  TESTIMONY," 


MADE    IN    TUK 


SYNOD    OF    KENTUCKY, 


OCTOBER  16,  A.  T)  ,  1865 


BY  SAMUEL  R.  WILSON, 

PASTOK  or  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  LOUIS VILLK. 


LOUISVILLE. 

HASN.l    &    nUNCAN,    PRINTERS,    CORSEH    rniRD    .4    MAI!f. 

1865. 


REPLY   AND  DEFENCE 


■  Mr.  Moderator:  It  was  said  by  those  who  introduced  the 
^business  now  before  us,  that  it  was  not  of  their  ovtJn  seeking. 
If  this  be  true  of  them,  how  much  more  truly  may  it  be  said 
of  us.  To  myself  at  least,  the  position  in  which  I  am  now 
compelled  to  stand,  is  both  undesirable  and  unexpected.  It 
is  a  position  not  of  my  own  procuring,  and  Avhich,  had  it  been 
left  to  my  own  choice  to  decide,  I  most  assuredly  should  have 
declined  to  occupy.  Yet,  since  it  is  forced  upon  me,  I  am  not 
lit  liberty  to  evade  it,  nor  shall  I  shrink  from  the  responsibil- 
ity it  involves.  At  the  desire  of  the  members  of  the  Louis- 
ville Presbyter^',  who  have  been  so  unceremoniously  dragged 
before  this  Synod,  I  am  to  say  something  in  vindication  of 
their  action  in  the  matter  for  which  they  are  now  arraigned.  I 
can  only  wish  their  cause  had  been  contidod  to  abler  hands; 
but  it  has  not  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  altogether  refuse  to 
speak  in  their  behalf,  as  God  may  give  mo  ability. 

The  Pi'esbytery  of  Louisville  has  been  brought  before  this 
Synod,  not  by  their  own  purpose  or  consent,  but  upon  the 
motion  of  others.  It  was  not  proposed  by  them  to  trouble 
the  Synod  with  those  matters,  into  which  we  have  been  so 
suddenly  precipitated,  by  the  motion  now  pending.  At  least 
it  was  not  intended  to  press  these  matters  upon  the  attention 
of  this  venerable  body,  in  a  manner  so  hasty  and  nnpropitious 
as  that  in  which  they  have  now  been  forced  upon  us.  And 
therefore,  here  in  the  very  outset,  we  cannot  but  enter  our 
most  earnest  protest  against  the  unusual  manner  in  which  we 
have  been  placed,  as  it  were,  on  trial  at  the  bar  of  this  Synod. 
I  beg  yon  to  listen  attentively  to  the  reading  of  the  paper  of- 
ferred  by  the  gentleman  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  (Dr. 
JL  J.  Breckinridge,)  and  consider  liow  summary  is  that  pro- 


0688  upon  which  we  have  heen  required  to  stand  here  and 
make  answer  for  our  very  existence's  a  Pre8byter3\  The  Res- 
olution is  as  follows  : 

"  In  making  up  the  roll  of  the  members  of  this  Synod  for  the  transjtc- 
tion  of  business,  it  is  necessary  to  determine  the  ecclesiastical  status  of 
ihose  officebearers  which  constituted  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  at  its  late  regular  session,  and  a  number  of  whom  executed 
and  published  a  paper  styled  the  'Declaration  and  Testimony,'  which 
paper  was  endorsed  and  adopted  by  the  majority  of  said  Presbytery.  In 
discharge  of  this  duty  this  Synod  adjudge  and  determine  that  said  ac- 
tion by  the  majority  of  the  said  Presbytery  endorsing  and  adopting  said 
*  Declaration  and  Testimony,'  and  all  such  office-bearers,  under  the  care 
and  juiisdiction  of  this  Synod  as  having  executed  and  published  it,  or 
as  shall  hereafter  do  so,  did  and  do  each  and  every  one,  by  said  acts,  as- 

-SUME  SUCH  A  STATE  OF  OPEN  REBELLION  AGAINST  THE  CHURCH,  AND  OPEN  COK- 
TEMPT  AND  DEFIANCE  OF  OUR  ScRlPTURAL  AUTHORITY,  AND  IN  SUCH  CONTEMPT 
OF  OUR  FAlTg  AND  ORDER  AND  ACTS  AS  TO  RENDER  EACH  AND  EVERY  ONE  OP 
THEM  UNQUALIFIED,  UNFIT,  AND  INCOMPETENT  TO  SIT  AND  ACT  A3  A  MEMBER  OF- 
THIS  OR  ANT  OTHER  COURT  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  ChURCH." 

Moderator,  you  have  heard  in  that  resolution,  the  heaviest 
charges  that  could  be  brought  against  a  gospel  minister,  laid 
at  the  door  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery.  Yes,  I  say  against 
the  Louisville  Presbytery,  not  one  of  the  least  of  the  Presby- 
teries which  compose  this  Synod.  True,  indeed,  the  author 
of  that  resolution  does  not  use  that  form  of  expression,  he 
says  the  "majority  of  the  Presbytery,"  and  has  appeared  very 
tenacious  of  his  chosen  form.  Well,  sir,  that  only  aggravates 
the  course  of  procedure  adopted  toward  us,  for  it  thus  be- 
comes a  specific  charge  against  individuals.  It  is  not  a  pro- 
posal to  bear  testinioin'^  against  erroneous  doctrines  or  prac- 
tices as  prevailing  in  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  but  according 
to  the  showing  of  the  gentleman,  (Dr.  B.)  it  is  the  arraign- 
ment of  particular  persons  by  name,  and  a  proposal  that  with- 
out trial,  their  guilt  being  assumed,  sentence  shall  be  at  once 
passed  upon  them,  and  immediate  execution  follow.  The 
charges  against  '■'■each  and  ever^y  one'^  of  these  persons  are  the 
being  in  "a  state  of  open  rebellion  against  the  church;"  in  "  open 
contempt  and  defiance  of  her  scriptural  authority: "  and  in  "  con- 
tempt of  her  faith,  order  and  acts."  The  sentence  proposed  to 
be  passed  and  executed,  even  upon  the  very  threshhold  of 
your  proceedings,  is,  that  each  and  every  one  of  these  persons 
thus  charged  "  is  unqualified,  unfit,  and  incompetent  to  sit  and 
act  as  a  member  of  this  or  any  other  court  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church."  Surely  this  is  an  extraordinary  step,  thus  to  at- 
tempt to  hale  to  the  bar  of  this  house,  the  great  body  of  a 
Presbytery,  for  acts  done  in  open  Presbytery;  to  put  them  up- 
on trial,  not  as  a  Presbytery,  but  as  individuals,  and  that  with- 


out  attending  to  any  of  the  forms,  or  assuming  any  of  the  re- 
sponsibilities required  by  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  in  bringing  process  against  a  gospel  minister. 
I  mean  the  grave  responsibilities  assumed  by  one  who  under- 
takes to  become  the  prosecutor  of  a  minister.  Read,  sir,  from 
your  Book  of  Disciphne,  chap.  v.  sec.  7,  "  The  prosecutor  of  p. 
minister  shall  be  previously  warned,  that  if  he  fail  to  prove 
the  charges,  he  must  himself  be  censured  as  a  slanderer  of 
the  gospel  ministry,  in  proportion  to  the  malignancy  or  rash- 
ness that  shall  appear  in  the  prosecution." 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  justify  this  extraordinary 
procedure,  upon  the  ground,  as  is  alleged,  that  the  action  of 
those  against  whom  it  is  taken,  is  itself  extraordinary.  We 
admit  that  extraordinary  diseases  require  extraordinary  rem- 
edies, provided  ordinary  means  of  cure  will  not  meet  the  ex- 
igencies of  the  case.  If  the  Presbytery  have  been  guilty  of 
an  unusual  and  unwarranted  procedure  in  the  utterance  of 
that  document,  on  account  of  which  it  is  proposed  to  deal  so 
summarily  with  a  portion  of  its  members,  and.  cut  them  off 
and  cast  them  out  of  the  church,  then  the  objection  which  we 
make  to  the  manner  of  bringing  us  here  to  answer  to  this 
heavy  indictment,  will  necessaril}'  lose  much  of  its  weight. 
But  we  deny  that  w4iatwe  have  done,  is,  in  the  circumstances, 
either  unusual  or  unwarranted;  but,  as  we  shall  presently  en- 
deavor to  show,  and  have  great  confidence  we  shall  be  able  to 
show,  to  your  entire  satisfaction,  it  is  the  ordinary,  time-honored 
method  by  which  the  church  from  age  to  age  has  been  purified 
from  corruption,  and  has  maintained  her  character  as  God's 
faithful  witness  for  the  truth. 

The  extraordinarj'-  nature  of  this  procedure  against  which 
we  protest,  is  made  the  more  manifest  since  it  was  known,  as 
we  suppose  from  what  has  transpired  in  this  house,  that  the 
very  action  of  the  Presbytery,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
the  resolution  under  consideration,  w^as  made  the  ground  of  a 
complaint  to  the  Synod,  by  a  member  of  the  Presbytery,  with 
the  view  of  bringing  the  whole  matter  under  your  adjudica- 
tion. Why  then  stop  the  business  of  the  Synod  in  limine,  with 
a  question  inw)lving  such  vital  and  such  widely  extended  in- 
terests? Why  anticipate  the  regular  course  of  proceeding 
underthe  complaint?  Why  ask  a  decision  by  this  Synod  upon 
the  ministerial  standing  and  character,  no\v  and  hereafter,  of 
so  many  ministers  and  ruling  elders  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  upon  a  motion  touching  "  the  making  up  of  the  roll 
of  the  members  of  this  Synod  ?"     The  course  pursued  by  the 


compiainant  (Mr.  McMillan)  has  this  advantage  at  least,  of  at- 
tempting to  reach  the  merits  of  this  case  in  one  of  the  ways 
provided  in  your  Form  of  Government,  and  Book  of  Discip- 
line. It  covers  precisely  the  same  ground  with  the  resolution 
of  the  gentleman  (Dr.  B.),  as  the  following  extract  sufficiently 
proves : 

"The  paper,  presentedby  Eev.  S.  R  Wilson,  D.  D.,  and  adopted  by  Pres- 
bytery, on  the  2d  inst.,  styled  a  "Testimony,  &c.,"  and  calling  for  a 
Church  "convention,"  in  order  to  reclaim  an  alleged  "apostasy,"  or  else 
set  up  an  organization  separate  and  distinct  from  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  I  consider, 
incorrect  in  statement — heretical  in  doctrine — contumacious  in  spirit — 
— schismatical  in  eflect — and  agitating  in  tendency." 

There  is  a  singular  identity  between  these  two  papers,  both 
contain  the  sjime  charges  substantially,  the  complaint  using 
more  words,  but  stating  them  with  equal  force  and  distinct- 
ness with  the  Resolution.  The  complaint,  however,  does  not, 
like  the  Resolution,  undertake  to  prescribe  the  punishment  to 
be  inflicted  for  the  offenses  charged.  It  comes,  however,  much 
to  the  same  thing.  For  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  this,  that 
if  the  Synod  should  sustain  the  charges  as  affirmed  in  the  com- 
plaint, the  Presbytery  must  either  retrace  their  steps,  or  be  cut 
off  in  the  regular  and  inevitable  course  of  discipline.  If  we 
have  uttered  heretical  doctrines,  have  solemnly  set  our  hands 
to  falsehood,  and  arc  promoters  of  schism  in  the  body  of 
Christ,  then  unless  we  repent  of  these  sins  our  sentence  cannot 
be  at  all  doubtful.  I  wish  just  here  and  now  to  fix  this  fact 
firmly  in  the  mind  of  every  member  of  this  Synod,  for  I  am 
apprehensi\o  lest  some  may  think  they  can  sustain  the  com- 
plaint as  well  founded,  and  yet  stop  short  of  the  judgment 
which  it  13  sought  to  have  pronounced  by  the  method  of  eccle- 
siastical court-martial  procedure,  indicated  in  the  paper  of  Dr. 
Breckinridge.  Let  it  be  distinctly  borne  in  mind.  Moderator 
and  brethren,  that  these  two  papers  differ  little  more  than  in 
name,  and  when  you  shall  have  considered  the  one,  you  will  in 
effect  have  decided  the  subject  matter  of  the  other.  In  what  I 
have  to  say,  I  expect  to  have  them  both  in  view.  Our  answer 
to  each,  is  one  and  the  same  answer.  They  re^t  upon  a  com- 
mon foundation,  are  actuated  by  a  common  spirit,  they  aim  at 
a  common  end.  We  expect  to  treat  their  contents  as  the  same 
in  the  argument  we  propose  to  make,  and  to  show  the  baseless- 
ness of  the  charges  they  prefer.  And  if  we  shall  succeed  in  con- 
vincing you  that  the  allegations  in  the  Resolution  of  the  gentle- 
man (Dr.  B.)  aredestitudeof  solid  foundation,  and  that  the  ac- 
tion he  proposes  cannot  be  taken  in  truth  and  justice,  then  it 


will  be  for  the  Synod  to  determine  wluit  shall  be  done  with  thff 
complaint.  For  though  we  have  felt  called  upon  at  the  outset  to 
ospress  clearly  our  obj  ection  to  the  manner  in  which  we  have  been 
arraigned,  I  am  sure  I  speak  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  Pres- 
bytery when  I  say,  we  arc  entirely  willing  to  meet  the  issue  as 
others  have  chosen  to  make  it  for  us  and  for  themselves.  If, 
after  having  thus  met  it,  this  Sjaiod  should  wish  to  try  the 
isaue  over  again,  we  shall  not  bo  careful  to  answer  in  the  mat- 
ten 

Mr.  Moderator :  It  strikes  us  as  not  a  little  singular,  that 
we  wicked  brethren  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  who,  we  are 
told,  have  set  ourselves  to  fight  out  the  rebellion  over  again^ 
should  thus  be  singled  out  from  all  the  other  Presbyteries  of 
f:hi8  Synod,  (though  we  may  take  it  as  rather  an  honorable  dis- 
tinction,) to  be  dealt  with  after  such  a  fashion.  Why  call  upon 
these  brethren  of  the  Ebenezer  Presbytery,  and  the  West  Lex- 
ington Presbytery,  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery, when  the  records  of  those  respective  Presbyteries  in 
evidence  here,  show  beyond  a  question,  that  they  arc  substanti- 
ally "as  deep  in  the  mud  as  we  are  in  the  mire  ?"  That  tor- 
rent of  reproach  and  wrath  which  has  been  poured  upon  us, 
ought,  in  justice  and  equity,  to  have  been  divided  out  and 
sprinkled  upon  all  these  brethren,  who  have  condemned  the 
Q-eneral  Assembly's  acts,  and  refused  to  obey  or  execute  its  or- 
ders. It  is  not  at  all  a  marvel  to  me,  that  this  call  should  come 
from  the  source  or  be  made  under  the  circumstances  in  which 
it  has  been  made;  but  with  all  respect  for  this  venerable  body, 
E  do  marvel  that  it  was  entertained  for  a  single  moment,  and 
not  at  once  returned  to  the  person  who  introduced  it.  I  mar- 
vel that  these  brethren  did  not  see,  that  the  guillotine  which 
was  to  come  down  upon  our  heads,  would  go  up  again  and 
come  down  on  theirs,  unless  they  should  get  out  of  the  way 
very  quickly.  Or  can  it  bo,  that,  by  the  sacrifice  which  it  is  de- 
manded shall  be  made  of  us,  it  is  supposed  expiation  will 
be  effected  for  their  offences,  and  thus  they  will  escape  the 
punishment  they  have  incurred?  And  is  this  the  source  of  that 
pain  and  agony  of  heart,  under  which,  the  gentleman  has 
told  us,  he  was  constrained  to  bring  forward  this  motion  ?  Is 
this  that  even-handed  justice — that  scrupulous  regard  to  what 
13  fair  and  equitable,  which  again  and  again  it  has  been  solemn- 
ly affirmed  has  actuated  this  whole  proceeding  ?  Even-handed 
justice !  to  ask  sentence  of  condemnation  against  a  part  of  this 
body,  and  leave  unquestioned  and  untouched  those  others  who 
have  done  the  same  things ;  aye,  sir,  to  propose  that  they  shall 


8 

become  jurors,  judges,  and  executioners  of  their  brethereu, 
when  they  themselves  are  partakers  of  the  same  guilt !  Thie 
indeed  is  the  sort  of  justice  that  has  much  prevailed  of  late 
years;  perhaps  the  justice  with  which  the  gentleman,  (Dr.  B.) 
is  most  familiar,  but  sir,  the  worst  that  I  could  ever  wish  might 
happen  to  him  would  be,  that  he  should  become  the  victim  of 
his  own  principles. 

The  importance  of  the  issue  now  made  is  manifest  to  every 
one.  The  thrill  of  interest  which  runs  through  the  heart  of 
this  great  people,  is  indicated  by  the  assiduousness  with  which 
they  have  come  to  this  place  day  after  day,  and  watched  your 
proceedings.  It  is  no  ordinary  issue,  and  you  know  it,  breth- 
ren. We  knew  it  was  no  ordinary  issue  that  wo  made, 
when  we  uttered  that  ^'  Declaration  and  Testimony."  One  sin- 
gle fact  now  patent  to  us,  shows  that  that  paper  is  no  ordina- 
ry paper,  as  to  its  bearing  upon  the  great  question  upon  ■w,'^hich 
God  in  his  Providence  has  brought  us.  We  admit  that  it  is  a 
question  of  life  and  death,  not  to  these  poor  bodies  of  ours, 
but  to  God's  blessed  Church  ;  a  question,  according  to  the  gen- 
tleman's statement,  of  the  life  of  our  souls ;  a  question  certain- 
ly, which  takes  hold  upon  the  heart  of  this  Christian  people, 
because  they  know  that  if  decided  against  the  truth,  on  which- 
soever side  the  truth  may  lie,  the  consequences,  no  one  can 
predict. 

The  plea  of  extraordinary  necessit}'  has  been  set  up  here,  in 
defence  of  that  short  and  summar}^  course  proposed  to  be  adopt- 
ed, against  the  signers  of  the  "  Declaration  and  Testimony." 
To  this  plea  a  sufficient  response  might  be  made,  by  putting 
one  necessity  against  another — the  necessity  of  doing  some- 
thing, promptly  and  decidedly,  to  rescue  the  Church  from 
threatened  ruin.  If  the  measures  to  which  we  resorted  were 
extraordinary,  we  might  reply,  the  condition  of  the  Church 
was  such,  as  in  our  judgment  demanded  just  such  measures. 
But  now,  Mr.  Moderator,  instead  of  the  course  taken  by  us  for 
maintaining  the  truth  of  God  against  corruptions  in  the  visi- 
ble church,  being  in  any  proper  sense  extraordinary,  it  is  the 
ordinary,  and  indeed  almost  the  only  wa}'',  in  which  the  people 
of  God  have  maintained  a  clear,  testimony  for  His  truth 
against  error,  throughout  successive  generations.  The  testimony 
of  the  faithful  witnesses  ot  God  against  error  and  corruption, 
along  the  lapse  of  centuries,  is  that  which  sheds  a  line  of  glo- 
rious light  over  those  centuries,  otherwise  darkened  by  theov^- 
shadowing  and  gigantic  powers  of  this  world,  and  of  the  cor- 
rupted visible  church,  inspirited  by  the  powers  of  darkness.    I 


I 


tieed  not  dwell  on  so  plain  and  simple  a  historical  fact,  with 
which  every  theological  student  but  just  entered  upon  hie 
course,  and  every  well  instructed  child  in  a  Presbyterian  fami- 
ly are  familiar.  The  ^'witnesses  for  the  truth"  through  the 
dark  ages,  were  men  of  Declarations  and  Testimonies — men  of 
Acts  and  Testimonies,  like  many  bretiiren  here — like  the  gen- 
tleman, who  says  that  we  are  guilty  of  rebellion  and  contuma- 
cy for  uttering  this  our  testimony. 

You  probably  thought  it  strange  that  1  should  pat  :n  here 
Huch  an  antiquated  document  as  this,  which  bears  tiie  title,  ^ 
■' Memorial  upon  the  j^yesevt  State  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to 
t^e  jn'esented  to  the  General  Assembly  to  meet  in  Philadelykia  in 
MiC^y,  1834."  But  sir,  this  Memorial  is  filled  with  declarations 
o^' error  in  doctrine,  practice  and  discipline.  You  perhaps 
*liotUght  it  strange  when  I  read  the  "Act  and  Testimony"  of 
the  minority  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  others,  issued  at 
t^iiiladelphia,  May  27,  1834,  addressed  to  the  ministers,  elders 
and  private  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States.  Now  compare  this  with  the  title  of  the  "  Declaration 
and  Testimony,"  and  there  is  just  as  much  difference  between 
these  two  titles,  and  just  as  much  diftcrencc  between  tlie  con- 
tents of  these  two  documoi:t6,  as  might  be  expected  bet^veen 
tvvq  documents  which  shake  hands  across  a  period  of  thirty 
y^ars,  and  as  might  be  expected  from  the  diiferences  of  the 
times,  the  errors  and  the  emergencies  which  called  them  forth. 
And  whowere  the  Memorialists  of  1833-4,  and  the  "Act  and 
Testimony"  men  of  1834-5?  I  find  here  the  names  of  JR.  J. 
Breckinridye!  W.  L.  Breckinridge !  ,J.  L.  Wilson!  Sajuucl  Cas- 
scdy!  (who  litis  signed  his  name  to  this  '■  Declaiation  and  Tes- 
timony," and  is  to  be  cut  ofl:  for  it !)  and  others  of  like  courage 
and  views  of  right.  Is  it  not  strange,  sir,  that  one  whose  fame 
has  rested  to  so  great  a  degree  upon  the  reputation  of  being 
the  author  of  the  "x\ct  and  Testimony"  of  1834-5,  should  be 
the  person  of  all  others,  with  such  hasty  zeal,  to  ca!!  f)r  an  act  * 
oi.  discipline  against  tln^se  who  have  adopted  the  ''Declaration 
and.  Testimony  "  of  1865.  With  such  an  illustrious  example 
before  us,  we  may  well  exclaim  "  Lord,  what  a  feeble  piece,  is 
this,  our  mortal  frame!''  Human  nature  is  indeed  lallible,  and 
we  do  not  say  that  if  we  should  live  thirty  years,  we  may  not 
outlive  our  doctrines,  and  learn  to  persecute  and  prosecute  men 
who  shall  thus  testify  for  the  faith.  Yet,  sir,  it  does  seem 
sttange,  that  gentlemen  should  arraign  this  Presbytery  of 
Lp-uisville,  for  doing  the  very  same  thing  at  Bardstovrn,  that 
tbey  did  in    1834  in    Philadelphia!     Perhaps   the   longitude 


10 

makes  the  difference!  Oh!  it"  we  had  only  lived  in  that  en- 
lightened "city  of  brotherly  love" — that  "loyal"  city,  and  not 
in  poor  "secession"  Louisville !  I  marvel.  Moderator,  that  men 
can  be  so  blinded  by  the  passion  of  the  hour  to  those  principles, 
for  which,  I  really  believe,  under  other  circumstances  some  of 
them  would  die. 

I  wish,  sir,  to  say  something  about  the  origin  of  this  "Dec- 
laration and  Testimony,"  because  it  has  been  attributed  to  such 
a  source,  and  to  such  iniquitous  purposes,  as  to  make  it  necessa- 
ry that  we  should  glance  for  a  moment  at  this  matter.  It  is 
only  necessary  to  point  you  to  the  acts  of  the  Presbyteries  who 
bave  reported  their  action  upon  the  subject,  and  which  com- 
pose the  principal  portion  of  this  Synod,  to  show  that  it  was 
the  spontaneous  outspeaking  of  the  souls  of  men,  who  felt 
that  they  must  speak,  even  though  they  should  speak  some- 
thing that  was  not  quite  to  the  purpose,  for  the  sake  of  God's 
truth  and  God's  Church.  All  previous  efforts,  as  that  record 
of  evidence  that  was  read  this  morning  shows,  had  been  inef- 
fectual to  stay  the  progress  of  our  church  downward  in  the  ca- 
reer, as  we  do  most  truly  believe,  of  ruin.  The  protests  in 
the  Assembly  of  1861,  gainst  the  action  of  that  body,  the  pro- 
test of  this  Synod,  the  protests  of  the  Presbyteries,  had  no  ef- 
fect. Next  year  the  Assembly  went  farther,  and  every  suc- 
ceeding year  still  farther,  and  the  last  year  some  of  us  thought 
she  had  quite  gone  over  the  precipice.  The  Niagara  river  is 
beautiful ;  it  is  as  smooth  as  a  silver  lake ;  but  put  your  bark 
upon  it,  and  refuse  to  listen  to  the  voice  warning  you  from  the 
shore  that  the  rapids  are  at  hand,  and  you  will  certainly  plunge 
over  the  cataract.  Your  bark  will  go  to  ruin,  though  you  may 
sing  songs  to  yourself,  and  deride  him  who  lifts  the  warning 
voice.  Thus  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  accumulating  of  sin, 
until  the  last  sinful  act  brings  with  it  the  punishment  of  all  that 
precedes.  So  has  it  been  with  our  beloved  Presbyterian  Church. 
Warned  from  year  to  year  she  continued  to  go  on  in  her  down- 
ward course.  And  when  a  few  of  us  stood  up  in  the  Assem- 
bly at  Pittsburg,  and  said,  "Brethren,  stop!  stop!!"  we  wore 
derided  and  almost  put  out  of  the  house  without  ceremony,  as 
heathen  and  publicans.  Still  hoping  that  she  had  not  yet  taken 
the  final  plunge,  and  that  perhaps,  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church  would  help  us  to  stem  the  torrent,  and  make  safely  fast 
to  the  shore,  we  uttered  our  "Declaration  and  Testimony." 
And,  sir,  we  are  to  die  for  it;  I  much  mistake  these  brethren  if 
they  will  notdieforit.  Nomatterwhopennedit— no  matterwho 
proposed  it,  or  published  it — this  is  the  origin  of  it.     We  may 


11 

be  mistaken — we  may  be  blinded,  bat  that  sir  was  truly  the 
object  and  origin  of  this  "  Declaration  and  Testimony. " 

As  to  our  right  to  do  this  thing,  it  is  sufficient  just  to  remind 
you  of  the  evidence  I  have  brought  here  from  the  History  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  itself;  to  recall  you  to  the  Acts  and 
Monuments  in  Foxe's  liook  of  Martyrs ;  to  the  witnesses  in  the 
dark  ages,  to  the  Testimonies  of  the  Confessors  of  old  Scotland, 
and  the  lives  and  deaths  of  such  men^as  the  Erskines,  Gilles- 
pie, Donald  Cargill,  and  others.  Is  there  a  minister,  is  there 
a.  ruling  elder  here,  who  will  say  that  we  had  no  right  to  utter 
this  testimony?  Why,  it  is  one  of  the  glories  of  that  "Act 
and  Testimony  "  of  1834,  brethren  of  the  eldership,  that  your 
names  outnumber,  by  long  lists,  the  names  of  the  ministers. 
Will  you  of  the  eldership,  who  can  look  back  and  see  God's 
ruling  elders,  hke  the  illustrious  Argyle,  going  to  the  scaffold 
for  the  Crown  and  Covenant  of  Jesus  Christ,  say  that  we  had 
no  ri^ht  to  utter  this  testimony  ?  Some  will  answer,  "  You 
had  the  right,  but  we  are  afraid  you  spoke  a  little  too  sharp- 
ly. "  Well!  perhaps  the  disease  needed  it ;  but  will  you  con- 
demn us  merely  because  we  were  a  little  sharp,  and  because 
you  may  think  we  put  the  probe  a  little  too  deep,  "when  you 
confess  that  the  wound  was  festering? 

It  seemed  to  me  that,  in  the  argument  which  occupied  the 
afternoon  of  yesterday,  however  the  tone  might  be  changed 
the  tune  was  the  same.  Schism  and  secession  and  rebellion — 
rebellion,  secession  and  schism.  This  movement  is  meant  to 
divide  the  churches.  Such  is  the  outcry  rung  in  your  ears. 
It  has  often  been  said  that  history  repeats  itself,  and  I  think  it 
does ;  at  all  events  I  think  it  is  going  to  repeat  itself  now.  The 
outcry  against  the  "Act  and  Testimony  "  of  1835,  was  just  as 
it  is  in  the  present  instance.  "  Schism, "  "  schism, "  "  schism. " 
I  hold  in  my  hands  a  volume  of  pamphlets  containing  "  Letters 
addressed  to  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  under  the 
care  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, "  by  my  much  esteemed  friend 
and  brother,  Dr.  William  L.  Breckinridge,  and  issued  (strange 
to  say)  at  Danville  in  1835.  Its  object  was  to  defend  the  "Act 
and  Testimony,"  and  on  the  very  forefront  is  a  defense  against 
this  charge  of  schism.  I  w^ish  you  to  see  in  what  an  out- 
spoken, manly,  old-fashioned  Presbyterian  way  he  meets  the 
charge  against  his  Testimony,  that  it  was  the  result  of  a  conspi- 
racy y  the  oflspring  of  a  caucus,  and  was  intended  to  promote  di- 
vision in  the  Church.  These  charges  came  from  diverse  quar- 
ters, even  from  Princeton  itself.  As  to  the  charge  of  "  cau- 
ous,"  the  answer  which  he  makes  is,  that  the  meeting  out  of 


12 

which  the  "Act  and  Testimony"  grew,  was  a  public,  open 
meeting.  And  on  this  point  let  me  say,  that  if  it  had  been 
gotten  up  amongst  a  few,  before  public  notice  was  given — ^if 
it  had  been  gotten  up  by  a  "  caucus,'"  if  you  please,  in  a  cave 
amongst  the  hills  of  old  Pennsylvania,  it  would  not  have  hurt 
the  thing  a  bit,  it  might  have  been  all  the  better,  indeed,  if  the 
military  had  been  abroad  and  on  the  hunt  of  these  witnesses, 
as  in  the  days  of  Glaverhouso,  and  there  were  danger  lest  their 
"Act  and  Testimony'*'  would  be  strangled  in  its  birth  by  the 
strong  arm  of  military  despotism.*  So  that  if  it  were  true  that 
our  "Declaration  and  Testimony"  had  been  prepared  and 
signed  in  a  secret  caucus,  there  might  be  in  these  days  of  Mar- 
tial Law,  very  good  reasons  for  such  a  course;  and  this  ought 
to  give  it  all  the  more  potency,  when  it  was  known,  that  the 
moment  it  saw  the  light  its  signers  were  liable  to  be  seized  by 
the  strong  hand  of  military  power,  upheld  and  encouraged 
perha]is,  by  patriotic  ecclesiastics. 

As  to  the  charge  made  against  the  authors  of  the  "Act  and 
Testimony"  that  they  designed  to  promote  a  division  of  the 
Church,  here  is  the  answer  of  Dr.  Breckinridge  : 

"But  if  you  call  it  scbisui,  honestly  and  fervently  to  love  the  form  of 
sound  words  which  we  have  received,  to  pray  and  labor  ior  the  exten- 
sion of  our  church  upon  rational  and  scriptural  principles,  and  to  wish 
that  they  would  be  gone  fi'om  her  bosom  who  reject  her  doctrines,  who 
have  destroyed  her  peace,  who  hsve  corrupted  her  purity  an<i  are  re- 
tarding her  prosperity — then  am  I  a,  schisraatic — and  as  David  replied 
to  the  scofiings  of  the  daughter  of  that  false  hearted  iting,  who  had 
corrupted  Israel,  'if  this  be  vile,  1  will  yet  be  more  vile  thari  thus. '  * 
-*  *  'A-  jiy  opinion  is  that  if  the  errors  which  prevail  in  our  church 
be  not  driven  out,  it  will  be  divided,  it  ought  to  be  divided.  *  *  *  * 
Believing  like  a  good  liepublican,  in  the  honesty  of  the  people,  I  trusted 
that  this  measure  (Act  and  Testimony)  so  far  from  mutilating  the  body 
in  those  members  which  are  uninjured  or  curable,  would  result,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  in  the  sloughing  otF  of  those  parts  alone,  whi<^h  were 
rotten  beyond  hope  of  recovery.  No,  brethren,  we  deprecate  division. 
We  are  laboring  to  avert  the  nece.ssity  of  such  a  measure.  I  confess 
that  when  I  contemplate  the  condition  of  our  beloved  church,  I  am 
sometimes  filled  with  despondency.  But  such  melancholy  fore>)oding8 
as  often  force  themselves  upon  me,  I  would  not  indulge.  *  *  •*  I 
would  trust  first  in  God  and  then  in  yon,  that  all  will  yet  be  well.  *  * 
*  I  would  trust  that  our  gracious  Father,  by  the  instrumentality  of  His 
people  will  s.ave  this  branch  of  Ilis  church.  But  brethren,  if  so,  you 
must  examine  this  subject,  you  must  see  the  posture  of  affaire,  you  must 
feel  the  danger,  and  the  remedy  is  at  hand.  " — Letteh  I. 

"It  aflbrds  me  no  satisfaction    to  behold  such  a  mass  of  corruption. 


*  It  was  stated  in  Synod,  by  Eev.  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  that  it  was  first  adopt- 
ed by  a  committcp,  who  met  in  a  Grave  Yard,  somewhere  in  Philadelphia,  the 
chairman  sitting  on  the  tombstone  of  old  John  Ross,  the  author  of  a  Greek  Gram- 
mar, written  in  Latin,  Ac. 


13 

Would  to  God,  that  it  could  not  be  found  in  all  our  borders.  *  *  * 
But  it  is  of  no  avail  to  close  our  eyes  against  the  evils  that  abound,  and 
that  are  thickening  upon  us.  As  well  might  the  mariner  stop  his  ears 
against  the  howling  of  the  tempest  and  yet  hope  to  be  saved.  As  well 
might  the  trader  shut  his  bo<?ks  and  forget  his  impending  bankruptcy, 
and  yet  hope  to  prosper  in  his  business.  **:•**  I  believe  it  is  yet 
in  the  power  of  the  people,  under  God  to  save  this  beautiful  and  sacred 
fabric.  Rally  then  in  earnest  around  the  truths  vrhich  we  all  profess  to 
love,  but  which  so  many  have  trampled  in  the  dust.  Lift  up  from  their 
degredation  and  plant  firmly  where  they  ought  to  stand  our  dishonored 
and  precious  standards.  *  *  *  *  There  have  been  glorious  pros- 
pects opened  before  our  church,  but  these  must  all  be  blasted,  and  its 
hope  must  perish,  unless  its  purity  be  restored.  We  must  come  back  to 
the  standards  which  have  been  forsaken,  and  those  who  will  not;  who 
like  the  vagrant  prophet,  are  wandering  in  some  other  track,  and  flee- 
ing from  God's  truth,  must  be  seized  in  whatever  ship  they  may  have 
sought  a  passage,  and  be  hurled  overboard,  that  thus  they  may  hush  the 
roarings  of  the  storm,  which  their  own  madness  has  gathered  Yes, 
brethren,  Jonah's  delinquencies  have  invited  the  storm,  and  Jonah's 
punishrnent  must  appease  it.  We,  (and  I  mean  to  include  all  of  you 
who  are  sound)  we  who  have  been  falsely  accused  as  the  authors  of  this 
uproar,  have  no  right  to  permit  the  system  of  truth  which  we  love,  to  be 
destroyed.  We  will  become  guilty  only  when  we  fold  our  hands  and 
let  the  wanderer  dream  on,  and  let  the  beautiful  vessel  perish.  May 
God  give  us  grace  to  quit  ourselves  like  men?" — Letter  II. 

Mr.  Moderator:  Let  any  candid  man  read  this  and  compare 
it  with  what  we  have  said  in  the  DecUiratiou,  and  then  say, 
upon  his  conscience,  whether  the  charge  against  us,  is  not  as 
utterly  without  foundation  as  it  was  against  the  gentlemen  in 
their  day.  Of  course  two  such  papers,  springing  out  of  the 
necessities  of  the  times  and  drawn  by  men  living  a  generation 
apart,  would  differ  in  phraseology  and  in  the  particular  views 
expressed,  according  as  the  errors  to  be  met  and  the  circum- 
stances and  emergencies  of  the  times  might  differ ;  but  if  their 
spirit  and  intent  are  not  the  same,  then  I  do  not  understand 
in  what  language  it  could  be  expressed  and  am  incapable  of 
using  it  with  accuracy.  Sir,  we  accept  and  adopt  substantial- 
ly as  our  answer  to  the  false  accusation  of  schism  and  being 
the  authors  of  this  uproar,  the  answer  of  Dr.  W.  L.  Breckin- 
ridge to  the  same  charges  made  against  those  who  prepared 
and  published  the  "'  Act  and  Testimony"  in  1834. 

It  is  charged  that  this  movement  is  in  the  interests  of  seces- 
sion and  the  rebellion,  though  rebellion  and  secession,  we  are 
told,  are  dead.  Solomon  says  "a  living  dog  is  better  than  a 
dead  lion,"  and  I  suppose  upon  that  principle,  if  we  are  acting 
in  the  interests  of  secession,  we  are  the  maddest  fools  that  eve'r 
lived.  Why,  the  gentleman  had  better  have  brought  in  a  mo- 
tion that  this  Synod  ask  the  court  to  institute  an  inquest  of 
insanity  in  our  behalf.     He  ought  to  have  dealt  with  us  as 


gently  Hs  with  a  sick  laati  out  of  liis  head.  There  never  was 
athiug  more  preposterous.  Rebellion  and  secession  dead  !  and 
w^  come  in,  in  this  solemn  way  and  at  the  time  when  we  utter- 
ed this  testimony,  run  the  risk  of  a  very  summary  process  to 
settle  the  question,  and  all,  as  the  jfentleman  has  said,  for  a 
dead  and  rotten  thing.  I  can  hardly  trespass  npon  your  pa- 
tience to  argue  the  question  after  that  showing.  But  then,  this 
charge  of  being  in  the  interest  of  rebellion,  is  an  old  charge; 
and  again  we  see  that  history  repeats  itself.  The  persecutions 
of  God's  people  have  almost  uniformly  been  made  just  in  this 
way.  Brand  a  man  as  a  heretic,  and  then  mix  it  up  w^ith  the 
cry  of  sedition,  and  the  Provost  Marshal's  guards  will  be  avail- 
able. Here  is  a  book — -Rutherford's  Lex  Ilex — that  was  burn- 
ed by  the  common  hangman;  its  author  v\^as  pursued  into  his 
grave  like  a  hunted  sparrow  ;  and  yet  here  it  stands  the  great 
repository,  not  merely  of  ecclesiastical  liberty,  but  of  the  foun 
dation  principles  of  civil  liberty.  And,  sir,  wh}'  was  he  hunt- 
ed? He  was  advocating  the  liberty  of  God's  Ch'irch,  and  the 
Crown  Rights  of  Jesus,  and  because  he  advocated  the  liberty 
of  God's  Church  he  was  pronounced  seditioua — and  sedition,  in 
the  gentleman's  vocabulary,  means  secession.  And  what  was 
his  response  to  tliis  charge?  You  shall  hear  it,  and  you  may 
accept  it  as  ours: 

"Who  doubteth,  Christian  reader,  but  innocency  must  be  under  ti?e 
courtesy  and  mercy  of  malice,  and  that  it  is  a  real  m.artyrdom  to  be 
brought  under  the  lawless  inquisition  of  the  bloody  tongue.  Christ,  the 
prophets,  and  apostles  of  our  Lord,  went  to  heaven  with,  the  note  of 
traitors,  seditious  men,  and  such  as  turned  the  world  upside  down;  cal- 
umnies of  treason  to  Ccr^sar  were  an  ingredient  in  Christ's  cup,  and 
therefore  the  author  is  the  more  willing  to  drink  of  that  cup  that  touch- 
ed His  lips,  who  IK  our  glorious  Forerunner;  what  if  conscience  toward 
God,  and  credit  with  men,  cannot  both  ,'jo  to  hoiiven  with  the  saints,  the 
author  is  satisfied  witli  the  former  companion,  and  is  willing  to  dismir^s 
the  other.  Truth  to  Christ  cannot  be  treason  to  Csesar,  and  for  his 
choice  he  judgeth  truth  to  have  a  nearer  relation  to  Christ  Jesus,  than 
the  transcendent  and  boundle.?s  power  of  a  mortal  prince. — Preface  to 
Rutherford  s  Lex  Rex. 

Yes,  w^e  are  to  go  to  judgment  and  execution  at  the  hands 
of  this  Synod,  on  the  ground  of  our  being  secessionists,  because 
we  allege  that  Jesus  Christ  is  sole  King  in  His  Church,  and 
that  Csesar  cannot  touch  his  ark  without  bringing  down  his 
lightnings  of  wrath;  and  tliat  Caesar  is  the  sole  judge  in  his 
own  kingdom,  and  the  church  cannot  touch  his  rights  without 
bringing  'Ihrist's  judgments  upon  her — and  that  is  the  princi- 
ple this  b:ok  maintains  and  defends  in  so  masterly  a  manner, 
that  no  angwcr  could  be  found  to  it  but  the  stake  and  the 
gibbet. 


15 

A  ruliiii;'  motive  of  the  signers  and  the  Prcfcbytory  in  utter- 
ing this  "Dechiration  and  Testimony,"  was  the  conviction  of 
the  feartnl  extent  to  whicli  the  church,  in  its  ministry  and 
courts,  had  gone  from  tlie  trutli  and  from  the  liberty  witli 
which  Christ  has  endowed  his  commonwealth,  and  from  that 
purity  without  which  she  .ceases  to  be  the  spouse  of  Christ; 
and  the  iirm  persuasion  that  nothing  would  meet  the  demands 
of  the  crisis  but  a  call  that  could  not  fail  to  be  rousing.  There 
had  been  protests  and  dissents — a  resolution  here  and  there, 
saying  very  little — men  hardly  speaking  above  their  breath ; 
fatal  compromise  papers  had  been  pa,ssed,  until  they  had  be- 
come tiresome  as  well  as  inoperative ;  and  wo  thought  that 
when  we  spoke,  the  trumpet  should  give  no  uncertain  sound. 
Some  of  us,  had  lifted  our  voices  against  these  errors,  at  the 
beginning,  clearly  and  unequivocally;  hut  the  most  seemed  to 
shrink  back.  They  said,  "we  agree  with  your  sentiments,  but 
the  time  has  not  come  to  utter  them."  We  waited  and  waited 
to  hear  these  watchmen  upon  Zion's  walls  sound  the  alarm.^ 
that  the  enemy  was  coming  in  like  a  flood,  until  we  began  to 
think  that  the  watchmen  themselves  were  gone  to  sleep;  and 
so,  some  of  us  became  persuaded  that  we  ought  to  lift  a  warn- 
ing voice  such  as  would  arouse  the  chui'ch.  And  therefore 
we  spoke  plainly  and  unequivocally.  And  now  there  are 
many,  very  many  ministers  and  elders  and  privi?,te  members  in 
all  parts  of  the  church,  who  still  say  "we  agree  with  every 
principle  you  have  iiftirmed  and  we  admit  there  is  great  dan- 
ger, but  there  are  some  harsh  expressions  in  the  Declaration." 
Are  there  none  in  the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  ?  Arc 
there  none  in  the  gentleman's  speech?  God  sent  Jeremiah  to 
sound  an  alarm  in  the  ears  of  backsliding  Israel;  read  his 
testimony  and  warnings,  and  see  if  there  is  anything  harsh  in 
them?  Read  the  controversy  in  Elijah  s  time.  Scad  Isaiah. 
Brethren,  it  will  iiot  do  to  condemn  this  paper,  because. there 
are  in  it  some  terms  that  you  would  not  have  used.  No 
doubt,  if  i)r.  Breckinridge  or  the  author  of  the  celebrated 
Stanton  ]SIemorial  had  written  it,  it  would  have  been  full  of 
the  milk  or  oil  of  human  kindness!  Wo  designed  to  make 
ourselves  lieard ;  we  designed  to  wake  up  these  brethren  in 
Danville,  who,  the  war  being  over,  were  liable  to  go  to  sleep, 
iind  leave  tlie  church  to  go* to  ruin. 

It  was  remarked  on  the  other  side  of  the  bouso,  that  the 
pointa  were  infinite.  And  it  seemed  to  me,  whatever  might 
be  defective  in  the  declaration  and  testimony,  which  Ave  are 
endeavoring  to  bring  yon  to  see  in  the  light  in  which  we  see 


16 

it,  that  was  as  high  a  coinpUment  to  its  contentd  antl  its  im- 
portance a8  could  possibly  have  been  paid,  even  though  it  was 
not  intended.  Yes,  the  points  are  infinite,  and  they  are  of 
infinite  importance.  In  this  view  I  shall  proceed  with  tlie 
argument  I  designed  to  make  upon  this  subject. 

And  I  observe,  in  the  outset,  that  this  is  not  a  question  of 
mere  strife  about  words  to  no  profit.  It  is  no  mere  conten- 
tion between  persons  alienated,  perhaps,  by  feelings  that  we 
ought  not  to  indulge;  or  whether  alienated  or  not,  divided 
one  from  the  other  by  the  causes  which  separate  professing 
Christian  men  in  this  world.  This  is  not  a  question  to  be  set- 
tled by  quibble,  by  jest,  by  an  ad  captandum.  appeal  to  popular 
passion.  No  sir,  it  is  a  question  to  be  settled  by  proof.  It  is 
a  question  to  be  settled  by  argument,  real  substantial  argu- 
ment, that  shall  address  itself  to  the  understandings  and  the 
consciences  of  men.  And,  though  I  feel  conscious  of  my  own  in- 
ability to  do  justice  to  the  matters  before  us  in  either  of  these 
points  of  view,  it  shall  be  my  aim  to  deal  with  them  as  in  this 
light.  Whatever  may  seem  to  have  a  personal  application  on 
my  part,  will  arise  from  the  fact,  that  I  have  been  preceeded  in 
such  a  manner  in  this  discussion,  as  that  it  is  impossible  to  do 
justice  to  the  truth,  without  sometimes  appearing  to  be  person- 
al, or  making  a  personal  application  in  what  I  say. 

This  "Declaration  and  Testimony"  is  addressed  to  "the 
Ministers,  Ruling  Elders  and  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  tlnited  States. "  It  contains  an  introduction, 
it  contains  a  declaration  of  facts,  it  contains  a  statement  of  er- 
rors, it  bears  testimony  against  those  errors,  it  assigns  certain 
reasons  for  this  testimony,  it  lays  down  principles  which  it  af- 
firms to  be  scriptural  and  fundamental,  it  seeks  to  arouse  the 
church  to  a  just  sense  of  the  ruin  with  which  she  is  threaten- 
ed, and  it  then  proposes  certain  measures  in  order  to  eradicate 
the  errors  which  are  alleged  to  exist,  and  to  maintain  the  prin- 
ciples which  are  affirmed  to  be  according  to  the  Word  of  God 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  '' 

The  introduction  opens  in  these  words : 

"  Bei.o^'kd  Brethren  : — The  occasion  upon  which  wo  address  you  in 
one  of  no  ordinary  interest  to  the  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesua.  For  sev- 
eral years  past,  that  Church  in  this  country  has  been  departing  farther 
and  farther  from  both  the  spirit  and  the'plain  letter  of  her  commission, 
Ko  'preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,'  and  her  charter  as  a  'Kingdom 
not  of  this  world.'  The  Presbyterian  branch  of  the  Church — that  which 
we  stand  immediately  connected  with — for  which  our  fathers  labored, 
find  suffered  and  prayed ;  and  whose  doctrine  and  order  we  have  loved 
above  all  things  els©  on  earth,  sadly  disappointing  our  most  sanguine 
hopes,  and  recreant  to  her  principles  nnd  ancient  testimonies,  has  essay- 


17 

ed  to  take  the  lead  in  this  grievous  departure  I'rom  the  faith  and  prac- 
tice enjoined  by  her  King  and  Head,  and  solemnly  professed  in  her  con- 
fession and  catechisms  and  symbols  Step  by  step  she  has  gone  away 
from  the  old  paths,  despite  every  vrarning  and  entreaty  addressed  to  her 
by  those  vyho  have  still  remained  faithful, ^until  Vfe  have  reason  to  fear,  it 
will  be  in -vain  to  attempt  to  bring  her  back  again  to  the  way  of  truth 
from  which  she  has  departed. 

Thus,  iu  the  very  forefront  of  this  document  there  stands, 
as  you  have  heard,  an  expression  of  a  feeUng  of  attachment 
to  the  church  universal,  and  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
particular — which,  unless  it  be  assumed,  as  it  does  seem  to  me 
to  have  been  assumed,  that  those  who  have  made  this  declar- 
ation are  hypocrites  of  the  deepest  and  darkest  dye,  must 
show,  that  at  least  we  were  acting  under  a  profound  attach- 
ment to  the  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  to  the  church 
of  our  fathers.  That  it  was  a  moment  of  profound  interest 
to  our  Church,  and  that  she  had  reached  a  point  in  her  history 
of  no  ordinary  importance,  no  one  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
house,  I  presume,  will  at  all  call  in  question.  And  unless  we 
are  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  insincere  of  men,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, that  in  this  movement  we  were  actuated  by  a  convic- 
tion of  the  iminent  danger  which  threatened  our  Church,  and 
a  love  for  those  principles  upon  which  she  was  founded,  and 
from  which,  we  believed,  she  had  grievously  departed.  But  to 
put  this  beyond  all  question,  we  go  on  to  say  farther : 

"It  is,  therefore,  under  a  deep  conviction  of  the  imperative  call  made 
upon  us,  to  bear  a  clear  and  unequivocal  testimony  against  this  departure 
of  the  Church  from  her  ancient  faith  and  order,  that  we  have  drawn  up 
and  do  now  publish  to  the  world  this  solemn  Declaration  and  Testimony, 
that  so  we  may  acquit  ourselves  of  all  complicity,  with  that  subversion 
of  the  Law  of  Christ's  Kingdom  and  surrender  of  the  Crown  Rights  of 
Zion's  King,  on  account  of  which,  the  name  and  honor  of  our  Lord  are 
this  day  everywhere  blasphemed.  If  we  can  do  nothing  more  than  clear 
ourselves  from  the  guilt  of  so  great  a  crime,  we  shall  have  thereby  se- 
cured ourselves  from  a  particpation  in  its  punishment.  Yet,  by  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  our  efforts  in  this  behalf,  we  shall  not  despair  of  so 
rallying  the  faithful  friends  of  a  Pure  and  Free  Church,  around  the 
Banner  which  God  has  given  us  'to  be  displayed  because  of  the  Truth,' 
as  to  be  able  to  defeat  in  great  measure  the  schemes  of  those,  who  seem 
by  their  acts  to  be  saying,  concerning  the  beautiful  and  holy  temple  of 
our  fathers,  'Ease  it,  rase  it  even  to  the  foundation  thereof.'  " 

Now,  Mr.  Moderator,  this  is  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in 
which  we  open  up  that  Testimony,  which  you  are  told,  has  for 
its  object  to  divide  the  Church.  Here  is  the  first  stone  in  the 
foundation  of  that  formidable  fortress  of  schism  and  sedition, 
which  it  was  represented  to  this  Synod  as  about  to  be  erected 
by  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  from  which  the  Presbyterian 
Church  tnight  be  assailed  and  her  unity  destroyed.    But,  sir, 


IS 

18  the  representation  true?  Has  it  even  the  shadow  of  truth 
to  give  it  plausibility  or  credence?  Most  assuredly  it  has  not. 
Having  indicated  the  motives  and  aims  by  which  we  were 
governed  in  the  adopting  and  uttering  of  our  Testimony,  we 
proceed  to  specify  the  errors  against  which  we  feel  constrained 
to  bear  witness.  And  to  what  we  have  affirmed  respecting 
these  errors,  the  evidence  of  their  widespread  existence,  their 
nature  and  the  principles  to  which  they  are  antagonistic,  I  so- 
licit a  careful  attention.  For  it  is  upon  the  validity  or  invalid- 
ity of  what  is  here  asserted  on  all  these  points,  that  the  decision 
of  this  whole  question  must  rest,  if  that  decision  is  to  be  ac- 
cording to  truth,  and  not  the  mere  verdict  of  passion  and  pre- 
judice. 

The  first  error  which  is  alleged  to  exist,  and  against  which 
we  testify,  is  ^^  the  assumption  on  the  jiart  of  the  Courts  of  the 
Church,  of  the  right  to  decide  questions  of  State  policy."  In  proof  of 
this  assertion,  we  have  cited  you  to  documents  duly  authenti- 
cated— they  have  been  laid  upon  your  table,  and  some  of  them 
read  in  your  hearing — the  acts  of  Presbyteries,  Synods  and 
General  Assemblies.  It  would  have  been  only  too  easy,  had 
a  little  more  time  been  allowed  us,  to  have  accumulated  this 
evidence.  But  it  seems  to  me  enough  has  been  given  to  satis- 
fy this  body  upon  that  point. 

In  special,  and  lis  conclusive  proof  of  the  assumption 
charged,  we  have  cited  the  first  opening  Act  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  our  Church,  the  Spring  Resolutions  of  1861.  It 
is  this  act  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  others,  the  germ, 
the  proton  pscudos  of  all  those  errors,  which  we  complain  of  as 
having  subsequently  been  endorsed,  sanctioned  and  made  law 
in  the  Church  by  its  Supreme  Judicatory.  And  in  this,  our 
judgment  of  that  act,  many  then  concurred  who  seem  since  to 
have  become  advocates  of  the  same  errors.  In  support  of  our 
views,  we  cite  here  from  a  protest  against  the  passage  of  the 
Spring  Resolutions,  at  the  head  of  which  stands  the  name  of 
Dr.  Hodge.  We  do  not  cite  that  paper  because  Dr.  Hodge'e 
name  is  at  the  head  of  it;  that  is  a  mere  accident.  The  proba- 
bility is,  that  he  wrote  the  original  draft  of  that  protest;  and 
when  a  man  writes  the  original  draft  of  a  protest,  it  is  usual 
for  his  name  to  stand  at  the  head  of  it.  We  cite  it  to  show, 
that  the  opinions  held  in  1861  by  the  58  brethren  who  signed 
that  protest  drawn  up  and  presented  Ijy  Dr.  Hodge,  are  pre- 
cisely those  which  are  set  forth  in  this  "Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony." and  that,  instead  of  beine:  tlio  leaders  in  "rebellion'" 


ID 

against  the  church  (if  this  be  rebellion,)  these  leaders  anticipa- 
ted 118  by  five  years,  and  some  of  these  are  brethren  whom  I 
believe  are  now  on  this  floor.  One  of  them,  (Dr.  W.  C.  Mat- 
thews,) I  understand  to  be  in  the  attitude  of  an  enemy  to  this 
"Declaration  and  Testimony"  because  it  is  rebellious  against 
the  Church.  IIow  will  that  gentleman  meet  his  own  protest? 
Will  he  condemn  us  in  1865,  for  doing  and  saying  what  he  did 
and  said  in  1861? 

In  this  declaration  we  say,  that  the  Assembly  has  "assumed" 
the  right  to  decide  questions  of  State  policy.  What  do  the 
protestants  say?  They  say  "that  the  Assembly  does  decide 
the  political  question,  to  what  Government  the  allegiance  of 
Presbyterians  as  citizens  is  due,  is  undeniabre.  This  jpolitical 
question  which  agitates  and  divides  the  countr}^  is  not  a  ques- 
tion which  this  Assembly  has  a  right  to  decide.  This  is  a 
matter  clearly  beyond  its  jurisdiction."  "That  the  Assembly 
does  not  ox\\j  decide  the  political  question  referred  to,  but 
makes  that  decision  a  term  of  membership  in  our  Church  is 
no  less  clear.  In  our  judgment,  in  so  doing  they  violate  the 
constitution  of  the  Church  and  usurp  the  prerogative  of  its  Di- 
vine Master."  Mark  that !  "  Usurp  the  frcrogativc  of  its  Divine 
Master F'  Mark  well  these  pregnant  words;  let  them  fasten 
upon  your  memories  and  sink  down  into  your  hearts.  Such 
are  the  utterances  of  Drs.  Hodge,  and  Backus,  and  Matthews, 
and  Hawthorn,  and  Cheek,  and  Harbison,  and  their  fellow  pro- 
testants. And  sir,  what  more  have  we  said,  what  more  could 
we  say  than  this,  that  the  Assembly  had  decided  questions  of 
State  policy,  and  by  so  doing  had  violated  the  constitution  of  the 
Church,  and  usurped  the  prerogative  of  Jesus  Christ  her 
Head!  Sir,  is  this  a  light  thing  to  usurp  Christ's  power  and 
authority  in  His  kingdom?  Is  it  a  small  matter?  Is  it  some- 
thing that  can  be  allowed  to  stand,  and  the  Church  not  be 
scathed  and  withered  for  it  by  the  judgments  of  her  otx'ended 
Lord?  What  greater  crime  can  we  charge  against  the  Pope 
of  Rome  himself,  than  this,  that  he  has  usurped  the  preroga- 
tive of  Christ?  And  yet  this  is  the  charge  which  was  made 
by  these  brethren  in  1861,  for  merely  reiterating  which,  they 
now  arraign  us  as  rebels  against  the  Church  and  the  State,  and  as 
acting  in  tlie  interest  of  schism  and  secession.  Nay  more,  this 
Synod  is  asked  to  declare  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  outlaw- 
ed and  outcast,  for  testifying  against  that  which,  as  you  have 
heard  in  the  record  read,  the  Synod  itself  in  1861,  solemnly 
pronounced  contrary  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church  and  to  the 
word  of  God  1     And  all  this  was  said  right  in  the  face  of  the 


20 

General  Assembly  itself.  Did  the  Assembly  cite  these  bretJa- 
ren  and  say  that  they  were  unfit  to  sit  any  longer  in  the  church 
courts?  Have  they  turned  Dr.  Hodge  out  of  Princeton  aa  a 
secessionist  and  schismatic?  I  have  never  heard  of  their  do- 
ing any  thing  of  the  kind. 

We  cited  this  Protest,  not  because  it  proves  anything  in  it  j 
self,  but  because  we  wished  to  show,  that  the  opinions  which 
we  have  held  back  from  uttering  for  five  years,  had  been  solemn- 
ly affirmed  in  the  face  of  the  General  Assembly,  by  almost  three 
times  as  many  persons  as  have  singed  this  "  Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony," Now,  we  say,  as  honest  men  they  ought  publicly  to 
renounce  what  they  have  affirmed,  or  put  their  hands  and  seal 
to  ^t  least  the  first  article  in  this  declaration.  Any  thing  else 
is  unjust  toward  other  men,  and  inconsistent  with  fidelity  to 
the  Master. 

But  did  the  General  Assembly  deny  that  it  had  undertaken 
to  decide  questions  of  State  policy,  as  was,  and  is  charged 
against  it?  Not  at  ail;  the  fact  was  admitted,  and  the  right 
asserted,  to  decide  such  questions.  The  Assembly  made  an- 
swer to  the  protest  of  Dr.  Ilodge.  It  was  said  the  other  day, 
that  a  want  of  courtesy,  or  something  to  that  effect,  prevented 
our  allowing  this  answer  to  be  read  just  at  that  particular 
time.  We  had  our  own  way  in  which  we  proposed  to  manage 
this  matter,  and  we  did  not  wish  this  answer  read  at  that  time, 
because  we  did  not  want  to  occupy  the  time  of  the  Synod  with 
that,  which  we  intended  to  bring  forward,  in  connection  with 
the  proof  in  support  of  our  declaration  of  errors. 

I  read  now  a  few  sentences  from  this  answer :  "  That  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  has  political  as  well  as  moral  bearings 
is  readily  admitted."  *  ^'-  "  If  ever  there  was  an  occasion 
when  political  questions  rose  into  the  sphere  of  morals  and  re- 
ligion, the  present  circumstances  of  our  beloved  country  are 
of  that  character."  *  *  a  ^\^q  protestants  deny  the  right 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  decide  to  what  Government  the 
allegiance  of  Presbyterians  as  citizens  is  due.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, the  Assembly  has  made  no  such  decision.  They  have  said 
nothing  respecting  the  allegiance  of  the  subjects  of  any  for- 
eign power,  or  that  of  the  members  of  our  mission  churches 
in  India  or  China,  or  elsewhere,  who  may  hold  connection  with 
our  denomination.  The  action  complained  of  relates  solely  to 
American  Presbyterians,  citizens  of  these  United  States."     * 

*  "  We  regard  the  action  against  which  these  protests  are 
levelled,  simply  as  a  faithful  declaration  by  the  Assembly,  of 
Christian  duty  towards  those  in  authority  over  us;  which  adds 


21 

nothing  to  the  terms  of  communion  already  recognized. 
Surely  the  idea  of  the  obligation  of  loyalty  to  our  Federal  Gov- 
ernment is  no  new  thing  to  Presbyterians." 

Here  then,  is  a  clear  and  explicit  assertion  of  the  right  and 
duty  to  do  all,  and  more,  than  the  framers  of  the  protest  al- 
leged; all  that  is  charged  in  this  Declaration.  Here  is  a  solemn 
enunciation,  that  klie  Assembly  has  a  right  to  decide  to  what 
government  the  allegiance  of  a  citizen  is  primarily  due;  and 
to  make  her  decision  as  to  what  constitutes  loyalty,  authorita- 
tive as  a  condition  of  membership  in  the  church.  N^or,  'the 
right  once  claimed  and  conceded,  is  there  any  good  reason 
why  it  should  be  limited  to  political  aiFairs  in  the  United 
States.  The  Assembly  is  as  much  bound  to  determine  the 
question  of  allegiance  for  the  members  of  the  church  in  China, 
where  a  rebellion  has  been  ragiug  now  for  many  years,  as  for 
our  members  in  Kentucky  or  in  Texas.  Once  this  right  ad- 
mitted, and  its  application  is  unlimited  as  the  world  itself. 
All  political  questions  have  "moral  bearings."  Rebellion 
against  the  "powers  that  be,"  in  China,  one  of  the  oldest, 
longest  established  and  most  peaceable  governments  in  the 
world,  is  not  less  a  crime,  certainly,  than  rebellion  against 
"the  powers  that  be"  in  America.  And  why  then  should  not 
the  Assembly  refuse  to  "recognize  as  good  Presbyterians,  men, 
whom  with  the  approval  of  Christendom,"  the  Emperor  of 
China  "may  soon  execute  as  traitors  ?" 

Moderator,  I  need  not  press  this  argument  further.  Enough 
has  been  said  to  show  that  the  right  we  deny  has  been  claimed 
in  its  broadest  extent,  and  that  the  claim  rests  upon  a  tissue  of 
fallacies,  which,  if  admitted  as  true,  must  change  the  whole 
character  of  our  Church.  Indeed,  already  has  this  claim  been 
pushed  to  such  an  extent,  that  its  recognition  as  legitimate,  is 
to-day  made  a  condition  of  good  standing  in  the  ministry  and 
eldership  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  second  error  against  which  we  have  borne  our  testimo- 
ny is,  that  the  Church,  as  such,  owes  allegiance  to  human  Rulers  or 
Governments.  Now,  to  show,  that  we  are  still  following,  and 
not  leading  other  brethren,  in  the  opinion  that  this  erroneous 
doctrine  has  been  propagated  in  the  Church,  I  will  read  to  you 
a  paragraph  from  a  protest,  presented  in  the  Assemby  of  1862, 
and  admitted  to  record,  against  the  adoption  by  that  body,  of 
a  paper  of  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  on  the  State  of  the  Coun- 
try.    This  protest  is  signed  by  A.  P.  Form  an,  C.  D.  Campbell, 


22 

John  L.  McKee,  Henry  R.  Tnnstall  and  Jacob  Johnson.    This 
is  what  they  say : 

"The  idea  seems  to  underlie  the  paper  adopted,  that  the  Church  owes 
allegiance  to  the  State,  for  it  speaks  of  "loyal  Presbyteries  and  Synods," 
"loyal  Church,''  &c.  The  citizen  owes  allegiance  to  the  State,  and  is  bound 
to  uphold  and  maintain  the  civil  government;  but  the  Church,  as  such, 
owes  allegiance  only  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  his  kingdom  is  the  only 
kingdom  she  is  bound  to  uphold — hence  she  can  be  loyal  only  to  her 
own  King." 

Why  it  would  seem  almost,  as  if  the  person  who  drew  up 
this  Declaration,  had  quoted  from  this  very  protest,  for  the 
language  is  as  nearly  identical  as  is  the  sentiment  of  the  two 
utterances.  "  Allegiance  or  loyalty,"  says  the  Presbytery,  "m  re- 
spect to  human  governments,  is  alone  j^redicable  of  persons  as  citi- 
zens ;  the  Church  owes  her  allegiance  alone  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
sole  King  of  Zion"  And  this  is  the  true  doctrine.  These  breth- 
ren said  it  in  1862,  though  some  of  them  seem  unwilling  to  af- 
firm it  now  in  1865.  But  what  becomes  now  of  the  charge 
that  what  we  declare  is  a  novelty,  when  we  are  simply  echoing 
the  words  of  protest  which  were  first  uttered  by  brethren 
three  years  ago?  We  give  them  the  honor  of  it;  we  have  no 
ambition  of  leadership,  but  are  glad  to  follow  in  their  steps,  and 
to  join  our  testimony  to  theirs  against  that  error,  which  is  still 
persisted  in. 

"  The  Church,  as  such,"  we  say — that  is  the  congregation  of 
God's  elect  people — elect  outwardlj',  and  including  the  elect  in- 
wardly, constituting  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  or  any  par- 
ticular portion  of  that  church,  "owes  allegiance,  and  allegi- 
ance can  be  predicated  of  it,  only  with  respect  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  laws."  For  instance — to  make  it  plain,  if  I  can, 
for  this  is  perhaps  the  most  vital  point  of  all — you  cannot  say 
that  the  Chestnut  Street  Presbyterian  Church  owes  allegiance 
to  any  human  government.  Transfer  its  members  to  China, 
amid  the  raging  storm  of  revolution  there,  and  they  can  sit 
down  and  worship  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  His 
commandments,  and  do  all  the  acts  of  a  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  not  utter  one  word  in  regard  to  which  is  right, 
whether  the  established  government  or  those  in  rebellion 
against  it.  They  could  separate  themselves  totally  from  the 
whole  question,  whether  it  be  a  justiHable  or  an  unjustifiable 
revolution.  Upon  any  other  principle,  Christianity  would  have 
been  stopped  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  nations  of  the  world; 
for  at  the  very  outset,  its  ministers  encountered,  all  over  the 
world,  revolution  upon  revolution.  Kingdom  against  Kingdom, 


.  23 

State  against  State,  and  people  against  people.  The  Apostles 
would  have  had  to  stop  at  the  boundary  of  every  province  and 
kingdom,  in  order  to  settle  first,  the  question  whether  the  rev- 
olutions then  going  on  were  justifiable  or  not,  and  to  deter- 
mine the  question  of  the  allegiance,  of  converts  to  Christ,  to  the 
respective  conflicting  powers.  You  see  at  once  that  it  would 
have  worked  havoc  in  the  church  then ;  and  surely  not  less 
now. 

I  would  say  here  upon  this  point,  that  as  I  understand  the 
matter,  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  man,  was  never  a  citizen,  in  the 
proper  technical,  political  sense  of  that  term,  in  any  country. 
He  was  a  subject — not,  as  Paul  was,  a  citizen  of  Rome — and 
having  the  right  to  appeal  to  Cnesar  from  the  judgment  of  an 
inferior  civil  tribunal.  I  suppose  I  am  right,  for  if  Jesus  had 
been  a  citizen,  and  Pilate  had  known  this  fact,  (as  the  govern- 
or who  sat  judging  Paul,  knew  concerning  the  Apostle,)  that 
Jesus  was  a  Roman  citizen,  the  rude  soldier  who  struck  Him 
on  the  cheek  with  his  mailed  hand,  would  no  more  have  ven- 
tured to  do  it,  than  he  would  have  dared  to  strike  the  Empe- 
ror himself  Nor  would  Pilate  have  dared  to  command  that 
He  should  be  scourged.  It  is  therefore,  a  profound  mistake, 
to  say  that  Jesus  Christ  paid  tribute  as  a  citizen,  to  Ca3sar.  I 
ask  for  the  proof,  from  any  passage  in  the  Gospels,  that  Christ 
ever  paid  tribute  to  any  human  government  at  all.  I  do  not 
say  that  he  did  not;  no  doubt  he  would,  if  it  had  been  exact- 
ed of  him.  But  the  passage  which  is  quoted  to  prove  that  he 
paid  such  tribute,  refers  to  the  poll-tax  due  to  the  temple  ser- 
vice. And  the  whole  force  of  what  passed  in  that  colloquy 
between  Christ  and  Peter,  and  the  collectors  of  the  temple  tri- 
bute, is  incidentally,  a  splendid  argument  for  his  deity.  "Of 
whom  do  the  kings  of  the  earth  take  custom  or  tribute  ?  of 
their  own  children,  or  of  strangers?  Peter  saith  unto  him,  of 
strangers.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  then  are  the  children  free." 
As  if  He  had  said,  "  I  am  the  Son  of  the  Lord  of  the  Temple; 
I  belong  to  the  royal  household,  and  therefore,  I  am  under  no 
obligation  to  pay  this  tribute."  "But  lest  we  offend  them,"  &c. 
Now,  then,  you  see  to  what  this  argument  brings  us.  Is  not 
Jesus  Christ,  so  to  speak,  the  embodiment  in  himself  of  the 
Church,  of  which  he  is  the  Head,  and  which  is  His  body  ?  Is  He 
not  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega  of  it  all  ?  And  if  in  this  char- 
acter he  owed  no  allegiance  to  any  earthly  Prince,  and  was  a 
citizen  of  the  world,  as  He  was  the  Son  of  man,  is  it  not  a  fair 
deduction,  a  legitimate,  and  even  inevitable  conclusion,  that 
the  Church  which  represents  him  and  is  his  Bride,  stands  in 


24. 

this  respect,  as  independent,  as  does  her  Lord  and  Husband  V 

"  We  testify  against  the  sanction  given  by  the  Church,  to  the 
perversion  of  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  ujpon 
the  subject  of  the  duty  of  Christians^  as  citizens,  to  "  render  to  Ccesar 
the  things  that  are  Cccsar's,"  and  to  ^^he  subject  unto  the  higher jpovjersT 
I  expected  when  we  were  about  to  enter  upon  this  argument, 
to  be  put  to  all  my  knowledge,  and  all  that  I  could  do  in  the 
matter,  with  the  assistance  of  these  brethren  liere,  to  get  rid  of 
an  argument,  I  had  expected  to  hear  made,  to  show  that  these 
Scriptures  had  not  been  perverted ;  but  I  am  happily  relieved, 
Mr.  Moderator,  for  it  is  charged,  as  I  understand,  in  the  argu- 
ment of  the  gentleman,  (Dr.  Breckinridge.)  that  the  doctrine 
we  condemn  is  the  true  doctrine,  and  that  what  we  hold  is  the 
doctrine  of  anarchy.  That  our  conception  of  civil  government, 
as  set  forth  in  our  interpretation  of  these  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, is  simply  this,  that  the  highest  perfectioi^  of  human  gov- 
ernment is  ANAiiCHY.     Well,  sir,  I  have  to  say,  that  if  our  con- 
ception of  human  government  is  anarchy,  it  has  remained  for 
the  party,  which  the  gentleman  represents,  to  realize  that  idea. 
We  hold  the  doctrine;  he  holds  the  practice.     We  have 'stated 
the  problem ;  he  and  his  party  have  worked  it  out.     God  in 
His  Providence,  has  not  given  us  the  power  to  attain  our  con- 
ception of  civil  government.     But  He  has  permitted  these  gen- 
tlemen, and  those  with  whom  they  are  associated  in  Church 
and  State,  to  accomplish  that,  which,  according  to  the  state- 
ment, we  have  conceived.  God  kindly  divides  the  labors  of  this 
world ;  He  permits  one  to  initiate  an  idea,  and  another  to  work 
it  out  in  actual  life.     Sir,  as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  view  it, 
the  highest  perfection  of  anarchy  is  Marticd  Laio.     I  regret  that  I 
am  under  the  necessity,  by  the  very  state  of  the  case,  of  so  fre- 
quently— too  frequently,  perhaps  in  the  judgmen  of  some — re- 
peating that  upleasant  expression ;  but  as  I  was  saying,  I  concur 
with  what  I  understand  to  be  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  wisest 
jurists  of  the  present  and  of  the  past,  whose  writings  I  have 
had  opportunity  to  consult,  and  who  hold  that  Martial  Law  is 
the  end  of  all  law.     It  is  lawlessness,  embodied  in  the  lowest 
commander  of  a  corporal's  guard,  and  in  the  Chief  Magistrate 
who  has  buckled  on  his  sword,  and  i>ut  on  his  crown  and  hel- 
met.    If  I  am  mistaken  in  this  opinion,  it  will  require  others 
than  the  party  represented  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  to 
set  me  right.     Their  dicta  has  no  authority  with  me  on  that 
subject,  until  they  produce  something  from  those  who  have 
been,  not  the  advocates  of  despotism,  but  the  advocates  of 


25 

those  ideas  of  human  liberty,  which  are  embodied  in  oar  nat- 
ural conceptions,  and  confirmed,  as  far  as  God's  word  teaches 
upon  the  subject,  in  the  rights  and  liberty  which  he  has  given 
to  His  Church.  Until  there  shall  be  adduced  from  some  such 
source  something  to  controvert  our  views,  I  must  be  pardoned, 
if  I  do  not  bow  down  to  the  statements,  assertions  and  sophis- 
tries of  those,  who  falsely  accuse  us  of  maintaining  principles 
of  anarchy,  when  they  themselves  are  really  the  subverters, 
both  in  principle  and  practice,  of  all  law  and  libert}' ;  as  has 
already  been  shown,  and  as  I  shall  yet  more  fully  prove. 

In  the  argument  of  the  gentleman  (Dr.  B.),  respecting  the 
Church  and  the  State,  amongst  some  things  not  clearly  stated, 
this  proposition  was  distinctly  laid  down  and  maintained ; 
"That  the  State  knows  nothing  of  private  judgment,  and  that 
in  the  State  there  are  crimes  but  not  offences,  whilst  in  the 
Church  there  are  offences  but  no  crimes.'^  Is  this  so  ?  Are 
there  not  misdemeanors,  high-misdemeanors  and  offences 
punishable  by  the  civil  law?  Are  there  not  also  crimes  to 
which  penalties  are  attached  ?  Now  turn  to  the  Book  of  Dis- 
cipline, and  let  us  see  if  the  Church  knows  nothing  of  crimes  : 
"When  a  judicatory  enters  on  the  consideration  of  a  crimc^  or 
crimes  alleged,"  etc.  "  In  case  of  a  minister  being  supposed  to 
be  guilty  of  a  crime  or  crimes,  at  such  a  distance  from  his  usual 
place  of  residence,  as  that  the  offence  is  not  likely  to  become 
otherwise  known  to  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs,"  etc. 
"An  offence  is  anything  in  the  principles  or  practice  of  a  church 
member,  which  is  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,"  etc.  So  far 
is  the  distinction  claimed,  from  existing  in  fact,  that  just  the 
reverse  is  true.  The  Church  knows  of  nothing  except  sin  or 
sins — crimes  against  God.  Hence,  in  the  Book  of  Discipline^ 
as  you  see,  the  terms  crimes  and  offences,  are  interchangeable. 
What  is  not  a,  sin,  the  Church  has  nothing  to  do  with.  The 
State  may  make  a  thing  a  crime,  which  God  has  not  made  a 
sin;  and  the  State  may  make  a  thing  an  offence,  which  God 
has  not  made  a  sin.  The  State  may  hang  a  man  for  what  it 
has  made  a  crime,  and  the  Church  would  baptize  him,  and 
canonize  him  for  that,  for  which  he  was  hung.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  State  knows  nothing  of  sin.  It  does  not  deal  with 
men  for  sins,  but  for  crimes ;  and  crimes  are  made  such  by  the 
code  of  criminal  law.  It  deals  with  men  for  offences  and  mis- 
demeanors ;  and  offences  and  misdemeanors  are  made  such  by 
the  civil  law.  If  I  understand  the  matter,  it  is  somehow  so. 
I  would  willingly  sit  at  the  feet  of  such  gentlemen,  learned 
in  the  law,  as  I.  see  here  before  me,  and  be  corrected,  if  I  am 


26 

in  error.  But,  I  repeat,  unless  I  am  profoundly  wrong,  the  pre- 
cise reverse  of  what  was  stated  in  the  proposition  referred  to,  is 
true,  as  respects  the  Church,  whatever  may  be  true  in  respect 
of  the  State.  Well,  that  statement  seemed  designed,  somehow, 
to  make  good  the  other,  "  that  tlic  State  knows  nothing  of 
private  judgment."  But  the  gentleman  (Dr.  B.),  did  not  go 
on  in  his  argument.  If  his  premises  were  true  and  well- 
founded,  he  ought  to  have  stated  the  whole  conclusion,  to-wit: 
that  the  Church  could  know  nothing  of  private  judgment. 
Because,  if  the  State,  according  to  the  position  of  the  gentle- 
man, endowed  with  power  absolute  from  God,  can  know 
nothing  of  private  judgment  in  regard  to  these  merely  human 
laws,  and  the  crimes  and  offences  under  them,  much  more  can 
the  Chnrch,  endowed  with  authority  as  absolute  as  that  of  the 
State,  from  the  King  of  kings,  know  nothing  of  private  judg- 
ment in  regard  to  matters  that  are  made  sin  by  the  law  of 
Christ.  She  must  stand  the  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  regard 
to  sins,  offences,  crimes  in  the  Church,  as  the  magistrate  stands 
vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  of  God  in  the  State.  With  such  an 
argument  as  that,  all  you  have  to  do,  is  to  put  the  double  head 
upon  the  monster,  and  you  have  the  Apocalyptic  beast,  seen 
by  John — the  monster  seen  by  Daniel,  stamping  under  his  feet 
and  devouring  the  people.  If  I  thought  the  proposition  were 
true,  I  would  wish  God  quickly  to  fulfill  his  promise,  and  wind 
up  these  governments,  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil.  But,  is  it 
true?  If  it  is,  then  all  this  testimony  goes  for  nothing;  all  we 
have  said,  is  profound  falsehood;  all  that  we  have  affirmed 
here,  is,  as  the  gentleman  claims,  worthy  of  unmitigated  con- 
demnation. Now  I  affirm,  as  a  contrary  proposition,  that  the 
State  is  founded  upon  private  judgment,  that  it  exists  by  virtue 
of  private  judgment,  that  it  is  free  just  in  proportion  as  the 
executive  power,  the  minister  of  the  people,  allows  to  the  peo- 
ple freedom  in  their  private  judgment,  that  that  freedom  at- 
tains its  highest  perfection,  just  in  proportion  as  those  who 
have  this  right,  are  capable,  by  their  moral  perceptions,  by 
their  intellectual  endowments,  and  by  their  educational  op- 
portunities of  exercising  a  sound  private  judgment.  I  state 
the  proposition,  and  I  will  be  glad  to  see  it  controverted  fairly, 
and  if  it  is  false,  I  will  give  it  up.  I  can  not,  I  am  sure  I  ought 
not  now  to  detain  you  in  arguing  it  particularly.  You  can  see 
in  a  moment  where  we  go  to  if  it  be  denied — to  an  absolute 
despotism  in  its  worst  form.  You  can  see,  too,  how  fully  we 
are  warranted  in  affirming,  that  to  bring  the  Scriptures,  such 
as  we  have  referred  to  here,  to  support  a  proposition  like  that 


27 

maintained  by  our  opponents,  is  to  make  Christianity  the  tool 
of  tyrants,  and  its  teachings  the  bulwark  of  unlimited  arbitrary 
power.  I  would,  by  the  grace  of  God,  die  with  Sydney,  or 
Hampden,  or  Emmet,  before  I  would  subscribe  to  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  gentleman.  He  may  cut  me  ofi'  from  this  Presby- 
^^^Jf  yes,  sir,  lie  and  his  associates  may  carry  me  to  the 
guillotine,  and  I  would  rather  die  with  a  Madam  Roland  upon 
the  gibbet,  by  my  proposition,  than  to  die  amid  kings  and 
courtiers,  and  the  shouts  and  hallelujahs  of  the  whole  "Roman 
Empire,  at  the  feet  of  a  dead  and  deified  Caesar. 

No,  Moderator,  the  gentleman  (Dr.  B.),  has  admitted  all  and 
more  than  we  ever  expected.  "We  are  glad  that  he  has  been 
frank  enough  to  acknowledge  the  position.  lie  has  enunciated 
the  doctrine  of  that  party  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
he  is  here  to  represent  and  defend,  and  to  carry  rough  shod 
over  the  rest  of  us;  that  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  Republic 
is  so  immaculate,  so  exalted,  clothed  with  such  unlimited 
power,  that  we  belong  to  him,  not  merely  that  he  may  use  our 
bodies  to  stop  bomb-shells  and  minie-balls,  but  that  he  may 
use  our  souls  to  carry  out  whatever  he  is  pleased  to  decree. 
It  is  a  splendid  conception  ;  it  is  a  most  honest  and  noble  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  conception  and  of  the  devotion  of  that 
party  to  an  absolute  military  despotism;  for  you  can  not  carry 
out  that  conception,  unless  the  country  is  bound  around,  and 
bound  together,  not  by  these  iron  rods  of  the  railroad,  carrying 
peaceful  intercourse  and  bounteous  commerce,  but  by  serried 
ranks  of  hirelings,  to  enforce  this  doctrine,  that  the  State 
knows  nothing  of  jjrivatc  judgment. 

But  if  the  State  knows  nothing  of  private  judgment,  what 
becomes  of  private  judgment  in  the  Church  ?  Where  are  we  ? 
I  leave  you  to  reflect  upon  that  other  part  of  the  proposition, 
which  is  a  necessary  conclusion  from  the  premises ;  because, 
as  I  showed  you  in  the  passage  of  Scripture  (Ileb.  xiii:  17,) 
heretofore  cited  in  evidence,  the  terms  in  which  authority  is 
given,  and  power  is  vested  in  the  hands  of  God's  rulers  in  the 
Church,  are  the  same  that  are  employed  in  respect  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  civil  magistrate.  If  the  Word  of  God  says  in 
the  State,  "Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers,"  the 
Word  of  God  says  in  the  Church,  '•'■Obey  them  that  have  the 
rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves,  for  they  watch  for  your 
souls  as  they  that  must  give  account."  And,  indeed,  if  the 
right  of  private  judgment  be  such  a  dangerous  thing  in  the 
State;  if  it  imperil  the  welfare  of  the  citizens,  for  whose  wel- 
fare I  used  to  think  governments  were  intended,  the  State 


28 

having  to  do  witli  things  that  are  only  temporal,  then,  surely 
the  Church  of  Rome  is  right,  when  she  says  it  is  a  dangerous 
thing  for  the  people  to  read  the  Bible  and  think  for  themselves, 
because  they  are  Hable,  thereby,  to  become  schismatieal  and 
separatists;  they  arc  liable  to  become  "witnesses  for  the 
truth" — to  sign  "Declarations  and  Testimonies;"  and  that, to 
the  great  peril  of  popes,  and  cardinals,  and  bishops,  and  priests, 
and  Jesuits  of  all  sorts.  Very  well ;  if  it  be  true,  I  must,  not- 
withstanding all  this,  accept  the  proposition;  but  then  I  would 
accept  it  with  this  understanding,  that  by  the  grace  of  God,  I 
would  rather  they  would  let  me  depart  from  tliis  world,  than 
keep  mo  here  under  any  such  government,  or  any  such  doc- 
trine as  to  what  goverrmient  is,  or  what  the  relations  of  the 
citizen  ai-e  to  the  government,  or  what  the  duties  of  a  Chris- 
tian as  a  citizen,  or  the  authority  of  the  Church  over  the 
Christian. 

The  fourth  thing  against  v/hich  we  testify  is,  "the  action  ot 
the  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  slavery  and  emancipation  in  1864, 
ajid  as  confirmed  in  '65."  In  that  action  the  Assembly,  we 
allege,  has  laid  itself  justly  liable  to  the  charge  of  disingenu- 
ousness. 

ITow,  how  do  we  make  this  charge  good  ?  In  1845,  the 
Assembl}^  declared  that  they  could  not  sanction  the  doctrine 
respecting  the  institution  of  slavery,  which  was  then  known 
as  the  Abolition  or  Anti-slavery  doctrine,  and  which  has  since 
received  its  embodiment  in  those  forms  and  acts,  with  which 
we  have  become  but  too  familiar;  that  they  could  not  sanction 
that  doctrine,  since  enunciated  in  1864,  '■'■'■  loithout  contradicting 
some  of  the  plainest  declarations  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  charg- 
ing the  Apostles  of  Christ  luith  conniving  at  sin,  introducing  into 
the  Church  such  sinners,  and  thus  bringing  upon  them  the  curse  of 
the  Almighty."  And  further,  that  Assembly  (1845)  declared, 
that  should  they  affirm  the  doctrine,  which  the  Assembly  has 
now  most  solemnly  declared  and  enforced,  it  would  be,  Ho 
dissolve  itself  and  '■^  abandon  the  organization  under  which  by  the 
Divine  blessing  it  has  so  long  prospered:'  Here,  then,  is  the 
ground  upon  which  this  testimony  rests. 

The  Assembly  of  1864,  declare,  that  it  is  an  unwillingness 
of  the  human  heart  to  see  and  accept  the  truth,  against  the 
prejudices  of  habit  and  interest,  which  lea  men  in  our  church, 
heretofore,  and  leads  them  still  to  hold  to  the  doctrine  which, 
in  1845,  it  was  declared  had  been  taught  by  Christ  and  his 
Apostles.  An  unwillingness  to  see — that  implies  moral  obli- 
quity of  the  deepest  kind — an    unwillingness    through  preju- 


29 

dice  and  habit  to  see  and  admit  tbo  truth.  Wliat  truth?  To 
admit  as  true,  the  very  contrary  of  what  they  had  taught  us 
from  184&  to  'G4,  as  being  the  true  doctrine  as  found  in  the 
Scriptures!  "Well,  if  we  could  not  be  converted  so  quickly, 
they  ought  to  have  been  a  little  patient  \vith  us.  If  we  cau- 
Tiot  change  our  opinions,  with  the  same  facility  that  some 
others  seem  to  be  able  to  change  tlieirs,  lay  it  to  the  account 
of  our  weakness  rather  than  our  wickedness.  I  confess  that 
I  cannot  unlearn  so  quickly,  what  I  have  been  taught  by  that 
venerable  body,  as  it  used  to  be,  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  But 
this  is  not  all,  they  go  still  further. 

This  institution — this  relation  of  master  and  servant — this 
American  slavery,  (for  they  were  talking  about  American 
slavery,  and  it  is  the  merest  figment  and  quibble,  that  a  child 
can  see  through,  to  pretend  that  slavery  in  the  abstract  was 
what  they  meant,  when  they  said  that  it  was  sanctioned  by 
Christ  and  his  Apostles,)  this  institution  they  pronounce  in 
1864  an  evil  and  a  guilt,  and  condemn  it  as  a  sin,  and  affirm  it 
to  be  the  root  of  rebellion,  war,  and  bloodshed,  and  the  long 
list  of  horrors  which  follow  in  their  train.  Mr.  Moderator,  it 
has  seemed  marvellous  to  me,  that  those  in  our  church  who  have 
so  gone  back  on  the  ages — gone  back  on  their  own  footsteps, 
many  of  them — should  tell  us  in  one  breath,  that  the  govern- 
ment under  which  it  had  pleased  God,  for  almost  a  century,  to 
permit  us  to  dwell,  and  in  the  sunlight  of  which  he  had  allowed 
us  to  bask  so  pleasantly,  was  the  best  government  in  the  world ; 
and  in  another  breath  tell  us  that  this  institution,  which  was 
an  inherent  element  in  it,  which  was  more  truly  the  corner- 
stone of  it,  than  of  any  other  government  that  I  know  of,  that 
has  been  or  would  have  been — that  this  institution  is  the  root 
of  rebellion,  and  that  out  of  it  sprung  all  those  horrors,  that 
have  become  such  fearful,  real  horrors.  How  is  it  that,  on  the 
one  hand  they  charge  that  we,  whom  they  stigmatise  as  seces- 
sionists, struck  the  dagger  at  the  heart  of  our  country  and 
wished  to  destroy  the  best  government  in  the  loorld;  and  then 
turn  around  and  tell  us,  that  this  government  was  founded  in 
an  iniquity  and  a  crime  and  sin,  the  root  of  all  that  is  abomi- 
nable and  hateful?  What  logic  is  this?  I  would  modestly 
suggest,  that  those  gentlemen  appoint  one  of  their  number,  to 
write  us  a  now  treatise  on  logic ;  they  have  got  as  much  light 
on  that  subject,  as  they  have  on  some  others,  and  we  who 
adhere  to  these  old  things  are  certainly  much  in  the  dark. 
God's  blessing  was  upon  us  above  all  nations;  with  this  guilt 


30 

and  evil,  the  root  of  all  bitterness,  of  all  wrong,  of  all  hateful 
things — this  sin  at  the  very  heart  of  the  nation,  and  as  we  are 
told,  permeating  Church  and  State.  Yet  God  smiledupoa  us 
as  He  never  smiled  upon  any  people,  other  than  Ilia  own 
chosen  people  in  the  land  of  Judea;  and  suddenly  he  turned 
His  smiles  to  wrath,  because  of  this  sin  I  I  cannot  under- 
stand it;  and  not  being  able  to  understand  it,  we  are  com- 
pelled still  to  think,  that  it  was  not  slavery — the  institution 
thus  smiled  upon  so  benignantly,  and  so  potent  in  its  influ- 
ence upon  our  country,  its  prosperity  and  its  power — which 
was  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  Republic,  and  without  which, 
these  United  States,  this  best  government  in  the  world,  could 
not  have  been  formed — I  say  we  cannot  think  that  this  insti- 
tution was  the  cause  of  these  horrid  things,  which  have  come 
upon  us;  and  we  are  compelled  to  believe  that,  the  Assembly 
in  1864  and  '65,  disingenuously  kept  out  of  view  and  directly 
contradicted,  their  former  scriptural  testimonies  on  this  subject. 
We  cannot  therefore,  submit  to  these  decision?,  and  if  we  are 
out  of  the  Church,  brethren,  it  is  because,  as  the  Assembly 
said  in  1845,  it  has  dissolved  itself.  According  to  its  own 
showing,  it  has  no  authority  over  us,  for  according  to  its  own 
showing  it  has  violated  the  compact,  upon  which  the  church 
organization  v/as  based;  and  consequently  our  church  is  re- 
manded to  its  original  elements.  We  as  a  Presbytery,  you  as 
a  Synod,  have  all  the  powers  competent  to  any  church  court; 
every  church  session  has  all  the  powers  competent  to  a  court 
of  Christ.  The  Presbyterian  Church,  coiifesssdly,  is  dissolved; 
and  I  ask  upon  v/hat  principles  of  justice,  equity,  or  truth,  it 
is  demanded  that  you  should  cut  us  ofl'  and  drive  us  as  cul- 
prits from  the  church,  for  standing  by  that  which  the  Assem- 
bly has  said?  The  very  authority  which  is  invoked  against  us 
to-day,  as  much  as  in  them  lies,  has  dissolved  the  church  itself. 
We  will  try  t<j  restore  it;  we  will  try  to  rebuild  it;  we  will  try 
to  lift  up  its  columns  again  andsravit  from  utter  and  irretriev- 
able ruin.  Aye,  sir,  if  we  cannot  do  anything  better,  we  will, 
to  use  a  figure  of  the  great  Milton,  go  all  about  the  country, 
and  gather  up  the  scattered  limbs — the  bleeding  limbs  of  our 
beloved  church,  and  we  will,  if  God  shall  ,holp  us,  put  them 
together  again ;  and  then  we  will  ask  liini  to  send  His  good 
Spirit  from  on  high  and  breathe  new  life  into  this  our  reunited, 
restored,  resurrected  church.     Wo  will  work  miracles. 

"  We  testify  against  the  unjust  and  scandalous  contradiction 
of  their  own  recorded  testimony  and  the  well  known  facts,  in 
regard  to  the  labors  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  ministry 


31 

/or  the  Christianizing  of  the  slaves  of  the  South,  and  the  preach- 
ing to  them  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 

I  shall  pass  this  very  briefly  unless  it  should  be  called  ia 
question  in  the  future,  and  require  to  be  more  fully  conlirmed. 
I  simply  cite  in  proof,  because  it  is  a  plain,  pointed  proof,  the 
Report  of  the  Freedmen's  Committee.  The  attention  of 
brethren  was  called  to  it  in  the  last  General  Assembly.  In 
this  report,  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly,  elaborately 
argued  in  that  body,  and  conlirmed,  as  they  thought,  by  the 
testimony  given  in  the  discussion,  they  say  this :  "  The  colored 
people  are  almost  without  exception  desirous  of  gospel  privi- 
leges. Pure  Presbyterianism  could  not  be  given  to  them  while  in 
slavery,  since  it  was  not  possible  for  slave  elders,  teaching  or 
baling,  to  sit  by  the  side  of  their  masters  in  church  courts. 
This  very  incompatibility  of  the  two  systems  showing  that  both  can- 
not be  scriptural."  ]^^ow,  Moderator,  on  this  spot,  in  this  State 
where  the  institution  has  existed  before  it  was  a  State,  in  the 
presence  of  a  Rice,  of  a  Canacron,  of  a  Wilson,  of  a  Clelland; 
in  the  presence  of  the  host  of  godly  ministers  who  have 
preached  throughout  this  State — in  the  presence  of  the  cloud 
of  witnesses  at  the  right  hand  of  God — if  any  man  should 
say  that  a  pure  Presbyterianism  could  not,  whilst  slavery  ex- 
isted, be  preached  to  these  people — I  ask  you,  sir,  if  it  would 
not  be  just  and  within  the  limits  of  propriety,  for  me  to  pro- 
nounce the  assertion  a  libel  upon  our  beloved  church  and 
upon  the  memory  of  God's  servants,  who  were  giants  in  their 
day  ?  Had  there  been  an  opportunity  to  debate  these  matters 
in  the  Assembly  with  that  fulness,  fairness,  and  freeness  that 
there  ought  to  have  been,  I  should  have  said  in  the  presence 
of  that  Assembly,  to  the  author  of  this  report,  that  there  was 
a.  purer  Presbyterianism  preached  to  these  daves  before  he 
was  born,  than  he  will  ever  preach  if  he  lives  To  be  us  old  as 
Methusaleh.  And  I  would  have  said  what  you  would  have 
added  amen  to,  if  you  had  been  there,  and  I  wish  you  had. 

"  We  testify  against  the  doctrine  widely  taught  in  the  church 
and  even  countenanced  by  the  Assembly,  that  the  acts  and 
deliverances  of  the  courts  of  Christ's  Commonwealth,  may 
properly  be  based  upon  and  shaped  in  accordancec  with  the 
ordinances  and  laws  of  State  Legislatures;  the  orders  and 
proclamations  of  military  chieftains,  and  even  the  results  of 
popular  votes  given  at  the  elections." 

In  proof  of  this  we  refer  you  to  what  is  contained  in  the 
deliverance  of  the  Assembly  in  1864,  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
and  the  state  of  the  country,  to  show  you,  that  that  deliver- 


32 

auce  was  shaped,  uot  iu  accordance  with  the  teachings  of 
God's  Word,  but  with  what  was  the  determination  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  supreme  executive.  I 
might  have  said  simply  the  Supreme  Executive,  because  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  were  merely  the  recor- 
ders of  his  opinions  and  determinations.  Our  Assembly  took 
these  for  the  ground  of  their  decision.  Then  we  cite  you  to 
that,  which  was  connected  with  the  very  first  step  in  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Sjiring  Resolutions.  It  appears  from  the  debates 
on  .tliese  resolutions,  and  from  the  alhrmations  boldly  and 
boastingly  made  by  members  of  that  Assembly,  that  their 
final  passage  was  largely  promoted,  against  the  previous  feel- 
ing of  the  Assembly,  by  telegraphic  despatches  from  Wash- 
ington City — one  of  them  coming  from  the  Attorney-General 
and  the  other  from  Secretary  Chase^as  to  w^hat  the  Govern- 
ment at  Washington  wished  the  Assembly  to  do,  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Government  in  putting  down  the 
rebellion.  It  is  only  necessary,  in  order  to  show  that  I  speak 
by  the  record,  to  cite  you  to  the  debates  in  that  Assembly, 
uncontradicted,  from  which  it  uncontrovertably  appears,  that 
this  is  the  position  in  which  our  church  stood  in  1861.  In 
1864,  it  was  proposed  upon  the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  in  view 
of  the  fearful  calamities  which  were  afflicting  our  country,  that 
a  day  of  huyniliation  and  prayer  should  be  appointed ;  and  that 
was  changed  (see  how  thorough  a  change)  to  a  day  oi  thanks- 
giving and  prayer,  because  those  upon  the  floor  of  the  Assem- 
bly, who  controlled  its  action,  said,  that  to  pass  a  resolution 
calling  for  humiliation,  would  discourage  the  Government  in 
its  efl:ort8  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  And  further,  that  the 
fact  of  such  a  day  having  been  appointed,  would  be  carried 
out  by  the  steaijier,  and  have  a  bad  eftect  abroad.  A  total 
change  from  a  fast  day  to  a  feast  day,  actuated  by  such  con- 
siderations !  Surely,  to  say  nothing  more,  such  action  is 
founded  in  an  utter  misconception  of  the  import  and  design, 
of  fasting  and  humbling  oneself  before  God.  Is  not  the  very 
design  of  such  exercises,  to  encourage  and  strengthen  the 
spirit?  And  when  the  mightest  men  of  old  went  forth  to 
battle,  did  they  not  spend  wdiole  nights  in  vigils  and  fastings? 
If  the  Government  at  Washington,  had  understood  the  mat- 
ter iu  its  proper  spiritual  import,  as  certainly  the  Assembly 
ought  to  have  understood  it,  the  wnsh  would  have  been  for  a 
fast  not  a  feast.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  the  Assembly  acted 
upon  the  principle  w^e  allege,  and  it  is  a  false  and  most  per- 
nicious principle. 


33 

The  next  point,  which  is  made  in  this  paper,  is  in  these 
words :  "  We  testify  against  the  doctrine  that  the  will  of  God 
as  to  the  duty  of  the  Church  and  of  His  people,  is  to  be 
learned  from  particular  provideiitial  events,  and  that  the  teachings 
of  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  intcrjyrctcd  by  these  "providences^     The 
evidence  in  support  of  this  allegation,  that  the  Church— not 
merely  the  General  Assembly,  though  we  cite  at  once  and 
primarily  to  the  deliverances  of  that  body — but  the  church  at 
large,  has  given  utterance  to  and  sanctioned  this  doctrine,  is 
embodied  in  the  Testimony.     I  need  not  detain  you  with  reit- 
erating jt,  but  shall  eouline  myself  to  saying  a  few  words,  in 
reference  to  this  exceedingly  important  and  much  misunder- 
stood subject;  a  subject  which,  it  appears  to  me,  is  constantly 
involved  iu  obscurity  in  the  minds  of  God's  ministers  and 
people,  and  yet,  error  in  regard  to  which,  entangles,  not  only 
in  great  perplexity,  but  is  liable  to  lead  to  great  wrong-doing. 
It  has  been  said,  and  we  admit  it,  that  God  reveals  His  will 
perpetually;  and  yet  at  the  same  time,  it  must  be  admitted 
on  the  other  hand,  that  God  has  revealed  His  will  completely. 
The  question  before  us  is,  whether  God's  will,  as  revealed  in 
the  Written  Word,  is  our  rule  of  dnt}'',  or  God's  vv'ill  as  revealed 
in  acts  of  Providence,  from  day  to  day.     You  see  at  once,  in 
the  mere  statement  of  these  apparently  contradictory  proposi- 
tions, how  easy  it  is  to  becloud  the  minds  of  men,  and  to 
mislead  them,  by  using  the  same  words,  as  if  they  meant  the 
same  things  v/hen  applied  to  different  subjects;  whereas  they 
bear  a  very  different  sense  according  to  their  application.    This 
particular  method  of  observing  a  subject,  this  sort  of  sophistry, 
has  been  very  much  exhibited  on  the  other  side  of  this  house 
during  these  discussions.     Vf  e  have  "  the  will  of  God  revealed  " 
and  "the  loill  of  God  revealing,"  as  if  these  two  things  were  the 
same.     IsTow,  here  lies  the  root  of  all  the  difficulty.     We  affirm 
in  this  Testimony-,  that  the  onlj'-  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice,  is  His  revealed  will,  as  completely  given  to  us  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures;  and  we  afhrm  that  the  will  of  God,  as  re- 
vealed in  the  course  of  the  development  of  His  providential 
government,  that  is,  His  divine  purpose,  is  never  the  rule  of 
duty;  and  that  our  Assembly  and  the  Church,  have  erred,  in 
that  they  have  presumed  to  base  their  action,  and  have  re- 
quired others  to  base  their  action,  in  reference  to  important 
matters  of  duty,  upon  God's  will  of  purpose  as  made  manifest 
in  providential  events;  and  have  left  out  of  view,  and  so  far 
forth,  abandoned  God's  will  of  precept,  as  it  is  contained  in 
the  infallible  Yford;  and  we  pronounce  this  a  profound,  fun- 


34 

damcntal  and  fatal  error.  But  to  show  that  we  are  all  wrong 
in  thus  judging,  it  was  said — not  exactly  afRrmed,  in  distinct 
and  definite  language — but  so  as  not  to  be  misunderstood,  'that 
the  providential  occurrences  from  day  to  day,  which  develope 
God's  secret  will,  are  a  rule  of  duty,'  In  support  of  this 
statement  a  certain  case  (that  of  David),  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures  was  referred  to,  in  which  we  have  an  inspired 
interpretation  of  a  providential  event,  and  that  inspired  inter- 
pretation was  made  a  rule  of  action.  It  was  argued  therefore, 
that  God's  will  disclosed  in  His  providence  was  a  rule  of  duty. 
Therefore,  the  conclusion  was  drawn,  that  uninspired  inter- 
pretations of  particular  providences,  are  rules  of  duty.  I 
think  there  is  a  great  deal  more  in  the  conclusion  than  there 
is  in  the  premises.  But,  let  us  look  a  little  at  the  instance 
cited.  God  declared  that  the  child  of  David  should  die.  That 
looks  like  a  very  plain,  unequivocal  declaration  of  the  Divine 
purpose,  and  what  was  intended  by  the  circumstances  of  the 
child's  sickness.  Yet  David  fasted  and  prayed,  and  said :  "Per- 
adventuro  God  may  spare  the  child's  life."  ISTow,  so  emphati- 
cally do  the  Scriptures  teacli  us,  that  God's  will  of  purpose  is 
not  our  rule  of  duty,  as  that  we  find  David,  in  the  case  in 
which  God  declared  that  He  purposed  the  death  of  his  child, 
nevertheless  setting  himself  to  fasting  and  prayer,  upon  a  per- 
adventuro  that  God  may  repent  Ilim  of  the  evil.  Thanks  to 
the  gentleman,  his  illustration  suits  us  admirably.  The  inspired 
interpretation  of  Divine  providence  referred  to,  confirms  the 
doctrine  we  testify  for,  and  condemns  the  error  we  testify 
against.  It  is  manifestly,  said  the  General  Assembly,  the  will 
of  God  that  the  church  should  now  condemn  slavery  as  a  sin. 
It  is  manifestly  the  will  of  God,  that  adherence  to  and  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  doctrine,  that  slavery,  (the  relation  of  mas- 
ter and  slave  as  it  exists  in  this  country,)  is  a  sin,  a  guilt  and 
an  evil,  should,  now  be  made  a  term  of  communioi!.  This 
Divine  direction  in  our  duty,  say  they,  is  manifested  in  the 
existence  of  rebellion,  the  Proclamation  of  the  President,  and 
in  the  success  of  our  armies  in  subjugating  to  our  power  the 
Southern  States.  IsTow,  one  objection  to  this  doctrine  is,  that 
the  providences  were  not  quite  developed;  and  therefore,  the 
rule  of  duty  could  not  be  plain.  For  the  Proclamation  itself 
exempted  certain  States  and  parts  of  States,  as  for  example, 
the  State  of  Kentucky,  where  the  institution  of  slavery  still 
legally  exists.  Who  does  not  see  at  once,  the  folly  of  this 
thing.  As  Providence  is  a  perpetually  accumulating  revela- 
tion of  the  Divine  will,  it  is  never  completed;  and,  therefore, 


85 

you  cannot  tell  what  that  will  is,  until  you  reach  the  ultimate 
fact.  How  the  interpretation  of  passing  events,  given  in  1864, 
has  already  heen  blurred  and  blotted;  how  the  profound  error 
committed,  in  assuming  to  declare  God's  will,  has  already  man- 
ifested itself,  can  readily  be  seen  by  any  one,  who  will  look 
fairly  at  the  actual  state  of  this  question  of  emancipation,  and 
the  status  of  the  negro  population  of  our  country.  And  then 
consider  how  mj-steriously  the  providence  of  God,  arrested 
the  late  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  country  upon  the  very  thresh- 
old of  what  seemed  to  be,  the  completion  of  that  one  idea, 
which  had  absorbed  so  much  of  his  thought,  and  upon  which, 
I  have  no  doubt,  he  had  set  his  heart,  more  than  any  other 
thing-.  Immediately,  however,  these  same  gentlemen  step  in, 
and  interpret  this  m^'sterious  providence!  I  have  never  at- 
tempted it ;  I  never  will  attempt  it.  It  remains  for  the  future — 
aye,  sir,  for  the  judgment  day,  to  solve  this  mystery,  that  our 
President  should  die,  yes,  die  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  upon 
the  threshold  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  purpose  of  his 
heart;  a  purpose  too — which  our  Assembly  had  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  declared  to  be  clearly  the  will  of  God,  And  yet  these 
gentlemen,  who  would  make  Divine  providences  the  rule  of 
our  duty,  interpret  it!  And  how  do  they  interpret  it?  How 
do  the  pulpits  east  and  north  and  west,  and  the  Presbyteries 
and  Synods,  interpret  this  providence?  They  tell  us  that  it 
was  because  the  late  Chief  ]Magistrate  was  too  clement,  too 
kindhearted  to  apply  the  axe;  to  open  prisons  and  then  close 
them  upon  those  v;ho  were  prostrated  at  his  feet.  And  so, 
that  another  more  relentless  might  execute  justice,  God,  took 
away  the  President  whose  heart  was  filled  with  mercy !  Sir, 
I  should  be  sorry,  v\-ere  I  compelled  to  interpret  this  mystery 
that  v/ay ;  and  it  still  remains  a  mystery  to  me. 

Kow,  that  we  may  see  further  the  absurdity  of  this  princi- 
ple, which  I  regard  as  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  errors 
we  have  enumerated,  the  method  of  reasoning  runs  thus — 
"because  slaveholders  had  engaged  in  rebellion,  and  our  arms 
had  succeeded  in  an  encouraging  degree,  and  the  Kxecutive 
had  declared  certain  purposes,  therefore,  God's  will  was  that 
slavery  should  come  to  an  end."  Well,  let  us  appl}''  this  prin- 
ciple of  interpretation  to  another  case.  The  people  of  France 
exhausted  by  taxation  to  support  niagnihccnt  wars  and  attain 
splendid  victories,  crushed  to  the  very  earth,  like  Samson  arise 
in  their  power  and  pull  down  the  pillars  of  the  State;  and 
Reason  and  Liberty  are  inaugurated  amid  the  acclamations  of 
the  multitude  in   the  Champs  do  Mars;  and  it  is  manifestly 


36 

the  will  of  God,  that  despotism  in  France  should  come  to  an 
end.     But  scarce  have  I  arrived  at  this  conclusion,  when  lo, 
as  the  next  scene  is  unfolded  in  this  perpetual  evolution  of 
Divine  providence,  I  see  enthroned  in  imperial  majesty  and 
riding  in  triumph  over  the  prostrate  nations,  a  Napoleon,  who 
has  sprung  from  this  very  people,  and  untainted  hy  one  drop 
of  royal  blood!     Pity,  indeed,  that  the  French  nation  had  not 
in  their  day  of  trial,  some  of  these  modern  prophets,  to  inter- 
pret providence  for  them!     But  I  watch  the  progress  of  this 
drama  of  providence.     Correcting  the  error  into  wliich  I  had 
fallen  respecting  the  will  of  God,  as  I  thought  it  was  made 
known   in  previous  events,  I  try  to  shape  my  course  by  the 
later   revelations.     Suddenly,  however,   the    curtain  is  again 
lifted  and  another. scene  opens  to  view.     It  is  the  field  of  Wa- 
terloo— upon  one  side  the  alHed  armies,  upon   another  side 
JS'apoleon  in  his  last,  magnificent,  heroic,  death-struggle,  de- 
feated   by  a   particular   providence,  over  which,  he    nor  his 
enemies  had  any  possible  control.     For  I  believe  that  he  lost 
the  battle  of  Waterloo  by  losing  two  hours  of  time;  and  those 
two  hours  of  time  wore  lost,  because  a  shower  of  rain  fell  and 
prevented  his  artillery  from  being  brought  up  at  the  proper 
■moment.     That  is  to  )Tiy  mind  tJ-se  most  satisfactory  solution 
■of  it.     The  present  French  Emperor  says,  in  a  recent  article 
in  the  French  Encyclopedia,  that  it  is  something  that  cannot 
1)0    explained.      Everytliine:   went   vrrong,    when    everything 
went  right.     Everytliing  failed,  when   everything  seemed  to 
:have  succeeded.     But  the  battle  of  Waterloo  is  fought;  legiti- 
macy is  vindicated;  the  right  of  a  people  to  choose  their  own 
ruler,  untainted   or   unpurified  by  royal  blood,  is  settled  for 
all  ages;  a  Napoleon,  the  choice  of  the  people,  shall  never  sit 
npon  the  throne  of  France.     It  is  providence;  it  is  the  will  of 
God  undoubtedly,  revealed  so  far.     Half  a  century  passes  by 
and  see!    Ever3-'^sovereign  in  Europe  bows  in  the  presence  of 
the   third   Napoleon — the  Third  NAroLEOX — the  exile  of  St. 
Helena  recognized,  by  those  who  said  none  of  his  blood  should 
ever  sit  upon  the  throne  of  France,  as  the  First  Great  Ekper- 
OR,  only  greater,by  a  very  little,  than  the  Third  great  Emperor! 
Now,  that  is  enough  to  show,  how  profound  is  the  error  into 
which  the  church  has  fallen,  when  she  has  undertaken  to  de- 
clare what  the  will  of  God  is,  as  to  this  question  of  slavery,  and 
the  status  of  the  slave  population;  since  His  purpose  concern- 
ing the  negro  slaves  has  not  yet'becn  fully  manifested  in  Ills 
pi-ovidence,  whatever  man's  purpose  may  be.     And  if  it  had 
been,  it  would  not  touch  by  the  thousandth  part  ot  a  hair — it 


37 

would  not  ill  tlie  slightest  degree  afiect  or  alter  the  doctrine 
of  the  Word  of  God  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  nor  change 
one  whit  its  authoritative  teachings,  respecting  the  relation 
and  duties  of  master  and  servant,  in  the  proper  sense  of  these 
terms,  by  which  this  relation  of  authority  and  obligation  to 
service  is  expressed. 

This  Synod  is  now  to  say,  whether  we  are  wrong  and  the 
Assembly  is  right,  or  whether  we  are  right  and  those  who  arc 
opposing  us  are  wrong  on  this  question,  which  reaches  to  the 
very  hearts  of  God's  people.  "Behind  a  frowning  providence, 
God  hides  a  smiling  face;"  and  this  is  the  very  meaning  of 
that  passage  in  Isaiah  which  we  liave  quoted  in  this  testimony; 
"Who  is  among  you  that  feareth  the  Lord,  that  oheycth  the 
voice  of  His  servant" — observe,  "  obeyeth  the  voice  of  His  ser- 
vant" speaking  in  the  written  word — "that  walketh  in  dark- 
ness, and  hath  no  light?"  The  darkness  and  the  want  of 
of  light  relate  to  the  providences  which  we  cannot  understand 
now.  That,  to  my  mind,  is  the  only  clear  [exposition  of  this 
passage.  Thus,  it  is  all  dark,  this  civil  strife,  this  bloody  war, 
this  sudden  breaking  up  of  the  foundation  of  all  things  in  the 
land;  this  turning  loose  so  suddenly  amongst  us,  helpless  and 
unprovided  for,  of  these  black  people ;  this  is  a  darkness  in 
providence  that  I  for  one  cannot  penetrate ;  but  I  can  walk 
by  this  written  word ;  and  I  intend,  you  intend,  most  of  these 
brethren,  I  have  no  doubt,  intend  to  walk  by  that  word; 
though  I  think  some  of  them  have  tor  a  time  gop-e  away 
from  it. 

"  We  testify  against  the  sanction  which  has  been  given,  both 
directly  and  indirectly,  to  the  usurpation,  by  the  secular  and  mil- 
itary power,  of  authority  in  and  over  the  worship  and  government 
of  the  Chureh." 

We  had  expected  to  be  put  to  the  necessity,  of  perhaps, 
some  elaborate  proof  to  establish  the  fact  Ave  here  affirm — 
that  such  usurpation  has  taken  place.  I  feel  that  it  is  a  deli- 
cate and  undesirable  thing,  to  be  placed  in  a  position,  by  the 
action  of  any  civil  or  ecclesiastical  authority,  which  requies 
me  plainly  to  say  that  there  has  been  usurpation.  But,  such 
is  the  position  to  which  we  have  been  forced.  I  am  relieved, 
and  yet  I  am  burthened  too,  by  a  consideration  of  the  fact, 
that  in  this  matter  the  military  and  civil  power,  have  been 
rather  the  followers  than  the  leaders ;  and  that  if  there  has 
been  this  usurpation,  there  is  less  guilt  on  the  part  of  the  civil 
and  military,  than  on  the  part  of  the  ecclesiastical.  As  of  old, 
80  still,  the  military  and  the  civil  power  have  been  invoked  by 


Ecclesiastics,  to  unslieathe  the  sword.  They  have  usurped  this 
power,  but  they  have  done  so,  as  it  seems  to  me,  mther  through 
the  instigation  of  the  Church,  than  by  their  own  motion. 

The  labor  of  proving  this  has  been  made  easy,  by  the  clear 
and  distinct  enunciation  here,  that  not  only  is  that  usurpation 
which  was  endorsed  by  the  Assembly  of  1864,  in  respect  to 
the  "Rosecran's  Oath,"'  under  the  operation  of  which,  our 
church  courts  could  not  sit  in  freedom,  and  our  ministers  were 
banished  from  the  State  and  their  churches  taken  possession 
of — not  only  was  that  oath  all  right,  but  that  the  oath  which 
is  incorporated  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri, is  also  right;  that  it  is  a  mere  "parole,"  that  the  persons 
who  take  it  will  not  assist  the  rebellion  and  inaugurate  sedi- 
tion. A  w.ere  ^^ parole  T  Moderator,  if  the  gentleman  (Dr.  B.), 
should  ever  become  a  prisoner  of  war,  it  seems  to  me,  the 
greatest  cruelty  that  could  bo  inflicted  upon  him,  this  side  of 
being  incarcerated  for  life  in  a  loathsome  dungeon,  would  be 
to  compel  him  to  take  that  oath.  That  which  grinds  the  soul, 
is  worse  than  that  which  grinds  the  body.  We  have  alleged, 
that  this  usurpation,  of  the  kingly  rights  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
His  own  kingdom,  has  been  sanctioned  directly  by  the  Semi- 
naries of  Princeton  and  Danville;  and  we  have  instanced  the 
teaching  of  the  Professors  of  Theology  at  Princeton  and  at  Dan- 
ville. It  relieves  us  very  much,  that  the  Professor  at  Danville, 
has  acknowledged  before  this  court,  that  he  sanctions  as  law- 
ful and  good  this  oath,  which  I  will  not  characterise  by  any 
such  terms  ns  it  might  bo  proper  to  use.  This  Professor  of 
Theolog3%  is  in  favor  of  shutting  out  from  their  pulpits,  the 
preachers  of  the  everlasting  gospel  in  Missouri,  who  will  not 
take  an  oath,  which  I  say,  as  the  brethren  in  Missouri  say,  no 
minister  of  Christ  can  take,  unless  he  is  willing  to  sacrifice  his 
soul  at  the  shrine 

[Dr.  Iv  J.  Breckinridge  here  interrupted  the  speaker  with  a 
remark  v.^hich  was  not  distinctly  heard  at  the  reporters  desk, 
but  which  was  to  the  eifect  that  what  he  said  could  be  found 
elsewhere.] 

DR.  WILSOjST. — Yes,  sir;  we  know  what  the  gentleman  has 
said;  we  sadly  know,  that  he  who  sits  in  the  high  place  of  our 
Church,  placed  there  by  the  General  Assembly,  sustained  there 
by  the  money  contributed  by  God's  servants,  living  and  dead, 
that  he  says  of  this  infamous  oath,  ^Ht  is  a  mere  imrolc' — a 
parole!  I  trust  the  gentleman  may  never  be  compelled  to  swal- 
low his  own  parole.  Perhaps,  sir,  it  would  not  prevent  him 
from  preaching  the  Gospel ;  I  question  very  much  whether  it 


39 

it  would  interfere  ut  iill  with  him  in  that  respect.  Perhaps  it 
would  not  interfere  with  his  teaching  Tlieology.  Sir,  I  know 
it  would  not  prevent  him  from  making-  political  speeches. 

'•We  testify  against  that  persecution,  which  has  been  carried 
on  for  these  five  years  past,  and  with  increasing  malignity, 
toward  all  those,  who  have  steadfastly  refused  to  sanction  or 
acquiese  in,  these  departures  of  the  Church  from  the  founda- 
tions of  truth  and  righteousness/' 

I  would  say,  that  this  cry  of  persecution,  ought  certainly 
never  to  be  uttered  upon  light  grounds.  For  myself,  when 
called  to  endure  reproach  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  I  have  never 
been  accnmstomed  te  fly  behind  the  cry  of  persecution.  But 
I  am  now  speaking  for  others;  for  those  in  our  midst,  and  for 
those,  may  I  be  permitted  in  this  presence  to  say  it,  whose* 
hands  we  ought  to  be  shaking,  in  fraternal  forgetfulness  of 
all  past  strife,  and  welcoming  back  to  the  bosom  of  ourchurch. 

This  charge  of  persecution  has  not  been  made,  without  the 
most  substantial  cause.  To  show  you  to  what  extent  it  has 
gone,  let  me  read  just  one  passage  from  the  "ISTarrative  of  the 
state  of  Iveligion,'"'  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the  General  As- 
sembly or  this  year.  That  Assembly  could  not  even  send  to 
the  churches  an  account  of  the  state  of  religion,  without  taunt- 
ing those,  who  had  been  excluded  from  their  pulpits  and  from 
their  homes,  by  the  spirit  of  persecution.  Tliis  is  what  they 
say: 

"It  is  but  proper  to  add,  that  to  the  differences  of  political 
opinion,  incident  to  the  fearful  rebellion  througli  which  we 
have  passed,  and  also  to  the  influence  of  military  excitement, 
many  divisions  and  strifes  in  our  beloved  Zion,  during  the  past 
year,  are  to  be  attributed.  The  long  agony  of  the  E'ation, 
and  the  streams  of  human  blood  which  have  flowed,  seem  not 
yet  to  have  satisfied  some,  that  the  American  rebellion,  is  one  of  the 
greatest  crim.es  that  luill  ever  blacken  the  annals  oj  history.  One 
Presbytery  reports  continued  disputation,  in  reference  to  a  military 
order  lohieh  required,  as  a  protection  of  the  Government  from  the 
plotting  of  treason,  a  pledge  of  unconditional  allegiance  from  min- 
isters  of  Christ,  in  that  region  of  country  where  treason  was  rife. 
The  eflect  of  this  disputation  has  been,  only  what  might  be 
expected,  upon  the  private  members  of  the  churches,  and  upon 
some  of  our  ecclesiastical  courts.  It  is  pleasing,  however,  to 
be  able  to  turn  from  a  contest  in  one  Presbytery,  professedly  con- 
ducted in  vindication  of  the  Headship  and  Grown  Mights  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  but  generally  believed  to  be  actuated  by  a  desire  on  the 
part  of  some,  however  sincere  others  may  be,  to   evade  the  just 


40 

claims  of  the  Governme.rd  in  times  of  National  peril,  and  con- 
template the  picture  drawn  in  the  report  of  another  Presby- 
tery, once  ahnost  broken  up  by  rebehion,  but  now  restored, 
through  the  merc}^  of  God,  by  the  overthrow  of  our  national 
foes." 

Of  all  the  cruelties  that  persecutors  can  inflict,  to  taunt  their 
victims  with  hypocrisy,  is  surely  the  greatest.  I  have  always 
admired  Servetus,  in  one  respect,  that  though  in  error,  he 
evinced  his  sincerity  by  dying  for  it.  Nor  have  I  ever  heard 
that  John  Calvin,  whether  he  w^as  responsible  for  his  execution 
or  not,  taunted  him  with  insincerity.  I  have  heard,  (I  do 
not  know  that  it  is  founded  in  truth,)  that  one  of  those  who 
are  thus  taunted  with  hypocrisy,  by  the  Assembly,  was  instru- 
mental at  the  commencement  of  our  difficulties,  in  saving  one 
of  the  forts  of  the  United  States,  from  the  hands  of  the  South- 
ern Confederacy.  And  these  men  sitting  at  their  ease  in 
Pittsburgh  or  New  York,  can  w^rite  such  cruel  mockery  re- 
specting those  noble  men,  so  true  to  their  country  as  they  are 
to  their  Lord,  that  even  those  who  have  driven  them  from 
their  places,  because  they  would  not  surrender  what  they  be- 
lieved to  be  the  crown  rights  of  Jesus  Christ,  testify  that  they 
have  done  no  evil!  No  wonder  that  Judge  Ewing  should  say 
of  the  last  Assembh',  "i  have  sat,  Mt\  3Ioderaioi\  in  many  2^0- 
litical  assemblies — assemblies  of  divers  sorts — but  I  have  never  wit- 
nessed such  relentless  persecution  as  is  exhibited  by  this  Assembly!'' 
We  need  not  detain  you  on  this  point.  If  there  ever  was  per- 
secution, in  the  name  of  CoDsar's  rights,  just  as  it  has  always 
been,  this  is  it.  "This  Paul  preaches  that  there  is  another 
King,  one  Jesus,''  and  so  he  plots  treason  against  Cfesar.  "If 
thou  let  this  man  go,  thou  art  not  the  friend  of  Coesar."  And 
80  through  the  ages,  with  the  cry  of  "Ciiesar's  rights,"'  ecclesi- 
astics have  hounded  on  inquisitors  and  "the  powers  that  be,'" 
to  drive  God's  people  as  fast  as  they  can,  out  of  the  church  and 
out  of  the  world — to  heaven. 

""VVe  testify  against  the  wide  spread  and  destructive  perver- 
sion of  the  Commission  of  the  ministry  and  the  jyrovince  of  Church 
Courts^  It  was  intimated,  that  it  was  quite  absurd  for  us  to 
be  testifying,  protesting,  and  arguing  against  Synods  and 
Church  Courts  giving  deliverances,  on  political  questions,  inas- 
much as  we  maintain,  tliat  the  Church  Courts  ought  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  such  matters.  This  is  strange,  indeed.  If 
a  motion  had  been  made  in  this  house,  instead  of  the  one  be- 
fore you,  that  this  Synod  should  give  a  deliverance  on  the 
lawfulness  ot   the   scven-thirtv  bonds,  in   the  State  of  Ken- 


41 

tucky — the  right  of  Kentucky  Christians  to  take  that  interest, 
it  being  usurous,  according  to  the  laws  of  Kentucky,  which, 
forbid  interest  higher  than  six  per  cent  to  be  given  or  taken ; 
and,  we  had  risen  in  our  places  and  said,  that  was  a  matter 
which  this  Synod  as  a  court  of  Christ  had  nothing  to  do  with, 
would  that  have  been  violating  the  pledge  we  have  given,  that 
we  will  not  take  part  in  the  discussion  of  political  questions? 
The  gentleman  (Dr.  13.),  told  us,  that  those  who  took  usurious 
interest,  had  been  pronounced  guilty  of  an  unchristian  act, 
by  this  Synod ;  and  he  said  of  such  people,  that  he  would  not 
say  they  ought  to  go  to  the  devil — but  he  would  say  they 
ought  to  go  to  the  rich  of  this  world.  Sir,  has  he  any  seven- 
thirty  bonds  that  he  is  receiving  usurious  interest  on,  against 
the  laws  of  this  State? 

DR.  BRECKINRIDGE.— I  have  none,  I  did  not  make  the 
statement  he  says  I  made. 

DR.  WILSOK.-— "Well,  sir:  if  the  gentleman  did  not  make 
the  statement,  my  ears  did  not  hear  right,  and  the  reporters 
did  not  report  him  right.  I  looked  over  his  speech  just  before 
I  came  into  the  house. 

DR.  ERECKINRIDGE.— I  said  it  was  discussed  in  the 
Synod,  and  taken  cognizance  of  by  them.  I  did  not  say  that 
it  was  decided  so.  All  the  difi'erence  is  in  citing  language  as 
it  was  and  as  it  was  not. 

DR.  WILSON. — I  will  put  it  that  way.  His  object  was  to 
show,  that  the  Synod  had  a  right  to  deal  with  matters  of  a 
political  character;  and  he  cited  the  fact  that  this  Synod  had 
considered  the  question  of  usury,  and  I  understood  liim  to  say, 
(but  whether  he  said  it  or  not,  I  understand  it  to  be  a  histori- 
cal fact,)  that  this  Synod  did  decide  that  question.  I  may  be 
right  or  wrong  as  to  that.  But  the  gentleman  did  say,  that 
he  believed  that  those  who  took  such  interest  were  guilty  of  a 
sin  or  an  offence,  for  which  they  ought  to  go,  he  "would  not 
say  to  the  devil — but  to  the  rich  of  this  world,"  and  there  was 
a  laugh  all  over  this  house.  It  was  one  of  the  smartest  things 
that  the  gentleman  said  in  his  speech. 

As  I  was  saying,  suppose  that  question  had  come  up  here — 
I  take  it  merely  as  an  illustration,  it  was  to  my  hand — and 
that  other  questions  of  the  same  character  had  been  debated 
and  decided  by  this  Synod,  it  would  have  been  to  take  just 
that  course,  by  which  we  allege  the  Church  Courts  and  the 
ministry  have  perverted  their  commission.  Thus,  the  last 
Assembly,  as  you  very  well  know,  from  the  concurrent  testi- 
mony upon  the  subject,  occupied  nearly  the  whole  of  its  long, 


42 

protracted  sessions,  in  making  decisions  in  regard  to  questions 
of  loyalt}'  and  freedom,  and  slavery,  and  what  ought  to  be  done 
by  the  Church  with  the  rebels  at  the  South  for  their  political 
offences;  and  a  large  part  of  all  the  labor  I  did,  in  that  As- 
sembly, was  at  every  step  to  say,  'you  have  no  right  to  touch 
this  subject.' 

"We  testify  against  the  action  of  tbe  Assembly  in  reference  to  the 
churches  in  the  Seceded  and  Border  States,  and  against  the  basing  of 
that  action,  upon  an  assertion  of  what  the  Assembly  had  the  clearest 
evidence  was  not  true." 

It  is  a  grave  thing  to  eay  that  what  any  man  utters  is  untrue.  To 
say  that  the  Assembly  based  its  action  upon  what  was  not  true,  is  to 
say  a  very  serious  thing.  We  said  it  in  the  presence  of  the  Assembly. 
We  say  it  here,  because  saying  it  there  had  no  effect  upon  that  body, 
in  staying  its  action.  What  is  the  affirmation  of  the  Assembly?  That 
the  "Greneral  Assembly  of  the  Confederate  States  y^as  organized  in  order 
to  render  their  aid,  in  the  attempt  to  establish,  by  means  of  the  re- 
heWion,  a  sejjarate  national  existence,  s.nd  to  conserve  and  perpetuate 
the  si/stem  of  slavery.^'  Now,  it  was  said  upon  the  floor  of  the  As- 
sembly, by  living  witnesses;  it  was  said,  in  the  document  (Address  of 
the  Southern  Assembly)  which  has  been  put  in  here  in  evidence,  that 
such  was  not  the  ground,  nor  the  object  of  the  organization  of  the 
Southern  Assembly.  The  assertion  upon  which  that  ordinance  was 
based,  which  was  so  vitally  to  affect  the  whole  church  and  country, 
13  shown  to  be  unfounded  by  the  most  abundant  official  proof.  And 
how  is  this  proof  met  here?  By  nothing  but  the  introduction  of  an 
article  on  the  State  of  the  Country,  from  the  pen  of  the  late  Dr. Thorn- 
well,  and  published  in  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Beview.  This  is 
claimed  to  have  a  semi-official  character;  yet  without  citing  from  it  a 
single  line  or  word,  the  assertion  is  made,  that  it  proves  that  the  South- 
ern Assembly  was  organized  in  the  interest  of  slavery  and  the  re- 
bellion. 

■  But  how  did  the  Assembly  vindicate  their  allegation,  v?hea  its  truth 
was  contradicted,  by  unequivocal  official  evidence,  embodied  in  a  Pro- 
test and  entered  upon  their  Becords?  First,  they  adduce  the  fact  that 
Dr.  Palmer  preached  a  sermon  entitled  'Slavery  a  Divine  Trust — Duty 
of  the  South  to  perpetuate  and  preserve  it,"  and  afterwards  he  "was 
■upon  the  proposition  of  several  Presbyteries,  requested  to  preach  the 
opening  sermon  of  the  First  Southern  Assembly,  and  was  subse- 
quently elected  Moderator."  And  then  they  cite  certain  passages 
from  the  Narratives  on  the  state  of  Religion  in  18G2  and  1863,  one 
and  two  years  after  that  Assembly  had  been  organized.  The  strong- 
est of  these  passages  is  in  these  words:  "  We  hesitate  not  to  affirm, 
that  it  is  the  peculiar  mission  oj  the  Southern  church  to  conserve  the 
institution  of  slavery,  and  to  make  it  a  Messing  both  to  the  master  and 
the  slavey  This  was  said  two  years  after  the  organization  of  their 
Assembly;  and  if  it  had  been   a   formal  declaration  of  all  that  is   as- 


43 

sertedin  the  ordinanoo  against  which  wo  testify,  it  would  not  sustain 
OTir  Assembly  in  its  position.  But  it  ia  very  far  from  declaring  what 
they  have  attributed  to  the  Southern  church.  This  the  Assembly 
itself  appears  to  have  felt,  for  they  immsdiately  resort  to  a  most  des- 
perate species  of  argument,  to  strengthen  the  weakness  of  their  proofs. 
This  is  nothing  less,  than  to  impugn  the  sinceritjj  of  the  declarations 
made  in  the  address  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Thornwell,  assuming  that  the 
reasons  assigned  for  their  withdrawal  from  us,  were  not  the  real 
reasons,  and,  they  "wero  principally  moved  by  the  designs  imputed" 
in  the  ordinance  of  the  Assembly.     You  shall  hear  what  they  say: 

"In  view  of  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  Southern  churches 
before  the  world;  in  farther  view  of  the  expressed  declaration  of  that 
Assembly,  touching  the  relations  of  the  church  as  an  organization  to 
the  State,  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  the  individuals  who  com- 
posed the  Assembly,  did  not  regard  the  secession  of  the  Southern 
States  as  a  sin,  and  the  doctrine  that  it  was  the  providential  mission 
of  the  South  to  conserve  and  perpetuate  the  institution  of  slavery  as 
a  heresy;  it  toas  to  have  been  expected  that  all  reference  to  such  design  of 
individuals  ivould  he  studiously  avoided.  It  is  not  the  intention  of  the 
x\ssembly  to  assert  that  the  reasons  set  forth  in  that  address  were  not 
influential  with  those  who  uttered  them,  nor  is  it  their  intention  in 
this  paper  to  discuss  their  validity;  but  they  do  declare  that  in  their 
judgement^  there  is  nothing  in  that  document  to  forbid  the  idea,  that  the 
individuals  who  framed  it,  and  the  members  of  the  Southern  churches 
generally,  icere principally  vioved  by  the  designs  imputed." 

"We  do  not  intend  to  discuss  the  validity  of  the  reasons  set  forth 
in  that  address" — of  course  not,  for  where  would  be  the  use  of  dis- 
cussing those  reasons,  when  "there  is  nothing  in  the  document  to  for- 
bid the  idea,'"  that  they  are  not  the  true  reasons.  Nothing  at  all  to 
forbid  the  idea,  that  the  tohole  Southern  Presbyterian  body  were  solemn- 
ly andj  deliberately  playing  the  part  of  hypocrites!  I  once  heard  a  very 
venerable  man  say.  that  it  was  hard  for  an  honest  man  to  suspect  others 
of  being  false  and  deceitful.  Is  it  sir,  easy  for  men  who  are  false  and 
deceitful  to  suspect  others  of  the  same  thing,  and  for  this  reason  to 
be  constantly  imputing  hypocrisy?  But  I  will  say  this:  that  if  the 
Address  written  by  Doctor  Thornwell,  and  his  article  on  the  State  of 
the  country,  show  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Sourhern  church 
was  organized  to  perpetu.ate  and  conserve  the  system  of  slavery,  and  in 
the  interests  of  the  Southern  rebellion;  then  I  will  show  by  more 
substantial  evidence,  that  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  for  the  last  live  years — I  do  not  say  the  utter- 
ances of  this  or  that  individual — proves  that  the  Creneral  Assembly 
was  organized,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  Abolitionism  in  breaking 
up  this  country,  and  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  despotism. 

This  ordinance  of  the  Assembly  is  unrighteous  and  inequitable.  It 
proposes  certain  terms  of  church  membership.  One  of  these  is  the 
renunciation  of  certain  errors,  and  acts,  and  all  sympathy  with  the 
institution  of  slavery   and   the  Southern  Confederacy.     In  the  first 


44 

place  this  ib  unjust,  because  the  Assembly  was  estopped  from  doiog 
anything  of  this  sort  upon  its  own  principles.  In  vindicating  their 
action,  declaring  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Presbyterians  to  aid  the  Admin- 
istration in  co-ercing  the  South  into  submission,  they  appeal  to  the 
precedent  decision  of  the  Government  that  there  was  a  rebellion;  and 
take  this  decision  as  their  rule  of  action.  It  is  therefore  the  decision 
of  the  Government  that  defines  the  ofi'ence,  according  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  General  Assembly,  and  their  business  was  to  sustain  the 
Government  in  their  decision.  Now  then,  by  all  laws  of  justice,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  when  the  Government  is  satisfied  with  regard  to  those 
engaged  in  the  rebellion;  when  it  says,  "Go  home;  you  have  surren- 
dered, and  you  shall  be  unmolested,"  the  Assembly  upon  its  owd 
principles,  is  bound  to  accept  and  uphold  the  decision  of  the  Govern- 
ment. It  vindicates  its  first  action,  because,  it  says  it  cannot 
go  behind  the  action  of  the  Government.  We  say  then,  your  second 
action  was  UQJust,  because  you  do  go  behind  the  action  of  the  Govern- 
ment. You  said  "We  will  condemn  the  rebellion,  because  Co3sar  has 
condemned  it."  Cresar  says  he  is  satibfied,  and  you  say  you  are  not. 
But  the  Church  has  no  right  thus  to  shift  her  position.  She  cannot 
to-day  accept  the  State  as  her  teacher  upon  this  subject,  and  to-mor- 
row repudiate  the  State,  teaching  her  upon  the  same  subject. 

But  further,  the  church  had  no  right  to  do  this,  because,  as  you 
were  told  on  yesterday,  the  rebellion  might  have  succeeded.  Now,  if 
it  was  a  crime  that  these  men  committed  against  the  church — made 
such  by  the  laws  of  Jesus  Christ,  then  it  would  have  continued  a  crime, 
even  if  the  Confederacy  had  succeeded.  If  to  rise  in  arms  against  an 
existing  Government,  is  to  be  treated  by  the  church  as  a  crime  against 
the  laws  of  Christ's  house,  without  going  into  an  inquiry  respecting 
the  causes  of  it,  but  accepting  the  decision  of  the  existing  Govern- 
ment declaring  it  rebellion,  then  it  continues  a  crime.  It  cannot  be 
made  right  by  success;  otherwise  success  becomes  a  standard  of  right 
and  a  rule  of  duty,  as  well  as  providence.  Who  does  not  see,  that  the 
principles  upon  which  the  Assembly  has  acted,  are  destructive  of  the 
very  foundation  of  christian  morality. 

It  is  unjust  in  the  third  place,  because  it  is  a  rule  to  be  ap- 
plied only  to  those  wlio  live  in  a  particular  section  of  the  coun- 
try. The  moment  it  was  proposed  to  apply  this  same  rule 
to  the  churches  North,  those  who  were  ready  to  cut  off  their 
Southern  brethren,  fell  out  by  the  way;  and  twice  in  that  Assem- 
bly those,  who  were  thus  hunting  to  destruction  the  Southern  church, 
became  so  divided  against  each  other,  and  by  their  angry  debate  crea- 
ted such  confusion,  that  the  Moderator  was  compelled  to  adjourn  the 
body  by  his  own  motion,  to  stop  the  disorder.  So  far,  the  author  of 
the  memorial  was  right;  he  saw  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  apply  it  only 
in  one  part  of  the  country,  and  sought  to  make  its  application  general. 
But  when  it  seemed  likely  to  be  shaped  in  that  way,  the  very  brethren 
from  the  churches  who  are  to  be  asked  to  cut  us  off,  said,  "We  never 
will  enforce  it  in  our  churches."       'If  you   undertake  to  apply  that 


45 

rule  tou3  you  will  blow  U3  up" — or  substantially  that  Is  this  equity? 
Is  this  justice?  Call  us,  if  you  will,  sinners  against  God  and  dis- 
turbers of  Zion,  we  cannot  have  anything  to  do  with  such  an  unrighte- 
ous law. 

"We  testify  against  ail  and  every  movement  in  the  church,  however 
cautiously  or  plavisibly  vailed,  which  looks  to  a  vnionof  the  State  with 
the  church,  or  a  fvhordinatlon  of  the  one  to  th^  other,  or  the  interference 
of  either  with  the  jurisdiction  of  the  othir.'' 

Moderator,  what  is  the  State?  That  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  ques- 
tions perhaps,  that  could  be  started  iaihe  regionof  jurisprudence.  I 
will  attempt  to  answer  it  in  brief,  according  to  the  opinion,  as  I  sup- 
pose, of  these  brethren  who  signed  this  Testimony.  The  State,  sir,  is 
fundamentally,  the  people.  The  State  embodied,  is  what  we  call  the 
Government.  The  State  as  it  speaks,  is  its  Constitution  and  its  Laws. 
There  has  evidently  been  great  confusion  in  this  discussion,  by  chang- 
ing terms,  or  using  them  with  different  meanings.  For  instance,  ''the 
Government,"  acd  "government."  It  was  said  that  he  who  set  him- 
self ag&inbt  (JO vernment, -w&s  gmhy  of  a  sin,  and  would  receive  con- 
demnation. Yes,  sir,  that  is  true — 2ig<iitist  goveinment.  The  man  who 
says  there  is  no  such  thing  as  government,  denies  that  there  is  a  God. 
The  man  who  says,  that  there  is  no  right  of  government  ia  the  people, 
denies  in  effc^ct,  that  there  is  a  God.  But,  sir,  the  man  who  says  that 
Vk  partindar  Government  is  not  so  of  God,  as  that  other  Governments  of 
a  difterent  form,  are  not  equally  of  God,  also  denies,  as  I  believe,  that 
there  is  a  God.  In  other  words,  God  is  not  the  author  of  despotism, 
cither  in  the  natural  principles  he  has  implanted  ia  our  nature,  or  in 
the  working  out  of  the  necessities  of  our  nature,  through  the  opera- 
fion  of  thoi^e  principles.  You  have  been  told  that  we  are  sanctioning 
that  which  is  damnable,  because  we  have  denied  that  one  particular 
government  is  more  of  God  than  another;  so  that  when  two  govern- 
ments come  in  conflict,  we  are,  upon  the  very  fact  of  their  being  ia 
conflict,  of  necessity  obliged,  to  t-dke  sides  with  this  one  rather  than 
with  that  one.  And  it  ia  charged,  that  we  violate  tba  law  of  God,  be- 
cause we  say,  that  we,  as  christians,  are  not  bound  to  enter  into  the 
strife  at  all,  or  to  fight  with  eitlierj'we  may  not  consider  either  of  them, 
so  righteous  in  what  they  may  be  doing,  as  that  we  can  take  up  the 
sword  on  either  side. 

I  said  a  little  this  morning  on  the  right  of  private  judgment.  I 
wish  to  introduce  here  that  principle,  because  it  has  a  direct  bearing 
upon  this  point.  So  fundamental  is  this  right  of  private  judgment,  in 
regard  to  this  matter  of  particular  governments;  so  free  are  men  in 
their  relations  to  these  governments;  and  such  i3  the  obligation  they 
are  under,  to  know  enough  to  judge  in  regard  to  them,  that  if  a  man 
fights  wrongfully  with  his  Government,  he  is  responsible  to  God  for  it. 
I  believe  not  only  that  bayonets  can  think,  but  that  they  ought  to 
think,  and  that  if  they  do  not  thiak,  God  will  judge  them  for  not 
thinking.  The  centurion  and  the  soldiers  that  crucified  Jesus  Christ, 
-were    commanded    to    do    it    by    Pilate,    and    Jesus    Christ    said 


46 

explicitly,  "Thou  couid'st  have  no  power  against  me,  except  it 
were  given  ttee  from  on  high."  Pilate  was  the  ordinance  of  God;  but 
when  he  commanded  the  centurion  and  the  soldiers  to  lead  Jesus 
Christ  to  crucifixion,  the  centurion  was  bound  to  say,  as  he  should 
answer  at  the  bar  of  God,  "I  will  not  have  anything  to  do  with  the  ex- 
ecution of  this  just  man."  The  principle  avowed  on  this  floor,  and 
against  which  I  argued  this  morning,  would  hold  harmless,  every  sol- 
dier that  drove  the  nails  through  the  palms  of  the  hands  of  Christ. 
They  were  ordered  to  do  it.  But,  let  soldiers  know,  that  they  are 
bound  to  have  such  an  enlijjhtencd  conscience,  fhat  when  they  obey 
orders,  they  shall  be  able  to  git^e  a  good  account  of  it  in  the  last  great 
day.  Conscript  men  upon  the  contrary  principle,  put  them  into  the 
ranks  against  their  will,  and  they  have  no  conscience,  no  accountabil- 
ity. No,  sir,  government  is  of  God;  the  State  is  of  God,  because  the 
State  is  fundamentally  the  people.  Bat  I  cannot  go  further  in  this 
line  of  remark. 

Now,  vrhat  is  the  Church?  The  Church  is  the  people  too — eJihktoi, 
klatoi,  elchski — God's  chosen;  God's  called;  God's  united  society  of 
people:  but  not  cnly  the  called  and  the  chosen  outwardly,  but  it  is 
the  truly  called,  the  truly  chosen,  that  constitute  the  true  church.  I 
wish  you  to  hold  that  idea.  AYe  have  then  in  the  Stale,  the  people, 
the  law,  the  executive;  the  constitutional  law,  the  statute  law,  andtho 
common  law:  if  you  pieasc.  We  have  in  the  Church,  the  people,  the 
law,  the  Biinistry.  It  so  happens  that  the  Apostle  uses  the  same  word 
in  regard  to  the  minister  in  tho  State,  that  ho  docs  in  regard  to  the  min  - 
ister  in  the  Church — -'they  arc  the  ministers  of  God  attending  upon 
this  very  thing,"  What  are  the  relations  of  these  two  institutions 
to  each  other?  Perfectly  independent.  They  have  no  common  juris- 
diction. They  have  jurisdiction  over  the  same  persons,  but  no  com- 
mon jurisdiction,  so  that  the  State  can  do  for  tho  church,  or  the  church 
do  for  the  State,  or  both  together  do  that  which  belongs  to  either. 
And,  loyalty  to  the  State,  is  exactly  what  loyalty  to  the  Church  is.  It 
begins  with  lo;^aIty  to  the  people.  Ho  that  is  not  loyal  to  the  people, 
is  not  loyal  at  all.  When  a  man  says  '-1  am  the  State,"  then  ho  has 
ceased  to  be  loyal.  And  as  loyalty  begins  there,  loyalty  is  obedience 
tothemiad  of  the  State  as  expressed  in  its  laws.  The  minister  of 
the  State,  the  executive,  the  magistrate,  has  nothing  to  do,  but  first 
himself  obey  the  law,  and  nest  require  other  people  to  obey  it.  And 
that  is  loyalty,  giv;  that  is  my  loyalty.  "We  love  the  King,  who  loves 
the  law."  But  when  the  King  himself  disobeys  the  law,  the  State  (that 
is  the  people)  has  a  right  to  call  him  to  account.  It  is  just  so  in  the 
church.  We  arc  the  servants  of  the  ohurcli.  The  mind  of  the  church 
is  expressed  in  tho  laws  given  by  her  Divine  Head;  and  here  is  one  of 
the  differences  between  the  State  and  the  church.  The  State  has  no 
divinely  revealed  code  of  laws — no  divinely  given  constitution;  and 
therefore  no  civil  constitution  -can  be  said  to  bo  of  divine  authority.  I 
may  prefer  am.onarchy  to  a  commonwealth.  Do  1  ofiend  against  any 
divine  law  when  I  so  prefer?     But  if  I  prefer  the  Koran  to  the  Bible, 


47 

I  sin  at  once.  The  churcli  lias  her  law  as  the  spiritual  State,  if  you 
will  allow  me  such  an  expression.  It  is  the  Spiritual  Kingdom-called  a 
Kingdom-which  Jesus  Christhas  established  in  this  world.  She  hasher 
Constitution  and  laws  in  the  Bible,  and  her  ministers  are  simply  to  de- 
clare that  law  and  enforce  it.  When  her  ministers  fail  to  obey  the 
law,  they  violate  their  vowa  to  their  Lord  and  Master;  they  violate 
the  authority  of  their  commission,  and  the  people  may  call  them  to 
account.  And,  as,  according  to  the  great  John  Owen,  the  bride,  the 
wife  carries  the  keys  of  the  household,  so  Jesus  Christ,  the  husband  of 
the  Church,  has  endoY^cd  his  bride  with  the  keys  of  the  household  of 
faith;  and  when  she  has  handed  them  to  her  servant  and  he  transgresses 
the  authority  which  she  has  given  him,  she  has  a  right  to  reclaim 
them.  And,  as  ia  the  State,  when  the  magistrate  has  violated  his 
authority,  the  people  may  require  him  to  surrender  that  author- 
ity, the  sword  which  he  holds  to  be  a  terror  to  evil  doers,  and  a 
praise  to  them  that  do  well;  so,  when  in  the  church,  the  ministry  vio- 
late their  commission,  the  bride  has  a  right  to  require  that  they  shall 
give  back  the  keys.  And  if  there  be  any  portion  of  those  who  are 
ministers,  who  faithfully  hold  and  use  these  keys,  they  may  take  their 
appeal,  from  those  who  are  violating  their  trust,  to  the  bride,  and  say; 
"Your  servants  have  been  f^iithless;  we  ask  that  you  shall  require  them 
to  return  to  their  fidelity,  or  surrender  the  keys."  And,  if  tite  bride 
should  become  herself  so  corrupt — should  so  depart  from  her  Divine 
Husband,  as  she  too  often  has  done,  as  to  fail  to  answer  back  that  call, 
then  the  faithful  servants  may  go  to  the  Husband  and  ask  Him  to  in- 
terpose, to  correct  his  Bride.  This  is  something  like  what  I  desired 
to  say,  upon  this  interesting  and  somewhat  difficult  subject. 

Now,  these  two  divinely  appointed  irjstitulioDs — the  Sfatc  for  this 
world,  and  the  Church  for  this  world  and  the  next — we  hold  to  bo  per- 
fectly independent — perfectly  free  from  all  intervention,  on  the  part 
of  one  or  the  other;  and  the  moment  the  Church  goes  over  to  the 
State,  that  moment  the  Church  becomes  a  harlot;  and  the  moment  the 
State  accepts  the  oJt'er,  and  prostitutes  the  Church  to  her  own  ends  and 
aims,  that  moment  it  becomes  a  wild  beast,  just  as  it  is  always  repre- 
sented in  the  visions  of  prophecy.  And  we  do  most  solemnly  testify, 
and  we  design  by  the  grace  of  God  to  continue  to  testify,  against  the 
Church  turning  harlot  and  the  State  being  brutalized  by  cohabitation 
with  her. 

I  pass  over  much  that  I  might  baJi  and  come  to  the  action  proposed 
in  this  paper,  because  this  action  seems  to  be  that  which  is  immediate- 
ly relied  upon,  to  make  good  the  proposition  both  in  the  resolution  and 
the  complaint,  to  treat  us  as  schismatics  and  as  practically  out  of  the 
Church.  Look  then  and  see  what  this  action  is.  It  is  explicitly  stated 
here  that  our  first  great,  prayerful  aim,  as  God  shall  give  us  strength 
and  opportunity,  is  to  reform  the  Church. 

As  to  separation  from  the  General  Assembly,  we  express  our  anxiety 
to  avoid  it,  and  predicate  such  a  result,  upon  the  majority  continuing 
to  adhere  to  their  errors,  and  upon  compulsion.  It  is  clear  as  the  shin- 


48 

lag  of  the  sun  at  noonday,  that  wo  cannot  walk  together  if  we  are  not 
agreed;  and  as  the  gentleman  (Dr.  B.)  said  very  truly,  we  are  not 
agreed,  not  merely  in  minor  matters,  but  in  fundamental  principles. 
rt  seemed  to  me  I  understood  this  more  than  a  year  ago;  and  therefore 
I  said  it  publicly,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  must  retrace  her  steps 
or  she  must  divide.  And  is  she  not  disintegrating  at  this  very  hour? 
Is  she  not  going  to  pieces?  You  have  been  told  there  exists  a  practi- 
cal schism.  It  is  true;  but  not  more  true  here  than  elsewhere.  It  is 
widespread.  Dr.  Hodge  of  Princeton,  the  Presbytery  of  Sangamon, 
the  Presbytery  and  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  all  the  Presbyteries  in  this 
State,  are  practical  schismatics,  according  to  the  position  taken  against 
us.  We  say  that  the  schism  is  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  corrupted 
the  church,  who  have  perverted  her  authority,  who  have  violated  her 
constitution,  who  have  usurped  the  prerogatives  of  her  Divine  Lord, 
who  have  persecuted  his  servants — that  these  are  the  schismatics.  Men 
who  sign  memorials  of  the  Stanton-Wood  character — who  sanction 
oaths  of  the  llosecrans-Missouri  type — who  shut  out  of  the  church, 
upon  a  new,  unscriptual  test  of  christian  character,  hundreds  of  min- 
isters and  thousands  of  men  and  women,  than  whom  there  are  none 
more  true  hearted  Presbyterians  in  the  land — these  men  are  the  real 
schismatics;  it  is  these,  as  we  believe  and  declare,  who  have  divided 
our  church.  They  charge,  that  those  who  have  boldly  and  openly 
stood  in  the  wsy,  and  resisted  their  course,  are  sgitators,  schismatics 
and  rebels  against  the  church.  Here  then  the  issue  is  joined,  and  it 
will  be  tried,  is  now  trying,  in  every  Presbytery  and  church  in  this 
State,  and  throughout  the  land.  Perhaps  we  shall  be  successful  in 
reforming  tlie  chtirch;  perchance  wo  may  be  defeated.  We  have  no 
bayonets  to  aid  us.  The  gentleman  (Dr.  B.)  said  "unless  the  Gov- 
ernment protect  us,  they  will  put  us  out."  These  words,  from  such  a 
source,  have  a  very  instructive  meaning.  They  mean  that  unless,  as 
was  done  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  churches  within  your  bounds,  at 
the  instigation  of  one  in  high  position,  the  "powers  that  be"  will 
take  in  hand  the  suppression  of  our  Testimony  and  of  the  witnesses, 
and  send  guards  with  "swords  and  staves,"  (possibly  negro  soldiers,  de- 
luded with  the  idea  of  freedom)  to  take  possession  of  sessional  records, 
to  force  open  the  doors  of  churches,  and  to  compel  the  people  to  hear 
a  man  preach  whom  they  do  not  wish  to  hear — unless  tlic  Government 
will  supply  the  gentleman  with  jails  and  scaffolds,  the  want  of  which 
in  the  hands  of  the  church  he  seemed  to  regret — then  it  appears  to  be 
feared,  the  influence  of  this  Declaration  and  Testimony  cannot  be 
stopped,  until  he  himself  may  be  compelled  either  to  retrace  his  steps, 
or  to  go  out  with  those,  who  have  created  this  schism.  This  much  is 
certain,  either  we  must  change  or  he  and  his  party  must  change,  or 
part  asunder  we  must.  And  rest  assured,  brethren,  if  we  are  thrust 
out,  we  will  go,  as  the  Israel  of  the  Alps  went,  out  of  the  meretricious 
church  of  Borne,  bearing  with  us  the  Groldea  Candlesticks,  and  the 
shewbread,  and  the  Ark  of  the  covenant  and  the  Shekinah  of  our  Grod. 
The  action  we  propose  ia  in  terms,  much  of  it,  precisely  the  action. 


49 

proposed  in  the  "Act  and  Testimony"  of  1835.  We  say  first  "That 
we  refuse  to  give  our  support  to  ministers,  elders,  agents,  editors, 
teachers,  or  to  those  who  are  in  any  other  capacity  engaged  in  religious 
instruction  or  effort,  who  hold  the  proceeding  or  similar  heresies." 
Said  the  "Act  and  Testimony"  of  1835:  "We  refuse  to  give  coun- 
tenance (they  went  further  than  we  do)  to  ministers,  elders,  agents, 
editors,  teachers,  or  to  those  who  are  in  any  other  capacity  engaged 
in  religious  instruction  or  effort,  who  hold  the  proceeding  or  similar 
heresies."  Was  not  that  practical  schism?  And  yet,  did  not  the 
gentlemen  who  uttered  this  "Act  and  Testimony"  in  1835,  all  over  the 
land,  protest,  that  they  did  not  intend  to  divide  the  church,  but  that 
their  intention  was  to  reform  her,  and  that  if  tbey  were  cut  off  they 
would  do  substantially,  what  we  say  we  will  do,  if  we  are  compelled  to 
go  out? 

We  propose  a  Convention.  Mr.  McMillan  in  his  "complaint '  lays 
great  stress  upon  that,  as  has  also  been  done  by  the  gentleman  who 
has  spoken  in  defense  of  both  the  complaint  and  his  own  paper.  We 
propose  a  convention.  Well,  what  for?  Why,  say  they,  at  once,  to 
divide     the    church!     Is    this    so?     Hear   the   language    and  judge. 

"We  do  earnestly  recommend  that  on  the day  of ,  A.  D.  1865, 

— (we  do  not  fix  any  time  except  that  it  should  be  in  1865,  and  we 
were  not  at  all  tenacious  of  that) — "a  convention  be  held  in    the  city 

of ,  composed   of  all  such  Ministers  and  Ruling  elders  as    may 

concur  in  the  views  and  sentiments  of  this  testimony,  to  deliberate 
and  consult  on  the  present  state  of  our  church,  and  to  adopt  such 
further  measures  as  may  seem  best  suited  to  restore  her  prostrated 
Soandards,  and  vindicate  the  pure  and  peaceful  religion  of  Jesus, 
from  the  reproach  which  has  been  brought  upon  it,  through  the 
faithlessness  and  corruption  of  its  ministers  and  professors."  Now, 
read  and  compare  this:  "We  do  earnestly  recommend  that  on  the 
second  Thursday  of  May,  1835,  a  Convention  be  held  in  the  city  of 
Pittsburgh,  to  be  omposed  of  two  delegates,  a  minister  and  a  ruling 
elder  from  each  of  the  Presbyteries,  or  from  the  minority  of  any 
Presbytery  who  may  concur  in  the  sentiments  of  this  "Act  and  Tes- 
timony, to  deliberate  and  consult  on  the  present  state  of  our  church, 
and  to  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  best  suited  to  restore  our  pros- 
trated standards."  When  from  Princeton  went  forth  the  cry,  "These 
men  are  going  to  meet  to  control  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church; 
they  are  going  to  sit  by  the  side  of  that  Assembly,"  a  venerable 
signer  of  this  "Act  and  Testimony"  said  "We  don't  mean  to  sit  beside 
it,  we  will  sit  heforQ  it."  But,  sir,  that  meant  division  and  schism, 
unless  that  which  those  men  intended  first  to  attempt,  to  "restore  the 
prostrated  standards  of  the  church,"  had  been  accomplished.  Things 
had  not  gone  so  far  then,  as  they  have  gone  with  us,  by  a  great  deal. 
There  was  no  such  state  of  things  then  as  there  is  now.  The  As- 
sembly had  not  formaly  endorsed,  as  she  has  now  endorsed  by  ex- 
plicit acts,  and  by  setting  up  as  terms  of  membership  in  the  church, 
the  doctrines  and  errors  against  which  those  venerable   fathers  and 


50 

brethren — many  of  them  now  gone  to  glory — protested.  No,  sir, 
not  half  so  far.  As  a  youth,  I  was  familiar  with  this  thing  in  my 
father's  house.  There  I  saw  many — many  a  solemn  meeting,  of  those 
who  were  consulting  over  "the  prostrated  standards  of  the  church," 
and  praying  and  pleading  that  God  would  save  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant. These  men  knew,  that  unless  the  one  party  abandoned  their 
course,  the  other  party  must  go  out.  In  that  day  the  truth  triumphed; 
and  whether  right  or  wrong,  by  the  agency  of  him,  who  now  would 
apply  the  axe  to  us,  there  were  cut  off  whole  Presbyteries  and  Synods, 
and  the  church  was  divided.  But  we  do  not  want  division.  Come 
back  to  us,  come  back  to  us  brethren  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
Apostles  and  Prophets,  and  wc  will  bury  all  the  past;  we  will  forget 
all  bygones,  and  we  will  embrace  in  fraternal  affection.  We  will 
never  say  one  word  about  the  evil  that  we  think  you  have  done;  but 
we  will  go  on  with  you,  to  preach  the  everlasting  Gospel,  and  save 
the  life  of  our  dying  nation,  by  applying  to  it  the -'balm  of  Gilead." 
But  if  you  meet  us  thus;  if  you  respond  to  us  as  is  proposed  in  this 
resolution,  we  will  gather  about  us  those  that  prefer  truth  to  a  mere 
fictitious  union;  we  will  gather  about  us  those  who  love  the  truth, 
more  than  they  love  any  man  after  the  flesh;  we  will  gather  about 
us  those  in  the  North  and  East  and  South  and  West,  who  agree  with 
us  in  this  truth  which  we  hold  dearer  than  life,  and  with  tears  over 
those  who  have  compelled  us  to  part  with  them,  we  will  go  out!  Now, 
sir.  that  is  what  we  mean;  that  is  what  you  mean — you  know  it. 

Now.  Moderator,  I  will  draw  to  a  conclusion.  We  have  been 
taunted  with  being  a  little  band — a  little  band!  Well,  sir,  be  it  so. 
I  remember  that  there  was  but  one  outspoken  prophet  in  Israel,  for 
for  seven  thousand  hidden  ones  that  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal. 
I  remember  that  when  he  confronted  Ahab,  Ahab  said,  "Art  thou  he 
that  troubleth  Israel?"  and  I  recollect  the  response  and  the  triumph. 
I  remember  in  ancient  lore,  the  day  when  Greece,  with  all  her  beauty 
and  splendor  and  liberty,  was  threatened  to  be  blotted  out  by  the  iron 
tread  of  thehaughty  Asiatic:  and  I  remember  that  a  little  band  of  three 
hundred,  standing  in  the  straits  of  Thermopylae,  leaving  the  faint 
hearted  to  depart,  with  heroic  calmness,  said,  "We  will  be  the  sacri- 
fice for  our  country;"  and  true  to  their  word,  they  battled  and  battled, 
until  every  man  pf  them  died  in  a  baptism  of  blood.  But  the  cause 
lived.  I  remember,  sir,  when  three  hundred,  who  would  not  stoop  to 
drink  but  lapped  with  the  tongue,  stood  between  Israel  and  the  Mid- 
ianites,  and  with  pitchers  and  lamps  conquered.  I  remember 
these  and  the  thousand  other  illustrions  dead,  that  have  stood  in  the 
breach  in  the  day  of  trial — Yes!  stood  between  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  those  who  would  lay  profane  hands  upon  it.  And,  sir,  dy- 
ing they  triumphed!  And  if  it  be  necessary  to  lay  our  bodies  in  the 
breach — if  it  be  necessary  that  we,  in  a  baptism  of  blood,  a  little 
band,  should  thus  attempt  to  rescue,  and  be  blessed  in  rescuing  our 
beloved  church,  the  Ark  of  God  as  committed  to  is,  then  let  the  sacri- 
fice be  made;  we  will  die  a  little  band. 


51 

But  we  have  been  asked,  "Have  these  gentlemen  worked  miracles? 
No,  sir,  we  have  not.  "Are  these  gentlemen  inspired?"  No,  sir,  we 
are  not.  "Have  these  gentlemen  ever  raised  the  dead?"  No,  sir,  we 
have  never  raised  the  dead.  But,  sir,  we  ask  in  return,  have  these 
gentlemen  raised  the  dead?  I  have  heard  that  they  could  kill;  or  at 
least  that  they  could  hound  others  on  to  kill,  but  I  have  never  heard 
that  they  raised  any  of  the  dead.  Are  they  inspired,  sir?  I  have  tried 
to  get  at  their  inspiration,  in  their  reviews,  in  their  newspapers,  in 
their  memorials  and  in  their  speeches;  and  what  sort  of  inspiration  is 
it?  Have  these  gentlemen  wrought  miracles?  Aye!  miracles,  sir,  of 
^destruction.  I  most  fervently  and  conscientiously  believe  it,  that 
these  and  such  like,  have  wrought  miracles  of  destruction  to  the  hopes 
■of  our  country — to  the  hopes  of  our  Church — to  the  hopes  of  the 
black  man,  sir,  above  all  others — and  to  the  hopes  of  the  world;  and 
Tinless  God  will  work  miracles  of  deliverance,  from  the  hands  of  these 
Egyptian  necromancers  and  magicians,  we  are  ruined  as  a  country — 
we  are  ruined  as  a  Church. 

Moderator  and  brethren,  [  have  done.  With  such  ability  as  God 
has  given  me;  with  the  imperfections  of  my  nature,  but  with  honesty 
of  purpose,  and  the  love  which  I  bear  to  my  Church,  my  country,  and 
my  Master,  urging  me  forward  to  do  that,  which  I  would  rather  have 
committed  to  the  hands  of  those  better  able  to  do  it,  1  have  endeavored 
in  your  presence  to  lift  up  the  standard  of  truth  and  righteousness, 
and  to  ask  you  to  rally  around  it — to  ask  you,  before  you  close  these 
sessions,  to  lift  it  up  so  high  and  to  display  it  so  clearly,  that  it  shall 
he  seen  from  all  parts  of  the  land;  to  ask  you,  imitating  the  example 
of  that  other  branch  of  the  Church,  our  Episcopal  brethren,  with  the 
venerable  Bishop  Hopkins,  so  happily  as  itseems  tome,  at  its  head  at 
this  important  moment,  to  hold  out  the  olive  branch  to  our  brethren  in 
the  South.  The  olive  branch  is  what  I  plead  for  in  the  late  General 
Assembly.  When  the  Stanton  memorial  was  presented  I  voted  alone 
against  even  entertaining  it,  and  entered  my  dissent  against  referring 
it  to  a  Committee.  When,  in  the  form  of  an  ordinance  brought  in  by 
the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures,  it  was  adopted 
by  the  Assembly,  I  with  others,  "a  little  band,"  entered  our  solemn 
protest  against  it.  When  its  principles,  sublimated  and  embodied 
in  the  single  resolution,  which  set  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions 
over  the  Presbyteries,  Church  Sessions,  Churches,  Synods  and  As- 
sembly itself — to  sit  in  judgement  upon  the  loyalty,  the  doctrine, 
and  sympathies  of  ministers  and  members — when  that  was  under 
•discussion,  I  earnestly  opposed  its  passage.  I  said  I  would  never — 
never  obey  or  enforce  it.     I    said,  "Brethren  do  not  this  thing." 

Well,  sir,  they  have  done  it,  and  now,  as  the  last  hope  of  a  bleeding 
Church,  we  here,  upon  the  border  in  this  State  which  has  sacrificed 
f30  much  for  the  love  of  the  country  our  fathers  bequeathed  us — we 
who  stand  here  between  the  North  and  the  South,  belongirc  natural- 
ly to  the  South,  but  unwilling  to  be  separated  from  he  Nr.  th — we 
who  stand  here,  in  our  relations  to  both  parts  of  the  Lhurch,  some- 


52 

thing  like  tte  venerable  bishop  I  baAc  named,  in  the  Episcopal  CI tiic?i, 
in  this  day  of  trial;  we  can  extend  our  hands  in  fraternal  entreaty  to 
Loth.  We  can  drop  the  t-word — we  can  say  to  the  General  Absembly, 
"It  our  brethren  must  perish,  we  cannot,  we  will  not  be  your  execu- 
tioners." Yes,  brethren,  if  the  General  Asembly  njust  find  execu- 
tioners for  these  christiacs  in  the  Soxith,  they  must,  I  think,  find 
them  somewhere  elf e  than  in  the  good  old  State  of  Kentucky,  and  in 
the  venerable  Synod  called  by  that  name.  At  leapt  they  must  I  an* 
sure,  find  executioners  somewhere  el.se  than  in  the  Louisville  Presby- 
tery. But  what  you  can  do,  what  we  ask  you  to  dp,  is  to  say  to  those 
of  our  brethren  in  the  South,  who  hold  theee  principles  of  a  pure  and 
free  Presbyterianism,  "come  with  us  and  we  will  do  jou  good.'  To 
say  to  those  of  our  brethren  !n  the  North,  who  stand  by  the  same 
principles,  "come  with  us  and  we  will  do  you  good."  It  is  in  the 
cause  of  Unity;  it  is  in  the  cause  of  peace  upon  the  foundations  of  the 
truth  in  Jesus,  that  we  have  endeavored  to  act.  The  war  is  over  in 
ih':.  State.  Ca3.-ar  is  satisfied.  He  is  holding  out  his  bands,  to  those 
who  are  regarded  as  having  lifted  their  hands,  with  paraeidal  purpose, 
against  the  life  of  the  nation — whether  rightly  so  judged  or  not  1 
caunot  say — I  may  not  judge.  But  however  this  may  be.  Caisar  is 
satisfied.  Oh!  brethren,  are  not  you  satisfied?  Will  you  not  join  us 
ID  the  principles  of  this  Testimony?  Will  you  not  with  us  lift  up 
this  standard,  and  under  it  go  forward  in  the  footsteps  of  our  Prophet 
Pnest,  and  King,  and  leave  Cassar  to  do  his  work,  whilewe  do  ouis? 

Moderator,  in  the  name  of  the  Presbytery,  which  I  have  thus  beern 
called  to  lepres-ent,  I  thank  you  for  the  patience  with  which  you  have 
t'Card  these  remarks.  We  may  perhaps  find  it  necessary  to  say  a  word 
in  explanation,  but  otherwise  we  design  to  say  nothing  more  here- 
after. 


GENERAL  ASSEMBLY'S  PLATFORM 


OF 


Doctrine,  Loyalty  and  Freedom. 


TOGETHER   WITH 


The  Issues  between  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
and  the  General  Assembly. 


EMBRACING 

The  Minute  on  the  Walnut  St.  Church  Case, 


AND 

The  two  Minutes  concerning  the  ez^clusion  of  the  Lou- 
isville Presbytery  from  the  Assembly,  &c. 


{FROM  THE  FREE  CHRISTIAN  0 O 31310 N WEALTH.] 


1 


LOUISVILLE,  KY. 

1866. 


4 


The   Assembly's   Platrorm  of  Doctrine  telligent  reader  with  the  documentary 

Sa  .rreuVotaTd  ereL^fn  f-'»  '»  -»-''  »«  <=-  a'  -7  «-=  "ad- 
execution  thereof.  ily  refer  when  he  heara  these   denials 

Our  radical  brethren— or  rather  their  and  [apologies,  and  bring  them  to  the 
pseudo-conservative  allies  in  the  Border  test  of  official  history.  We  advise, 
States,  labor  very  assiduously  to  cover  therefore,  that  this  Supplement  he  laid 
up  from  the  view  of  the  people  the  real  carefully  at^a^r,  where  it  may  at  all  times 
facts  and  principles  involved  in  the  acts  be  within  reach,  for  it  will  be  found  to 
of  Assembly,  from  1861  to  1866,  in-  be  a  repository  of  all  the  more  import- 
elusive,  out  of  which  have  grown  the  ant  documentary  proofs  in  the  present 
present  troubles  in  the  Presbyterian  controversy  with  the  Assembly  of  1866. 
church.  By  the  most  unscrupulous  I.  The  resolution  op  1861— The 
denials,  the  most  palpable  perver-  terminal  error:  declared  by  Dr. 
.  '     _  ^    ^  .    Hodge  to  decide  a   political  ques- 

Bions,    and    most     preposterous    apol-  ^ion— to   pronounce     or    assume   A 
I  ogies    they   would   fain    persuade   the  particular   interpretation  of  the 
people    that    nothing  has   been    done  constitution,  a   calamity  the  most 
i  to     which     candid     men     ought      to  disastrous     to     the    interests    op 

'  ^  \.-      r  rrv,<.„  „„•„„  e  1c«    OUR   CHURCH    THAT    HAS      MARKED    ITS 

make  any  obiection.      They  raise  false 

J        '>  •'  history;      violating     THE      CONSTITU- 

issues;  they  suppress  or^  gloss  over  .^j^j^  ^^  ^jj^,  church  and  usurping 
what  is  plainly  wrong  in  principle;  they  the  prerogative  of  its  divine 
ostentatiously  parade   as  the  real  thing  master. 

J  xi.    i.       u-   1,         i-«j,.  J-  „    ».-„    *.v,„       Hesolvcd,  That  this  General  Assembly  in  the 

done    that    which    nobody  disputes    the  ^^.^-^  ^^  ^^^^  Christian  Patriotism  which  the 

propriety  of;  they  avoid  the  discussion  Scriptures  enjoin,  and  which  has  always  char- 
^  .  n     1  acterised  this  church,  do  hereby  aclsnowledge 

of    the   great    doctrines    Ot    the    several  and  declare   our   obligations   to   promote   and 

protests  and  testimonies,  while  they  P^^^P^l^^t^  ^« ':a';a«  i^  .^V^  ^'f '  *^tJ''^e^''l^i^^^ 
^  ,      ,  ,  .  these  United  States,  and  to  strengthen,  uphold 

affect    indignation   at    the    rhetoric    and  and  encourage  the  Federal  Government  in  the 

i„ „r  *v«^«    ^>«4./,^*ri      «^;i    ^nl^irvin;     exercise  of  all   its  functions,  under  our  noble 

terms  of  these    protests,    and    calumni-  constitution;  and  to  this  Constitution  in  all  its 

OUsly  assail    the    authors  and   adherents  provisions,   requirements,    and   principles,  we 

■'  .  .  profess  our  unabated   loyalty.    And   to  avoid 

of    them,    in    order    to    destroy   m    the  all  misconception,  the  Assembly  declare,  that 

minds    of  the   people    the    influence    of  ^7  the  terms  "Federal  Government,''  as  here 

•^      *  use<l,  18  not  meant  any  particular  administra- 

their  clear  statements  of  the  truth.  tion,  or  the  peculiar  opinions  of  any  particular 

T.      i  .-i         />  J     .  party,  but  that  central  administration,  which 

It     has     therelore     occurred    to    us,  ^^-^^g  ^t  any  time  appointed  and  inaugurated 

while      preparing     a     supplement      "  to  according  to  the  forms  prescribed  in  the  Con- 

■^     *  °  '^^  stitution   of  the  United   States,  is  the  visible 

'  the      Free      Christian      Commonwealth  '  representative  of  our  national  existence." 

containing  the  facts  and  reason-  II.  The  first  outgrowth  of  this 
ings  on  which  the  Louisville  Pros-  political  dogma  in  the  Breckin- 
bytery  have    proceeded    in    the    spe-  ^^^^^    ^^^^^    «^    1^62,     dictating 

.•',.''  ,     ,  .!_.,,  if,       THE      DUTY    OP     THE    NATIONAL    GrOV- 

cial  issue  between  that  body  and  the  ernment-"making  history"  for 
General  Assembly,  to  prepare  also  a  the  Southern  States;  denouncing 
;  compilation  from  the  minutes  of  the  the  sin  op  all  who  doubt  about 
General  Assemblies  of  six  years  past,  the  war,  and  calling  for  not 
exhibiting  what  utterances  have   been  only  allegiance  toC^sarin  overt 

J  u  Tk      i  •         T  u  J    -o  ACT,  BUT    ALSO  FOR    THE    ALLEGIANCE 

made  on  "Doctrine  Loyalty  and  Free-  ^„    „„„T-rrT,^  TT„.T,m    .»t^ .„ 

■'       •'  op     motives,  heart    and    TEMPER    AS 

dom"— what  orders  have  been  issued  ju-n  experimentally  render  alle- 
enforcing  this  platform;  and  what  en-  giance  to  Christ. 

actments,  by  way  of  executing  these  or-  Peace  has  been  wickedly  superceded  by  war, 
J  TtT      J     •       X      /•       'I-  •       in  its  worst  form,  throughout  the  whole  land; 

ders.     We  desire  to   turnisn  every   m- and  public  order  has  been  wickedly  eupersed- 


fed  ^7  rebellion,  anarchy  and  vloleiice,  in  the 
whole  Southern  portion  of  the  Union.  All 
this  has  been  brought  to  pass,  and  a  disloyal 
and  traitorous  attempt  to  overthrow  the  Isa- 
"tional  Government  by  military  force,  and  to  di- 
"vide  the  nation  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the 
immense  majority  of  the  people  in  whom  the 
local  sovereignty  resided,  oven  in  the  States 
I  Trnich  revolted,  ever  authorized  any  such  pro- 
t  -  ceedings,  or  even  approved  the  fraud  and  vio- 
lence, by  which  the  horrible  treason  has  achiev- 
ed whatever  success  it  has  had.  This  whole 
treason,  rebellion,  anarchy,  fraud  and  violence, 
j  is  utterly  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  natural 
I  religion  and  morality,  and  is  plainly  condemn- 
ed by  the  revealed  will  of  God.  It  is  the  clear 
and  solemn  duty  of  the  National  Government 
to  preserve,  at  whatever  cost,  the  National 
Union  and  Constitution,  and  to  maintain  the 
]aw8  in  their  supremacy,  to  crush  force  by 
fierce,  and  to  restore  tha  reign  of  public  order 
ami  peace  to  the  entire  nation,  by  whatever 
lawf'il  means  that  are  necessary  thereunto. 
Anil  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  all  people  who 
coni(io3e  this  great  nation,  each  one  in  his  sev- 
eral place  and  degree,  to  uphold  the  Federal 
<G")vernment,  and  all  persons  in  authority, 
•whdtlier  civil  or  military,  in  all  their  lawful 
and  )  foper  acts,  unto  the  ends  herein  before 
•set  f'  •;!. 

AnJ  ■".  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
liord  Je.-ius,  we  earnestly  exhort  all  who  love 
Cod  aiiU  fear  His  wrath,  to  turn  a  dc-af  ear  to 
all  cor.i-3.1s  and  suggestions  that  tend  toward  a 
reacti".  .  ftvorableto  disloyalty,  Echism  or  dis- 
turbsi  •■".  either  in  the  Church  or  in  the  coun- 
try. T :;<^re  is  hardly  anything  more  inexcus- 
able cK  i:0('i,ed  with  the  frightful  conspiracy 
agair^:  "h  ch  we  testify  than  the  conduct  of 
those  I  hi! '-.-bearers  and  members  of  the  Church 
•who.  .iliiiough  citizens  of  loyal  States,  and  sub- 
ject to  the  control  of  loyal  Presbyt^'es  and 
Synids,  have  been  faithless  to  all  auilioritj, 
hunDin  and  Divine,  to  which  they  owed  sub- 
■gectioD.  Nor  should  any  to  whom  this  deliver- 
ance may  come  fail  to  bear  in  mind,  that  it  is 
not  only  their  outward  conduct  concerning 
which  ikay  ought  to  take  heed,  but  it  is  also, 
and  especially,  their  heajt,  their  temper,  and 
their  moliveE,  in  the  sighi  of  God,  and  toward 
the  free  and  beneficent  civil  Government  which 
he  has  blessed  us  withal,  and  toward  the  spirit- 
'  ual  commonwealth  to  which  iheyare  subject  in 
the  Lord.  la  all  these  re.-pects  we  must  all 
give  acco:int  to  God  in  the  Great  Day.  And  it 
is  in  view  of  our  own  drcn'i.  responsibility  to 
the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  ihat  we  now 
make  this  deliverance. 

III.  The   further  outgrowth  in 

THE"  FLAG  report"  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY 
OP  1863,  ADOPTED  AFTER  MANY 
DAYS  DISCUSSION,  AND  RE -AFFIRM- 
ING PREVIOUS  DELIVERANCES,  TOUCH- 
ING THE  ALLEGIANCE  OF  THE  CHURCH 
TO  CiESAR. 

(Minutes  18G3,  p.  26.)  "Ruling 
Elder  T.  H.  Nevin,  moved  that  a  com- 
mittee of  three  be  appointed  to  cause  the 
National  flag  to  he  raised  over  the 
church  edifice  in  which  the  Assembly  is 
met. 

On  a  motion  to  lay  this  motion  on 


the  table,  the  ayes  and  noes  were  called. 
Ayes  03,  noes  130.  Non  liquet  1. 

So  the  motion  to  lay  on  the  table 
was  lost.  The  Rev.  R.  DeLancy  moved 
to  refer  the  matter  to  the  Trustees  of 
the  church  to  do  as  they  please. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Lowrie  moved  that  this 
whole  snbjcct  be  referred  to  a  committe 
of  seven  to  report  thereon  to  the  Assem- 
hly. 

The  previous  question  was  called  for, 
and  the  call  having  been  duly  sustain- 
ed, was  put,  and  the  resolution  of  Dr. 
Lowrie  adopted. 

(Minutes  p.  57).  This  committee  sub- 
sequently reported,  and  by  vote  of  180 
yeas  the  following  paper  was  adopted: 
(We  select  the  first  and  last  para- 
graph):— 

The  committee,  to  whom  was  refer- 
red the  resolution  which  proposed  to 
raise  the  flag  of  the  United  States  upon 
the  building  in  which  the  Assembly 
is  now  convened,  and  to  report  in  re- 
spect to  the  state  of  the  country,  re- 
spectfully present  the  following  re- 
port : — 

Your  committee  believe  that  the  de- 
sign of  the  mover  of  the  original  reso- 
lution and  of  the  large  majority,  who, 
apparently  are  ready  to  vote  for  its 
adoption,  is  simply  to  call  forth  from 
the  Assembly  a  significant  token  of  our 
sympathy  with  this  government  in  its 
earnest  efi'orts  to  suppress  a  rebellion, 
that  now  for  over  two  years  has  wickedly 
stood  in  armed  resistance  to  lawful  and 
beneficial  authority.  But  as  tlicre  are 
many  among  us  who  are  urdoubtedly 
patriotic,  who  are  willing  to  express 
any  righteous  principle  to  which  \\.\i 
Assembly  should  give  uttpi-ar.  e,  louca- 
ing  the  subjectioii  aad  aiiiJuhmL'uc  of 
an  American  ciifzan  to  the  Uulon  and 
its  institulions,  who  love  the  flag  of  our 
country  and  rejoice  in  its  successes  by 
sea  and  by  land,  and  who  yet  do  not 
esteem  this  particular  act  a  testimo- 
nial of  loyalty  entirely  becoming  to  a 
Church  court;  and  as  many  of  these 
brethren,  by  the  pressing  of  this  vote, 
■would  be  placed  in  a  false  position,  as 
if  they  did  not  love  the  Union,  of  which 
that  flag  is  the  beloved  symbol,  your 
committee  deem  themselves  authorized 
by  the  subsequent  direction  of  the  As- 
sembly, to  propose  a  difierent  action  to 
be  adopted  by  this  venerable  court. 


And  as  this  Assembly  is  ready  to  de- 
clare our  unalterable  attachment  and 
adherence  to  the  Union  established  by 
our  forefathers,  and  our  unqualified 
condemnation  of  the  rebellion;  to  pro- 
claim to  the  world,  the  United  States, 
one  and  undivided,  as  our  country,  the 
lawfully  chosen  rulers  of  the  land  our 
rulers;  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  our  civil  government;  and  its 
honored  flag,  our  flag;  and  to  affirm  that 
we  are  bound,  in  the  truest  and  strict- 
est fidelity,  to  the  duties  of  Christian 
citizens  under  a  government  that  has 
strown  its  blessings  with  a  profuse 
hand,  your  committee  recommend  that, 
as  the  trustees  of  this  church,  concurring 
in  the  desire  of  many  members  of  this 
Assembly,  have  displayed  from  this  ed- 
ifice the  American  flag,  the  symbol  of 
national  protection,  unity  and  liberty, 
the  particular  action  contemplated  in  the 
original  resolution  be  no  further  urged 
upon  the  attention  of  this  body." 

IV  The  platform  of  doctrine  loy- 
alty AND  FREEDOM  AS  COMPLETED 
BY  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF    1864. 

(1)  Minutes  of  1864,  p.  267.)  "The 
Rev.  Samuel  Miller  offered  a  resolution 
in  relation  to  the  setting  apart  by  this 
Assembly  of  a  day  for  fasting,  humilia- 
tion and  special  prayer." 

Minutes  p.  270.  "The  Rev.  Samuel 
Miller  again  offered  a  resolution  for  the 
observance  of  a  season  of  prayer  for  the 
country. 

"Dr.  Nevin  offered  the  following  as  a 
substitute  which  was  unanimously  adop- 
ted: 

Whereas,  There  is  enough  in  the  re- 
cent operations  of  our  army  (in  the  bat- 
tles of  the  Wilderness)  to  claim  our  spe- 
cial gratitude  to  God,  and,  Whereas, 
what  remains  undone  demands  our 
most  sincere  prayers  to  and  reliance 
upon  Him  without  whom  all  human 
effort  ia  vain,  Therefore: — 

Resolved.  That  this  Assembly  in  view 
of  the  condition  of  our  country  will 
spend  Wednesday  afternoon  next  in 
thanhsgiving  to  Almighty  God  for  past 
mercies  and  in  prayer  for  his  continued 
blessing  upon  our  country." 

(In  the  report  of  debates  in  Assem- 
bly May  20th,  1864.it  is  said:)— "Dr. 
Nevin  felt  anxious  as  a  friend  of  the 
government,  to  guard  against  any  im- 
pressions that  would  appear  to  produce 


distraction.  The  resolution  of  Mr.  Mil- 
ler might  have  a  had  fjffect,  as  the  news 
would  be  taken  out  hy  the  steamer  just 
going  to  Europe;  or  the  executive  and  his 
advisers  at  Washington  may  he  distressed 
in  a  certain  degree  at  its  result,  and  in 
view  of  this  he  offered  the  foregoing  sub- 
stitute for  Mr.  Miller's  resolution. 

Dr.  Tustin,  of  Washington,  said  he 
lived  in  the  focus  of  excitement  in  the 
country  and  knew  the  effect  that  assem- 
blies held  in  distant  parts  of  the  coun- 
try would  have  at  that  place.  He  thought 
hrother  Ilillers  motion  icould  have  a 
had    effect y 

On  motion,  Rev.  Mr.  Miller's  motion 
was  laid  on  the  table,  and  the  resolution 
of  Dr.  Nevin  was  then  unanimously 
adopted." 

(2)  Minutes  1864,  page  316.)  "The 
General  Assembly  hereby  appoints  the 
first  Thursday  of  September  next  or  such 
other  day  as  the  President  of  the  United 
States  may  in  the  mean  time  appoint 
as  a  season  of  National  humiliation,  as 
a  day  of  fasting  humiliation  and  pjrayep 
in  view  of  the  sins  of  the  nation  and  oi' 
the  church  for  which  we  are  justly  suf- 
fering under  the  displeasure  of  God« 
The  Assembly  calls  the  special  atten- 
tion of  our  churches  and  people  to  the 
-,;<  ^  ;;c  gjjjg  ai^(j  gyils  essentially  growing 
out  of  our  system  of  s-lavery;  -•-  -i'-  -•-  The 
prevalence  of  that  extreme  party  spirit 
which  leads  even  good  viien  in  their  de- 
votion to  party,  to  supp^rrt  for  positions 
of  trust  and  power  candidate's  of  known, 
unfitness  or  had  character  in  preference 
to  those  possessing  every  mental  and 
moral  qualification — as  worthy  special 
rememhrance  and  repentance^ 

(3)  Minutes  18G4,  page  315).  ''Where- 
as, Almighty  God,  the  God  of  na- 
tions, is  the  head  and  source  of  all  au- 
thority and  power  in  civil  government, 
and  nations  as  such  are  the  subjects  of 
his  moral  laws,  and  his  revealed  xoill  is  the 
supreme  laio  of  national  life:  ivhereas,  the 
Christian  and  loyal  people  of  our  coun- 
try are  everywhere  beseeching  God  to  in- 
terpose for  our  deliverance  as  a  nation 
from  the  assaults  of  a  most  groundless 
and  wicked  rebellion,  and  to  establish 
and  maintain  the  national  unity  and  au- 
thority: and  lohereas,  resolutions  have  al- 
ready passed  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  are  pending  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  recommending  amend- 
ment of  the  National  Constitution  in  sev- 
eral other  particulars.     Therefore, 


jResolved,  That  it  is  our  solemn  nationl  duty 
so  to  amend  our  fundamental  and  organic  laiv, 
that  the  preamble  of  the  National  Con- 
stitution shall  read  in  substance  as  fol- 
lows: "We  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  [humbly  acknowledging  Almighty 
God  as  the  source  of  all  authority  and 
power  in  civil  government,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Governor  among  the  nations,  and 
Sis  revealed  Will  as  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  hi  order  to  constitute  a  Christian  govern- 
ment, and]  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect 
union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  de- 
fence, promote  the  general  welfare,  and 
secure  [the  inalienable  rights  and]  the 
blessings  of  [life,]  liberty,  [and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,]  to  ourselves,  our  pos- 
terity, [and  all  the  people^  do  ordain  and 
establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United 
States  of  America.' 

And,  further, 

Resolced,  That  this  General  Assembly 
recommend  to  all  the  people  in  the  con. 
gregations  under  its  care  to  memoralize 
Congress  upon  this  subject. 

(4)  To  these  several  deliverances  on 
^^doctrine  and  loyalty^  must  now  be  ad- 
ded the  remarkable  deliverance  on  free- 
dom: 

"Whilst  we  do  not  beleive  that  the  present 
judgments  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  and  Al- 
mighty and  Righteous  Governor,  have  been  in- 
flicted.solely  in  punishment  for  our  continuance 
in  this  sin;  yet  it  is  our  judgment  that  the  re- 
cent events  of  our  history,  and  the  present  con- 
dition of  our  Church  and  country,  furnish 
manifest  tokens  that  the  time  has  at  length  come, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  lohen  it  is  Mis  will  that 
every  vestige  oj.  human  slavety  among  us  f^hould 
he  effaced,  and  that  every  Christian  man  should 
addressed  himself  with  industry  and  earnestness 
to  his  appropriate  part  in  the  performance  of  this, 
great  duty. 

Whatever  excuses  for  its  postponement  may 
heretofore  have  existed,  no  longer  avail. 
"When  the  country  was  at  jDeace  wiihin  itself, 
and  the  Church  was  unbroken,  many  conscien- 
ces were  perplexed  in  the  presence  of  this 
great  evil,  for  the  want  of  an  adequate  remedy. 
Slavery  was  so  formidably  intrenched  behind 
the  ramparts  of  personal  interests  and  predju- 
dices,  that  to  attact  it  with  a  view  to  its  speedy 
overthrow  appeared  to  be  attacking  the  very 
existence  of  the  social  order  itself,  and  was 
characterized  as  the  inevitable  introduction  of 
an  anarchy,  worse  in  its  consequences  than  the 
evil  for  which  it  seemfd  to  be  the  only  cure. 
But  the  folly  and  weakness  of  men  h;ive  been 
the  illustration  of  God"s  wisdom  and  power. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  most  incomprehen- 
cible  infatuation  of  wickedness,  those  who  were 
m.ost  deeply  i  nterested  in  the  perpetuation  of 
slavery  have  taken  aivay  every  motive  for  itsfur- 
the  toleration.  The  spirit  of  American  slavery, 
not  content  with  its  defences  to  be  found  in  the 
laws  of  the  States,  the  provisions  of  the  Feder- 
al Constitution,  the  prejudices  in  favour  of  ex- 
isting institutions,  and  the  fear  of  change,  has 
taken  arms  against  law  organized  a  bloody  re- 
bellion against  the  national  authority,  made 


formidable  war  upon  the  Federal  union,  and 
in  order  to  found  an  empire  upon  the  corner- 
stone of  slavery,  threatens  not  only  our  exis- 
tence as  a  people,  but  the  annihilation  of  the 
principles  of  free  Christian  government;  and 
thus  has  rendered  the  continuance  of  negro 
slavery  incompatible  with  the  preservation  of 
our  own  liberty  and  independence. 

In  the  struggle  of  the  nation  for  existence 
against  this  powerful  and  wicked  treason,  the 
highest  executive  authorities  have  proclaimr  I 
the  abolition  of  slavery  within  most  of  the  re'u- 
el  States,  and  decreed  its  extinction  by  military  i 
force.  They  have  enlisted  those  formerly  held 
as  slaves  to  be  soldiers  in  the  national  armies. 
They  have  taken  measures  .to  organize  the  la- 
bour of  the  freedmen,  and  instituted  measures 
for  their  support  and  governnif  nt  in  their  new 
condition.  It  is  the  President's  declared  poli- 
cy not  to  consent  to  the  reorganization  of  civil 
government  within  the  seceded  States  upon 
any  other  basis  than  that  of  emancipation.  In 
the  loyal  States  where  slavery  has  not  been 
abolished,  measures  of  emancipation,  in  differ- 
ent stages  of  progress,  have  been  set  on  foot, 
end  are  near  their  consummation;  and  proposi- 
tions for  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution, prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  States  and 
Territories,  are  now  pending  in  the  National 
Congress.  So  that,  in  our  present  situation, 
the  interests  of  peace  and  of  social  order  are 
identified  with  the  success  of  the  cause  of  eman- 
cipation. The  diificuities  which  formerly 
seemed  insurmountable,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  appear  now  to  be  almost  removed.  The 
most  formidable  ramaining  obstacle,  we  think, 
will  be  found  to  be  the  unwillingness  of  the 
human  heart  to  see  and  accept  the  truth  against 
the  prejudices  of  habit  End  of  interest;  and  to 
act  towards  those  who  have  been  heretofore 
degraded  as  slaves,  with  the  charity  of  Chris- 
tian princii)!e  in  the  necessary  eflorts  to  im- 
prove and  elevate  them. 

In  viev/,  therefore,  of  its  former  testimonies 
upon  the  subject,  the  General  Assembly  does 
hereby  devoutly  express  its  gratitude  to  Al- 
mighty God  for  having  overruled  the  wicked- 
ness and  calamities  of  the  rebellion;  so  as  to 
work  cut  the  deliverance  of  our  country  from 
the  evil  and  guilt  of  slavery;  its  earnest  desire 
for  the  extirpation  of  slavery,  as  the  root  of 
bitterness  from  which  has  sprung  rebellion, 
war,  and  bloodshed,  and  the  long  list  of  hor- 
rors that  follow  in  their  train:  its  earnest  trust 
that  the  thorough  removal  of  this  prolific 
fouTce  of  evil  and  harm  will  be  speedily  follow- 
ed by  the  blessings  of  our  Heavenly  Father, 
the  return  of  peace,  union  and  fraternity,  and 
abounding  prosperity  to  the  whole  land;  and 
recommend  to  all  in  our  communion  to  labour 
honestly,  earnestly,  and  unwcariedly  in  their 
respective  spheres  for  this  glorious  consumma- 
tion, to  which  human  justice.  Christian  love, 
national  peace  and  prosperity,  every  earthly 
and  every  religious  interest,  combine  to  pledge 
them." 

The  action  on  the  case  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Pheeters  also  indirectly  endorsed  the 
principle  of  a  right  of  secular  military 
authority  to  dictate  to  a  court  of  Christ. 
But  this  was  more  directly  endorsed  in 
1866. 

Such  are  the  chief  points  of  the  pres- 
ent form  of  "doctrine  loyalty  and  free- 


dom,"  as  constructed  by  successive  As- 
semblies from  1861  to  1864  inclusive. 
The  Assembly  of  1865  was  distinguish- 
ed for  its  enactments  ordering  the  e?i- 
forcement  of  these  several  deliverances 
as  part  of  the  law  of  the  church,  to  be 
accepted  by  all  its  office-bearers  and 
church  courts.  Hence  their  action  has 
forced  the  issues  practically  on  every 
body  and  therefore  has  been  more  earn- 
estly resisted. 

V.  The  orders  and  other  utteran- 
ces OF  1865  FOR  censure  and  dis- 
cipline OF  ALL  dissentients  FROM 
THE  foregoing  DELIVERANCES,  THUS 
COMPELLING   OPEN  RESISTANCE. 

1  (Minutes  1865,  p.  541.)  "The  Com- 
mittee on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky  presented  a  report  which 
was  amended  and  adopted  and  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  committee  recommend  that  the 
records  be  approved  with  the  following 
EXCEPTIONS:  1st,  The  action  of  the 
Synod  on  page  134  taking  exception  to 
the  action  of  the  last  Gleneral  Assembly 
on  slavery.  2d,  That  the  Synod  has 
xoholly  failed  to  make  any  deliverance 
during  the  past  year,  calculated  to  sus- 
tain and  encourage  our  government  in 
its  efforts  to  suppress  a  most  extensive, 
wanten,  and  wicked  rebellion  aiming  at 
nothing  short  of  the  life  of  the  na- 
tion." 

(2)  (Minutes  1865, p.  554.)  ''Resolved, 
That  the  General  Assembly  direct  the 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions  to  take 
prompt  and  effectual  measures  to  restore 
and  build  up  the  Presbyterian  congre- 
gations in  the  Southern  States  of  this 
Union  by  the  appointment  and  support 
of  prudent  and  devoted  missionaries. 

Resolved,  4.  That  none  be  appointed 
but  those  that  give  satisfactory  evidence 
of  their  loyalty  to  the  National  Gov- 
ernment, and  that  they  are  in  cordial 
sympathy  loith  the  General.  Assembly  of 
the  Preshyterian  church  in  the  United 
States  of   America  in  her   testimony  on 

DOCTRINE,  LOYALTY,  and   FREEDOM." 

"The  last  two  points  of  the  protest  logically 
proceed  upon  the  assumption  that  treason, 
such  as  has  existed  in  the  Southern  States,  is 
not  a  sin,  and  that  the  doctrine  that  Southern 
slavery  is  a  divine  institution,  to  be  conserved 
and  perpetuated,  is  not  a  heresy.  These  topics, 
in  view  of  their  past  deliverances,  and  in  the 
light  of  history,  the  Assembly  deems  it  need- 
less to  discuss.  In  reference  to  the  last  point 
of  the  protestants,  the  Assembly  fully  recog- 


nize the  facts  that  the  directions  given  by  them 
will  involve  much  personal  affliction — and  per- 
haps in  some  idstances  temporary  hardships — 
for  this  they  are  not  responsible.  Those  who 
have  sown  the  wind,  must  expect  to  reap  the 
whirlwind. 

Moreover,  this  Assembly  has,  by  repeated 
and  most  solemn  deliverances,  declared  disloy- 
alty and  rebellion,  especially  as  against  a  wise 
and  equitable  government,  such  as  ours,  to  be  a 
most  heinous  sin  against  God  and  "the  powers 
that  be,  as  ordained  of  God;"  and,  by  similar 
deliverances,  has  pronounced  in  favor  of  loyal- 
ty and  freedom.  Consequently,  to  appoint  as 
missionaries  for  the  Southern  States,  men  who 
are  disloyal  to  the  government;  and  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  General  Assembly  in  its  deliv- 
erances, would  be  not  only  to  ignore  and  neut- 
ralize its  testimonies,  but  to  stultify  itself,  and 
scatter  anew  the  seeds  of  schism,  disloyalty,  and 
rebellion.     [Minutes  '65,  page  686  690, 

(3)  Whereas,  During  the  existence  ofthe  great 
rebellion  which  has  disturbed  the  peace  and 
threatened  the  life  of  the  nation,  a  large  num- 
ber of  Presbyteries  and  Synods  in  the  Southern 
States,  whose  names  are  on  the  roll  cf  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  as  constituent  parts  of  this  body, 
have  organized  an  Assembly  denominated  "The 
General  Assembly  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,"  in  order  to  render  their  aid  in  the 
attempt  to  establish,  by  means  ofthe  rebellion, 
a  separate  national  existence,  and  "to  conserve 
and  i^erpetuate  the  system  of  slavery;"  there- 
fore, 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly  regards  the 
civil  rebellion  for  the  perpetuation  of  negro 
slavery  as  a  great  crime,  both  against  our  Na- 
tional Government  and  against  God,  and  the  se- 
session  of  those  Presbyteries  and  Synods  from 
the  Presbyterian  church,  under  such  eircum- 
stances  and  <ot  such  reascns,  as  unwarranted, 
schismatical,  and  unconstitutional. 

Eesolved,  2.  That  the  General  Assembly  dees 
not  intend  to  abandon  the  territory  in  which 
these  churches  are  found,  or  to  compromise  the 
rights  of  any  of  the  church  courts,  or  minis- 
ters, ruling  elders,  and  private  members  be- 
longing to  them, who  are  loyal  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  Presby- 
terian church.  On  the  contrary,  this  Assembly 
will  recognize  such  loyal  persons  as  constitut- 
ing the  churches.  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  in 
all  the  bounds  of  the  schism,  and  will  use 
earnest  endeavors  to  restore  and  revive  all  such 
chnrches  and  church  courts. 

Resolved,  3.  The  Assembly  hereby  declare 
that  it  will  recognize  as  the  church,  the  mem- 
bers of  any  church  within  the  bounds  of  the 
schism,  who  are  loyal  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  whose  views 
are  in  harmony  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  and  iDith  the  several  testimonies 
of  the  Prcslyterian  church  on  the  subject  of  do- 
mistic  slavery.    (Minutes  '65,  p.  660.) 

(4)  The  right  of  every  Presbytery  to  examine 
ministers  asking  admission  into  their  body,  as 
to  their  soundness  in  the  faith,  which  has  been 
long  "Bcknowledged  and  practised  by  our  Pres- 
byteries, implies  their  right  by  parity  of  reas- 
oning to  examine  them  on  all  subjects  which 
seriously  afiect  the  peace,  purity,  and  unity  of 
the  church. 

II.  The  exercise  of  this  right  becomes  an  im- 
perative duty,  in  the  present  circumstances  of 
our  country,  when,  after  the  crushing  by  mili- 


8 


tarv  force  of  an  atrocious  rebellion  against  the 
government  of  the  Ignited  States,  for  the  per- 
petuation of  slavery,  many  ministers  who  have 
aided  and  abetted  this  revolt,  may  seek  admis- 
sion into  Presbyteries  located  in  the  loyal 
States;  therefore, 

III.  It  is  hereby  ordered  that  all  our  Presby- 
teries examine  every  minister  applying  fDr  ad- 
mission from  any  Presbytery  or  other  ecclesi- 
estical  body  in  the  Southern  States,  on  the  fol- 
lowing points: 

1.  Whether  he  has  in  any  way,  directly  or 
indirectly,  of  his  own  free  will  and  consent, 
or  without  external  constraint,  been  concerned 
at  any  time  in  aiding  and  countenancing  the 
rebellion  and  the  war  which  has  been  waged 
against  the  United  States;  and  if  it  be  found 
by  his  own  confession  or  from  sufficient  testi- 
mony, that  he  has  been  so  concerned,  that  he 
be  required  to  confess  and  forsake  his  sin  in 
this  regard  before  he  shall  be  received. 

2.  Whether  he  holds  that  the  system  of 
negro  slavery  in  the  South  is  a  Divine  institu- 
tion, and  that  it  is  "the  peculiar  mission  of  the 
Southern  Church  to  conserve  the  institution  of 
slavery  as  there  maintained,"  and  if  it  be 
found  that  he  holds  either  of  these  doctrines, 
that  he  be  not  received  without  renouncing 
and  forsaking  their  errors. 

IV.  This  injunction  to  Presbyteries  is  in  like 
manner  applicable  to  Synods,  and  it  is  hereby 
ordered  that  upon  the  application  of  any  Pres- 
bytery to  be  received  into  any  Synod  where 
such  Presbytery  is  or  has  been  connected  with 
the  Southern  General  Assembly,  such  Synod 
shall  examine  all  the  members  of  said  Presby- 
tery on  the  points  above  named,  and  the  recep- 
tion of  such  Presbytery  or  any  of  the  ministers 
thereof  by  such  Synod  shall  depend  upon 
their  compliance  with  the  conditions  before 
mentioned. 

V.  Church  sessions  arc  also  ordered  to  exam- 
ine all  applicants  for  church  viemberskip  by 
persons  from  the  /Southern  Slates,  or  luho  have 
been  living  vi  the  South  s  ncc  the  rebdlion, 
concerning  their  conduct  and  principles  on  the 
points  above  specified;  and  if  it  be  found  that 
of  their  own  free  will  they  have  taken  up  artus 
against  the  Unitod  Statt-s,  or  that  they  bold 
slavery  to  be  an  ordinance  of  Goi,  as  above 
stated,  such  persons  shall  not  be  admitted  to 
the  communion  of  the  church  till  they  give 
evidence  of  repentance  for  their  sins  and  re- 
nounce thetr  error. 

VI.  The  General  Assembly  gives  counsel  to 
the  several  church  courts  specified  in  these  or- 
ders, thnt  in  discharging  the  duties  enjoined 
therein,  due  regard  be  jiaid  to  the  circumstan- 
ces of  the  case,  and  that  justise  bs  tempered 
with  mercy.  Especially  is  this  counsel  given 
te  churches  in  the  border  States,  where  many 
impulsive  and  ardent  young  men,  without  due 
consideration,  have  been  led,  away  by  their  supe- 
riors, or  seduced  from  their  loyalty  by  their  erro- 
neous interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of  State 
rights  Such  persons,  thogh  highly  criminal, 
are  far  less  so  than  their  unprincipled  and  am- 
bitious leaders.  While,  in  the  treatment  even 
of  these,  the  honor  or  religion  ought  to  be  fully 
vindicated,  more  tenderness  may  be  properly 
exercised  than  duty  requires  or  admits  in  deal- 
ing with  their  guides  and  deceivers.  By  kind 
and  faithful  instruction  and  admonition,  and 
by  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  most  of 
them,  it  is  hoped,  will   be  reclaimed  from  the 


error  of  their  ways,  and  become  loyal  citizens 
and  valuable  church  members. 

VII.  It  is  further  ordered,  that  if  any  minis- 
ter or  ministers  belonging  to  any  Presbytery 
or  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  General 
Assembly,  have  fled  or  been  sent  by  civil  or 
military  authority  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States  on  account  of  tlieir  disloyalty, 
or  who  may  have  gone  for  the  same  reason  to 
any  of  the  Southern  States,  and  have  aided  in 
this  rebellion,  such  Presbytery  or  Presbyteries 
shall  take  action  on  the  subject,  and  unless  they 
obtain  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  repentance 
of  such  ministers,  they  shall  declare  and  enter 
upon  their  records  that  they  are  thenceforth 
suspended  from  the  functions  of  the  Gospel 
ministry  until  their  cases  can  be  regularly  is- 
sued. And  if  after  two  years  they  shall  still 
remain  beyond  the  reach  of  such  Presbytery 
or  Presbyteries,  the  names  of  such  ministers 
shall  be  erased  from  tfce  roll,  and  they  shall 
thereupon  be  no  longer  deemed  ministers  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  (Minutes  '65,  p.  562-3.) 

While  we  deeply  deplore  the  loss  of  such  a 
Chief  Magistrate,  and  bow  in  humble  submis- 
sion to  that  mysterious  providence  which  per- 
mitted treason,  as  its  culminating  act,  of  atro- 
city and  wickedness,  to  terminate  his  life  by 
the  hand  of  an  assassin,  we  would  render  de- 
vout thanksgiving  to  God,  that  he  was  protect- 
ed from  all  the  machinations  of  his  relentless 
enemies  until  he  was  permitted  to  see  the  pow- 
er of  the  rebellion  crushed,  its  strongholds  re- 
possessed, its  conquered  armies  forced  to  sur- 
render; the  national  honor,  imtarnished  by  acts 
of  barbarism  or  cruelty,  vmdicatcd;  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Union  preserved; — that  scheme  of 
emancipation,  which  he  had  the  wisdom  to  devise, 
and  the  courage  to  execute,  made  efleetive  to 
the  deliverance  from  bondage  of  four  millions  of 
slaves  for  tvhose perpetual  enslavement  the  rebel- 
lion teas  inaugurated;  and  peace,  upon  princi- 
ples of  righteousness  and  universal  freedom, 
already  dawning  upon  the  land.  (Minutes  '65, 
p.  566.) 

(G)  Tke  response  to  the  indirect  ac- 
tion of  the  A-sembly  endorsing  the 
coDStituting  of  a  church  court  under 
military  order  and  oath,  will  best  pre- 
sent and  illustrate  the  facts  in  the  case. 
Subsequently  the  Assembly  of  '66  di- 
rectly condeuinGd  the  Synod  of  Mis- 
souri for  denying  that  a  Synod  under 
military  order  could  be  a  "free  Synod." 

The  undersigned  would  respectfully  protest 
against  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly, 
whereby  they  dismissed  the  complaints  of  the 
Session  of  the  First  Church  of  St.  Charles;  and 
also  of  the  Rev.  Robert  P.  Farris  against  the 
Synod  of  Missouri,  on  the  ground  that  "in  the 
matter  complained  of  there  was  no  action  of 
the  Synod,  as  such  but  only  a  decision  of  the 
Moderator  effectmg  the  complainants,  from 
which  they  made  no  appeal  to  the  body  of  the 
Synod,  and  consequently  they  have  no  ground 
of  complaints." 

Against  this  decision  we  protest — 
III.  Because  the  Moderator  had  put  it  out 
of  his  power  to  entertain  an  appeal  or  conduct 
the  business  of  the  Synod  agreeably  to  the  gov- 
ernment and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
by  declaring  it  to  be  his  intention  "to  conduct 


9 


the  business  o(  Synod  in  accordance  with"  the 
following  military  order,  to  wit: 
Head-Quarteks  Department  of  the  Missouri, 
Office  op  Provost  Marshal  General. 

St.  Louis,  March  Sth  1864. 

"2.  It  is  therefore  deemed  expedient,  and 
hereby  ordered  as  a  condition  precedent  to  such 
privilege  of  assemblage  and  protection,  that 
each  and  every  person  attending  such  Conven- 
tion, Synod,  Ministerium,  Assembly,  Confer- 
ence, Council,  or  by  whatever  name  it  may  be 
called,  and  participating  in  the  proceedings 
thereof,  shall  take  an  subscribe  to  an  oath  of 
allegiance,  and  file  the  same  in  the  oflice  of  the 
Assistant  Provost  Marshal  of  the  locality  in 
which  the  assemblage  is  held. 

"3.  It  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  all  such 
assemblages  to  ascertain,  before  proceeding  to 
organize  and  tracsact  business,  those  who  have 
taken,  subscribed  and  filed  the  required  oath, 
and  permit  only  such  to  participate  in  their 
proceedings;  aud  in  case  any  such  assemblage 
shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  do  so,  or  shall  know- 
ingly permit  any  one  who  has  failed  to  comply 
with  the  requirements  of  this  order  to  partici- 
pate in  its  proceedings,  it  will  be  deemed  a 
military  oilence,  for  which  its  members  may  be 
held  amenable,  aud  any  Provost  IMarshal  pres- 
ent shall  immediately  order  the  assemblage  to 
disperse,  and  prevent  the  continuance  of  its 
proceedings. 

"i.  The  form  of  the  oath  of  dlle|iance  to  be 
taken,  subscribed  and  filed,  as  aforesaid,  shall 
be  in  these  words: 

"1, of    .  ,  .  .  .    county,    State   of 

do  hereby  solelmly  swear  that  I  will 

maintain  the  national  sovreignty  paramount  to 
that  of  all  State,  county,  or  Confederate  powers; 
that  I  will  discourage,  discountenance  and  for- 
ever oppose  secession,  rebellion  and  the  disin- 
tegration of  the  Federal' Union;  that  I  disclaim 
and  denounce  all  faith  and  fellowship  with  the 
so-called  Confederate  armies,  and  pledge  my 
honour,  my  property,  and  my  life  to  the  sacred 
performance  of  this  my  solemn  oath  of  allegi- 
ance to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

'■'Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  this 
.  .  .  day  of  .  .  .  1864,  at  .  .  . 

"Witnesses, of 

[Minutes  '65,  page  576,  577.] 

One  Presbytery  reports  continued  disputation 
in  reference  to  a  military  order  which  required, 
as  a  protection  of  the  Government  from  the 
plotting  of  treason,  a  pledge  of  unconditional 
allegiance  from  ministers  of  Christ,  in  that  re- 
gion of  country  where  treason  was  rife.  The 
effect  of  this  disputation  has  been  only  what 
might  be  expected  upon  the  private  members 
of  the  churches,  and  upon  some  of  our  ecclesi- 
astical courts.  It  is  pleasing,  however,  to  be 
able  to  turn  from  a  contest  in  one  Presbytery, 
profesedly  conducted  in  vindication  of  the 
Headship  and  Crown  Rights  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
but  generally  believed  to  be  actuated  by  a  de- 
sire on  the  part  of  some,  however  sincere  oth- 
ers may  be,  to  evade  the  just  claims  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, in  times  of  national  peril,  and  con- 
template the  picture  drawn  in  the  report  of 
another  Presbytery,  once  almost  broken  up  by 
rebellion,  but  now  restored,  through  the  merey 
of  God,  by  the  overthrow  of  our  national  foes. 
(Minutes  p.  598,  Narrative.) 

(7.)  As  illustrating  the  general  claim 
of  powers  by  the  General  Assembly  to 


declare  new  tests  of  communion  other 
than  its  deliverances  on  Doctrine,  Loy- 
alty, and  Freedom,"  the  following  de- 
liverance is  cited. 

"That  a  manufacturer  and  retailer  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks  for  the  purpose  mentiojied,  is 
guilty  of  an  offence  proved  to  be  such  from 
Scripture,  the  foregoing  remarks  clearly  de- 
monstrate. But  is  it  such  an  offence  as  ought 
to  exclude  persons  from  the  full  privileges  of 
the  church?  In  maintaining  the  aflirmative  of 
this  question  it  is  important  to  remark,  that 
whatever  would  prevent  the  admission  of  a 
person  to  the  scaling  ordinances  of  the  church, 
on  his  first  application,  ought,  if  found  in  con- 
nection with  his  character  or  conduct  after  his 
admission,  to  exclude  him  from  her  commu- 
nion. 

In  the  case  which  we  are  considering,  the 
person  in  question  does  not  give  credible  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  his  christian  character.  He 
does  not  give  such  satisfaction  with  respect  to 
his  "knowledge  and  piety,"  as  is  sufficient  to 
entitle  him  to  continue  in  the  full  privileges  of 
the  church,  as  a  member  in  good  standing-. 
For  the  man  who,  at  the  present  time,  is  igno- 
rant of  the  effects  of  the  practice  of  the  manu- 
iacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  as  a 
common  beverage,  in  tempting  others  to  sin,, 
and  "marring  their  spiritual  edification,"  must 
be  criminally  regardless  of  what  is  going  on 
aroutMl  him.  And  he  who,  knowing  this,  per- 
severes in  the  practice,  evinces  a  state  of  heart 
directly  the  reverse  of  that  which  is  produced 
by  "the  grace  of  God,"  that  "teaches  us  that 
denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we 
should  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly,  in 
this  present  world."  On  the  ground  therefore 
that  hia  profession  of  religion  is  destitute  of  the 
attributes  which  are  necessary  to  render  it 
creditable,  he  ought  not  to  be  continued  in  the 
communion  of  the  church,  nor  certified  as  a 
member  in  good  standing.  [Minutes  '65,  page 
672,  673. 

It  will  be  perceived  that,  from  the 
very  nature  and  spirit  of  thie  extraor- 
dinary action,  there  could  no  longer  be 
any  apology  for  waiting  and  merely 
protesting  in  the  usual  forms  of  pro- 
test, in  hopes  that  a  better  spirit  and 
correcter  views  might  lead  to  a  modifi- 
cfttion  of  these  manifestly  unscriptural 
deliveraacss  and  acts.  By  direct  act  of 
the  Assembly  itself,  those  who  dissent 
are  forced  to  the  issue  of  submission 
against  conscience  and  christian  liberty, 
or  of  open  resistance.  Whatever  force 
then  might  have  been  in  the  plea  for 
patient  waiting,  and  the  argument  that 
the  dogmas  of  a  General  Assembly  were 
not  binding  on  the  conscience,  up  to 
1865,  there  could  surely  be  no  force  in 
such  plea  and  argument,  when  the  As- 
sembly demands  submission  to  these 
dogmas  as  part  of  the  law  of  the 
Church. 

A  very  natural  result,   therefore,  was 


10 


the  issue  of  a  "Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony" against  these  monstrous  here- 
sies touching  the  nature  and  functions 
of  Christ's  Spiritual  Commonwealth, 
and  such  monstrous  usurpations  of  au- 
thority over  the  conscience.  This  Dec- 
laration being  adopted  not  only  by  ma- 
ny ministers  and  ruling  elders,  but  also 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  as  a 
Presbytery,  became  thus  the  grand  sub- 
ject of  discussion  in  the  Assembly  of 
1866,  and  the  effort  was  made  to  crush 
out  this  first  indication  of  revolt  by 
way  of  deterring  others  from  revolt.  So 
far  as  relates  to  the  issue  between  the 
Assembly  and  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville, the  following  full  reports  upon  the 
two  points  upon  which  only  the  Presbyte- 
ry of  Louisville,  as  such,  was  called  upon 
to  join  issue,  will  enlighten  all  candid 
men  as  to  the  facts.  So  far  as  concerns 
signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimo- 
ny individually  and  their  future  rela- 
tions to  the  Assembly,  that  question  is 
yet  to  be  determined.  Whether ^their 
brethren  throughout  the  church — who 
have  hithfcsto  claimed  to  concur  with 
them  in  principle,  and  in  all  else  except, 
perhaps,  the  earnestness  and  unealcula- 
ting  fearlessness  that  cannot  study  poli- 
cy when  truth  is  fallen  in  the  streets — 
will  now  stand  by  them  in  their  resis- 
tance, or  sacrifice  them  as  a  vain  offer- 
ing to  purchase  their  peace  with  the 
fanatical  Ptadicalism,  remains  to  be  seen. 

This  compilation  of  the  platform  of 
Doctrine,  Loyalty  and  Freedom  would 
be  incomplete,  without  appending  at 
least  a  few  specimens  of  the  still  more 
fully  developed  platform  to  which  it  is  the 
evident  purpose  of  the  Kadicals  to  bring 
us,  as  that  platform  is  seen  in  the  De- 
liverances of  the  New  School  Assembly. 
Indeed  the  several  movements  for  re- 
union have  culminated  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  on  both 
sides  to  arrange  the  terms.  Our  As- 
sdmbly  may  be  fairly  considered  to 
have  already  endorsed  the  New  School 
action.  And  therefore  the  following 
minutes  may  be  regarded  as  what  is  now 
in  fact^  and  soon  will  be  in  form  the 
platform  of  the  Old  School  Assembly. 

We  condense,  therefore,  from  the  min- 
ute prepared  by  Rev.  Albert  Barnes, 
and  adopted  by  the  New  School  Assem- 
bly of  1863,  and  sent  by  committee  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  af- 


ter an  official  visit  of  the  Assembly  to 
the  political  headquarters  of  the  "Loy- 
al League,"  the  following  propositions  : 

1.  The  Assembly  solemnly  declares — "  In 
regard  to  the  duty  of  those  whom  we  represent, 
and  of  all  the  American  people  at  the  present 
time — That  while  there  is  a  possible  theoretic 
distinction  between  a  Government  and  any 
particular  Administration — yet  thz present  Ad- 
ministration of  the  United  States  is  the  Govern- 
ment in  the  land  to  which  alone  under  God,  all 
citizens  of  this  nation  owe  allegiance. 

2.  "That  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  as  provided  for  by  the  Constitution  is  not 
only  founded  upon  the  Great  doctrine  of  human 
rights  as  vested  by  God  in  the  individual  man, 
but  is  also  expressly  declared  to  be  the  su- 
jireme  civil  authority  in  the  land,  forever  ex- 
cluding the  modern  doctrine  of  secession  as  a 
political  or  civil  right." 

3.  "That  the  Sesessionists  are  most  oflfensive 
sinners  in  the  sight  of  God,  justly  exposed  to 
the  retributive  vengeance  of  Earth  and  Heav- 
en. And  the  national  forces  are  called  out  not 
to  war  against  another  Government  hut  to  sup- 
piress  insurrection." 

To  this  platform  of  1863 — passing 
over  the  denunciation  of  "  Copper- 
heads" at  another  Assembly — we  ap- 
pend the  platform  of  1866: 

This  Assembly,  M'hile  humbly  recognizing 
these  judgments  and  mercies  in  the  past  and 
the  present,  also  bears  testimony  in  respect  to 
our  urgent  needs  and  duties  as  a  nation  in  view 
of  the  new  era  upon  which  we  are  now  enter- 
ing, as  follows,  viz: 

1.  Our  most  solemn  National  trust  concerns 
ihat  patient  race,  so  long  held  in  unrighteous 
bondage.  Only  as  we  are  just  to  them  can  we 
live  in  peace  and  safety.  Freed  by  the  Nation- 
al army  they  must  be  protected  in  all  their  civ- 
il rights  by  the  National  power.  And,  as  pro- 
moting this  end,  which  far  transcends  any  mere 
political  or  party  object,  we  rejoice  that  the  ac- 
tive functions  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  are 
still  continued,  and  especially  that  the  Civil 
Rights'  bill  has  become  the  law  of  the  land. 
In  respect  to  the  concession  of  the  right  of  suff- 
rage to  the  colored  race,  this  Assembly  adheres 
to  the  resolution  passed  by  our  Assembly  of 
1865  (Minutes,  p.  42):  "That  the  colored  man 
should  Ln  this  country  enjoy  the  right  of  suff- 
rage, in  connection  with  all  other  men,  is  but  a 
simple  dictate  of  justice.  The  Assembly  cannot 
perceive  any  good  reason  why  he  should  be  de- 
prived of  this  right  on  the  ground  of  his  color 
or  his  race-"  Even  if  suffrage  may  not  be  uni- 
versal, let  it  at  least  be  impartial. 

2.  In  case  such  impartial  suffrage  is  not  con- 
ceded, that  we  may  still  reap  the  legitimate 
fruits  of  our  National  victory  over  secession  and 
slavery,  and  that  treason  and  lebellion  may 
not  ^iiure  to  the  direct  political  advantage  of 
the  guilty,  we  judge  it  to  be  a  simple  act  of  jus-- 
tice,  that  the  constitutional  basis  of  representa- 
tion in  Congress  should  be  so  far  altered  as  to 
meet  the  exigencies  growing  out  of  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery;  and  we  likewise  hold  it  to  be 
the  solemn  duty  of  our  National  Executive  and 
Congress  to  adopt  only  such  methods  of  recon- 
struction as  shall  effectually  protect  all  loyal 
l^ersons  in  the  States  lately  in  revolt. 

3.  As  loyalty  is  the  highest  civil  virtue,  and 


11 


treason  the  highest  civil  crime,  so  it  is  necessa- 
ry lor  the  duo  vindication  and  satisfaction  of 
National  justice,  that  the  chief  fomentera  and 
representatives  of  the  rebellion  should,  by  due 
course  and  process  of  law,  be  visited  with  con- 
dign punishment. 

5.  And  we  further  exhort  and  admonish  the 
members  of  our  churches  to  diligent  and  per- 
sonal efforts  for  the  safety  and  prosperity  of 
the  nation,  to  set  aside  all  partisan  and  section- 
al aims  and  low  ambitions,  and  to  do  their  full 
duty  as  Christian  freemen;  to  the  end  that  our 
Christian  and  Protestant  civilization  may  main- 
tain its  legitimate  ascendency,  and  that  we  be- 
come not  the  prey  of  any  form  of  infidelity,  or 
subject  to  any  foreign  priestly  domination;  that 
the  sacred  interests  of  civil  and  religious  free- 
dom, of  human  rights  and  justice  to  all,  of  Na- 
tional loyalty  and  National  unity,  may  be  en- 
larged and  perpetuated,  making  our  Christian 
Commonwealth  a  praise  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  exemplifying  and  speeding  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ.  N.  8.  8.  BEMAN, 

HENRY  B.  SMITH, 
"WILLIAM  HOGARTH, 
THOMAS  BROWN, 
HENRY  FOWLER, 
JOSEPH  ALLISON, 
F.V.  CHAMBERLAIN, 
J.  A.  FOOTE, 
R.  SCARRETT. 
This  therefore  may  be  very  properly 
regarded  as  the  full  platform,  the  con- 
struction of  which  began  in  18Gl,and  the 
completion  of  which  will  probably  occur 
in  1867.     A  careful  study  of  the  pro- 
positions embodied  in  the  foregoing  ci- 
tations, will  enable  any  Presbyterian  to 
understand  fully  the  issues   which  now 
every  Presbyterian  must  decide  for  him- 
self" 

The  following  reports  to  Louisville 
Presbytery,  will  in  like  manner  inform 
every  one  of  the  special  issues  which 
events  have  forced  upon  the  Presbyte- 
ry of  Louisville,  and  the  form  which  the 
foregoing  issues  take  in  this  special 
case  : 

Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville  on  the  Walnut  Street 
Church  case,  submitted  to  Presbytery 
on  Friday  afternoon,  April  13,  ISOiii, 
and  ordered  to  be  docketed  for  con- 
sideration at  the  adjourned  meeting 
to  be  held  on  the  19th  of  June,  1886. 
The  Committee  to  which  was  referred 
the  question  of  the  delegation    from  the 
Walnut   Street  Church  to  this  Presbyte- 
;  ry,  and  ^11  the  papers  relating  to  the  dif- 
Acuities  in   that  church,  having  examin- 
I  ed,  as  carefully  as  their  limited  time  would 
I  permit,  the  volumnious  records  and  pai 
\  pers  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  commit- 
I  tee,  beg  leave  to  submit  to  Presbytery  the 
1  following   summary  statement     of     the 
j  chief  facts  in  the  case,  and  the  judgment 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee, 


the     Presbytery     should  pronounce    in 
view  of  those  facts. 

1.  It  appears  from  the  records  that  pri- 
or to  March,  1865,  Rev.  W.  T.  McElroy  had 
been  labouring  as  stated  supply  in  the 
Walnut  Street  Church;  and  at  that  time 
declined  further  service  in  such  relation, 
whereupon  the  session  of  the  church — 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Watson,  Gault,  Mar- 
tin and  Hackney — supposing  that  the 
people  would  unite  upon  Mr.  McElroy, 
called  a  congregational  meeting  for  the 
election  of  a  pastor.  The  vote  of  those 
present  at  the  meeting,  however,  seem- 
ed very  evenly  divided,  thus  indicating 
serious  diversity  of  opinion  among  the 
people. 

The  session  of  the  church  believing 
that  the  people  would  still  be  united  up- 
on  Mr.  McElroy  as  their  stated  supply, 
if  not  as  pastor,  earnestly  requested  him 
to  resume  that  relation,  as  a  means  of 
preventing  still  more  serious  division 
in  the  church.  To  this  request  Mr  Mc- 
Elroy acceded,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  relation  should  continue  one 
year  if  Presbytery  sanctioned  the  ar- 
rangement. 

2.  It  appears  further  that  about  the 
month  of  July,  1865,  dissatisfaction  with 
that  arrangement  and  difSculties  began 
to  develope  themselves  in  the  congrega- 
tion; being  first  formally  manifested  in  a 
letter  of  remonstrance  from  Mr.  Mc- 
Naughton  to  the  session  dated  July  25, 
1865. 

?).  About  the  same  time  the  session  of 
the  church  appointed  a  committee  to 
call  upon  Mr. '  Avery  for  an  explanation 
of  his  conduct  in  absenting  himself  from 
the  ordinances  of  public  worship  at  the 
church.  Which  committee  reported  on 
the  23d  August,  1865,  that  Mr.  Avery 
seemed  disposed  to  harmonize  with  the 
session  and  continue  his  connection  with 
the  church.  Whereupon  the  session  vo- 
ted to  waive  further  proceedings  in  the 
case. 
4.  But  immediately  after  this  action,  Mr. 
Hackney,  a  member  of  session,  presented 
a  petition  to  the  session  in  the  nature  of  a 
remonstrance  against  the  arrangement 
with  Mr.  McElroy,  and  complaining 
of  his  ministrations,  and  among  the 
names  appended  to  this  remonstrance 
was  found  that  of  Mr.  Avery.  This 
fact  being  taken  by  the  session  as 
an  act  of  duplicity  and  insincerity 
on  the  part  of  Mr.  Avery,  they  prof 
ceeded  with  the  case  previously  insti- 
tuted, and  also  cited  him  to  appear  and 
answer  to  the  chai'ges  of  schism,  contu- 
macy and  deception.  They  also  cited 
Mr.  Hackney,  one  of  their  body,  to  ani 
swer  the  charge  of  false  statements,  con^ 
tumacy  and  schismatical  conduct. 


12 


5.  At  a  meeting  of  Presbytery  a  week 
later,  August  the  30th,  18G5,  Mr.  Mc- 
Naughton  presented  a  memorial  com- 
plaining of  the  course  of  the  session — 
making  the  petition  of  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation  to  session  a 
part  of  this  memorial — which  paper  was 
referred  to  the  Judicial  Committee  who 
reported,  and  Presbytery  adopted  the 
report,  that  as  the  paper  related  to  mat- 
ters then  pending  before  the  session  of 
the  church,  it  could  not  now  with  propri- 
ety be  acted  upon  by  Presbytery,  and 
therefore  should  be  returned  to  the  me- 
morialist. Presbytery  also  granted  leave 
to  the  session  to  continue  Mr.  McElroy 
as  stated   supply  for  the   next  half  year. 

6.  At  a  meeting  of  the  session  of  Wall 
nut  Street  Church,  Sept.  13,  1865,  Messrs. 
Watson,  Gault  and  Martin,  with  Mr.  Mc- 
Elroy, Moderator,  present — both  Mr. 
Avery  and  Mr.  Hackney  appeared  to  an- 
swer to  the  charges  against  them:  and 
their  cases  were  proceeded  with  through 
October,  up  to  the  time  of  the  meeting 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  Louisville, 
and  the  trial  yet  being  in  progress, 
Mesrss.  Avery  and  Hackney  appealed, 
and  Mr.  McNaughton  petitioned  to  the 
Synod,  praying  Synod  to  interpose  on  the 
ground  that  Messrs.  McElroy  and  Wat- 
son ivcre  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Tcsii- 
viony:  and  also  intimating  that  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville  loere  covertly  seeking 
to  make  schism  in  the  church.  On  which  ap- 
peal and  petition,  in  substance  the  same 
with  the  petition  to  Presbytery,  the  Ju- 
dicial Committee  reported,  and  Synod  on 
Monday,  the  fourth  day  of  its  sessions 
adopted  the  following  minute — being, 
substantially  the  judgment  given  by 
Presbytery  in  the  case  in  September. 
(Minutes  of  Synod,  p.  14.) 

"The  committee  farther  report  that  the  two 
remainina;  papers  in  their  hands  (to  wit)  the 
one  ot  T.  J.  Hackney,  being  a  protesr,  and 
complaint  against  the  proceedings  of  the  ses- 
sion of  Walnut  Street  Church,  against  himself; 
and  the  other,  the  protest  and  complaint  of  B. 
F.  Avery  against  the  same  session  in  its  pro- 
ceeding against  himself,  have  been  duly  exam- 
ined. In  the  judgment  of  your  committee 
neither  of  the3e  papers  can  properly  come  be- 
fore Synod,  in  the  form  of  complaint  at  the 
present  lime,  inasmuch  as  both  these  cases  are 
still  pending  in  the  lower  court. 

The  committee,  however,  for  the  relief  of  the 
parties  aggrieved,  recommend  that  Synod  al- 
low them  to  place  the  papers  in  the  hands  of 
the  special  committee  on  the  petition  of  Jlr. 
McXaughton  faid  others,  inasmuch  as  the  mat- 
ters complained  of  are  F.ubstantially  of  the  na- 
ture of  those  named  in  the  petition." 

And  a  select  committee  of  Synod  to 
whom  the  several  papers  from  the  WaL 
nut  Street  Church  had  been  referred,  re- 
ported on  Friday,  the  eighth  and  last  day 
of  the  sessions  the  following  minute: 
(min.  p.  32.) 


"The  spjclal  committee  to  whom  were  refer- 
red certain  petitions  and  coniplaints  from  mem- 
bers of  the  Whlnut  Street  Church,  recommend 
that  said  papers  be  returned  to  those  to  whom 
they  belong,  as  they  appertain  to  matters  now 
pending  before  the  ses'^ion  of  said  church.  And 
3'our  committee  would  remind  those  who  feel 
aggrieved,  that  when  the  case  pending  shall  be 
issued,  if  they  should  feel  that  injustice  has 
been  done  they  may  appeal  or  complain  to  the 
higher  courts  in  regular  order." 

But  near  the  close  of  the  Synod,  hasti- 
ly and  under  a  call  for  this  previous  ques- 
tion which  cut  ofi'  the  statement  of  the 
elder  from  Walnut  Street  Church  protest- 
ing against  the  action,  and  a  minority  of 
Synod  only  being  present,  the  following 
minute  was  adopted  as  a  substitute  for 
the  report  of  the  select  committee,  (min. 
p.  33  ) 

"Synod  having  the  papers  in  reference  to  the 
Walnut  St.  Church,  orders  that  a  committee 
consisting  of  J.  L.  McKee,  S.  E.  Wilson,  J.  C. 
YouQg,  R.  Knott  and  W.  Garvin  be,  and  ^Jiey 
are  hereby  appointed  a  committee  to  visit*^aid 
congregation  with  the  power  to  call  a  congre- 
gational meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  electing 
additional  Ruling  Elders;  calling  a  pastor  or 
choosing  a.  stated  supply,  and  doing  any  oth- 
er business  competent  to  a  congregational 
meeting  that  may  appear  to  them  the  said  con- 
gregation, necessary  for  their  best  interests. 
To  this  commiitae  are  referred  all  the  papers 
in  the  case,  with  directions  to  attend  to  the 
case  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible,  and  report 
their  loholc  aclioji  to  the  next  meeting  of  St/nod. 

The  session,  when  it  shall  have  beea  con.'^titu- 
ted  as  above  provided  for,  shall  proceed  at  as 
early  a  day  as  practicable,  to  adjudicate  all  the 
cases  now  pend'ng  in  that  congregation,  until 
which  time  all  further  proceedings  ui  the  above 
cases  are  suspended." 

7.  In  consequence  of  this  proceeding 
of  Synod,  the  session  of  Walnut  Street 
Church  stayed  proceedings  against  Messrs 
Avery  and  Hacknoy.  And  in  December, 
18G5,  a  proposition  purporting  to  be  a 
compromise  from  Mr.  Avery  to  the  ses- 
sion was  declined.  On  the  18th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1865,  the  session  of  Walnut  Street, 
Church  addressed  to  the  Synod's  commit- 
tee a  remonstrance  against  the  exercise 
of  the  powers  given  by  Synod  to  the  com- 
mittee on  the  ground  that  the  action  of 
the  Synod  was  unconstitutional,  unjust, 
and  highly  injurious.  The  session  also 
proceeded  to  cite  Mr.  McNaughton  to  an- 
swer charges  of  insubordination  and  con- 
tumacy, schismatical  and  unchristian 
conduct. 

8.  The  Synod's  Committee,  notwith- 
standing the  remonstranceof  the  session, 
proceeded,  December  the  24th,  to  notify 
session  to  have  the  church  opened  for  a 
congregational  meeting  for  the  purposes 
mentioned  in  the  Synod's  minute.  The 
session,  Jan.  2d,  1866,  gave  notice  to  tlie 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  their  in- 
tention to  appeal  from  this  action  of  the 
committee  to  Synod,  requesting   him  to 


13 


lay  this  notice  before  the  committee  and  In  the  meantime  the  church  property 
to  stay  proceedings  under  the  appeal  on  is,  by  order  of  the  civil  court,  in  the 
the  ground  that  the  injury  about  to  be  hands  of  a  receiver,  to  be  held  for  the 
done  was  irreparable.  The  Chairman  re-  use  of  the  congregation  until  the  right  of 
fused  to  call  the  committee  tog^  ther  for  property  shall  be  determined  by  the  suit 
action  on  this  notice,  against  which  refu-   now  pending. 

sal  to  convene  the  committee,  Messrs.  Your  committee  do  not  feel  called  up- 
Garvin  and  Wilson  members  thereof  on  to  express,  nor  do  we  suppose  Presby- 
protested.  And  thereupon  the  bession  tery  will  feel  at  liberty  to  express  any 
resolved  that  the  proposed  meeting  be-  opinion  concerning  the  wisdom  and  pro- 
ing  unlawful  and  the  proceeding  of  the  priety  of  the  course  of  Mr.  McElroy  and 
chairman  being  revolutionary,  the  house  the  session  in  continuing  the  relation  of 
should  not  be  opened.  stated  supply  up  to  this  time,  seeing  that 

9.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  they  have  done  so  under  the  formal 
I  Jan.  2d,  1866,  three  members  present,  sanction  of  Presbytery.  Nor  of  the  wis- 
^Messrs.  McKee,  Young  and  Knott,  the  dora  and  propriety  of  the  session's  course 
Icommittee  proceeded  to  organize  a  con-  in  reference  to  Messrs.  Avery,  Hackney, 
igregational  meeting  on  the  pavement  in  McNaughton  and  others,  seeing  that  this 
[front  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  and    action  will  come  before  Presbytery  in  a 

then  adjourning   to  a  school  room  near   Judicial  form.     But  in  regard  to  the  con- 
by,  the  meeting  elected  two   of  the  par.   tinuance   of    this  relation   between  Mr. 
[ties  on  trial  before  the  session,  Messrs.    McElroy  and  the  Walnut  Street  Church 
Avery  and  McNaughton,   together  with   your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  if  it 
I  Messrs.  McPherson  and  Leech,  elders  in   shall  appear  that  Mr.  McElroy's  relation 
[the  Walnut  St.  Church.     And   by  invita-   to  the   congregation   as  stated  supply  is 
ftion  of  the  meeting,  the  Chairman  of  the   the  real  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  reunion 
Synod's  committee  subsequently  proceed-   of  the  two  parties  in  the  church,  its  con- 
ed to  ordain  them   as   elders.     Mr.   Mc    tinuance  should  not  be    sanctioned  by 
Naughton  was  subsequently   suspended    Presbytery:    nor  as   we   are   persuaded, 
by  the   session   which  had  cited  him  for    would  it  be  desired  by  Mr.  McElroy,  who 
contumacy  in  refusing  to   appear  before   consented  to  the  renewal  of  the  relation 
them.  in  March,  1865,  only  at  the  earnest  appeal 

10.  From   the   12th  of   January,  18G6,   of  the  session  as  a  means  of  preventing 
forward,     the    persons  ordained  by    the   greater  divisions. 

chairman  of  the  Synod's  committee  have       In    regard  to    the  present  lamentable 

met  as    the    majority  of    the  session  of  and  very  complicated  condition  of  aflfairs 

Walnut  Street  Church,  and   the  books   in  Walnut  Street  church,  your  committee 

containing  the  records  of  their  proceed-   are  clearly  of  opinion  that  it   is  chiefly 

ings,  together  with  a  book  containing  the   chargeable  to — or,  at  any  rate,  has  been 

proceedings  of  the  congregational  meet-   greatly  increased   by  the   extraordinary 

ing,  organized  Jan.  2d,  have  been  laid  be-   proceedings  of  Synod   in  so   hastily  and 

fore  your  commiitee.  From  these  records   inconsiderately,  at  the  close  of  itssessions, 

it  appears  that  the  newly  organized  con-   appointing  a  committee  with  powers  to 

grej;iitional  meeting  have  ordered  suit  to   do  that  which  our  constitution  expressly 

be  brought  against  the  Trustees  of  Wal-    ordains  to  be  done  by  the  Presbytery  and 

nui  Street  Church  in  the  civil  court,  for   the  church  session:  and  to  the  extraordi- 

their  refusal  to  give  this  party,  now  chiim-   nary,  irregular,    and   revolutionary   pro- 

ing  to  number  over  fifty  members  of  the   ceedings  of  the  Synod's  committee  under 

church,  possession  of  the  building.  It  ap-   that  appointment.     For  however  proper 

pears  also  that  the  newly  constituted  ses-    it  might  be  for  the  Synod  to  exercise  this 

sion,  claiming  to  be  the  regular  succes-   extraordinary  power   in  a  case  where  a 

sion    of     the  court   that   cited    Messrs.    Presbytery  is  held' to  have  refused  to  do 

Avery,  Hackney  and    McNaughton  have   its  duty,  surely   there  can  be   no  reason 

voted  to  quash  in  toio  the  proceedings  in-    for  it  in  a  case  in    which  the  Synod   has 

stituted  against  them.     And  the  congre-   already  by  formal  vote  concurred  in  the 

gational  meeting  have  requested  Messrs.   Presbytery's  judgment  in  the  case.  Ani 

Watson  and  Gault  to  cease  acting  as  el-  however  proper  it  might  be   in   a  great 

ders.    They  also  appeal   to  Presbytery   emergency,   that  a  Synod's    committee 

not  to  sanction   the  further  continuance   acting  under  doubtful  constitutional  pow- 

of  Mr.  McElroy  as  stated  supply,  and  to   ers  should  strain  a  point  of  the  authority 

order  Messrs.  Watson  and  Gault  to  cease   delegated  to  it  in  interposing  to  prevent 

acting  as  elders.  The  new  session  appoint  injuries  that  are  in  their  nature  irrepa- 

Mr.  Avery  a  delegate  to  this  meeting  of  rable,  there  can  surely  be  little  apology 

Presbytery.   The  original  session  appoint  for  the  exercise  of  such  powers  when  the 

Mr,  Watson  delegate  to  this  meeting  of  injured     parties     have    ample    remedy 

Presbytery,   and   ask  leave  to  continue  otherwise  in  the  regular    order  of  the 

Mr.  McElroy  as  stated  supply.  courts  of  the  church;  and  still  less  for 


u 


the  exercise  of  these  powers  in  a  manner 
so  revolutionary  and  violent  as  to  expose 
the  church  and  its  ordinances  and  officers 
to  the  jeers  and  contempt  of  the  world 
without. 

In  the  opinion  of  your  committee, 
therefore  the  Presbytery  cannot  consist, 
ently  with  faithfulness  to  the  constitu- 
tion, to  the  good  order  of  Christ's  house, 
or  to  truth,  quietly  acquiesce  in  and 
thereby  recognise  the  lawfulness  of  the 
proceedings  which  have  grown  out  of 
ihe  action  of  the  Synod's  committee  and, 
therefore,  cannot  recognize  as  of  any  of- 
ficial authc^ity  the  proceedings  of  the 
congregational  meeting  organized  by 
that  committee,  Jan.  2d,  I86G:  nor  of  the 
body  claiming,  under  these  proceedings, 
to  be  the  session  of  the  Walnut  Street 
Church.  Nor  can  we  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  on  a  fair 
presentation  of  the  case  at  a  full  meet- 
ing, will  reconsider  and  modify  the  hasty 
action  of  the  minority  of  the  body  which 
adopted  the  substitute  for  the  report  of 
Synod's  special  committee  on  the  papers 
from  the  Walnut  Street  Church. 

Your  committee  therefore  recommend 
to  Presbytery  the  adoption  of  the  follow- 
ing minute; 

1  That  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky at  the  close  of  its  session  in  ap- 
pointing J.  L.  McKee,  S.  R.  Wilson,  J.  C. 
Young,  R.  Knott  and  William  Garvin, 
a  committee,  with  power  to  call  a  con. 
gregational  meeting  of  the  Walnut  Street 
Church  for  the  purpose  of  electing  addi- 
tional Ruling  Elders;  calling  a  pastor;  or 
choosing  a  stated  supply;  and  doing  any 
other  business  competent  to  a  congrega- 
tional meeting  " — without  any  intima- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Synod  that  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  had  failed  to  do 
its  duty  towards  the  Walnut  Street 
Church — but,  on  the  contrary,  after 
having  by  a  formal  vote  on  the  report  of 
the  Synod's  Judicial  Committee  in  effect 
concurred  in  the  judgment  previously 
given  by  Presbytery  in  the  case  of  the 
complaint  from  members  of  that  church 
— was  in  derogation  of  the  specific  pow- 
ers given  to  Presbytery  in  our  constitution; 
was  in  violation  of  the  courtesy  due  a 
lower  court  which  had  shown  no  indispo- 
sition to  do  its  duty  in  the  premises; 
was  irregular  and  highly  injurious  to 
good  order  in  the  church;  and  therefore 
the  Synod  is  most  respectfully  and  earn- 
estly requested  to  review  and  reconsider 
its  action. 

2  That  Presbytery  regard  the  action  of 
the  three  members  of  the  Synod's  com- 
mittee under  the  powers  delegated — 
even  had  these  powers  been  constitution- 
ally delegated,  as  reckless,  violent  and 
revolutionary;  and  tending  to  overthrow 
all  order    in  the  Church,    and  expose 


the  name  of  Christ  to  reproach  from  the 
world  without. 

3.  That  whatever  want  of  wisdom  and 
justice  may,  in  the  opinion  of  many 
members  of  Presbytery,  have  character 
ized  the  proceedings  of  the  original  sest 
sion  of  Walnut  St.  Church,  there  was 
abundant  remedy  for  the  injured  parties 
in  the  regular  constitutional  action  of 
the  Church  Courts.  Nor  is  it  proper  for 
this  Presbytery  to  take  action  in  refer- 
ence to  these  proceedings  until  they 
come  before  it,  in  the  regular  and  ap- 
pointed way  of  review,  reference,  ap- 
peal or  complaint. 

4th,  That  the  Presbytery  cannot  rec- 
ognize the  body  claiming  under  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Synod's  Committee — at  I 
least  until  the  Synod  shall  have  approv- 
ed its  committee's  proceedings — to  be  the 
majority  of  the  session  of  the  Walnut 
Street  Church;  and  therefore  cannot 
recognize  the  person  appointed  by  them 
a  delegate  to  Pi'esbytery  as  entitled  to 
sit  in  this  Presbytery;  nor  the  book  pre-, 
sented  by  them  as  the  official  records  of^ 
the  session  of  the  Walnut   St.  Church. 

5th,  That  Presbytery  earnestly  enjoins  upon 
both  parties  in  the  congregation  to  study  the 
things  that  make  for  peace,  and  incase  the 
continuance  of  Mr.  McElroy  as  stated  supply 
shall  appear  to  be  the  real  obstacle  -which  pre- 
vent the  unity  of  the  congregation.  Presbjtery 
hereby  enjoins  upon  the  session  to  make  some 
other  arrangement  for  the  Biipp'.}''  of  the  pul- 
pit, and  also  to  afford  the  congregation,  at  the 
earliest  practicable  day,  an  opportunity  to  chose 
a  pastor  and  additional  ruling  elders. 

6th,  That  a  committee  of  Presbytery  be  ap- 
pointed to  visiti  the  Walnut  Street  Church  to 
inform  the  congregation  of  this  action  of  the 
Presbytery  and  advise  with  them  as  to  the 
best  method  of  adjusting  the  present  difliculties. 

This  report  was  adopted  unanimously, 
June,  22,  thereopon  it  was  further 

Ticsolvcd,  That  as  in  the  judgment  of  this 
Presbytery  events  have  shown  that  the  rela- 
tion of  P.ev.  W.  T.  McElroy  as  stated  supply  to 
the  Walnut  Street  church  has  not  been  the  cause 
of  trouble  there;  but  on  the  contrary  Mr.  McEl- 
roy has  stood  faithful  in  defence  of  a  great  prin- 
ciple, at  the  sacrifice  to  some  extent,  of  his  rep- 
utation as  a  minister,  the  Presbytery  cordially 
accede  to  the  request  of  the  session  to  contin- 
ue Mr.  McElroy  as  stated  supply  to  that  church, 
until  the  committee  report. 


Report  of  the  Committee  of  Louisville 
Presbytery,  appointed  to  Draft  a  Suit- 
al)ie  Minute  with  reference  to  the 
Outrages  of  the  late  General  Assem- 
bly upon  the  Presbytery,  in  excluding 
it  from  the  House  and  subsequently  as- 
suming to  Adjudicate  the  Walnut 
Street  Church  case. 

The  Committee  reported  and  Presby- 
tery unanimously  adopted  the  following 
paper: 


15 


Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  session  at 
St.  Louis,  did  on  the  18th  May,  1866, 
adopt,  in  reference  to  this  Presbytery, 
and  its  Commissioners,  the  following 
minute,  to-wit: 

Whebeas,  It  is  understood  that  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  has  openly  de- 
fled  the  General  Assembly,  and  refused 
to  submit  to  its  orders,  in  a  pamphlet 
adopted  by  it  of  which  the  following  is 
a  specimen,  "We  will  not  sustain  or  exe- 
cute, or  in  any  manner  assist  in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  orders  passed  at  the  last 
two  Assemblies  on  the  subject  of  slave- 
ry and  loyalty,  and  with  reference  to  the 
conducting  of  Missions  in  the  Southern 
States,  and  with  regard  to  the  ministers, 
members  and  churches  in  the  seceded 
and  border  States." 

And  Waereas,  said  Presbytery  has 
commissioned  and  sent  to  this  Assembly 
at  least  one  commissioner,  who,  if  the 
order  of  the  last  Assembly  had  been 
faithfully  executed  by  said  Presbytery, 
there  is  the  strongest  grounds  for  believ- 
ing he  would  have  been  suspended  from 
the  functions  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
therefore 

Besolved,  That  until  the  Assembly 
shall  have  examined  and  decided  upon 
the  conduct  of  said  Presbytery,  the  Com- 
missioners therefrom  shall  not  be  enti- 
tled to  seats  in  this  body. 

And  Whei^eas,  The  said  Commission- 
ers did  on  the  19th  May,  1866,  give  the 
following  response  and  notification,  to- 
wit: 

To  the  Moderator  of  Ihe  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian    Ohurch,  now 
in  Session  in  Saint  Louis: 
The  undersigned,  commissioners  from 
the  Presbytery  of   Louisville,   deem  it 
both  respectful  to  the  Assembly  and  de- 
manded by  the  interests  of   truth  and 
righteousness,  to  lay  before  the  body, 
through  you,  in  this  formal  and  official 
manner,  for  record  on  the  minutes,  their 
vieAVS  and  purposes  in  regard  to  the  res- 
olution passed  yesterday,  under  opera- 
tion of  the    previous  question,   to  this 
effect: 

That,  Whereas,  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  have  "openly  defied  the  As- 
sembly" and  declared  publicly  their  in- 
tention not  to  enforce  the  orders  of  the 
two  last  Assemblies,  on  slavery  and  loyal- 
ty, etc.,  and  have,  in  act,  disregarded 
them  in  sending  a  commissioner  here 
who,  by  a  faithful  execution  of  those 
acts,  would  probably  have  been  suspend- 
ed from  the  functions  of  his  office,  there- 
fore 

"Hesolved,  That  until  the  Assembly 
shall  have  examined  and  decided  upon 
the  conduct  of  said  Presbytery,  the  com- 
m.issioners  shall  not  be  entitled  to  seats 
in  this  body." 
We  respectfully  suggest,  not  indeed  as 


vital  to  the  case,  but  as  illustrating  sim- 
ply the  evil  of  such  action,  under  the 
operation  of  the  previous  question,  cut- 
ting off  all  explanation,  that  both  the 
premises  of  the  Assembly's  resolution 
contain  grave  mistakes  of  facts.  The 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  have,  indeed, 
published  a  Declaration  and  Testimony 
against  the  acts  of  the  five  preceding 
Assemblies,  in  which  many  ministers 
and  elders  outside  the  Presbytery  for- 
mally, and  many  more  in  spirit  and  act, 
have  concurred.  But  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  have  not  "ojienly  defied  the 
Assembly,"  as  might  have  been  seen 
by  reference  to  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
paper,  from  which  a  single  passage  is 
quoted.  Nor  has  the  Presbytery  sent 
any  commissioner  here,  who,  even 
under  the  act  of  1865,  in  relation  to  min- 
isters who  have  gone  into  the  confede- 
racy or  fled,  or  been  banished  into  for- 
eign countries,  could  have  been  suspend- 
ed from  the  ministry.  Since  the  only 
one  of  their  commissioners  who  has 
been  absent  from  the  country  during  the 
past  three  years,  was  neither  in  the  con- 
federacy nor  fled,  nor  was  banished;  but 
being  absent  on  a  vacation  tour,  by  ar- 
rangements made  months  before,  at  the 
inauguration  of  an  unlimited  military 
power  under  the  control  of  his  bitter  ec- 
clesiastical enemies,  prolonged  that  ab- 
sence, with  the  advice  and  concurrence 
of  the  church  session  and  of  prudent 
friends  of  all  parties. 

Aside,  however,  from  these  mistakes 
of  fact  in  the  premises,  a  far  more  im- 
portant matter,  in  our  judgment,  is  the 
dangerous  error  in  principle  involved  in 
such  action,  even  were  the  facts  as 
charged.  On  this  view  of  the  case,  we 
beg  leave  with  all  respect  and  defer- 
ence to  suggest: 

1.  It  will  be  manifest  on  due  reflec- 
tion, and  would  have  been  shown  but 
for  the  call  for  the  previous  question, 
that  the  assumption  of  the  right  to  take 
such  action  under  the  general  power  of 
any  deliberative  body  to  judge  of  the 
qualifications  of  its  own  members,  arises 
from  a  failure  to  see  the  want  of  analo- 
gy between  the  case  of  the  General  As- 
sembly and  that  of  legislative  and  other 
similar  bodies  in  the  secular  sphere. 
The  right  to  appoint  commissioners  to 
the  General  Assembly,  and  tojudgeof  the 
qualifications  of  those  commissioners  is 
inherent  in  the  Presbyteries,  whose 
members  are  a  constituent  part  of  the 
Assembly  itself;  nor  can  they  be  divest- 
ed of  that  right  save  by  sentence  of  de- 
position from  office  as  Presbyters,  reach- 
ed through  the  forms  so  carefully  pre- 
scribed in  the  constitution.  The  claim 
of  any  particular  Assembly  to  judge  of 
the  qualifications  of  its  own  members 
must  be  limited  in  the  nature  of  the 
case  to  the  question  whether  the  cre- 
dentials are  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 


16 


visions  of  the  book.  But  in  fact  tlie  As- 
sembly in  this  instance  does  not  pretend 
to  be  passing  judgment  upon  tlie  qualifi- 
cations of  its  own  members  at  all,  but 
upon  the  constituency  which  sent  them. 
This  is  manifest,  not  only  from  the  terms 
of  the  action,  but  also  from  the  fact  that 
one  of  the  commissioners  excluded  Avas 
no  party  to  the  "Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony;"neither  could  he  be  possibly  ob- 
jected to  on  the  score  of  disqualification 
or  a  defective  commission. 

2.  This,  therefore,  makes  manifest 
what  was  confessed  on  the  floor  of  the 
Assembly  by  some  who  voted  for  this 
resolution,  that  the  action  was  in  its  na- 
ture judicial^  and  it  is  therefore,  in  ef- 
fect, a  judicial  sentence,  pronounced 
and  executed,  not  only  in  disregard  of 
all  the  provisions  for  a  fair  trial,  so  care- 
fully ordained  in  our  constitution,  but, 
under  the  operation  of  the  previous 
question,  excluding  the  parties  charged 
from  a  word  of  explanation,  defense  or 
protest. 

3.  And  it  adds  to  the  aggravation  of 
the  wrong  done  in  this  action  that,  even 
had  the  Assembly  the  right  thus  to  act, 
and  were  its  action  according  to  the 
forms  of  law,  and  the  sentence  given 
after  a  fair  hearing,  it  is  a  sentence  of 
disgrace,  as  if  inflicted  for  crime  com- 
mitted;  whereas,  what  was  done  by  the 
Presbytery  could  at  most  be  regarded  as 
only  the  mistaken  exercise  of  the  right 
of  protest  against  what  was  conceived 
to  be  an  act  of  usurpation  by  the  As- 
sembly. 

4.  A  further  aggravation  of  this  wrong 
is  the  manifest  partiality  evinced,  in 
thus  singling  out  for  condemnation  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  while  notorious- 
ly a  large  number,  if  not  a  majority,  of 
the  churches  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
but  also  several  Presbyteries  represent- 
ed in  the  Assembly  have  done  precisely 
the  thing  which  the  Louisville  Presby- 
tery is  condemned  for  asserting  its  pur- 
pose to  do. 

5.  But  a  still  more  important  and  dan- 
gerous principle  involved  in  this  action, 
is,  that  it  takes  away  from  minorities 
and  even  individual  members  of  the 
body,  all  those  safeguards  provided  for 
their  protection  against  the  violence  and 
partisan  feeling  of  a  casual  majority  of 
members  in  all  times  of  excitement  and 
passion.  The  principle  of  this  action  if 
admitted,  would  inevitably  and  speedily 
change  the  Assembly  from  an  ecclesia 
organized,  restrained  and  governed  by 
the  well  established  laws  of  Christ's 
house,  into  a  mere  ecclesiastical  gather- 
ing under  the  unlimited  control  of  the 
majority  of  numbers,  "the  most  part 
not  knowing  wherefore  they  have  come 
together." 

6.  It  but  evinces  more  clearly,  and  ag- 
gravates the  wrong  done  in  this  case, 


that  the  Assembly  resolves  not  absolute- 
ly and  finally  to  exclude  us,  but  only  to 
exclude  us  until  the  Assembly   ^^ shall 

have  examined  and  decided.^'  The 
right  to  examine  and  decide  under  such 
a  resolution;  the  right  to  exclude  us, 
even  for  an  hour,  pending  such  examin- 
ation; the  right  to  exclude  us  after  such 
examination  is  had,  and  the  right  abso- 
lutely and  finally  to  exclude  us,  are  all 
equally  groundless.  The  injury  inflict- 
ed on  the  good  name  of  the  Presbytery 
among  the  churches  from  a  temporary 
exclusion,  as  though  j^^obabbj  guilty  of 
high  crime,  is  searcely  less  than  the  in- 
jury from  a  sentence  of  final  exclusion. 
Besides,  even  though  it  was  consistent 
with  our  proper  self  respect,  and  with 
the  honor  of  the  Presbytery  for  us  to 
await  the  result  of  the  Assembly's  in- 
quisition, thereby  recognizing  the  As- 
sembly's right  thus  "to  examine  and  de- 
cide," we  are  cut  off,  by  the  sentence  of 
exclusion  from  the  exercise  of  any  right  of 
defense.  All  of  which  makes  it  still  more 
palpably  manifest  that  the  action  of  the 
Assembly  is,  in  effect,  the  pronouncing 
and  executing  of  sentence,  and  after- 
wards proceeding  "to  examine  and  de- 
cide." 

With  profound  respect  for  the  Assembly 
as  the  highest  court  of  the  Church,  and 
with  unfeigned  sorrow  that  M'e  are  con- 
strained in  fidelity,  to  our  trust  thus  to 
speak,  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  say  to  the 
Assembly,  that — regarding  this  action 
as  of  the  nature  of  a  judgment  ujion 
the  Presbytery  and  its  commissioners, 
and  this  judgment  a  sentence  of  exclu- 
sion without  trial  or  a  hearing  in  any 
form  in  explanation  or  defence;  regard- 
ing this  action  as  not  only  unjust,  inju- 
rious and  cruel,  but  as  subversive  of  the 
foundations  of  all  justice,  destructive  of 
the  constitution  of  the  church,  and  rev- 
olutionary in  its  nature;  regarding  it  as 
setting  a  precedent  for  the  exercise  of  a 
partisan  power  in  the  courts  of  Christ's 
Kingdom,  which  leaves  all  the  rights 
and  immunities  of  his  people  at  the 
mercy  of  any  faction  that  may  casually 
be  in  the  ascendency — we  should  be  un- 
true to  the  Presbytery  whose  commis- 
sion we  bear,  faithless  to  the  cause  of 
truth  and  christian  freedom,  false  to  our 
Lord  and  King,  should  we  silently  ac- 
quiesce in  such  procedure  or  in  any  way 
recognize  its  legality.  We  must  regard 
this  action  in  its  effect,  so  far  as  it  re- 
lates to  us  as  commissioners  and  this 
present  Assembly  as  final  in  the  case. 

With  these  views  and  convictions 
there  is  but  one  course  left  open  to  us, 
viz:  To  take  an  appeal  at  once  upon  the 
issue  as  it  has  been  made  for  us  and  forced 
upon  us,  from  this  General  Assembly 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  in  partic- 
ular, in  so  far  as  it  concerns  ourselves 
and  that  body;  and  to  the  WHOLE 
CHURCH  iu  so  far  as  it  is  an  issue  in- 


17 


volving  the  great  principles  of  her  con- 
stitution, and,  indeed,  her  continued  ex- 
istence as  a  free  Christian  Common- 
"wealtli  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fran- 
chises and  immunities  conferred  upon 
her  by  her  Adorable  Head. 

We  therefore  respectfully  inform  the 
Assembly  that  we  shall  not  attend  fur- 
ther upon  its  sessions. 

Stuabt  Robinson, 
Saml.  R.  Wilson, 
Mark  Hardin, 

C.  A.  WiCKXIFFE. 

And  Whereas,  in  response  to  the  ap- 
peal made  in  this  letter,  this  Presbytery 
does  hereby  accept  and  ratify  as  its  own 
act  this  notification  of  its  commission- 
ers. 

And  Whereas,  This  Presbytery  also 
accepts  as  its  own  act  the  response  of 
their  commissioners,  when  on  the  24th 
May,  1866,  they  received  from  the  perma- 
nent clerk  of  the  Assembly  the  follow- 
ing notice,  to-wit: 

*'That  on  hearing  of  the  matters  pre- 
sented by  this  report,  the  commissioners 
to  the  General  Assembly  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  be  heard,  subject 
to  the  rules  of  order  which  govern  this 
House." 

Which  response  of  the  commissioners 
was  in  the  following  terms,  to-wit: 

The  undersigned  Commissioners  from 
the  Presbytery  of  LouisviUe,  who  hap- 
pen not  yet  to  have  left  the  city,  over- 
looking, in  the  spirit  of  cliristian  for- 
bearance, the  insult  and  seeming  mock- 
ery of  the  Presbytery  and  themselves, 
in  a  proposition  to  appear  and  be  heard 
before  a  com-t  which  has  already  con- 
demned them  unheard,  in  response  to 
the  resolution  of  this  afternoon,  trans- 
mitted to  them  by  the  Permanent  Clerk 
of  the  General  Assembly,  must  respect- 
fully refer  the  Assembly  to  their  letter  of 
May  19th,  as  containing  very  obvious 
and  sufficient  reasons  why  they  could 
not,  without  further  special  instructions 
from  their  Presbytery,  appear  before 
the  present  Assembly  in  any  capacity. 
Samd.  R.  Wilson, 
Stuart  Robinson, 

C.   A.   WiCKLIFFE. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  24,  1866. 

And  Whereas,  it  is  manifest  that 
this  action  of  the  Assembly  is  an  act  of 
usurpation  and  outrage,  as  is  clearly 
shown  in  the  argument  of  the  foregoing 
letter  of  the  commissioners,  of  the  19th 
May.  And  as  is  shown  also  in  the  pro- 
test of  Dr.  Van  Dyke  and  others,  which 
protest  is  accepted  as  a  part  of  the  argu- 
ment of  this  minute,  the  first  and  last 
paragraphs  of  which  protest  are  in  the 
following  words,  to-wit: 

"We,  the  undersigned,  respectfully 
protest  against  what  we  deem  to  be  the 
mischievous  and  erroneous  judgment  of 
the  General  Assembly,  in  suspending 


the  Commissioners  from  the  Presbytery 
of  LouisviUe  from  the  exercise  of  their 
rights  and  privileges  as  members  of  this 
body,  for  the  following  reasons: 

1.  By  this  act,  the  Assembly  has  vio- 
lated the  fundamental  principles  of  its 
own  oganization,  and  vitiated  its  own 
integrity  as  the  highest  judicatory  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  is  declared 
in  chapter  XII  of  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, that  the  General  Assembly  "shall 
represent  in  one  body  all  the  particular 
churches  of  this  denomination;"  and 
again,  the  General  Assembly  "shall  con- 
sist of  an  equal  delegation  of  bishops 
and  elders  from  each  Presbytery."  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  at  the  time  their 
representatives  were  excluded  from,  the 
Assembly,  the  churches  composing  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  were  and  still 
are  an  integral  j^art  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  And  yet  the 'Assembly,  by  a 
simple  resolution,  adopted  under  the  op- 
eration of  the  previous  question,  with- 
out debate,  excluded  these  churches  from 
all  participation  in  its  proceedings  at  a 
time  when  the  business  under  consider- 
ation was  of  vital  importance  to  the  said 
churches.  For  such  a  course  of  action 
there  is  no  warrant  in  the  constitution, 
and  no  precedent  in  the  history  of  the 
church.  The  attempt  to  justify  it  by 
the  usage  of  legislative  and  other  polit- 
ical assemblies  is,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  undersigned,  utterly  futile;  because, 
in  the  first  place,  there  is  no  proper  anal- 
ogy between  legislative  bodies  or  other 
secular  assemblies,  acting  under  rules  of 
human  invention,  and  the  court  of  Jesus 
Christ  organized  under,  and  bound  by 
the  laws  of  Christ  as  expounded  in  its 
own  written  constitution;  and  because, 
secondly,  if  such  an  analogy  did  exist,  it 
hes  been  violated  in  this  case,  in  the  fol- 
lowing essential  particulars:  1.  By  the 
action  of  its  own  committee  on  commis- 
sions, and  the  formal  adoption  of  their 
report,  the  Assembly  had  already  deci- 
ded that  the  commissioners  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  were  entitled  to 
their  seats.  2.  In  legislative  and  other 
secular  assemblies,  when  the  right  of 
members  to  the  seats  they  have  obtain- 
ed is  contested,  they  are  always  allowed 
to  retain  their  places  in  the  body,  and  to 
participhte  in  its  proceedings  until  the 
case  is  fully  decided. 

*  *  *  Moreover,  the  deliverances 
and  orders  of  the  General  Assemblies, 
against  which  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville have  protested  and  which  they 
have  refused  to  obey,  not  having  been 
transmitted  to  the  Presbyteries  for  their 
approbation,  (according  to  the  requisi- 
tion of  the  Form  of  Government,  chap, 
xii,  sec.  6,)  are  not  "established  as  con- 
stitutional rules,"  neither  are  they  "obli- 
gatory upon  the  churches."  To  exclude 
the  churches  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lou- 
isville from  representation  in  this  body 


18 


for  refusing  to  do  that  which  according 
to  express  provisions  of  the  constitution 
was  not  obligatory  on  tliem  is,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  undersigned,  an  unwar- 
ranted and  alarming  usurpation  of  iww- 
er. 

For  the  foregoing  and  other  reasons, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  virtue 
of  the  right  secured  to  them  in  the  con- 
stitution, and  in  the  discharge  of  their 
covenant  obligations  to  study  the  purity 
and  peace  of  the  churcli,  the  undersign- 
ed do  solemnly  protest  against  this 
whole  proceeding,  as  being  unconstitu- 
tional and  revolutionary,  as  calculated 
to  bring  the  lawful  authority  of  this  As- 
sembly into  contempt,  to  enkindle  strife, 
and  produce  alienation,  and  to  defeat 
the  end  for  which  the  Assembly  was 
originally  organized,  viz:  that  it  might 
"constitute  the  bond  of  union,  peace, 
correspondence  and  mutual  confidence 
among  all  our  churches. 

Henry  J.  Van  Dyke,  R.  P,  K.  Smoot, 
J.  L.  Yantis,  A.  P.  Forman,  L.  P.  Bow- 
en,  E.  L.  McAfee,  Isaac  D.  Jones,  G.  C. 
Swallow,  S.  J.  P.  Anderson,  Glass  Mar- 
shall, James  H.  Brookes,  John  M.  Trav- 
is,! Thomas  -A-  Bracken,  J.  W.  Pryor, 
George  W.  Buchanan,  J.  T.  Hendrick, 
P.  Thompson,  W.  M.  Ferguson. 

And  as  is  shown  also  in  the  protest  of 
Dr.  Boardman  and  others  in  the  follow- 
ing words,  to-wit: 

"The  undersigned,  for  themselves  and 
others,  respectfully  protest  against  the 
entire  j)roceedings  of  the  General  As- 
sembly concerning  the  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery, and  the  signers  of  the  "Declara- 
tion and  Testimony." 

1.  The  summary  exclusion  from  this 
house  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Lou- 
isville Presbytery,  under  the  operation 
of  the  Previous  Question,  without  allow- 
ing them  or  their  friends  one  word  of 
defense  or  explanation,  was,  in  our  judg- 
ment, a  usurpation  of  powers  not  be- 
longing to  the  General  Assembly,  a  gross 
invasion  of  the  riglits  of  the  Presbytery, 
an  act  of  oppression  towards  the  com- 
missioners themselves;  and  a  violation 
of  those  principles  of  justice  and  equity, 
which  every  deliberative  Assembly, 
and  especially  a  Court  of  Jesus  Christ, 
is  bound  to  hold  inviolate.  For  a  proper 
analysis  of  this  procedure,  we  refer  to  a 
protest  of  certain  members  of  this  body, 
to  be  found  in  the  minutes  of  the  22d 
ult.,  and  in  most  of  tlie  reasons  of  which, 
the  undersigned  occur. 

We  lay  the  utmost  stress  upon  this 
point  because  every  thing  that  followed 
pertaining  to  this  business  must  be  judg- 
ed in  the  light  of  the  fact,  that  the  As- 
sembly was  passing  upon  the  conduct  of 
men  who,  by  its  act,  not  their  own,  were 
not  present  to  defend  themselves.  The 
aUegation  that  the  Assembly  offered  to 
hear  them  when  a  report  was  introduced 


proposing  to  visit  upon  them  the  sever- 
est penalties,  can  be  or  no  avail.  For 
in  the  resolution  of  expulsion,  it  was 
their  Presbytery  which  was  arraigned, 
and  they  could  not  properly  return  to 
their  seats  without  counseling  with  their 
Presbytery.  IS  or  is  it  believed  that  there 
was  a  single  member  of  the  Assembly 
who  expected  them  to  plead  at  the  bar  of 
a  court  which  had  opened  their  case  by 
ejecting  them  from  their  seats  unheard, 
and  three  days  afterward  voted  down  a 
resolution  to  readmit  them  to  their 
seats  until  their  case  should  be  disposed 
of. 

2.  Throughout  the  entire  course  of 
these  proceedings,  and  pervading  the 
elaborate  arguments  of  the  majority,  it 
was  maintained  that  this  was  a  "judi- 
cial cause,"  and  that  these  brethren 
were  *'on  trial"  before  the  Assembly. 
Whereas,  the  notorious  fact  is,  that  they 
had  never  been  arraigned  and  tried; 
that  neither  in  Presbytery  nor  Synod 
had  there  been  any  mention  of  formal 
charges,  of  citations,  witnesses,  of  any 
of  the  steps  essential,  under  our  consti- 
tution, to  a  judicial  process.  The  form  of 
government  and  the  digest  show  that  it 
is  not  comiDetent  to  a  judicatory  to  take 
up  a  case  judicially  on  "Review  and 
Control."  And  this  plea  is  further  bar- 
red by  the  fact  that  the  records  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  were  not  before 
the  Assembly.  As  the  General  Assem- 
bly has  no  original  jurisdiction  in  cases 
of  "offense,"  the  whole  proceeding,  in 
so  far  as  the  case  was  treated  judicially, 
was,  in  our  judgment,  irregular  and  un- 
constitutional. 

3.  The  case  was  biased  by  the  action 
of  a  convention  called  together  to  con- 
sider these  matters  on  the  eve  of  the  As- 
sembly's meeting,  and  sitting,  it  was 
currently  reported,  with  closed  doors. 
The  inflammatory  memorial  sent  to  the 
Assembly  by  this  convention  (some  of 
them  members  of  the  Assembly)  dis- 
closes a  state  of  mind  on  the  part  of  its 
authors  illsuited  to  calm  and  impartial 
deliberation  upon  such  questions  as  were 
involved  in  this  case. 

4.  The  severity  of  the  judgment  vis- 
ited upon  these  brethren,  was  greatly 
disproportioned  to  their  offense.  No  one 
has  charged  them  with  heresy  or  with 
immorality.  The  principles  affirmed  in 
their  pamphlet  are  substantially  the  prin- 
ciples incorporated  in  our  confession  of 
faith  and  held  by  oi;r  whole  church. 
They  believed  that  several  General  As- 
semblies had  violated  these  principles, 
and  especially  that  the  Assembly  of 
1865  had  undertaken  to  impose  certain 
laws  upon  the  church  inderogation  of 
the  plain  provisions  of  our  Constitution. 
In  this  belief  they  are  sustained  by  the 
Synods  of  New  Jersey  and  Philadelphia, 
by  several  Presbyteries,  and  by  numer- 
ous ministers  and  laymen  of  the  church." 


19 


And  whereas,  the  exclusion  without 
charges  laid,  under  the  previous  ques- 
tion, of  theTresbytery  fromany  part  or 
lot  in  the  subsequent  deliberations  and 
ordinances  of  the  Assembly,  under  pre- 
text of  a  right  to  exclude  judges  from 
the  bench  who  are  parties  in  a  case, 
and  other  equally  preposterous  analo- 
gies— is  not  simply  an  error  of  principle 
to  be  protested  against  in  the  ordinary 
way  as  subversive  of  fundamental  laws, 
destructive  of  the  rights  and  in  contempt 
of  the  constitutional  prerogatives  of  the 
body  but  is  manifestly,  also,  a  faithless 
breach  of  the  constitutional  covenants  be- 
tween the  Assembly  and  the  Presbytery 
which  operates  ipso/ac to  a  dissolution  of 
the  relations  of  the  Assembly  to  this  body 
as  a  part  of  it  under  the  constitution; 
and  therefore  this  Presbytery  is  shut  up 
to  the  alternative,  either  sinfully  to  ac- 
quiesce in,  and  submit  to,  lawless  usur- 
pation, or  openly  to  declare  itself  ab- 
solved from  obligation  to  abide  by  a 
covenant  which  the  Assembly  has  faith- 
lessly broken,  and  from  all  obligation  to 
recognize  any  longer  the  jurisdiction  of 
a  body,  which  by  its  own  act  has  become 
extraneous  to  the  Presbytery  and  to  the 
constitution  of  the  church. 

And  Whereas,  Furthermore,  the 
General  Assembly,  after  thus  exchiding 
this  body  under  call  of  the  previous 
question,  on  the  mere  request  and  ex 
parte  statements  of  parties  now  under 
process  in  one  of  tlie  churcli  sessions  of 
tliis  Presbytery,  and  at  tlie  same  time 
parties  complaining  before  tliis  Presby- 
tery and  the  Synod  of  Kentucl^y — their 
case  being  at  the  time  before  Presby- 
tery for  action  on  the  report  of  a  com- 
mittee'of  tlieir  own  choosing — did  pro- 
ceed, in  contempt  of  the  constitutional 
prerogatives  of  the  church  session,  the 
Presbytery  and  the  Synod  of  Kentucl^y; 
in  contravention  of  the  constitution  and 
all  the  forms  of  procedure  ordained  un- 
der it;  in  disregard  of  truth  and  rigli- 
teousness  as  relating  to  church  order 
and  discipline,  and  with  the  purpose, 
shamelessly  avowed,  of  affecting  the 
decision  of  a  question  of  church  proper- 
ty pending  before  a  civil  court — to  enact 
on  the  30th  May,  1866,  the  following  or- 
der, to-wit: 

Whereas,  On  the  2d  day  of  January, 
last,  D.  McNaughton,  Benj.  F.  Avery 
and  James  A.  Leach  were  duly  elected 
Kuling  Elders  by  the  congregation  of 
said  church,  and  on  the  6th  day  of  Jan- 
uary the  said  D.  McNaughton  was  in- 
staUed,  and  Benj.  F.  Avery  and  James 
A.  Leach  were  duly  ordained  and  install^ 
ed  Kuling  Elders  In  said  church. 


And  whereas,  The  Presbytery  of  Lou- 
isville, after  the  election  of  said  elders, 
with  the  apparent  design  of  discrediting 
said  election,  denied  to  one  of  this  num- 
ber a  seat  in  said  Presbytery,  notwith- 
standing he  had  been  duly  elected  to 
represent  said  church,  at  a  meeting  of 
said  Presbytery, 

And  whereas,  It  is  evident  that  the 
peace  of  said  church  and  the  congrega- 
tional rights  are  in  great  danger  unless 
this  Assembly  shall  interpose  its  author- 
ity; therefore,  this  General  Assembly, 
by  virtue  of  its  authority  and  obligation 
to  give  advice  and  instruction  in  all 
cases  submitted  to  them,  does  hereby 
declare  that  the  said  D.  McNaughton, 
Benj.  F.  Avery  and  James  A.  Leach  are 
to  be  recognized  and  acknowledged  as 
Ruling  Elders  in  the  said  church,  and 
all  churcli  courts  and  pastors  subject  to, 
or  under  tiie  care  of  this  Assembly,  are 
solemnly  enjoined  to  respect  and  main- 
tain their  aulliority  as  such. 

Which  acdon  of  the  Assembly,  as 
is  made  mar)ire-t  Iroia  the  minutes  of 
this  Presbyl( ::  j  "s  uction  in  the  Walnut 
street  church  •:.'>o,  and  as  could  readi- 
ly have  boon  t^ll  j wo  by  the  Presbytery's 
Commissioner!-.  h:i<\  they  not  been  pre- 
viously excluded  iVoru  the  House;  and 
as  would  have  ;ip)oired  had  even  the 
voluntary  offer  of  o-u;  of  them  to  ex- 
plain and  testify  to  t.hc  facts  before  the 
Assembly's  cutumiueo  been  accepted — 
was  founded  on  promises  wholly  un- 
true, as  well  as  insuking  to  and  defam- 
atory to  this  Presb,ytery. 

Which  action,  eveu  though  the  com- 
missioners had  not  been  excluded,  and 
had  the  facts  been  before  the  Assembly, 
is  not  only  in  contravention  of  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  our  system,  but 
palpably  in  utter  disregard  of  the  provis- 
ions of  our  constitution  defining  the  func- 
tions and  jurisdiction  of  the  several 
courts  of  the  church,  .id  J  their  rela- 
tions to  each  other;  the  forms  of  prece- 
ding in  them  and  the  regulations  touch- 
ing appeals  from  the  lower  to  the  high- 
er courts.  And  this  is  the  more  mani- 
fest from  the  fact  that  the  principle  of 
the  interpretation  of  uur  constitution, 
as  laid  down  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  1837,  is  this,  viz:  "The  constitution' 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  like  that 
of  our  national  union,  is  a  constitution 
of  specific  powers  granted  by  the  Pres- 
hyteries,  the  fountain  of  poioer,  to  the 
Synod  and  General  Assembly.  No 
powers,  not  specifically  granted,  can 
be  lawfully  assumed   and  enforced  by 


20 


the  General  Assembly,  but  only  sucli  laid  down  in  the  Book  of  Discipline,  and, 
as  are  indispensably  necessary  to  carry  ^^  appears  to  us,  in  violation  of  every 
into  effect  those  which  are  specifically  Principle  and  requirement  of  tlie  form  of 
r^  J  ,,  ,  ".  "  f-oos  "i''='^\^\'^"J  government  of  the  Churcli.  The  case 
granted.  (Digest,  p.  ^  J  J.)  And  it  is  was  not  before  the  Assembly  either  upon 
well  known  that  not  only  are  the  powers  complaint,  appeal  or  review  and  control, 
specifically  granted,  but  the  mode  of  their  in  one  or  other  only  of  which  ways  could 
exercise,  IB  also  very  specifically  point-  it  be  regularly  brought  under  their  juris- 


ed  out  in  the  constitution  as  they  apply 
to  such  cases  as  that  of  the  Walnut 
street  church.  Nor  can  anything  be 
more  absurd  in  itself,  or  more  subver- 
sive of  the  constitution,  than  the  claims 
of  the  Assembly  of  1866,  to  exercise 
imperial    authority    by    overstretching 


diction.  The  parties  were  never  before 
the  Assembly  at  all;  the  Presbytery 
could  not  be,  because  it  had  been  pre- 
viously excluded  from  the  body.  Noth- 
ing of  the  nature  of  evidence  touching 
the  matter  involved  was  heard  by  the 
Assembly.  It  was  therefore  impossible 
for  the  Assembly  to  know  whether  or 
not  the  elders  were  or  were  not  duly 


the  vaguer  clauses  of  the  constitution,   elected  and  ordained 


granting  certain  general  powers,  in  such 
manner  as  to  set  aside  all  its  more  dis- 
tinct and  specific  grants  and  limitations 
of  power. 

Which  action  of  the  General  Assem- 


2.  The  decision  is,  in  our  judgment, 
subversive  of  all  the  rights  of  all  the 
lower  courts  and  of  the  private  members 
of  the  Church.  It  breaks  down  all  the 
safeguards  of  the  constitution  and'lays 
prostrate  at  the  feet  of  any  casual  major- 


bly  is,   again,    not    simply  an   error  of  ity  of  the  General  Assembly  the  Chris 

principle  such  as  the  usual  protest  may  ti^n  immunities  and  liberties  of  Presby- 

~  J      V,   *.  1.    e  i-  V.  teries,  sessions,  ministers  and    people. 

remedy,  but  an    act  of  usurpation   sub-  ^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^f^  ^^^^^^,  ^  government 

verting  the  very  germinal  principle   of  administered  in    such  a  manner.      It 

our  system,  in    claiming,   on  the  mere  must  have  the  effect  to  give  a  license  to 

exparte  statements   of  newspaper   con-  thedisorderly,  and  make  victims  of  those 


troversy,  and  under  circumstances  in 
which  it  was  impossible  the  Assembly 
should  Ihave  oificial  knowledge,  the 
right  to  judge  who  are  to  be  recognized 


who  would  endeavor  to  maintain  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  Constitution,  and  enforce 
in  a  regular  manner  the  discipline  of  the 
Church.  It  sanctions  the  opinion  that 
the  General  Assembly,  ')nero  niofu,  naay 


as  duly  elected  elders,  in  contempt  alike  take  up  a  case  of  discipline  pending  be- 
ef the  prerogatives  of  the  congrega-  fore  a  church  session,  and,  upon  the  e:c 
i.-  .i.1,  T)  u  i  J  iv  e  J  J  parte  trial,  turn  out  the  members  of  the 
tion,  the  Presbytery  and  the  Synod;  and  ^(.^^^^.^.^  p^.^  <;he  accused  in  the  place  of  the 
which  action  also  puts  the  government  judges,  and  practically  require  the  Court 
of  our  congregations,  and,  thereby,  the  to  submit  to  the  criminals.  That  when 
christian  character  and  liberties  of  the  a  question  of  privilege,  and  that  too  in- 
people,  at  the  morcy  of  any  factious  ma-  solving  the  vital  question  of  the  legality 
f  .y  ;  ,  V  A  ui  ^  11  .  of  an  election  and  ordination  to  the 
jority  in  the  Assembly;  and  would  put  eldership,  is  pending  in  a  Presbytery, 
the  church  property  of  the  \vhole  coun-  the  General  Assembly  may  interfere  to 
try  at  the  mercy  of  any  and  every  un-  decide  that  question  without  having  the 
scrupulous  faction  in  the  congregation  parties  whose  claims  are  to  be  determin- 
which  may  choose  to  co-operate  with  f^  before  them,  and  whilst  the  Presby- 
.  .,  ,r  ..  .  ^.  .  ^  ,  ,  tery  itself  IS  precluded  from  the  possibil- 
a  similar  faction  in  the  Assembly.  i^-^^f  being  heard.    That  when  a  Synod 

Which  action  also  involves  other  in-  has  appointed  a  committee  to  attend  to 

justice,    injury     and      lawlessness,    as  business  brought  before  it  and  report  to 

shown  in  the  protest  of  Messrs.  Brack-  p/nod,  before  that  committee  have  had 

■Mr      1,  11        J    *.u         1        u          J  time  to  report,  and  therefore  before  their 

en,  Marshall,  and  others,  hereby  made  a  action  can  have  become  of  binding  force, 

part  of  this  minute,  and   expressed  in  or  be  subject  to  the  review  of  the  As- 

the  following  words,  to-wit : —  sembly  in  any  constitutional  manner, 

„  ,,  the  committee  may,  UT)on  the  ex  parte 

The  undersigned  do  most  respectfully  report   and  recommendation  of   an  ex 

and  most  earnestly  protest  against  the  parte  committee,  declare  the  action  and 

decision  of  this  Assembly  m   regard  to  doings  of  the  aforesaid  committee  of  Sy- 

the  Walnut  Street  Church,   under  the  nod  to  be  final  and  binding,  even  to  the 

care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  for  extent  of  quashing  process  of  discipline 

the  foUowmg  reasons:  regularly  instituted,  practically  coneti- 

1.  This  decision  is  in  its  nature  and  tuting  a  new  session  and  setting  aside 

effect  a  judicial  decision,  made  upon  the  the  one  already  existing, 

report  of  a  committee  without  the  least  3.  The  charge  against  Louisville  Pres- 

regard  to  any  of  tjae  forms  of  procedure  bytery  of  having  denied  to  one  of  these 


21 


persons,  at  whose  instigation  this  mat- 
ter has  been  pressed  upon  this  Assembly, 
a  "seat  in  said  Presbytery,"  and  "with 
the  apparent  design  of  discrediting"  his 
election  as  a  ruling  elder,  contains  a 
most  injurious  imputation  upon  the  mo- 
tives of  that  Presbytery,  and  that  based 
upon  an  assertion  of  what  we  have  rea- 
son to  believe  is  contrary  to  fact.  It  ap- 
pears from  evidence,  both  printed  and 
oral,  that  the  Presbytery  has  not  denied 
any  one  of  these  persons  a  seat  in  that 
body.  That  question  is  still  under  con- 
sideration by  them  upon  the  report  of  a 
committee  to  whom  the  whole  matter 
was  referred  at  the  motion  of  the  party 
claiming  the  right  to  a  seat,  and  the 
committee  was  composed  of  members  of 
the  Presbytery  named  by  said  party. 
This  report  was  prepared  with  due  delib- 
eration and  presented  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible moment;  but  it  being  impracticable 
for  the  Presbytery  to  continue  longer  in 
session  at  that  time,  and  they  having 
previously  determined  to  hold  an  ad- 
journed meeting,  said  report  was  laid 
over  to  that  meeting,  then  to  be  fully 
considered  and  acted  upon.  So  far, 
therefore,  as  the  action  of  the  Presbytery 
is  to  be  taken  jas  evidence  of  its  design, 
it  would  seem  to  be  apparent  that  they 
designed  to  do  nothing  hasty  or  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  rights,  ecclesiastical  or 
civil,  of  the  parties  to  this  case. 

4.  The  plea  of  necessity  under  which 
this  decision  was  pressed  to  a  vote  is 
dangerous  and  delusive.  No  necessity 
exists  for  the  intervention  of  the  Assem- 
bly in  this  business  at  this  time,  but 
such  as  the  party  urging  the  plea  of  ne- 
cessity had  himself  created.  That  ne- 
cessity, as  is  apparent  from  the  paper 
adopted  by  the  Assembly  itself,  is  an 
anxiety  to  bring  the  decision  thus  ob- 
tained to  bear  upon  and  control  the  civil 
Court,  in  a  case  now  pending  before  that 
Court,  in  which  the  said  party  is  the 
plaintiff.  And  the  Assembly  have  thus 
both  by  their  action  and  by  the  very 
terms  of  it,  rendered  it  impossible  to 
prevent  the  injurious  impression  that 
the  venerable  body  have  gone  out  of 
their  way  and  set  aside  the  fundamental 
laws  of  the  Church  and  the  essential 
forms  of  procedure,  in  order  to  reach  a 
decision  with  the  express  purpose  of  pre- 
judicing the  property  rights  of  one  of  the 
parties  in  a  case  now  under  litigation.  It 
is  the  Assembly,  therefore,  not  the  Pres- 
bytery, who,  by  their  action,  are  imper- 
iling the  rights  of  the  members  of  the 
congregation  of  the  Walnut  Street 
Church.  Against  the  perversion  of  this 
high  Court  of  the  Church  to  such  a  use, 
we  do  most  earnestly  and  solemnly  protect 

The  General  Assembly  have  no  power 
under  the  vague  pretext  of  "redressing 
grievances,"  or,  "by  virtue  of  its  au- 
thority and  obligation  to  give  advice  and 
instruction  in    all   cases  submitted  to 


them"— upon  a  mere  memorial  or  peti- 
tion to  override  the  constitutional  prero- 
gative of  the  lower  Courts — to  confirm  or 
reverse  their  decisions— to  interfere  with 
their  proceedings,  or  to  anticipate  their 
action  in  matters  regularly  before  them 
and  in  which  they  have  primary  juris- 
diction. 

THOS.  A.  BRACKEN  S.  J.  P.  ANDERSON. 

J.  L.  TANTIS,  A.  P.  FORMAN, 

R.  L.  McAFEE,  EDWARD  BREDELL, 

GEO.  W.  BUr-HANAN,  GLASS  MARSHALL, 

ISAAC  D.  JONES,  G.  C.  SWALLOW, 

JAS.  H.  BROOKES,  HENRY  J.  VAN  DYKE. 

Whereas,  Therefore,  The  General 
Assembly  has  thus,  in  contempt  of  the 
constitution,  not  only  condemned  with- 
out reason  and  without  hearing,  but  ex- 
cluded from  representation,  this  Presby- 
tery, and  thereby  made  null  and  void, 
its  claim  to  exercise  jurisdiction  within 
the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville; the  Presbytery  hereby  accepts  the 
position  into  which  tliis  revolutionary 
action  of  the  Assembly  has  placed  it, 
and  in  fideUty  to  the  truth  and  order  of 
Christ's  house,  and  with  a  view  to  the 
protection  of  the  othcial  and  christian 
character  of  its  office  bearers  and  pri- 
vate members,  as  also  of  the  christian 
liberties  and  rights  of  property  of  its 
congregations— the  Presbytery  of  Lou- 
isville declares  itself  no  longer  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Assembly,  and  as 
declaratory  of  its  position,  views  and 
purposes,  adopts  unanimously  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions: 

Resolved,  1st.  That  the  act  of  our  Commis- 
Bioners  of  the  19th  of  May,  1866,  notifying  the 
General  Assembly  of  their  purpose  not  to  at- 
tend further  upon  its  sessions,  but  to  consider 
final  in  the  case  the  act  of  the  Assembly  which 
— in  defiance  of  all  decency,  refusing  them  a 
hearing,  and,  alike  in  defiance  of  law,  facts, 
and  justice,  condemning  the  Presbytery — ex- 
cluded this  body  from  the  house  "until  the 
Assembly  shall  have  examined  and  decided 
upon  the  conduct  of  the  said  Presbytery,"  is 
hereby  approved,  and  solemnly  ratified,  as  the 
act  of  this  Presbytery;  as  is  also  approved  and 
ratified  the  act  of  its  Commissioners  of  the  24th 
of  May,  1866,  refusing  to  obey  the  insulting 
summons  to  appear  and  be  heard  before  the 
Assembly,  not  as  members  thereof,  but  as  re- 
spondents to  charges  unlawfully  brought,  with 
sentence  already  appended,  before  a  court 
which  had  already  condemned  them. 

2d.  And  said  action  of  the  Assembly  having 
thus  practically  (Hssolved  in  a  revolutionary 
manner  the  relations  of  the  General  Assembly 
to  this  Presbytery,  as  established  under  the 
Constitution,  and  thereby  left  us  standing  fast 
by  the  standards  and;the  Constitution  of  the  Old 
School  Presbyterian  Church,  which  are  an  au- 
thority higher  than  any  Assembly,  and  a  tru- 
er representative  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
— as  those  standards  and  constitution  were  for- 
merly understood  aad  interpreted  by  General 
Assemblies  from  1837  to  1860,  this  Presbytery 
hereby  solemnly  declares  itself  absolved  from 
all  obligation  to  obey,  or  in  any  manner  to  re- 
cognize the  acts  and  ordinances  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  1866,  subsequent  to  the  act  exclu- 
ding the  Presbytery  of  IjoijiBTille  from  the 


22 


House,  as  having  any  validity  or  any  binding 
force  -whatever  upon  the  churches,  office-bear- 
ers and  church  members  within  the  bounds  of 
this  Presbytery.  ,    x,    ^ 

3d.  And  it  is  hereby  farther  declared^  that 
this  Presbytery  will  not  recognize  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  any  General  Assembly  hereafter  which 
recognizes  the  validity  of  the  revolutionary  acts 
and  ordinances  of  the  Assemblies  of  1865  and 
1866,  growing  out  of  what  are  commonly  call- 
ed the  "deliverances  concerning  doctrine,  loy- 
alty and  freedom,"  but  will  continue  to  stand 
in  real,  though  informal,  fellowship  with  all 
such  ministers  and  churches  as  "stand  in  the 
old  ways"  of  the  Assemblies  of  1837  to  1860,  un- 
til the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  shall  have 
been  restored  in  the  church  ;  and  until  a  fu- 
ture Assembly  shall  declare  of  these  acts  of  the 
last  two  Assemblies  what  the  Assembly  of 
1837  declared  concerning  the  "  Plan  of  Union" 
acts  of  the  Assembly  of  1801,  to-wit:  that 

•'  It  has  laid  the  deep  foundations  of  lasting 
confusion,  and  opened  wide  the  flood-gates  of 
error  and  fanaticism  ;  it  is  a  mass  of  unconsti- 
tutional usurpations  resulting  from  an  over- 
81  retch  of  power.  The  General  Assembly  nev- 
er had  the  power  to  establish  regulations  and 
a  new  'Plan  of  Government;'  'the  plan  is 
therefore  null  and  void.'  "    (See  Digest,   pp. 

722,  723.  724.)  ,    .        i.      •        • 

Mcsolvcd,  That  this  Presbytery  having,  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  prerogatives  and  duties  un- 
der the  constitution,  completed  its  action  m  the 
Walnut  Street  Church  case  irrespective  of  the 
arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  edict  of  an  As- 
sembly which  first  excluding  the  Presbytery 
itself  without  a  hearing,  in  contempt  of  its 
constitutional  rights  then  also  without  hearing, 
and  in  like  contempt  of  the  constitutional  pre- 
rogatives of  all  the  lower  courts,  issued  an  ar- 
bitrary decree  in  this  case,  hereby  enjoins 
upon  all  the  churches,  office-bearers  and 
church-members  within  its  bounds  to  recog- 
nize and  respect  the  action  of  the  Presbytery 
as  authoritative  in  the  case. 

Resolved,  That  having  thus  been  compelled 
by  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  and  not  by  any 
wish  for  the  leadership  or  pre-eminence  over 
the  brethren  to  assume  this  attitude  of  resist- 
ance against  usurpation,  this  Presbytery  now 
solemnly  appeals  to  the  Presbyteries  associa- 
ted with  it  in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  to 
the  Synod  itself,  to  stand  forth  in  its  defense, 
and  to  resist  also  these  revolutionary  usurpa- 
tions; to  protect  the  Chritstian  liberty  of  the 
churches  and  people  of  the  Synod  against  the 
unjust  and  reckless  attempts  of  a  faction  of  the 
church  at  the  North,  which  would  pervert  the 
General  Assembly  and  its  agencies  into  an  in- 
strument for  forcing  upon  the  consciences 
of  our  people  the  dogmas  of  a  godless  philan- 
thropism  concerning  liberty,  equality,  frater- 
nity, instead  of  the  teachings  of  Christ's  Gos- 
pel, which  would  subvert  our  free  Presbyterian 
system  of  church  order,  and  which  would  rob 
our  churches  of  the  property  which  has  been 
dedicated  to  the  support  and  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  according  to  the  Presbyterian  standards. 
Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery  feels  called 
upon  in  all  sincerity  and  faithfulness  to  warn 
the  people  against  the  plausible  arts  whereby 
the  agents  of  this  arrogant  usurpation  are  en- 
deavoring to  deceive,  "if  it  were  possible  the 
very  elect,"  into  acquiescence  and  submission, 
and  to  array  them  against  their  brethren  "who 
hold  like  precious  faith  with  themselves," 
touching  the  crown  rights  of  Jesus  the  King, 


and  the  non-political  character  of  his  church. 

Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery  stands  ready 
to  unite  with  Presbyterian  Church  courts,  oll- 
ice  bearers  or  people  throughout  the  country 
in  any  and  every  proper  and  lawful  eflbrt  to 
resist  by  concerted  action  these  usurpations. 
And  to  this  end  the  Presbytery  advises  the 
friends  of  free  Constitutional  Presbyterianism 
to  be  represented  in  the  Conference  called  at 
St.  Louis  on  the  15th  of  August,  1866;  and  in 
any  other  Conference  which  may  be  called  for 
with  a  view  to  concerted  action  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and 
a  pure  non-political  Presbyterianism. 

Resolved,  That  pastors,  stated  supplies  and 
church  sessions  within  the  bounds  of  this  Pres- 
bytery, be  requested  to  bring  this  action  before 
the  several  congregations  at  the  earliest  conve- 
nient day,  in  order  that  the  people  may  be 
made  fully  acquainted  with  the  position  and 
views  of  this  Presbytery. 


Report  of  the  Committee  of  LonlsTille 
Presbytery  on  the  exclusion  of  the 
Commissioners  from  the  Assembly. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  report  a 
minute  in  relation  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Louisville  Presbytery, 
from  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly 
which  met  in  St.  Louis,  May  17,  1866,  ree- 
pectfully  submit  the  following: 

Whereas,  This  Presbytery  is  informed 
by  its  commissioners  duly  elected  and  com- 
missioned to  represent  this  court  in  the 
highest  court  of  the  church,  that  having 
presented  their  commissions  to  the  General 
Assembly's  standing  committee  on  com- 
missions, they  were  found  in  order  and 
their  names  were  enrolled  and  they  took 
their  seats  in  the  body:  that  as  soon  as  the 
officers  of  the  Assembly  were  elected  a 
member  of  the  judicatory  arose  and  offer- 
ed the   following  preamble  and  resolution: 

Whereas,  It  is  understood  that  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville  has  openly  defied  the  Gener- 
al Assembly,  and  refused  to  submit  to  its  order, 
in  a  pamphlet  adopted  by  it  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  specimen,  to-wit: 

"We  will  not  sustain  or  execute,  or  in  any 
manner  assist  in  the  execution  of  the  orders 
passed  by  the  last  Assemblies  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  and  loyalty,  and  with  reference  to  the 
conducting  of  missions  in  the  Southern  States, 
and  with  regard  to  the  ministers,  members  and 
churches  in  the  seceded  and  border  States." 

And  whereas,  said  Presbytery  has  commig. 
sioned  and  sent  to  this  Assembly  at  least  one 
commissioner  who,  if  the  order  of  the  last  As- 
sembly had  been  faithfully  executed  by  said 
Presbytery,  there  is  the  strongest  ground  for 
believing  would  have  been  suspended  from  the 
functions  of  the  gospel  ministry;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  until  the  Assembly  shall  have 
examined  and  decided  on  the  conduct  of  said 
Presbytery,  the  commissioners  therefrom  shall 
not  be  entitled  to  seats  in  this  body. 

They  further  report  that  various  motions 
designed  to  delay  immediate  action  or  to 
commit  were  voted  down  and  that  by  the 
operation  of  the  Previous  Question  with- 
out any  opportunity  for  debate  on  the  part 
of  members  of  the  Assembly)  and  without 


23 


any  opportunity  of  our  commissioners  to 
say  anything  on  the  merits  of  the  question, 
or  as  much  as  even  to  make  an  explana- 
tion, the  Assembly  by  a  vote  of  two  hun- 
dred and  one  (201)  to  fifty  (50)  adopted 
the  preamble  and  resolution,  and  the  com- 
missioners of  this  Presbytery  immediately 
left  the  house.  They  further  report  after 
their  exclusion  frona  the  Assembly,  they 
prepared  and  signed  a  paper  which  was  a 
formal  and  official  notice  that  after  this 
action  they  did  not  feel  warranted  in  again 
appearing  before  the  Assembly  without 
further  council  with  their  Presbytery — 
which  paper  was  read  by  the  Clerk  in  the 
House. 

Now,  therefore,  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville, in  view  of  these  facts  and  the  new 
and  solemn  issues  which  they  force  upon 
this  court,  adopt  the  following  minute: 

1.  This  Presbytery  being  a  constituent 
part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  had  a 
right  to  select  and  send  commissioners  to 
the  General  Assembly  "to  consult,  vote 
and  determine  on  all  things  that  "may" 
come  before  that  body  according  to  the 
principles  and  constitution  of  the  Presby- 
terian "Church  and  the  word  of  God,"  and 
Presbytery  solemnly  affirms  that  this  right 
is  derived  not  from  the  General  Assembly, 
but  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  Head 
of  the  church,  and  that  this  right  is  secur- 
ed to  this  body,  not  by  the  pleasure  or  opin- 
ion or  vote  of  commissioners  representing 
other  Presbyteries,  but  by  the  constitution 
of  the  church  which  rests  upon  the  reveal- 
ed will  of  Christ,  and  therefore  for  the  As- 
sembly to  deny  or  wrest  from  this  Preby- 
tery  this  right,  except  by  regular  trial  and 
discipline  according  to  the  standards  of  the 
church,  and  the  word  of  God,  is  a  visurpa- 
tion  of  the  rights  of  the  Lord  Christ,  and 
is  proceeding  on  a  principle  which  not  on- 
ly violates  but  subverts  the  constitution  of 
the  church. 

2.  This  Presbytery  further  declares  that 
when  this  action  was  taken  by  the  Assem- 
bly, this  judicatory  was  in  no  way  and  in 
no  sense  under  discipline  or  process  of  dis- 
cipline, that  no  notice,  citation  or  summons 
of  any  kind  had  been  served  on  this 
body,  and  further  that  the  records  of 
Presbytery  were  not  under  review  by 
the    Assembly    nor    were    they     even  in 

.their    hands.       There    was    not,    there- 


fore, and  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
there  could  be  no  ground  or  pretext  for 
excluding  the  commissioners  of  this 
Presbytery,  other  than  the  assumption  of 
an  arbitrary  and  unlimited  power  by  the 
Assembly  which  needs  but  to  be  imitated 
by  Synods,  Presbyteries  or  church  se6« 
sions  to  carry  anarchy  and  ruin  through 
the  entire  church. 

3.  This  Presbytery  further  declares, 
that  it  is  with  profound  sorrow  and  shame 
that  they  find  the  Highest  Court  of  the 
church  by  a  majority  of  201  to  50  adopt- 
ing, and  that  under  the  operation  of  rules 
which  shows  that  this  majority  consider- 
ed the  paper  before  them  too  plain  to 
need  discussion  and  too  perfect  to  admit 
of  amendment,  a  resolution  excluding 
Louisville  Presbytery  from  seats  in  the 
body  "until  the  Assembly  shall  have  ex- 
amined and  decided  on  the  conduct  of  said 
Presbytery" — as  though  a  Presbytery 
had  no  right  to  be  present  by  commis- 
sioners when  its  "conduct"  was  being  "ex- 
amined and  decided," — as  though  even 
if  its  commissioners  were  in  their  seats, 
a  Presbytery,  according  to  our  constitu- 
tion could  have  its  "conduct  examined 
and  decided  upon"  by  a  superior  court, 
and  yet  the  Presbytery  know  nothing  of 
the  whole  thing  until  the  "examination" 
is  over  and  the  "decision"  rendered — 
as  though  in  so  vital  and  fundamental  a 
matter  as  the  right  of  representation 
any  "examination  and  decision"  with  no 
commissioners  on  the  floor,  no  Presbyter 
ry  cited  to  appear,  and  no  records  before 
the  court,  could  be  anything  buta  mock- 
ery of  right  and  justice. 

4.  This  Presbytery,  moreover,  feels 
constrained  to  utter  its  solemn  protest 
against  a  court  of  the  Lord's  House  pass, 
ing  a  preamble  in  which  charges  are  in- 
sinuated against  a  minister  in  good  stand- 
ing, of  a  character  so  grave  as  to  merit 
deposition  from  the  ministry — and  doing 
this  not  that  the  charges  may  be  investi- 
gated but  that  they  may  be  put  upon  the 
minutes,  and  while  doing  it  by  a  relentless 
and  immediate  enforcement  of  the  pre- 
vious question  effectually  to  close  the 
lips  of  the  accused  against  a  single  word 
of  remonstrance,  explanation  or  denial; 
as  a  cruel  and  wanton  outrage  upon 
Christian  and  ministerial  character. 


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REV.  DR.  BULLOCK'S 

ADDRESS 


TO    HIS 


CONGREGATTON. 


FKANKLIN  STREET  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 


B-iA^LTinVIOieE, 


GIVING    HIS    REASONS    FOR    DISSOLVING    HIS    CONNECTION 

WITH    THE   OLD    SCHOOL    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY 

OF    THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

JUNE    i2,    1866. 


BALTIMORE  : 

INNES   &   COMPANY,  STEAM    BOOK    PKINTEKS. 


REV.  DR.  BULLOCK'S 
ADDEESS 

TO   HIS 

CONGREGATION, 


FRANKLIN  STREET  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 


B^LXiTinycoiaE, 


GIVING    HIS    REASONS    FOR    DISSOLVING    HIS    CONNECTION 

WITH    THE   OLD    SCHOOL   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY 

OF   THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

JUNE   i2,    1866. 


BALTIMORE: 

INNES  &   COMPANY,  STEAM   BOOK   PRINTERS. 

1868 


Beloved  Brethren: — I  s'lall  proceed  without  exordium,  to 
give  my  reasons  for  dissolving-  my  connexion  with  the  Okl 
School  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Churcli  : 

To  the  doctrine,  order,  and  worship  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  they  have  been  given  by  her  Divine  Head,  and  are 
embraced  in  her  incomparable  Standards,  I  am  sincerely  and 
deeply  attached.  There  are  within  the  pale  of  that  Church 
many  abler  champions  than  I,  but  I  yield  to  none  of  them 
in  the  sincerity  and  strength  of  my  affection  to  its  doctrine  and 
order.  I  verily  believe  that  these  are  more  nearly  conformed 
to  the  written  word  of  God  than  the  distinctive  symbols  of  any 
other  visible  Church  organization.  I  had  fondly  hoped  to  live 
and  die  in  ecclesiastical  union  and  fellowship  with  the  Old 
School  General  Assembly  of  the  United  States  of  America.  In 
the  presence  of  God  and  before  men,  after  careful  and  deliberate 
investigation,  I  solemnly  and  cordially  adopted  the  Standards 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  viz :  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the 
Catechisms,  the  Form  of  Government  and  Book  of  Discipline, 
and  was  inducted  into  the  holy  office  of  the  ministry  by  true 
and  faithful  men,  most  of  whom  have  finished  their  earthly 
course,  and  have  entered  upon  their  heavenly  reward.  I  am 
not  conscious  of  any  change  in  my  sentiments,  unless  it  be  a 
constantly  growing  affection  for  the  principles,  order  and  wor- 
ship which  are  contained  in  these  Standards  ;  and  yet,  after 
much  prayer,  and  long  and  earnest  examination  of  the  subject, 
I  feel  constrained  to  sever  my  connexion  with  the  General  As- 
sembly, which  has  just  closed  its  session  in  St.  Louis. 

My  reason  for  doing  so,  is  because  I  believe  the  General  As- 
sembly with  which  I  am  now  in  connexion,  has  proved  recreant 
to  her  principles,  and  has  grievously  departed  from  the  faith  and 
practice  of  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity  as  contained  in  the  word 
of  God  and  in  her  authorized  Standards.  It  would  be  an  unspeak- 
able pleasure  to  me,  to  see  all  the  Presbyterian  people  in  this 
great  country,  united  upon  the  basis  of  our  Standards,  in  Christ- 


ian  fellowship  and  love — but  truth  is  more  precious  than  union. 
So  long  as  the  General  Assembly  occupies  her  present  position, 
there  can  be  no  unity,  except  by  the  sacrifice  of  principle  on 
the  part  of  multitudes  of  true  Presbyterians.  The  decision  of 
a  political  question  by  the  Assembly  of  1861,  opened  the  door 
for  the  entrance  of  political  contentions  and  strifes  for  the 
crown  of  loyalty  to  Cfesar,  which  were  repeated  in  more  glar- 
ingly unconstitutional  forms  in  '62,  '63  and  '64,  and  culminated 
in  exacting  new  terms  of  membership  and  novel  tests  of  minis- 
terial fellowship  in  1865,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Standards 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  which  schismatical  deliverances 
have  been  fully  endorsed  by  the  Assembly  of  1866,  with  in- 
creased force  and  emphasis.  In  order  that  this  subject  may  be 
brought  fully  before  you,  I  will  briefly  state  what  is  our  view 
of  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  visible  Church  of  God,  as 
taught  in  the  word  of  God  and  in  the  Standards  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  by  its  ablest  advocates  ;  and  then  I  will  pre- 
sent before  you  an  outline  of  the  action  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, from  1861  to  1866,  inclusive,  which  will  the  better  enable 
you  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  conclusion  to  which  I 
have  come.  I  beg  your  close  and  prayerful  attention  while  I 
do  so. 

Now,  what  are  the  ends  for  which  the  visible  Cliurch  was  es- 
tablished by  its  great  Head  ?  What  is  its  appropriate  sphere 
and  special  mission  ?  Under  what  charter  does  it  exist  ?  and 
what  are  the  metes  and  boundaries  of  its  action  ?  Upon  these 
subjects  the  word  of  God  gives  us  full  information  ;  and  that 
word  is  infallible  and  authoritative  in  its  teaching.  This 
Church,  now  existing  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  was  not 
only  ordained  by  God,  but  organized  by  Christ  and  His  inspired 
Apostles.  It  is  a  Divine  Institute,  and  its  mission  is  to  pro- 
claim God's  truth  as  a  witness  to  the  nations,  and  to  gather 
His  elect  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  and  through  the 
word,  ministry  and  ordinances,  to  train  them  for  eternal  life ; 
hence  it  is  called  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth.  It  pro- 
fesses to  act  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  the 
Divine  Head.     It  has  no  right  to  make  any  deliverance,  except 


it  is  backed  by  the  will  of  God,  clearly  taught  in  the  Bible,  or 
necessarily  implied.     It  is  the  special  inheritance  of  the  Son  of 
God,  purchased  with  His  blood,  and  so  honored  as  to  be  called 
His  bride.     Christ's  kingdom  (Church)  is  a  spiritual  kingdom. 
In  the  Church  of  God  no  merely  earthly  issue   can  rightfully 
take  place.    It  should  bear  no  distinctive  complexion  with  regard 
to  political  affairs  on  one  side  or  the  other.     Whatever  may  be 
the  political  sympathies  or  sentiments  of  men,  it  should  make 
no  difference  as  to  their  positions  in  the  Church  of  God.     The 
duty  of  Christ's  ministry  is  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God 
as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.     The  ministry  and  the  Church 
have  a  fixed  and  perfect  standard  of  truth  and  duty,  and  have 
no  right  to  be  swayed  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  Church-courts  by 
the  ever-changing  currents  of  public  opinion,  or  to  take  their 
hue  from  the  popular  excitements  prevailing  around  them.    The 
word  of  God,  as  expounded  in  the  Standards  of  the  Church,  is 
the  great  charter  by  which  alone  true  Presbyterians  are  to  be 
governed  in  their  Synods  and  Councils.     Political  and  secular 
differences  should  not  enter  into  the  discussions  or  deliverances 
of  the  Assemblies  of  the  Church.     Differ  as  they  might  else- 
where on  any  conceivable  topic  whatsoever,  still,  here,  there 
should  be  a  refuge  from  the  strife  of  tongues,  the  exhibition 
of  earthly  hatred,  and  the  spivit^of  rancor  and  intolerance.  The 
only  subjects  which  can  lawfully  be  handled  are  those  which  are 
spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  in  their  nature,  and  such  as  do  not 
pertain  to  the  Commonwealth.    In  the  Church  of  Christ  there  is 
no  difference  between  the  Jew  and  the  Greek,  the  Barbarian 
and  the  Scythian,  the  bond  and  the  free,  the  Democrat  and  the 
Eepublican,  the  Northerner  and  the  Southerner.     They  are  all 
one  in  Christ  Jesus.     The  pure  bride  of  Christ  should  never  be 
prostituted  to  the  interest  of  any  earthly  partizanship  ;  and  no 
arbitrary  standard  of  duty  to  Caesar  should  ever  be  erected  in 
the  Church  of  God  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  any  political  party, 
or  of  reflecting  any  prevalent  agitation  in  the  world  outside. 
Non-interference  with  things  secular  and  political,  is  the  only 
true  and  Scriptural  ground  upon  which  the  Church  of  God  can 
take  its  stand.     Christ  (although  it  was  repeatedly  called  to 


His  attention)  uniformly  refused  to  connect  Christianity  in  any 
formal  relation  with  the  secular  and  political  questions  which 
surrounded  and  touched  Him  on  every  hand  in  His  day.  He 
shut  the  mouths  of  cavillers,  and  rigidly  maintained  His 
neutrality,  by  telling  them  to  render  to  Caesar  the  things  that 
are  Cajsar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's.  He 
joined  Himself  to  no  political  party,  and  taught  no  little  nar- 
row, selfish  patriotism — but  a  world-wide  Christianity.  Neither 
His  work  nor  His  kingdom  had  the  remotest  connexion  with 
politics  or  forms  of  civil  government,  or  of  domestic  institu- 
tions. Such  things  as  these  He  left  wholly  to  the  Common- 
wealth, as  they  belonged  to  the  civil  authorities,  and  He  did 
not  confound  the  nature  of  things.  Neither  He,  nor  His  dis- 
ciples, nor  the  New  Testament,  undertake  to  decide  the  duty 
of  Christians  as  to  State  parties  or  differences.  They  took  an 
entirely  different  view  of  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  Church 
from  that  which  has  been  taken  by  the  last  six  Assemblies.  So 
also  in  regard  to  the  affair  of  State  slavery  :  He  did  not  touch 
or  disturb  it  in  any  way.  He  did  not  come  to  teach  politics, 
nor  to  disturb  the  political  or  domestic  institutions  of  mankind, 
nor  to  involve  Himself,  His  Apostles  or  His  cause  in  any  polit- 
ical entanglements  whatever.  Kijigs,  States,  political  institu- 
tions, had  nothing  to  dread  from  Him.  Blood  and  carnage 
are  not  the  means  by  which  He  removes  the  evils  of  the  world. 
The  Gospel  of  purity  and  of  peace  is  the  great  remedy  for  all 
evils,  moral  and  political.  "  At  the  introduction  of  Christian- 
ity," says  Daniel  Webster,  ''the  Roman  world  was  full  of 
slaves,  and  I  suppose  there  is  to  be  found  no  injunction  against 
that  relation  between  man  and  man  in  the  teachings  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  or  of  any  of  His  Apostles.  The  object  of  the 
instruction  imparted  to  mankind  by  the  Founder  of  Christian- 
ity, was  to  toucli  the  heart,  purify  the  soul,  and  to  improve  tlie 
lives  of  individual  men.  That  object  went  directly  to  the  first 
fountain  of  all  political  and  all  social  relations  of  the  human 
race,  as  well  as  of  all  true  religious  feeling,  the  individual 
beart  and  mind  of  man."  What  political  institutions  are  best 
suited  to  any  people,  whether    Monarchial,  Oligarchial,  Ee- 


publican  or  Democratic,  it  is  not  the  business  of  the  Church  of 
God  to  determine,  or  when  or  how  these  institutions  are  to  be 
changed  or  overturned,  if  they  should  fail  to  answer  the  proper 
ends  for  which  Governments  have  been  instituted.  For  the 
Church  of  God  to  overthrow,  or  to  establish  political  institu- 
tions, or  to  lend  her  influence  to  overthrow  or  establish  them, 
is  to  corrupt  herself,  destroy  her  own  divine  constitution,  and 
to  render  her  a  dangerous  power  in  all  the  States  of  the  world. 
The  Church,  as  such,  is  bound  by  her  divine  charter,  to  keep 
herself  aloof  from  all  complications  with  political  agitations. 
As  a  purely  spiritual  body,  the  home  of  all  God's  people,  it 
must  ignore  and  rigidly  exclude  all  civil  and  secular  questions 
from  its  deliberations  and  actions.  Once  remove  the  barrier 
which  separates  the  civil  and  secular  from  the  ecclesiastical 
and  spiritual,  and  there  will  be  introduced  into  the  Church- 
courts,  all  the  bitterness  and  violence  which  characterize  the 
discussions  of  political  questions  by  worldly  politicians,  and  the 
worst  passions  of  human  nature  will  be  stirred  to  their  very 
depths  ;  the  Spirit  of  God  will  take  His  departure  from  these 
scenes  of  confusion,  and  leave  the  Church  powerless,  lifeless, 
and  an  easy  prey  to  the  political  divisions  and  angry  passions 
of  its  members.  "  The  provinces  of  Church  and  State  are  per- 
fectly distinct,  and  the  one  has  no  right  to  usurp  the  jurisdic- 
diction  of  the  other.  The  Church  has  no  right  to  construct  or 
modify  a  government  for  the  State,  and  the  State  has  no  right 
to  frame  a  creed  or  polity  for  the  Church.  The  State  looks  to 
the  visible  and  outward  ;  the  Church  is  concerned  for  the  in- 
visible and  spiritual.  The  State  aims  at  social  order  ;  the 
Church  at  spiritual  holiness.  And  even  where  tiiese  respective 
jurisdictions  seem  to  meet  in  the  idea  of  duty,  the  Church  en- 
joins it  as  obedience  to  God,  and  the  State  enforces  it  as  the 
safeguard  of  order.  The  badge  of  the  State's  authority  is  the 
sword,  by  which  it  becomes  a  terror  to  evil  doe;  s,  and  a  praise 
to  them  that  do  well.  The  badge  of  the  Church's  authority  is 
the  keys,  by  which  it  opens  or  shuts  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
according  as  men  are  believing  or  impenitent.  The  power  of 
the  Church  is  exclusively  spiritual  ;  that  of  the  State  includes 


the  exercise  of  force.  The  constitution  of  the  Church  is  a  divine 
revelation  ;  the  constitution  of  the  State  must  be  determined  by 
human  reason  and  the  course  of  providential  events.  The 
Church  has  no  commission  to  adjudicate  as  to  the  righteousness 
or  unrighteousness  of  particular  forms  of  human  government, 
or  upon  the  wisdom  or  folly  of  their  administrations.  "  God 
has  not  entrusted  to  the  Church  the  organization  of  society,  the 
construction  of  Governments  and  the  allotment  of  individuals 
to  their  various  stations."  The  Church  has  no  right  to  inter- 
meddle with  monarchies,  despotisms,  or  republics.  Her  mis- 
sion is  to  diffuse  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the 
world.  Christ  did  not  appear  as  a  political  reformer,  but  as 
the  Saviour  of  men  and  the  Head  of  His  Church  ;  and  when 
men  are  brought  under  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  the  inward 
power  of  love,  truth  and  righteousness,  they  are  fitted  with 
proper  enlightenment  to  exercise  the  rights  of  citizenship,  and 
to  discharge  aright  all  personal,  social  and  public  duties. 
These  principles  are  clearly  taught  in  the  Scriptures  and  in  the 
Standards  of  our  Church,  and  commend  themselves  to  the  calm 
reason  and  the  enlightened  conscience  of  every  one  who  has 
studied  carefully  the  word  of  God  and  these  Standards. 

In  confirmation  of  what  I  have  said,  I  will  quote  from  our 
form  of  government,  1st  Chap.,  1st  Section  :  "  God  alone  is 
Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from  the  doc- 
trines and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything, 
contrary  to  His  word,  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  and  wor- 
ship." Chap.  1st,  Section  7:  "All  Church  power,  whether 
exercised  by  the  body  in  general,  or  in  the  way  of  representa- 
tion by  delegated  authority,  is  only  ministerial  and  declarative  : 
that  is  to  say,  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  of  faith  and 
manners,  and  that  no  Church  Judicatory  ought  to  pretend  to 
make  laws  to  bind  the  conscience  in  virtue  of  their  own  author- 
it}^,  and  that  all  their  decisions  should  be  founded  on  the 
revealed  will  of  God."  So  also  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap. 
31st,  3d  and  4th  Sections  :  ''  All  Synods  or  Councils,  since 
the  Apostles'  times,  whether  general  or  particular,  may  err, 
and  many  have  erred  ;   therefore^  they  are  not  to  be  made  the 


rule  of  faith  or  practice,  Lut  to  be  used  as  a  lielp  in  botli," 
4th  Section  :     "  Synods  and  Councils  are  to  handle  or  conclude 

NOTHING  BUT  THAT  WHICH  IS  ECCLESIASTICAL,  AND  ARE  NOT  TO  INTER- 
MEDDLE WITH  CIVIL  AFFAIRS  WHICH  CONCERN  THE  COMMONWEALTH, 
UNLESS  BY  WAY  OF  HUMBLE  PETITION  IN  CASES  EXTRAORDINARY,  OR  BY 
WAY  OF  ADVICE  IN  SATISFACTION  CF  CONSCIENCE  IF  THEY  BE  THEREUNTO 
REQUIRED  BY  THE  CIVIL  MAGISTRATE.  "* 

This  teaching  of  our  Standards  is  in  exact  accordance  with 
the  word  of  Grod.  Luke  12  :  13,  14:  "  And  one  of  the  com- 
pany said  unto  Him,  Master,  speak  to  my  brother,  that  he  may 
divide  the  inheritance  with  me."  And  Ee  said  unto  him,  "Man, 
who  made  Me  a  judge  or  a  divider  over  you?"  Here  Christ 
expressly  disavows  the  exercise  of  judicial  functions  in  civil 
cases.  John  18  :  36:  "Jesus  answered.  My  kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world :  if  My  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would 
My  servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews  : 
but  now  is  My  kingdom  not  from  hence." 

And  in  order  to  make  the  distinction  still  more  clear  between 
the  natures  and  spheres  of  the  civil  and  spiritual,  Christ  adds  : 
"  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  unto  the 
world,  that  I  should  hear  luiiness  unto  the  truth:  every  one 
that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  My  voice."  The  meaning  of  which 
is,  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  a  spiritual  kingdom  ;  which 
acknowledges  no  subjects  but  those  who,  from  conviction  of  the 
truth,  and  full,  free  sympathy  with  it,  swear  allegiance  to  the 
King  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  civil  power  has  no  com- 
mission to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  ;  has,  or  ought  to  have,  no 
concern  touching  any  man's  faith  or  opinions,  but  cares  only 
for  the  outward  actions  of  those  who  are  subject  to  its  authority, 
which  outward  actions  it  has  a  right  to  control,  if  need  be,  by 
force. 

I  will  proceed  to  show,  that  the  deliverances  of  the  last  six 
Assemblies,  on  the  state  of  the  country  and  other  kindred  sub- 
jects, are  in  direct  opposition  to  these  great  principles,  as  con- 
tained in  the  word  of  God  and  our  Standards.     I  will  notice 

♦Every  Presbyterian  minister,  at  his  ordination,  binds  himself  by  a  solemn  obliga- 
tion to  obey  this  law. 


10 

these  in  their  chronological,  which  is  also  their  logical  order. 

First,  1861.     The  following  resolution  was  introduced  hy  the 

Rev.  Dr.  Si:)ring,  and  passed  hy  a  vote  of  156  yeas  and  66  nays  : 

^^  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly,  in  the  spirit  of  that  Christian  pa- 
triotism, which  the  sacred  Scriptures  enjoin,  and  which  has  always  charac- 
terized this  Church,  do  hereby  acknowledge  and  declare  our  obligation  to 
promote  and  perpetuate,  so  far  as  in  us  lies,  the  integrity  of  these  United 
States,  and  to  strengthen,  uphold  and  encourage  the  Federal  Government  in 
the  exercise  of  all  its  functions  under  our  noble  Constitution  ;  and  to  this 
Constitution,  in  all  its  provisions,  requirements  and  principles,  we  profess 
our  unabated  loyalty." 

And  to  avoid  all  misconception,  the  Assembly  declare  that  by  the  terms 
'Federal  Government,'  as  here  used,  is  not  meant  any  particular  administra- 
tion, or  the  peculiar  opinions  of  any  particular  party,  but  that  central 
administration,  which  being  at  any  time  appointed  and  inaugurated  accord- 
ing to  the  forms  prescribed  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  the 
visible  representative  of  our  national  existence.'' 

Against  this  action,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bodge  and  ahout  sixty 
others,  protested,  (including  Revs.  Drs.  Backus,  Dixon  and 
Judge  Giles,)  using  the  following  language  :  "  We  deny  the 
right  of  the  General  Assembly  to  decide  the  political  question, 
to  what  Government  the  allegiance  of  Presbyterians,  as  citi- 
zens, is  due,  and  its  right  to  make  that  decision  a  condition  of 
membership  in  our  Church.  That  the  paper  adopted  by  the 
Assembly  does  decide  the  political  question  just  stated,  is,  in 
our  judgment,  undeniable.  It  asserts,  not  only  the  loyalty  of 
this  body  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  but  it  promises  in 
the  name  of  all  the  Churches  and  ministers  whom  it  represents, 
to  do  all  that  in  them  lies,  to  strengthen,  uphold  and  encourage 
the  Federal  Government.  *  *  It  is,  however,  a  notorious  fact, 
that  many  of  our  ministers  and  members,  conscientiously  be- 
lieve that  the  allegiance  of  the  citizens  of  this  country  is  pri- 
marily due  to  the  States  to  which  they  respectively  belong  ; 
and,  therefore,  that  when  any  State  renounces  its  connection 
with  the  United  States  and  its  allegiance  to  the  Constitution, 
the  citizens  of  that  State  are  bound  by  the  law  of  God  to  con- 
tinue loyal  to  their  State  and  obedient  to  its  laws.  The  paper 
adoped  by  the  Assembly,  virtually  declares,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  allegiance  of  the  citizens  is  due  to  the  United  States, 
anything  in  the  Constitution,  or  ordinances,  or  laws  of  the  sev- 
eral States,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.     In  adopting  this 


11 

paper,  therefore,  the  AssemLly  does  decide  the  great  politieal 
question  which  agitates  and  divides  the  country.  The  question 
is,  whether  the  allegiance  of  our  citizens  is  primarily  to  tlie 
State  or  to  the  Union.  However  clear  our  own  convictions  of 
the  correctness  of  this  decision  may  he,  or  however  deeply  we 
may  be  impressed  with  its  importance,  yet,  it  is  not  a  question 
which  this  Assembly  has  a  right  to  decide.  A  man  may  con- 
scientiously believe  that  he  owes  allegiance  to  one  Government  or 
another,  and  yet  possess  all  the  qualifications  which  the  word  of 
God  or  the  Standards  of  the  Churcli  authorize  us  to  demand 
in  our  members  or  ministers.  It  is  the  allegiance  of  the  Old 
School  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  Constitution,  the  Union  and 
the  Federal  Government,  which  this  paper  is  intended  to  pro- 
fess and  proclaim.  It  does,  therefore,  of  necessity,  decide  the 
political  question  which  agitates  the  country.  It  pronounces 
or  assumes  a  particular  interpretation  of  the  Constitution. 
This  is  a  matter  clearly  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Assembly. 
That  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  the  premises,  does  not  only 
decide  the  political  question  referred  to,  but  makes  that  decision 
a  term  of  membership  171  our  Churchy  is  no  less  clear.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  in  thus  deciding  a  political  question,  and  in 
making  that  decision,  practically  a  condition  of  membership 
to  the  Church,  has,  in  our  judgment,  violated  the  constitution 
of  the  Church  and  usurped  the  prerogative  of  its  Divine  Master. 
We  protest  loudly  against  the  action  of  the  Assembly,  because 
is  is  a  departure  from  all  its  previous  actions.  *  The  General 
Assembly  has  always  acted  on  the  principle,  that  the  Church 
has  no  right  to  make  anything  a  condition  of  Christian  or  min- 
isterial fellowship  which  is  not  enjoined  or  required  in  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  and  the /S'/!a?ic?arc?s  o/"^/ie  (7/mrc7i.  *  *  *  We 
have  at  one  time  resisted  the  popular  demand,  to  make  total 
abstinence  from  intoxicating  liquors  a  term  of  membership 
at  another  time  the  holding  of  slaves.  In  firmly  resisting  these 
unscriptural  demands,  we  have  preserved  the  integrity  and 
unity  of  the  Church — made  it  the  great  conservative  power  of 
truth,    moderation,  and  liberty  of  conscience  in  our  country. 

*Dr.  Backus,  in  liis  recent  deliverance,  attempted  to  pi'ove  by  reading  from  the 
Index  of  Subjects  in  the  Digest,  that  tlie  General  Assembly  had  always  handled  civ- 
il and  secular  subjects— a  direct  contradiction  to  what  he  here  afHrnis. 


12 

The  assembly  has  now  descended  from  this  high  position, 
in  making  apolitical  opinion,  a  particular  theory  of  the  consti- 
tution, however  correct  and  important  that  theory  may  be, 
the  condition  of  membership  in  our  body,  and  thus  we  fear,  en- 
dangered the  unity  of  the  Church.  *  *  We  regard  the  action  of 
the  Assembly  as  unjust  and  cruel  in  its  bearing  on  our  Southern 
brethren,  and  finally,  we  protest,  because  we  believe  the  act  of 
the  Assembly  will  *  *  *  greatly  weaken  the  power  of  the 
church  for  good,  and  expose  it  to  the  danger  of  being  carried 
away  more  and  more  from  its  true  principles  by  a  worldly  or 
fanatical  spirit." 

Oh  !  how  sadl}^  has  all  this  been  verified  in  the  last  five  years 
of  the  Church's  history,  and  especially  by  the  Assembly  that 
has  just  closed. 

Such  were  the  views  of  Dr.  Hodge  and  some  sixty  members 
of  the  Assembly  as  embraced  in  this  protest.  The  Synod  of 
Kentucky,  under  the  lead  of  Drs.  R.  J,  Breckinridge  and  E.  P. 
Humphrey,  unanimously  voted  that  this  act  was  both  uncon- 
stitutional and  unscriptural,  and  expressed  its  grave  disappro- 
bation of  it.  In  connection  with  this  protest  I  will  quote  from 
the  address "  of  the  Greneral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  Southern  States,  which  met  in  December,  1861, 
which  states  the  grounds  of  their  separation  from  the  North- 
ern Assembly.  They  positively  affirm  that  the  chief  ground 
of  their  separation  was  the  unscriptural  and  unconstitutional 
assumption  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly,  in  deciding 
civil  and  political  questions.  After  unanimously  adopting  the 
same  confession  of  faith,  the  same  form  of  government  and  of 
worship,  which  are  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States,  they  were  completely  organized  under 
the  style  and  title  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Confed- 
erate States  of  America,  which  they  have  changed  since  the 
restoration  of  the  Union  to  the  name  of  the  G-eneral  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States. — 
Their  language  is,  "  The  first  thing  which  roused  our 
Presbyteries  to  look  the  question  of  separation  seriously  in 
the   face,    was    the    action    of   the   Assembly   in    venturing 


13 

to  determine  as  a  Court  of  Jesus  Christ,  wliicli  it  did 
by  necessary  implication,  the  true  interpretation  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  as  to  the  kind  of  government  it 
intended  to  form.  A  political  theory  was  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  propounded  which  made  secession  a  crime,  the  seced- 
ing States  rebellious  and  the  citizens  who  obeyed  them  traitors. 
We  say  nothing  here  as  to  the  righteousness  or  unrighteous- 
ness of  these  decrees.  What  we  maintain  is,  that  whether 
right  or  wrong,  the  Church  had  no  right  to  make  them — she 
transcended  her  sphere  and  usurped  the  duties  of  the  State." 
"  The  only  conceivable  condition  upon  which  the  Church  of 
the  North  and  the  South  could  remain  together  as  one  body 
with  any  prospect  of  success,  is  the  rigorous  exclusion  of  the 
questions  and  passions  of  the  forum  from  its  halls  of  debate." 
"Had  these  principles  been  steadily  maintained  by  the 
Assembly  at  Philadelphia,"  (viz:  the  exclusion  of  political 
theories  and  questions)  "  it  is  possible  that  the  ecclesiastical 
separation  of  the  North  and  the  South  might  have  been  de- 
ferred for  years  to  come.  Our  Presbyteries,  many  of  them, 
clung  with  tenderness  to  the  recollections  of  the  past.  Sacred 
memories  gathered  around  that  venerable  Church"  which  had 
breasted  many  a  storm  and  trained  our  fathers  for  glory.  It 
had  always  been  distinguished  for  its  conservative  influence, 
and  many  fondly  believed  that  even  in  the  present  emergency 
it  would  raise  its  placid  and  serene  head  above  the  angry  bil- 
lows that  rolled  at  its  feet."  "  We  expected  to  see  it  bow  in 
reverence  only  to  the  name  of  Jesus."  "It  was  ardently 
desired  that  the  sublime  spectacle  might  be  presented 
of  one  Church  upon  earth,  combining  in  cordial  fellowship  and 
holy  love,  the  Disciples  of  Jesus  in  different  and  even  in  hos- 
tile lands."  "  But  alas  for  the  weakness  of  man,  these  golden 
visions  were  soon  dispelled."  You  remember,  my  brethren, 
the  sad  history.  The  Northern  Assembly  at  Jirst  refused  to 
consider  the  subject,  but  she  was  driven  from  her  ancient 
moorings  by  the  outside  clamor,  and  was  tossed  to  and  fro  by 
the  waves  of  popular  passion.  That  ivas  her  first  fatal  step. 
Like  Pilate,  these  ministers  and  elders  obeyed  the  clamor  of 


14 

the  multitude,  and  the  door  was  thrown  wide  open  for  the 
discussion  of  those  exciting  subjects  which  belong  to  the  forum 
and  the  hustings,  but  which  are  unlawful  in  the  Assemblies  of 
the  Church  which  meet  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  by  his  au- 
thority to  transact  the  business  which  belongs  to  his  spiritual 
Kingdom  ;  and  from  that  time  until  now  the  highest  Court  of 
the  Church  has  been  the  arena  for  the  manifestation  of  the 
most  bitter  and  vindictive  feelings  towards  many  of  God's 
chosen  people.  The  tide  of  worldly  passions  and  partizan 
feelings  was  let  in,  and  it  has  continued  to  increase  until  our 
once  noble  and  venerable  Cliurcli  has  been  well  nigh  wrecked 
and  ruined.  The  Southern  Assembly  goes  on  to  state,  "  We 
have  separated  for  the  sake  of  peace,  for  ChristJan  charity,  for  the 
honor  of  the  Church  and  the  glory  of  God.  We  leave  with 
the  humble  consciousness  that  we  have  never  given  occasion  to 
break  the  peace.  We  have  neve?^  confounded  Coesar  with  Christ, 
and  we  have  never  mix^d  the  issues  of  this  world  ivith  the 
iveighty  matters  that  properly  belong  to  us  as  citizens  of  the  King- 
dom of  God. ' ' 

The  spirit  of  the  whole  address  is  truly  Christian,  and  I 
think  no  candid  mind  that  will  examine  the  subject  can  hes- 
itate for  a  moment  in  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Not  th- 
em Assembly  is  responsible  for  the  original  separation  and 
for  its  present  continuance.  Doubtless  in  the  course  of  the 
last  five  or  six  years,  many  wrong  things  have  been  said  and 
done  on  both  sides,  but  truth  and  justice  constrain  me  to  say, 
that  so  far  as  I  have  read  (and  I  have  kept  myself  well  in- 
formed on  these  subjects),  I  have  seen  neither  in  the  speeches 
or  in  the  deliverances  of  the  Southern  Assembly,  nothing  of 
that  spirit  of  rancor  and  bitterness  which  has  been  so  largely 
and  constantly  exhibited  in  the  discussions,  deliverances  and 
actions  of  the  Northern  Assembly.  Great  as  have  been  the 
causes  of  irritation  on  their  part,  much  as  they  have  been 
misrepresented  and  traduced,  they  have  barely  alluded  to  the 
acts  of  the  Northern  Assembly.  This  was  emphatically  so  in 
their  last  Assembly  at  Macon,  Ga.,  after  the  extreme  and 
radical  action  of  the  Northern  Assembly  of  1865.     Concerning 


i 


15 

the  doings  of  this  Assembly  (Macon)  I  speak  with  perfect 
confidence,  because  I  have  recently  reviewed  their  proceedings. 
They  have  refrained  from  mingling  political  with  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  and  certainly  have  not  allowed  the  Church  to  be  used 
as  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  worldly  politicians  to  advance 
the  interest  of  any  political  party.*  Two  distinguished  minis- 
ters who  were  present  at  all  their  meetings,  have  assured  me 
that  at  no  time  did  they  hear  politics  or  military  measures 
discussed.  In  confirmation  of  this  I  publish  the  following  let- 
ter from  the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  T.  Baird^  who  was  present  at  all  the 

meetings  of  the  Southern  Assembly: 

Baltimore,  June,  1866. 
Rev.  J.  J.  Bulloch,  D.  B., 

Dear  Sir  :  In  answer  to  your  request  I  beg  to  state  tliat  our  General  As- 
sembly never  adopted  any  paper  declaring  allegiance  to  any  civil  government, 
nor  laying  down  any  political  principles,  nor  was  there  ever  any  political 
discussion  had  or  political  speech  delivered  in  the  Assembly. 

At  Montgomery,  in  May,  1862,  the  narrative  embraces  a  paragraph  on  the 
relation  which  our  Church  sustained  to  the  struggle,  detailing  the  facts  as 
to  the  eifects  which  the  war  was  having  on  our  Church,  and  in  it  the  state- 
ment occurs  that  the  people  considered  the  principles  of  both  civil  and  relig- 
ious liberty  to  be  involved.  But  there  is  no  declaration  of  political  princi- 
ples, but  simply  a  record  of  facts  of  the  actual  posture  of  affairs,  and  of  the  state 
of  feeling  and  conviction  among  us.     This  paper  was  adopted  without  debate. 

In  1864,  at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  the  narrative  of  the  state  of  religion  declares 
it  to  be  the  special  mission  of  our  Church  "  to  conserve  the  institution  of 
slavery  and  make  it  a  bleesiog  to  the  master  and  the  slave,"  and  then  pro- 
ceeds to  speak  of  the  religious  care  of  our  slaves.  The  word  conserve  was 
used  in  its  ordinary  meaning.  A  conservative  is  one  who  has  great  princi- 
ples to  maintain  and  defend.  To  conserve  the  institution  of  slavery  is  to  place 
it  on  its  right  scriptural  basis,  and  to  defend  it  against  the  assaults  of 
infidel  abolititionism  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  equally  infidel  defense  of  it 
by  the  Nott  and  Gliddon  school  of  ethnologists  on  the  other  hand.  The  As- 
sembly meant  to  assert  it  to  be  the  duty  of  our  Church  to  labor  to  place  it  in 
its  normal  relatiuns  so  as  to  make  it  a  blessing  to  both  parties.  From  the 
beginning  the  Assembly  felt  this  to  be  its  special  mission.  Hence  at  the 
first  meeting,  an  address  was  adopted,  prepared  by  I)r.  C.  C.  Jones,  and 
widely  circulated  in  the  newspapers  and  in  tract  form,  on  the  subject  of 
religious  instruction  of  our  servants.  Also  a  committee  was  then  appointed 
to  prepare  a  pastoral  letter  to  our  people  on  the  subject  of  slavery  and  the 
proper  treatment  of  slaves.  This  subject  was  still  before  the  Assembly  ;  and 
at  the  adoption  of  the  narrative  just  quoted  from,  there  was  actually  before 

*See  Extracts  from  this  Address  in  the  Appendix. 


16 

the  Assembly  three  papers  on  the  general  subject :  1st.  The  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Slavery  and  the  treatment  of  slaves.  2nd.  A  paper  on  the  manner 
of  imparting  religious  instruction  to  our  servants  ;  and  3d.,  An  overture  on 
the  subject  of  licensing  colored  men  to  preach.  It  was  to  this  great  mission 
which  the  Church  had  undertaken,  allusion  was  made  in  the  language  to 
which  exception  has  been  taken,  and  which  has  been  so  strangely  misrepre- 
sented. Very  truly, 

E.  T.  BAIRD. 

I  will  now  call  your  attention  to  the  action  of  the  North- 
ern Assembly  of  1862.  Speaking  of  the  war  and  its  concomi- 
tants, they  say  "  all  this  has  been  brought  to  pass  in  a  disloy- 
al and  traitorous  attempt  to  overthrow  the  National  Govern- 
ment, by  military  force,  and  to  divide  the  nation  contrary  to 
the  wishes  of  the  immense  majority  of  the  people  of  the  nation, 
and  without  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  majority  of  the  people 
in  whom  the  local  sovereignty  resided,  even  in  the  states  which 
revolted,  ever  authorized  any  such  proceeding  or  ever  approved 
the  fraud  and  violence  by  which  this  horrible  treason  has  achieved 
whatever  success  it  has  had.  This  whole  treason,  rebellion, 
anarchy,  fraud  and  violence,  is  entirely  contrary  to  the  dic- 
tates of  natural  religion  and  morality,  and  is  plainly  condemur- 
ed  by  the  revealed  will  of  God.  It  is  the  dear  and  solemn  duty 
of  the  National  Government  to  preserve  at  whatever  cost,  the 
National  Union  and  Constitution^  to  maintain  the  laivs  in  their  su- 
premacy, TO  CRUSH  FORCE  BY  FORCE,  and  to  rcstorc  the  reign  of 
public  order  and  peace  to  the  entire  nation,  by  whatever  law- 
ful means  that  are  necessary  thereunto,  and  it  is  the  bound- 
en  duty  of  the  people  who  compose  this  great  nation,  each  one 
in  his  several  place  and  degree,  to  uphold  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, and  every  State  Government  and  all  persons  in  au- 
thority, whether  civil  or  military,  in  all  their  lawful  and  prop- 
er acts  unto  the  end  herein  before  set  forth."  Ayes  206,  Nays 
20.  This  action  undertakes  to  direct  or  dictate  the  Civil 
Government  in  reference  to  its  civil  and  military  policy,  and 
to  declare  "  loyalty"  in  common  with  orthodoxy  and  piety,  an 
attribute  of  the  Church  and  its  courts.  It  enjoins  upon  the 
Government  to  preserve  at  whatever  cost,  the  National  Union, 
AND  to  crush  force  BY  FORCE.     A  Churcli-court  is  Fiot  authorised 


17 

either  by  the  word  of  God  or  the  Constitution  of  the  Church, 
or  by  special  inspiration  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of 
Christ  to  give  any  such  counsel. 

The  Church  owes  no  allegiance  to  the  State — she  owes  alle- 
giance only  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — his  Kingdom  is  tlie 
only  Kingdom  she  is  bound  to  uphold, — hence  she  can  be  loyal 
only  to  her  own  King,  The  citizen  owes  allegiance  to  the 
State,  and  is  bound  to  uphold  and  maintain  the  civil  govern- 
ment under  which  he  lives.  As  a  commentary  upon  the  mean- 
ing of  this  action,  I  will  quote  the  language  u!^d  in  a  speech 
made  by  the  author  of  the  j^aper,  while  it  was  before  the  As- 
sembly. Said  this  able  divine  in  his  speech  at  Pike's  Opera  House 
in  Cincinnati  : 

"  The  war  ought,  therefore,  to  be  pushed  with  all  our  force 
and  t6  the  last  extremity.  We  ought  not  to  falter  or  turn  back 
until  the  work  is  accomplished,  whatever  may  be  the  time  re- 
quired or  the  expense  in  blood  and  treasure  incurred.  Better 
everything  be  put  back  to  the  times  of  Plymouth  Rock  and 
Jamestown,  and  the  thirty  or  forty  families  that  composed 
those  feeble  colonies,  than  this  damnable  rebellion  be  permit- 
ted to  succeed."  So  perfectly  wild  and  reckless  are  the  views 
of  many  of  the  clergy,  which  have  been  foremost  in  dragging 
the  Church  of  Christ  into  the  contest  that  they  have  elevated 
the  Union  into  something  divine  and  immutable,  to  which  they 
feel  bound  to  sacrifice  all  who  would  not  yield  the  most  abject 
submission.  They  have  lost  all  calmness  of  thought,  patience 
of  investigation,  breadth  of  charity,  and  comprehension  of  re- 
sults ;  they  forget  that  governments  were  ordained  of  God  for 
the  good  of  men,  and  not  that  men  were  made  for  governments, 
and  that  no  form  of  government  that  ever  existed  was  of  such 
dignity  and  value  that  the  extermination  of  a  whole  peoj^le 
could  be  justified  to  perpetuate  it.  People  are  essential  to  the 
existence  of  a  nation,  but  no  particular  form  of  government  is 
necessary  for  a  people.  Men  have  lived  under  various  forms  of 
government  and  have  often  changed  them  or  modified  them  to 
suit  their  pleasure. 

By  this  deliverance  and  the  deliverances  of  subsaquent  as- 
2 


18 

semblieSj  the  Church  of  Christ  was  dragged  out  of  her  appro- 
priate sphere,  and  was  made  a  party  to  the  war  that  was  rage- 
ing  in  the  land,  and  the  proceedings  of  her  Courts  were  char- 
acterized by  a  worldly,  fierce  and  persecuting  spirit.  The  as- 
sembly formally  declared  what  was  the  clear  and  solemn  duty 
of  the  United  States  Government,  prescribing  and  dictating  to 
the  civil  government  a  bloody  policy,  usurping  the  powers  of 
the  civil  tribunals.  They  solemnly  declared  in  the  name  and 
by  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  certain  office 
bearers  and  members  of  the  Church  who,  although  citizens  of 
loyal  States,  arra  subject  to  the  control  of  loyal  Presbyteries  and 
Synods,  have  been  faithless  to  all  authority,  human  and  divine, 
to  which  they  owed  subjection,  and  yet  these  persons  stood 
"  recti  in  ecclesia  et  curia,"  uncondemned  and  unaccused  by  any 
civil  or  ecclesiastical  tribunal,  a  strong  invitation  to  the  military 
authorities  to  interfere,  and  dispose  of  these  dangerous  breth- 
ren which  was  speedily  accepted  by  them,  especially  in  Kentucky 
and  Missouri,  and  which  would  also  have  been  done  in  Balti- 
more, but  for  the  protecting  arm  of  the  late  President. 

The  actions  of  1863  reaffirmed  the  action  of  1861  and  1862, 
and  as  a  testimonial  of  their  loyalty  the  General  Assembly 
raised  the  flag  of  the  United  States  over  the  building  in  which 
they  sat.  It  was  a  significant  act  indicative  of  the  voluntary 
subjection  of  the   church  of  Christ  to  Cassar, 

[Inasmuch  as  the  truth  of  this  statement  has  been  publicly 
denied  by  Drs.  Backus  and  Smith,  I  will  establish  it  from  the 
published  minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  '63  : 

"  Ruling  Elder  T.  H.  Nevin  moved  that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed 
"  to  cause  the  National  flag  to  be  raised  over  the  Church  edifice  in  which  the 
"  Assembly  is  met.-" 

"  On  a  motion  to  lay  this  motion  on  the  table  the  ayes  aod  noes  were  called 
''  with  the  following  result:  "ayes  93,  noes  130."  So  the  motion  to  lay  upon 
"  the  table  was  lost." 

"  The  Rev.  R.  A.  Delancey  moved  to  refer  the  motion  of  Mr.  Nevin  to  the 
"  Trustees  of  the  Church,  to  do  as  they  please." 

"  Dr.  J.  M.  Lowrie  moved  that  this  whole  subject  be  referred  to  a  committee 
of  seven  ;"  "  and  the  resolution  of  Dr.  Lowrie  carried  "  (see  Minutes,  p.  26-27.  j 

The  above  action  was  takeu  on  Wednesday  afternoon ;  on  the  following 


19 

Monday  morning  the  report  of  the  committee  -was  presented  and  amended, 
and  is  as  follows:  "Your  committee  believe  that  the  design  of  the  mover  of 
"  the  original  resolution  and  of  the  large  majority,  who  apparently  are  ready 
"  to  vote  for  its  adoption,  is  simply  to  call  forth  from  the  Assembly  a  signifi- 
cant token  of  our  sympathy  with  the  Government," 

"  and  recommend  that,  as  the  trustees  of  this  Church,  have  displayed  from 
"  this  edifice  the  American  flag,  the  symbol  of  national  protection,  unity  and 
**  the  particular  action  contemplated  in  the  original  resolution,  be  no  further 
"  urged  upon  the  attention  of  this  body."  Adopted  by  180  ayes  to  1  noes. 
N.  B. — The  Assembly  had  previously  refused  to  leave  the  matter  to  the 
pleasure  of  the  Trustees.] 

They  declared  their  unqualified  condemnation  of  the  rebel- 
lion and  say  :  "We  believe  God  has  afforded  us  ample  resources 
to  suppress  the  rebellion,"  &c.  What  has  the  Church  of  Christ, 
as  such,  to  do  with  crushing  rebellions  by  force  of  arms  ? 

The  weapons  of  her  warfare  are  not  carnal  but  spiritual. 
Surely  that  belongs  to  the  province  of  the  State.  Against  this 
deliverance  of  the  Assembly,  which  fully  endorsed  the  deliver- 
ances of  1861  and  1862,  and  which  was  voted  for  by  the  four 
(4)  commissioners  from  this  Presbytery,  (Messrs.  Hays  and  Gal- 
braith,  Ministers,  and  Sterling  and  J.  W.  Brown,  Elders,)  I 
desired  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  to  express  its  disapproval 
at  its  meeting  in  June.  I  therefore  offered  the  following  paper, 
which  was  seconded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lefevre : 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  for  three 
consecutive  years,  made  deliverances  on  the  state  of  the  country,  wherein 
they  have  undertaken  to  decide  matters  civil  and  political,  contrary  to  the- 
constitution  of  the  Church,  and  also  to  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ;  in  the  last  of  which  deliverances,  the  commissioners  from  this 
Presbytery  concurred  ;  and  whereas  the  Synod  of  Baltimore,  with  which  this 
Presbytery  is  connected,  has  made  a  similar  deliverance;  therefore, 

Eesolved,  That  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Presbytery  that  these  spiritual 
courts,  in  making  these  deliverances,  have  departed  from  their  appropriate 
sphere  of  action,  as  decided  by  the  Church's  Constitution  and  the  word  of 
God  ;  and  therefore,  acting  under  a  solemn  sense  of  our  responsibility  to  God 
and  His  Church,  in  the  exercise  of  that  Christian  liberty  which  is  guaran~ 
teed  to  us  by  our  Divine  head,  and  our  ecclesiastical  constitution,  we  respect- 
fully, but  formally,  protest  against  the  aforementioned  action,  believing  it  to 
be  not  only  unconstitutional,  but  also  of  dangerous  tendency  to  the  purity, 
spirituality  and  peace  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.     While  we  express  no 


20 

opinion  on  the  policy  of  the  civil  .government,  we  emphatically  deny  the  right 
of  the  Church,  the  Lamb's  wife,  to  usurp  the  throne  of  Ccesar,  to  gird  on  the 
bloody  sword,  and  counsel  force  to  compel  subjection  to  any  earthly  or  heav- 
enly power.  The  Master  and  His  inspired  Apostles  set  no  such  example — 
taught  no  such  lessons.  He  declared  Himself  to  be  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and 
persistently  declined  all  interference  by  act  or  advice,  with  all  matters,  secu- 
lar and  civil,  saying:  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  Says  Paul:  "The 
weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  spiritual,  and  mighty  through 
God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds."  In  the  name  of  our  Divine  head 
and  only  lawgiver,  and  from  sincere  love  to  His  holy  cause,  we  deny  the 
right  of  any  body  of  men  acting  as  a  Church  of  God,  professing  to  speak  in 
His  name  and  by  His  authority,  to  counsel  violence  and  war,  and  to  identify 
His  kingdom  with  any  earthly  Power  or  Government,  however  excellent  or 
beneficent  it  may  be.  Especially  do  we  deny  the  right  of  any  Presbyterian 
Judicatory  so  to  do  ;  for  the  language  of  our  constitution  is  perfectly  explicit. 
Chapter  31  and  sec.  4th:  "Synods  and  councils  are  to  handle  and  conclude 
nothing,  but  that  which  is  ecclesiastical,  and  are  not  to  intermeddle  with 
civil  affairs  which  concern  the  Commonwealth,  unless  by  way  of  humble 
petition  in  cases  extraordinary,  or  by  way  of  advice  for  satisfaction  of  con- 
science, if  they  be  thereunto  required  by  the  civil  magistrates."  Through- 
out the  Scriptures  we  look  in  vain,  for  any  warrant  fcr  the  Church  of  God  in 
its  organized  form,  to  counsel  force  or  war,  at  any  time,  or  under  any  circum- 
stances. This  is  a  matter  which  belongs  exclusively  to  the  civil  Government — 
that  other  and  co-ordinate  ordinal. ce  of  God  in  the  world  for  the  welfiire  of 
man.  The  Church  is  out  of  her  appointed  sphere,  and  is  guilty  of  a  grievous 
sin — yea,  of  apostacy,  "g?/o  ad  lioc," — when  she  substitutes  "the  call  to 
arms"  for  "the  call  to  Jesus."  The  Church  of  Christ  was  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  perpetuating  the  Gospel  throughout  the  world  and  to  the  end  of 
time.  "Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  ob- 
serve all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you;  and  lo!  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  is  the  full  extent  of  the  Divine 
commission  under  which  she  acts.  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  on  earth 
peace  and  good  will  to  men,"  was  the  song  of  the  angels  that  heralded  the 
birth  of  Christ.  The  vital  and  distinguishing  principle  of  His  spiritual 
kingdom  is  love,  which  subordinates  everything  to  itself.  Its  conquests  are 
the  conquests  of  love.  Its  ministers,  as  such,  are  not  allowed  to  bear  the 
sword,  or  to  counsel  its  use.  They  go  forth  under  a  Divine  commission  and 
under  the  all-conquering  power  of  love  and  faith,  as  lambs  in  the  midst  of 
wolves,  with  messages  of  mercy  and  peace  to  the  guilty  and  miserable  of 
our  race;  and  it  is  an  unseemly  spectacle  and  a  frightful  departure  from  the 
example  of  Our  Lord  and  His  inspired  Apostles,  from  the  teachings  of  Scrip- 
ture and  the  whole  tone  and  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  for  the  Church,  to  whom 
,  only  the  ^rj/shave  been  given  by  her  Divine  Head,  as  a  symbol  of  her  power, 


21 

to  grasp  also  the  stoord,  which  belongs  exclusively  to  the  State.  Such  confu- 
sion of  the  proper  spheres  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  courts,  can  only  be  to 
both  Church  and  State,  "a  savor  of  death  unto  death."  When  we  hear  the 
voice  and  see  the  footprints  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  we  will  hearken  and  follow — 
but  when  we  hear  the  voice  of  a  stranger,  speaking  in  strange  accents,  no 
matter  in  what  form  or  whence  it  may  come,  though  it  may  presume  to  speak 
in  the  Master's  name  and  by  His  authority,  if  it  be  alien  from  His  spirit  and 
His  words,  W2  cannot  hear  it.  With  a  deep  impression  of  the  responsibility 
which  rests  upon  us,  and  expecting  to  answer  before  that  tribunal  from 
which  none  can  escape,  and  whose  authority  none  can  usurp  or  defy,  thia 
Presbytery  records  its  solemn  protest  and  remonstrance  against  the  aforesaid 
action  of  the  General  Assembly  and  of  the  Synod  of  Baltimore;  and  its  dis- 
approval of  the  support  which  its  commissioners  to  the  last  Assembly  gave 
to  that  action,  believing  as  we  do,  that  it  is  at  variance  with  the  true  nature 
and  functions  of  the  Church  as  taught  in  the  word  of  God,  and  also  in  our 
standards,  and  with  the  spirit  of  our  holy  religion,  and  deeply  injurious  to 
the  cause  of  Christ  and  the  interests  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  For  it  is 
our  firm  conviction,  corroborated  by  the  tone  of  the  secular  press,  by  speeches 
of  many  representative  men,  and  by  the  action  of  the  civil  Government 
in  refusing  to  exempt  the  clergy  from  military  service,  that  the  prostitution 
of  the  pulpit  to  political  uses,  and  the  fierce  deliverances  of  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  have  had  a  powerful  tendency  to  destroy  the  reverence,  respect  and 
confidence  of  worldly  men  in  the  Christian  ministry,  and  have  had  a  disas- 
trous effect  upon  the  cause  of  true  religion.  We  look  with  sadness  and 
shame  upon  the  present  state  of  the  Church,  secularized  beyond  what  we  had 
ever  anticipated,  and  with  gloomy  apprehensions  to  the  future.  If  our 
Church  courts  do  not  i-igidly  exclude,  according  to  the  requirements  of  our 
admirable  constitution,  all  civil  and  political  questions  from  their  delibera- 
tions, there  must  be  an  end  to  harmony  and  peace;  and  they  will  present 
the  mournful  spectacle  of  strife  and  fierce  contention,  and  the  spirit  of  God 
will  take  his  departure  from  these  scenes  of  confusion,  and  leave  the  Church 
shorn  of  her  strength,  a  prey  to  angry  passions,  the  mortification  of  her 
friends,  and  the  derision  of  her  enemies.  Our  prayer  and  our  hope  is,  that 
God  in  the  abundance  of  His  mercy,  will  bring  back  our  Old  School  Presby- 
terian Church,  hitherto  a  mighty  bulwark  of  a  wise  conservatism  and  a 
spiritual  worship,  from  her  strange  wanderings,  and  save  His  cause  and 
kingdom  from  the  evils  and  woes  with  which  they  are  threatened  by  the  ill- 
advised  and  pernicious  counsels  and  deliverances  of  those  who  profess  to 
speak  in  His  name,  and  by  Ilis  authority;  and  that  the  Church  of  our  choice 
and  of  our  fondest  love  may  rise  up  chastened  and  purified,  casting  away  all 
entangling  alliances,  and  enter  with  renewed  energy  and  with  a  holier  love 
in  her  glorious  mission  of  evangelizing  the  country  and  the  world  by  the 
divinely  appointed  method  of  preaching  only  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 


22 

This  paper  on  motion  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Backus,  was  laid  on 
the  table,  which  in  an  ecclesiastical  Court  signifies  rejected. 
And  although  it  was  by  unanimous  consent  or  acquiescence  to 
be  recorded  (for  I  made  the  point  explicitly  when  I  called  for 
the  yeas  and  nays  upon  the  document,  stating  that  unless  that 
call  was  sustained  I  should  protest  against  their  action  and  in- 
corporate the  paper  in  the  protest ;)  yet  at  the  next  regular 
meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  at  which  none  of  us  who  voted 
against  laying  it  on  the  table  were  present,  when  the  clerk  was 
reading  the  minutes  and  commenced  to  read  the  paper,  it  was 
moved  and  unanimously  carried,  that  inasmuch  as  no  formal 
vote  was  passed  to  record  it  that  the  paper,  and  all  proceed- 
ings connected  with  it  be  expunged  from  the  record — and  it 
was  done.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  body  it  was  moved  to 
put  it  back.  Action  was  delayed  until  it  could  be  ascertained 
whether  we  who  voted  for  it,  desired  it  to  be  done.  A 
member  of  the  Presbytery  came  to  see  me  upon  the  subject ; 
my  answer  to  him  was:  ''If  the  Presbytery  could  afford  to 
mutilate  its  record,  we  certainly  were  not  the  party  liurt  by  the 
proceeding."  My  understanding  is  that  they  ordered  it  to  be 
restored.  I  mention  this  simply  to  show  how  utterly  unwil- 
ling this  Presbytery  has  always  been  to  protest  against  these 
deliverances  of  the  General  Assembly,  even  when  we  as  a 
Presbytery  stood  before  the  world  as  approving  them  by  the 
unanimous  action  of  our  Commissioners. 

If  it  should  seem  strange  to  any  that  men  who  joined  in  the 
noble  and  manly  protest  against  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of 
1861,  should  now  be  willing  that  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore, 
including  themselves,  should  lie  under  the  reproach  of  endors- 
ing or  approving  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1863,  and  the 
votes  of  the  Presbytery's  Commissioners  therein,  I  can  only 
relieve  the  perplexity  of  such  by  reminding  them  that  two  of 
the  protestants  of  '61  from  this  Presbytery,  were  also  in  the  As- 
sembly of  '62,  and  not  only  made  no  protest,  but  did  not  join  in 
any  of  the  faithful  protests  tliat  were  made,  satisfying  their 
consciences  with  recording  their  "dissent"  in  feeble  terms, 
against   the  action  of  the  Assembly,  as  '■'inexpedient  and  un- 


23 

necessary.  And  in  1864,  wlieu  the  Commissioners  from  this 
Presbytery  voted  for  the  still  more  extreme  action  of  the  As- 
sembly of  that  year,  these  same  protestants  were  silent ;  and  in 
1865,  contented  themselves  with  a  feeble  expression  of  regret 
that  the  Assembly  of  that  year  had  done  what  they  did,  and 
of  hope  that  their  action  would  be  modified  ;  and  even  from 
this  expression  of  regret,  one  of  the  protestants  of  '61,  Kev. 
Dr.  Dickson,  had  his  dissent  put  upon  the  record.  To  correct 
misapprehension,  I  here  positively  assert  that  the  Presbytery 
of  Baltimore  has  uniformly  refused  to  utter  any  formal  and 
decided  protest  against  the  deliverances  of  the  General  Asssem- 
bly  upon  these  forbidden  subjects. 

I  come  now  to  the  Assembly  of  1864.  It  met  at  Newark,  N. 
J.,  at  a  time  when  the  political  parties,  the  Republican  and 
Democratic,  both  Union,  which  divided  the  country,  were  mar- 
shalling their  forces  for  the  great  Presidential  election  to  take 
place  in  the  Fall.  At  the  head  of  one  party  was  the  then 
President,  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  soon  after  nominated  by  his 
party,  and  General  McClellan  was  the  nominee  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  The  Assembly  endorsed  the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
administration  by  recognizing  it  as  one  of  the  manifest  tokens 
•of  the  will  of  God,  and  by  enjoining  all  ministers  and  mem- 
bers to  labor  diligently  for  its  consummation.  The  Assembly 
ranged  itself  on  the  side  of  the  Republican  party,  not  the  Union, 
for  both  claimed  to  be  for  the  preservation  and  integrity  of  the 
Union,  and  the  consequence  was  that  their  action  was  approved 
by  their  own  party  papers  and  denounced  by  the  Democratic 
papers,  and  many  Presbyterian  ministers  from  their  pulpits, 
instead  of  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  prostituted 
their  sacred  calling  and  became  the  fiercest  of  political  parti- 
sans. '' This  action  of  the  Assembly  (said  Dr.  Van  Dyke  in 
addressing  the  Assembly  in  St.  Louis,)  was  printed  and  circu- 
lated as  a  Republican  campaign  document,  and  a  political 
pamphlet — was  published  in  Philadelphia — in  which,  after 
citing  the  action  of  the  Assembly,  it  was  argued  and  declared 
that  no  old  school  Presbyterian  could  vote  for  General  McClel- 
lan without  rebelling  against  the  Church.     Many  of  the  min- 


24 

isters  who  undertook  faithfully  to  carry  out  the  instructions  of 
the  Assembly,  denounced  the  Democratic  party  in  their  pulpit 
ministrations,  the  effect  of  which  was  to  drive  many  families 
of  that  party  from  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

The  following  is  a  part  of  their  action  : 

'^  Whilst  we  do  not  believe  that  the  present  judgments  of  our 
Heavenly  Father,  and  Almighty  and  Righteous  Governor,  have 
been  inflicted  solely  in  punishment  for  our  continuance  in  ihis 
sin;  yet  it  is  our  judgment  that  the  recent  events  of  our  his- 
tory_,  and  the  present  condition  of  our  Church  and  country,  fur- 
nish manifest  tokens  that  the  time  has  at  length  come,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  when  it  is  his  will  that  eve7"y  vestige  of  human 
slavery  among  us  should  he  effaced,  and  that  every  Christian  man 
should  address  himself  luiih  industry  and  earnestness  to  his  appro- 
priate part  in  the  performance  of  this  great  didy.     *      *      *      * 

"But  the  folly  and  weakness  of  men  have  been  the  illustra- 
tions of  God's  wisdom  and  power.  Under  the  influence  of  the 
most  incomprehensible  infatuation  of  wickedness,  those  who 
were  most  deeply  interested  in  the  perpetuation  of  slavery  have 
taken  away  every  motive  for  its  further  toleration.  The  spirit  of 
American  slavery,  not  content  with  its  defences  to  be  found  in 
the  laws  of  the  States,  the  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, the  prejudices  in  favor  of  existing  institutions,  and  the 
fear  of  change,  has  taken  arms  against  law,  organized  a  bloody 
rebellion  against  the  national  authority,  made  formidable  war 
upon  the  Federal  Union,  and  in  order  to  found  an  empire 
under  the  corner-stone  of  slavery,  threatens  not  only  our  exist- 
ence as  a  people,  but  the  annihilation  of  the  principles  of  free 
Christian  government ;  and  thus  has  rendered  the  continuance 
of  negro  slavery  incompatible  with  the  preservation  of  our 
own  liberty  and  independence. 

''  In  the  struggle  of  the  nation  for  existence  against  this 
powerful  and  wicked  treason,  the  highest  executive  authorities 
have  proclaimed  the  abolition  of  slavery  within  most  of  the 
rebel  States,  and  decreed  its  extinction  by  military  force.  They 
have  enlisted  those  formerly  held  as  slaves  to  be  soldiers  in  the 
national  armies.     They  have  taken  measures  to  organize  the 


25 

labor  of  the  freedmen,  and  instituted  measures  for  tlieir  sup- 
port and  government  in  their  new  condition.  It  is  the  Presi- 
dent's declared  policy  not  to  consent  to  the  reorganization  of 
civil  government  within  the  seceded  States  upon  any  other  basis 
than  that  of  emancipation.  In  the  loyal  States  where  slavery 
has  not  been  abolished,  measures  of  emancipation,  in  different 
stages  of  progress,  have  been  set  on  foot,  and  are  near  their 
consummation  ;  and  propositions  for  an  amendment  to  the 
Federal  Constitution,  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  States  a,nd 
Territories,  are  now  pending  in  the  national  Congress.  So 
that,  in  our  present  situation,  the  interests  of  peace  and  of  so- 
cial order  are  identified  with  the  success  of  the  cause  of  eman- 
cipation. The  difficulties  which  formerly  seemed  insurmount- 
able, in  the  providence  of  God,  appear  now  to  be  almost  re- 
moved. The  most  formidable  remaining  object,  we  think,  will 
be  found  to  be  the  unwillingness  of  the  human  heart  to  see  and 
accept  the  truth  against  the  prejudices  of  habit  and  of  interest ; 
and  to  act  towards  those  who  have  been  heretofore  degraded  as 
slaves,  with  the  charity  of  Christian  principle  in  the  necessary 
efforts  to  improve  and  elevate  them. 

"  In  view,  therefore,  of  its  former  testimonies  upon  the  sub- 
ject, the  General  Assembly  does  hereby  devoutly  express  its 
gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for  having  overruled  the  wicked- 
ness and  calamities  of  the  rebellion  so  as  to  work  out  the  deliv- 
erance of  our  country  from  the  evil  and  guilt  of  slavery ;  its 
earnest  desire  for  the  extirpation  of  slavery,  as  the  root  of 
bitterness  from  which  has  sprung  rebellion,  war  and  blood- 
shed, and  the  long  list  of  horrors  that  follow  in  their  train." 

This  action  was  disingenuous  in  that  it  does  not  quote  fair- 
ly from  former  utterances  upon  the  same  subject.  It  omits  alto- 
gether all  reference  to  the  uniform  and  important  declaration 
contained  in  its  previous  expression  of  opinion,  that  immediate 
indiscriminate  emancipation  of  the  negro  slaves  among  us  would 
he  unjust  and  injurious  to  both  master  and  slave  and  then  it  leaves 
entirely  unnoticed  the  Act  of  1845,  the  most  full  and  complete 
deliverance  ever  made  by  the  Assembly,  which  is  based  on  the 
word  of  God — and  which  was  made,  be  it  observed,  after  the 


26 

Churcli  had  been  purged  of  the  Neiv  School  party  ;  and  then 
by  suppression  and  perversion,  lays  down  a  new  doctrine  upon 
the  subject  of  slavery,  unknown  to  the  apostolic  and  primitive 
Church.  A  doctrine  which  has  its  origin  in  infidelity  and  fa- 
naticism, a  doctrine  which  the  Presbyterian  Church  had  before 
uniformily  treated  as  a  dangerous  error,  which  the  Assembly 
of  1845  solemnly  declared  they  could  not  sanction,  without 
contradicting  some  of  the  plainest  declarations  of  the  word  of 
God,"  and  charging  the  Apostles  of  Christ  loith  conniving  at  sin, 
introducing  into  the  Church  such  sinners  and  thus  bring  upon 
them  the  curse  of  the  Almighty,  ''and  further,  that  Assembly  of 
1845  declared  that  should  they  affirm  the  doctrine  luhich  the  As- 
sembly o/'1864  did  affirm,  it  would  be  "to  dissolve  itself"  and  to 
abandon  the  organization  under  which  by  the  divine  blessing  it  had 
so  long  prospered."  The  Assembly  o/"1865  not  merely  reaffirmed 
these  new  doctrines,  but  required  a  cordial  belief  and  approba- 
tion OF  THEM  as  a  CONDITION  OP  MEMBERSHIP  IN  THE  CHURCH  AND 
OF  THE  EXERCISE  OF    THE  OFFICIAL  FUNCTIONS    OF  THE  MINISTRY. 

The  following  is  the  action  of  1845  : 

"The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  spiritual  body,  whose  jurisdic- 
tion extends  to  the  religious  faith  and  moral  conduct  of  her 
members.  She  cannot  legislate,  where  Christ  has  not  legis- 
lated, nor  make  terms  of  membership  which  he  has  not  made. 
The  question,  therefore,  which  this  Assembly  is  called  to  de- 
cide is  this  :  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  that  the  holding  of  slaves, 
without  regard  to  circumstances,  is  a  sin,  the  renunciation  of 
which  should  be  made  a  condition  of  membership  in  the  Church 
of  Christ  ? 

"It  is  impossible  to  answer  this  question  in  the  afiSrmative, 
without  contradicting  some  of  the  plainest  declarations  of  the 
word  of  God.  That  slavery  existed  in  the  days  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  is  an  admitted  fact.  That  they  did  not  denounce 
the  relation  itself  as  sinful,  as  inconsistent  with  Christianity; 
that  slaveholders  were  admitted  to  membership  in  the  churches 
organized  by  the  apostles  ;  that  whilst  they  were  required  to  treat 
their  slaves  with  kindness,  and  as  rational,  accountable  immortal 
beings,  and,  if  Christians,  as  brethren  in  the  Lord,  they  were  not 


27 

commauded  to  emancipate  them  ;  that  slaves  were  required  to 
be  'obedient  to  their  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear 
and  trembling,  with  singleness  of  heart  as  unto  Christ,'  are 
facts  which  meet  the  eye  of  every  reader  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. This  Assembly  cannot,  therefore,  denounce  the  holding 
of  slaves  as  necessarily  a  heinous  and  scandalous  sin,  calculated 
to  bring  upon  the  Church  the  curse  of  God,  without  charging 
the  apostles  of  Christ  with  conniving  at  sin,  introducing  into 
the  Church  such  sinners,  and  thus  bringing  upon  them  the  curse 
of  the  Almighty.         *         *  *  *         *         *         * 

"  The  Assembly  intend  simply  to  say,  that  since  Chiist  and 
his  inspired  apostles  did  not  make  the  holding  of  slaves  a  bar 
to  communion,  we,  as  a  court  of  Christ,  have  no  authority  to 
do  so  ;  since  they  did  not  attempt  to  remove  it  from  the  Church 
by  legislation,  we  have  no  authority  to  legislate  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

Besolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  was  originally  organized,  and  has  since  continued  the  bond  of 
union  in  the  Church,  upon  the  conceded  principle  that  the  existence  of  do- 
mestic slavery,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  it  is  found  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  country,  is  no  bar  to  Christian  communion. 

2.  That  the  petitions  that  ask  the  Assembly  to  make  the  holding  of  slaves  in 
itself  a  matter  of  discipline,  do  virtually  require  this  jndicatori/  to  dissolve  itself, 
and  abandon  the  organization,  under  which,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  it  has  so  long 
prospered.  The  tendency  is  evidently  to  separate  the  northern  from  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Church  ;  a  result  which  every  good  citizen  must  de- 
plore, as  tending  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  of  our  beloved  country,  and 
which  every  enlightened  Christian  will  oppose  as  bringing  about  a  ruinous  and 
unnecessary  schism  between  brethren  who  maintain  a  common  faith. 

The  yeas  and  nays  being  ordered,  were  recorded.  [Yeas  168, 
nays  13,  excused  4.] — Minutes,  1845,  pp.  16-18. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  their  letter  to  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland  : 

''Our  modes  of  thinking  in  this  country  have  not  been 
moulded  by  anything  like  a  civil  establishment  of  religion  ;  by 
any  such  connexion  of  Church  and  State  as  induces  reciprocal  leg- 
islation between  the  civil  and  the  ecclesiastical  commonwealth. 
The  State  never  interferes  with  us  as  a  Church,  either  to  cherish 
our  doctrines  or  to  control  our  privileges  ;  and  she  expects  in  re- 


28 

turn  that  we  meddle  not  with  her  civil  and  domestic  regula- 
tions— one  of"  which  is  slavery.  Every  man  in  the  Church  here 
has  a  political  right  and  power.  As  a  citizen,  he  has  the  ut- 
most op2:)ortunity  for  contending  against  every  social,  civil, 
moral  wrong,  which  the  institutions  of  this  country  may  or- 
dain or  allow.  But,  as  a  member  of  the  Church,  he  belongs 
to  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world,  that  has  always  been  prospered 
in  the  apostolic  and  reforming  times,  by  separation  in  counsel 
from  '  the  powers  that  be,'  and  which,  while  it  fails  not  to  wit- 
ness against  the  sins  of  the  land,  would  rather,  as  in  your  own 
illustrious  example,  resign  even  the  guardianship  of  these 
powers  than  permit  civil  and  spiritual  enactments  either  to 
clash  or  mingle  together.  ***** 

"  We  dare  not  contract  the  bond  of  union  among  brethren 
more  than  Christ  has  contracted  it,  nor  exclude  from  the  pale 
of  our  communion,  members  that  merely  hold  a  relation  which 
Christ  and  his  apostles  did  not  declare,  among  the  many  spe- 
cific declarations  against  prevailing  sins,  to  be  incompatible 
with  Christian  fellowship.  Slavery  existed  then  as  well  as 
now,  with  at  least  equal  atrocity,  and  in  our  opposition  to  its 
evils,  we  desire  to  treat  it  as  they  did,  rather  than  reduce  their 
broad  j)recepts  to  that  minute  kind  of  legislation,  which  engen- 
ders fanaticism,  distracts  and  enfeebles  the  Church,  and  defeats 
the  eventual  triumph  of  the  very  principles  it  proposes  to  en- 
force." 

Extract  from  the  letter  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Ireland : 

''  You  are  strangers,  we  presume,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the 
principal  cause  of  the  aggravations  which  attend  domestic 
slavery  in  this  country,  such  as  the  severity  of  particular  laws 
enacted  in  the  slaveholding  States,  and  the  extreme  sensibility 
with  which  many  of  our  fellow-citizens  there  refuse  to  receive 
advice,  and  entertain  discussion.  That  cause  is  mainly  the 
vehemence  and  fanatical  intolerance,  with  which  many  in  what 
are  called  the  free  States,  urge  on  the  South  instant  abolition 
without  regard  to  circumstances,  consequences,  or  even  war- 
rant from  the  word  of  God  itself." 


29 

.  The  Assembly  of  1865  not  only  claimed  for  itself  the  right  or 
power  to  make  political  deliverances,  but  required  the  inferior 
courts  to  make  them  also  under  the  pain  of  censure  (see  its  ac- 
tion on  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky).  They  approve 
the  records  of  that  Synod  with  two  exceptions  :  1st,  the  action 
of  the  Synod  in  taking  exception  to  the  action  of  the  last 
Assembly  on  slavery, 

2nd.  That  the  Synod  has  wholly  failed  to  make  any  deliver- 
ance during  the  last  year,  calculated  to  sustain  and  encourage 
our  goverment  in  its  efforts  to  suppress  a  most  extensive,  wan- 
ton and  wicked  rebellion,  aiming  at  nothing  short  of  the  life 
of  the  nation." 

3d.  The  General  Assembly  directed  the  Board  of  Domes- 
tic Missions  to  take  prompt  and  effectual  measures  to  restore  and 
build  up  the  Presbyterian  congregations  in  the  Southern  States 
of  this  Union  by  the  appointment  and  support  of  prudent  and 
devoted  missionaries." 

liesolved,  That  none  be  appointed  but  those  who  give 
satisfactory  evidences  of  their  loyalty  to  the  National  Gover- 
ment, and  that  they  are  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United  States  of 
America  in  her  testimony  on  doctrine,  loyalty  and  freedom. 

(See  Minutes,  554,  3d  and  4th  Resolutions.) 

Dr.  Janeway ,  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions, 
has  carried  out  these  orders.  In  proof  of  which,  I  will  give  you 
two  of  his  own  letters  to  ministers  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri. 
His  first  letter  is  in  the  following  words : 

Dear  Sir: 

"  The  General  Assembly  have  enjoined  this  board  to  commission  none  except 
of  loyal  submission  to  the  government,  and  to  the  deliverances  of  the  Church 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  We  are  informed  your  record  is  not  fair,  and  we 
decline  sending  you  a  commission." 

Yours  truly,  Thomas  L.  Janeway. 

And  yet  this  man  positively  affirmed,  "I  am^  and  always 
have  been  a  loyal  man.  With  all  the  vigilance  of  the  military, 
I  have  been  permitted  to  preach  the  Gospel  without  let  or  hin- 
drance, the  officers  and  soldiers  have  frequently  attended  my 
preaching,  and  none  have  ever   disturbed  me.     Deprived  by 


30 

this  action,  of  the  assistance  of  the  Board,  he  was  compelled 
to  resort  to  hard  labor  to  support  his  family,  without  the  form 
of  a  trial,  even  without  the  means  of  knowing  his  accusers. 
Another  minister  of  that  Synod,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foreman,  whom 
I  know — a  man  of  earnest  piety  and  of  decided  ability  and 
who  is  now  and  has  always  been  what  is  called  a  Union  and 
loyal  man,  but  opposed  to  the  deliverances  of  the  Assembly, 
although  endorsed  by  his  Presbytery  and  by  the  Presbytery's 
committee,  was  refused  a  commission  by  the  Board  and  was 
compelled  to  leave  his  field  of  ministerial  labor  and  forced 
to  resort  to  secular  employment  to  support  his  family.  Without 
any  opportunity  of  defense,  he  is  pronounced  by  Secretary 
Janeway  guilty  of  quasi  loyalty,  and  was  compelled  to  abandon 
his  pastoral  work.  I  will  read  Dr.  Janeway' s  letter  in  answer 
to  the  application  made  by  the  committee : 

Ret.  John  Leighton — Dear  Brother  : 

Mr.  Foreman  will  hardly  come  up  to  the  requisition  of  the  last  General 
Assembly  ;  his  is  quasi  loyalty,  and  he  is  not  in  accord  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  its  declaimer  on  freedom.  It  may  be  hard  for  him,  but  he  reaps 
as  he  sowed.  Such  men  have  well  nigh  ruined  the  Church,  and  it  is  hardly 
expected  that  loyal  men  will  contribute  to  support  one  in  affiliation  with  re- 
bellion." 

And  yet  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  is  one  of  the  largest 
supporters  of  this  Board,  and  its  claims  are  earnestly  pressed 
upon  the  Churches.  1  will  not  trust  myself  to  speak  upon  this  sub- 
ject,— I  turn  away  from  it  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  wrong  and 
the  cruel  injustice  of  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly,  sim- 
ply expressing  my  amazement  that  with  a  full  hioioledge  of 
the  lohole  suhject — such  a  cause  shall  receive  the  support  of  any 
man  who  is  out  of  sympathy  tvith  the  7xidical  policy  that  now 
rules  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  If  any  one  desires  further 
information  upon  this  subject,  I  refer  them  to  the  November 
No.   of  the   Foreign  and   Home  Record,*  which  contains  Dr. 

*Dr.  Backns,  with  his  cTtararferwiticiM-Hrfence,  withheld  from  his  people  all  the  papers 
containing  this  article.  I  hold  that  the  people  have  a  right  to  know  ttie  principles 
and  policy  that  govern  the  action  of  this  Board,  so  that  they  might  contribute  their 
money  intcUigenUy  and  not  blindly.  Tlie  Doctor  thinks  and  act^  otherwise,  which 
is  in  accordance  with  the  new  theory  of  fresby  terianism,  that  the  people  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  management  and  settlementof  ecclesiastical  afl'airs— that  this  belongs 
exclusively  to  the  ministry. 


31 

Janeway's  Pronunciamento,  under  the  title  of  "Our  Positioiij" 
in  which  he  declares  it  to  be  their  purpose  to  send  loyal  mis- 
sionaries to  the  South  "to  give  them  the  gospel  as  loe  understand 
it."     Churches  will  be  formed  and  Presbyteries  organized  just 
as  fast  as  a  favoring  Providence  will  permit.     "  The  existing 
Presbyteries  there  need  have  no  apprehension  that  we  shall 
seize  their  Churches."     "If  minorities  true  to  the  Assembly 
appeal  to  Cassar,  where  the  charters  sustain   them,   we  will 
rejoice  in  the  decision  which  gives  the  property  to  those  to 
whom  it  belongs  in  trust  and  covenant ;  beyond  that,  the  mag- 
nanimity of  the  North  will  not  go,"  viz:  Their  magnanimity 
loill  not  go  any  further  than  the  law  permits,  in  the  work  ofappro- 
pjiating  to  themselves  the  property  of  the  Southerii  Churches!    When 
the  laiv  compels  them  to  stop,  they  luill  stop.     In  consistency  with 
this  general  line  of  policy,  the  Assembly's  Freedman's  Aid  Com- 
mittee, by  the  aid  of  the  military  authority,  seized  upon  and  now 
retain  in  their  possession  and  use  the  Church  in  Charleston,  S.  C, 
which  was  built  by  the  Adgers  and  other  Presbyterians  in  Charles- 
ton, for  African  Presbyterian  worship.     It  was  the  largest  Pres- 
byterian African  Church  in  America,  and  was  formerly  supplied 
by  the  Hev.  Dr.  Adger  after  his  return  from  missionary  labor  in 
the  East,  whose  brother  gave  the  ground   upon   which  the 
church  is  built,  and  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Girardeau,  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  preachers  in  the  land.     The  Freedmen's  Committee 
forced  a  negro  preacher 'from  Philadelphia  upon  the  Church, 
and  refused  to  give  it  up.     I  have  read  the  correspondence  be- 
tween Dr.   Adger  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Logan,  the  Secretary  of 
this  Committee.     It  is  very  damaging  to  the  character  of  Mr. 
Logan,  and  the  whole  procedure  is  a  sad  commentary  upon  the 
ethics  of  those  who  have  been  appointed  to  conduct  the  Freed- 
men's aid  movement.    I  must  confess  my  want  of  confidence  in 
the  uprightness  and  honesty  of  any  man  or  body  of  men,  who 
will  have  any  agenc)^  in  taking  possession  of  Churches  built, 
owned  and  used  by  other  people.     Church-robbery  is  not  a  sin 
in  the  estimation  of  some  ministers.* 

*Dr.  Backus,  in  his  public  address,  emplialicaily  denied  tlie  trutti  of  tliis  state- 
ment, and  read,  in  conflrmatlon  of  Ills  denial,  apart  of  the  correspondence  between 
Dr.  Adger  and  Mr.  Logan.  If  Dr.  Backus  had  read  the  whole  of  tiiat  correspondence, 
it  would  have  been  seen  by  all  that  my  statements  were  fully  established. 


32 

This  Assembly  (1865)  spent  a  large  portion  of  its  time  in 
discussing  and  acting  upon  the  political  affairs  of  the  country, 
The  affairs  of  state  are  unquestionably  of  great  importance, 
yet  it  is  not  the  province  of  the  Church  to  attend  to  them. 
Christ,  both  by  His  own  example  and  by  the  teachings  of  His 
word,  forbids  all  political  intermeddling  of  Church  with  State, 
and  Presbyterian  Church  courts  trample  their  own  written  con- 
stitution under  foot,  when  they  handle  or  conclude  anything 
but  that  which  is  ecclesiastical.  They  are  positively  and  em- 
phatically forbidden  to  intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which 
belong  to  the  commonwealth.  If  Cod  ever  gave  men  up  to 
blindness  of  mind,  it  has  been  in  the  case  of  the  churches  of 
this  land  during  tlie  last  five  or  six  years,  which  have  been 
forgetful  of  the  pure  spirituality  of  the  church  and  have  con- 
vened her  into  a  political  institution  to  do  the  work  of  the 
state.  As  a  result  of  this,  the  General  Assembly  has  unsettled 
the  old  foundations  and  changed  the  old  terms  of  Christian 
and  ministerial  communion.  Men  and  women  coming  from 
the  Southern  States  must  be  politically  examined  and  pro- 
nounced orthodox  by  the  properly  appointed  authority,  and 
especially  must  they  give  in  their  adhesion  to  the  dogmas  of 
the  Assembly  on  Union,  rebellion  and  slavery. 

All  history  attests  that  the  Church  that  neglects  her  own 
proper  work  and  undertakes  to  do  the  work  of  Cresar  is  wholly  un- 
trustworthy, unfaithful  to  herself  and  to  her  great  Head  and 
King.  She  will  prove  equall}^  unfaithful  to  the  state  in  the 
day  of  trial.  In  the  name  of  religion  and  of  liberty  we  protest 
against  the  unnatural  and  monstrous  union  of  Church  and 
State.  We  plead  for  entire  separation  between  things  spiritual 
and  ecclesiastical,  and  things  political  and  civil. 

No  calm  Christian  mind  can  read  the  doings  and  the  vio- 
lent discussions  of  the  Assembly  of  1865  without  deep  sorrow 
and  mortification  for  the  things  done,  and  the  spirit  which 
animated  them.  In  the  debate  on  Dr.  Wood's  proposition  to 
instruct  Church  sessions  to  deal  with  all  private  Cluirch  mem- 
bers who  have  sympathized  with  the  rebellion.  Judge  Ewing, 
of  Pennsylvania,  whom  I  formerly  knew  and  honored,  said,  "I 


33 

had  hoped  we  were  done  with  this  subject.  I  have  been  in 
many  political  Conventions,  Repnblican  all  the  time,  yet  I 
must  say  Ihave  never  anyivhere  seen  such  relentless  persecution  as 
is  manifested  in  this  Assembly." 

Brethren,  it  is  no  idiosyncrasy  of  mine  that  these  assemblies 
have  made  a  grievous  departure  from  the  word  and  sj)irit 
of  God  from  the  accredited  principles  of  true  religion,  and 
from  the  constitution  of  the  Church.  It  is  the  judgment  of 
thousands  of  the  wisest  and  purest  men  in  the  country.  Dr. 
Boardman  stated,  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  a  few  days 
ago,  that  there  were  thousands  of  persons  at  this  time  serious- 
ly thinking  of  leaving  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

We  come  now  to  the  Assembly  of  1866,  which  closed  its  ses- 
sion a  week  ago.  The  extreme  and  radical  deliverances  of  the 
Assembly  from  1861  to  1865  inclusive,  each  year  departing 
wider  and  wider  from  the  old  land  marks,  fixed  by  the  word  of 
God  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  caused  the  publica- 
tion of  what  is  called  the  ''Declaration  and  Testimony;"  a 
paper  of  extraordinary  ability,  protesting  against  these  deliver- 
ances and  urging  all  Ministers  and  Elders,  Church  Sessions, 
Presbyteries  and  Synods  who  approve  of  this  Declaration  and 
Testimony,  to  give  their  public  adherence  thereto,  in  such  man- 
ner as  they  shall  prefer.  This  paper  was  signed  by  more  than 
100  Ministers  and  Elders,  and  was  formally  adopted  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville.  They  declare  it  to  be  their  irrevo- 
cable purpose  to  testify  against  these  fearful  de2:)artures  from 
the  Word  of  God,  and  from  the  Standards  of  the  Church,  until 
they  succeed  in  reforming  the  Church  and  restoring  her  tar- 
nished glory ;  or  failing  in  this  they  would  be  compelled  to 
withdraw  from  those  who  have  departed  from  the  truth,  and  to 
bear  with  them  the  true  Presbyterian  Church,  with  her  doc- 
trine, order,  worship  and  freedom,  as  they  have  been  given  her 
by  her  Divine  Head  and  transmitted  from  generation  to  gene- 
ration, by  the  hands  of  Saints,  and  confessors  and  martyrs. 

They  charge  the  Assembly  with  being  the  guilty  author  of  a 
grievous  schism  in  the  Church  by  their  unconstitutional,  un- 
scriptural,  unjust  and  cruel  decrees  which  shut  out  from  our 
3 


34 

Church  connexion  the  whole  people  of  the  South,  unless  they 
will  repent  of  the  sin  of  rebellion,  and  adopt  the  views  of  the 
Assembly  on  the  subject  of  loyalty  and  freedom.  One  of 
the  first  acts  of  the  Assembly  of  1866,  after  the  election 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stanton  as  moderator  by  a  very  large  ma- 
jority, (than  whom  there  is  not  a  more  bitter  and  unrelent- 
ing radical  in  the  whole  Church,)  was  the  exclusion  of  the 
four  commissioners  from  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  from  their 
seats  in  the  Assembly,  until  they  had  examined  and  decided 
upon  the  conduct  of  said  Presbytery.  The  names  of  these  Com- 
missioners are  :  Stuart  Robinson,  Samuel  R.  Wilson,  Charles 
Wickliffe  and  Mark  Hardin.  I  have  never  known  an  abler 
delegation  from  any  Presbytery.  The  previous  question  was 
called  by  the  person  who  made  the  motion^  to  prevent  debate. 
Dr.  Boardman,  in  commenting  upon  it  afterwards,  said  that 
"  nothing  like  it  had  ever  been  done  since  the  code  of  Justin- 
ian, or  the  beginning  of  the  world."  These  gentlemen  were  ex- 
cluded from  any  right  of  defense,  or  explanation  "  until  the 
Assembly  shall  have  examined  and  decided  upon  the  conduct  of 
said  Presbytery."  The  action  of  the  Assembly  was,  in  effect, 
the  pronouncing  and  executing  sentence,  and  afterioards  pro- 
ceeding to  examine  and  decide.  These  gentlemen  respectfully 
notified  the  Assembly  that  they  regarded  their  action  as  not 
only  unjust,  injurious  and  cruel  ;  but  as  subversive  of  the  foun- 
dation of  all  justice,  destructive  of  the  constitution  of  the 
Church  and  revolutionary  in  its  nature,  and  that  they  should 
not  attend  further  upon  its  sessions.  As  a  further  proof  of  the 
animus  of  this  Assembly  and  its  disregard  of  order  and  pre- 
cedent, they  ignominiously,  and  with  passion  and  haste,  ex- 
pelled from  their  body  one  of  the  delegates,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fer- 
guson from  Ohio,  charged  with  writing  a  letter  to  a  paper  in 
Columbus,  disrespectful  to  the  Assembly  and  to  a  brother  mem- 
ber. 

The  Assembly  adopted  the  following  paper    introduced  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  by  a  vote  of  197  yeas  to  37  nays : 

Resolved,  ■  That  this  General  Assembly  does  hereby  condemn  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  as  a  slander  against  the  Church,  schismatical  in  i!s  char- 


35 

acter  and  aim,  and  its  adoption  by  any  of  our  Church  courts  is  an  act  of  re- 
bellion against  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Eesolved,  That  the  whole  subject  contemplated  in  this  report,  including  the 
report  itself,  be  referred  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

Eesolved,  That  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  and  the 
members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  who  voted  to  adopt  that  paper,  be 
summoned,  and  they  are  hereby  summoned  to  appear  before  the  next  General 
Assembly,  to  answer  for  what  they  have  done  in  this  matter,  and  that  until 
their  case  is  decided,  they  shall  not  be  permitted  to  sit  as  members  of  any 
Church  court  higher  than  the  Session. 

Eesolved,  That  if  any  Presbytery  shall  disregard  this  action  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  at  any  meeting  shall  enroll  as  entitled  to  a  seat  or  seats  in  the 
body,  one  or  more  persons  designated  in  the  preceding  resolutions  and  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  next  General  Assembly,  then  that  Presbytery 
shall  ipso  facto  be  dissolved,  and  its  ministers  and  elders  who  adhere  to  this 
action  of  the  Assembly,  are  hereby  authorized  and  directed  in  such  cases  to 
take  charge  of  the  Presbyterial  records  and  retain  the  name  and  exercise  all 
the  authority  and  functions  of  the  original  Presbytery,  until  the  next  meeting 
of  the  General  Assembly. 

Eesolved,  That  Synods,  at  their  next  stated  meetings,  in  making  up  their 
rules,  shall  be  guided  and  governed  by  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Dr.  Giirley  said  he  would  not  be  willing  to  retain  his  connec- 
tion with  a  Church  which  would  suffer  brethren  to  flaunt  such 
insult  and  abuse  in  the  face  of  its  highest  judicatory  and  then 
let  that  offence  pass  unrebuked. 

This  G-eneral  Assembly  so  far  from  retracing  its  steps,  made 
fearful  strides  towards  the  utter  overthrow  of  the  ecclesiastical 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  ministry  and  eldership  in  the  Church. 
They  refused  the  Louisville  Presbytery  a  representation  in  the 
body,  until  they  had  examined  and  decided  their  case  ;  they 
drove  them  from  their  bar  without  a  hearing,  and  a  trial 
by  a  vote  of  over  200  to  50  ;  they  then  pronounced  the  declara- 
tion and  testimony  slanderous,  rebellious  and  schismatic,  and 
then,  having  decided  the  case,  summoned  all  those  who  had 
signed  this  document  (probably  150  ministers  and  elders)  be- 
fore the  bar  of  the  next  Assembly  to  answer  for  their  oifence, 
and  disqualified  all  of  them  from  sitting  in  Presbyteries  and 
Synods  until  the  action  of  the  next  General  Assembly,  thereby 
putting  it  out  of  their  power  to  discuss  the  question  and  vindi- 
cate themselves  before  the  inferior  Courts  of  the  Church  ;  and 


36 

further,  they  decreed  the  dissolution  of  any  Presbytery  if 
it  should  dare  to  allow  any  of  these  men  to  sit  in  it  as  mem- 
bers. By  this  course,  they  in  fact,  without  hearing  or  trial, 
convicted,  degraded  and  banished  more  than  one  hundred  min- 
isters and  elders,  some  of  them  the  noblest,  the  gentlest  and 
most  devoted  men  in  the  whole  Church,  and  have  left  to  the 
next  General  Assembly  only  the  determination  of  the  ques- 
tion, what  further  punishment  shall  be  inflicted,  unless  these 
men  shall  in  the  meantime  repent  and  recant.  The  edict  has 
gone  forth — nothing  can  save  them  but  professed  repentance 
and  retraction.  I  know  many  of  those  men.  When  nature 
changes  her  laws,  and  the  streams  of  water  change  their 
courses  and  flow  upwards  instead  of  downwards,  then  loill  they 
retract. 

My  brethren,  there  are  some  men  loho  have  fixed  principles ; 
who  are  not  governed  by  expediency,  who  follow  what  they  be- 
lieve to  be  true  and  rights  let  the  consequences  be  what  they 
may.  God  has  always  had  some  faithful  and  brave  witnesses, 
who  did  not  count  their  lives  dear  unto  them  for  the  sake  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  and  His  cause.  They  have  been  His  richest  gifts  to 
his  blood-bought  Church  ;  they  are  men  of  whom  the  world 
was  not  worthy.  There  are  some  such  now,  and  it  is  not  in 
the  power  of  Church  Courts,  which  have  shamefully  violated 
their  own  divine  charter,  to  degrade  them  or  to  stop  their  testi- 
mony. Their  words  of  truth  and  deep  earnestness  have  gone 
forth  and  have  sunk  deep  into  the  hearts  of  true  Presbyterians, 
who  love  the  great  and  glorious  principles  of  their  noble  Church 
more  than  they  do  any  external  organization  which  has  tram- 
pled these  divine  principles  under  their  feet ;  and  have  altered 
the  very  terms  of  Christian  and  ministerial  communion,  for  the 
purpose  of  wreaking  their  vengeance  upon  the  weak  and  suf- 
fering thousands  of  Presbyterians  in  the  Southern  States,  be- 
cause they  will  not  foreswear  their  political  principles  and  hum- 
bly ask  pardon  of  the  august  General  Assembly,  which  thrust 
them  out  by  their  '^  unconstitutional,  unscriptural,  and  cruel 
action." 

Just  before  the  meeting  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  a  con- 


37 

vention  of  ministers  and  elders  of  the  Cliurcli,  most  of  whom 
were  delegates  to  the  General  Assembly,  met  in  St.  Louis,  and 
unanimously  adopted  a  memorial,  which  was  subsequently 
adopted  by  the  Assembly  and  placed  on  its  minutes.  This  paper 
declares  that  the  deliverances  and  injunctions  of  the  Assembly 
during  the  last  five  years,  (upon  slavery  and  rebellion)  are  of 
binding  force,  and  urges  the  discipline  of  the  Church  upon  all 
ivho  shall  attempt  to  impair  her  testimonies,  mar  her  peace,  or 
hinder  her  usefulness.  This  memorial  throughout  shows  great 
bitterness  of  spirit  against  the  Southern  Presbyterians,  and  a 
determination  to  oppress  and  crush  them  as  a  Church  organiza- 
tion— which  they  would  unquestionably  do  if  they  had  the 
power.  It  is  a  most  remarkable  and  humiliating  fact  that 
many  members  of  the  Assembly,  who  knew  that  they  would 
have,  as  judges,  to  try  and  decide  upon  the  cases  of  their  breth- 
ren on  matters  of  complaint  in  memorial,  should  themselves, 
without  any  hesitation,  prejudge  their  cases  as  they  did,  by  ap- 
proving it  in  Convention.  What  a  mockery  of  justice  was  it 
for  such  men  afterwards  to  sit  in  a  judicial  character  !  to  try 
men  whom  they  had  already  condemned  in  an  ecclesiastical 
caucus! !  Such  a  course  would  be  considered  an  outrage  in  any 
civil  tribunal,  and  yet  it  was  done  in  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
Court  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  As  respects  the  future, 
there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a  hope  that  the  standards  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  which  I  have  cordially  and  solemnly 
pledged  myself  to  support,  will  be  respected  or  obeyed  by  the 
General  Assembly  as  now  constituted.  No  intelligent  and 
candid  man,  who  is  acquainted  with  what  has  taken  place  in 
the  last  six  years,  and  with  the  action  of  the  last  Assembly, 
and  with  the  present  animus  and  intention  of  the  great  body 
of  the  Presbyteries  represented  in  that  body,  can  have  a  rea- 
sonable doubt  of  the  fixed  purpose  of  this  body  to  persist  in 
her  "  unconstitutional,  unscriptural,  unjust  and  cruel  policy." 
Listen  to  the  stern  language  of  the  Assembly,  speaking  of  the 
attempts  made  to  have  the  deliverances  and  injunctions  of  the 
Assembly  produced  by  the  disturbed  state  of  the  Church  and 
nation  during   the  last  five  years,  reconsidered  and  changed. 


38 

"The  Assembly  has  nothing  in  the  matter  aforesaid,  to  change, 
nothing  to  explain,  nothing  to  modify,  nothing  to  take  back, 
nothing  to  amend  in  any  way,  shape  or  form  whatever."  tllgj 
assert  both  the  moral  and  ecclesiastical  right  of  the  Assembly  to 
enact  the  same,  and  they  require  those  who  revile  the  authority, 
disturb  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Church,  to  desist  from 
such  revolutionary  and  schisraatical  conduct,  and  when 
Church  officers  or  Qouxi^  persist  in  defiance  of  the  order  of  the 
Assembly,  they  should  be  dealt  with  as  offenders  against  the 
peace,  purity,  and  order  of  the  house  of  God.  In  reference  to 
the  course  which  ought  to  be  pursued  by  the  Church  henceforth, 
towards  the  schismatical  sect  of  united  Old  School  and  New 
School  Presbyterians  which  has  been  organized  in  the  wide 
region  covered  by  the  lately  rebellious  States,  they  declare 
their  fixed  purpose  to  regard  and  treat  this  whole  body  of  Chris- 
tians as  ecclesiastical  outlaws. 

Further,  the  question  of  the  re-union  of  the  old  and  new 
school  Churches  has  been  virtually  decided.  The  two  Assem- 
bles held  a  union  meeting,  when  the  proposition  was  almost 
unanimously  voted.  A  committee  of  fifteen  from  each  body  was 
appointed  to  carry  out  the  plan  which  had  been  declared  to  be 
desirable  and  practicable,  and  to  report  to  the  next  Assembly, 
when,  unquestionably,  it  will  be  effected.  They  embraced 
each  other  upon  the  ground  of  loyalty.  No  one  who  is  ac- 
quainted with  the  character  and  spirit  of  this  body  as  mani- 
fested by  the  course  and  action  of  its  ministers  and  Church 
courts  for  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years,  can  doubt  that  the 
Presbyterian  Church  when  thus  united,  will  be  thoroughly 
radical  and  flmatical  in  its  character,  and  hopelessly  committed 
to  extreme  measures  ;  that  it  will  be  an  ecclesiastic  political 
organization.  All  the  deliverances  of  that  body  for  the  last  five 
years  upon  the  state  of  the  country  have  been  marked  by  a 
fierce,  vindictive  and  relentless  spirit.  In  1865,  after  the  war 
was  over,  they  voted  unanimously  to  sustain  the  government 
in  punishing  treason,  to  excludeevery  rebel  minister  from  Church 
fellowship,  until  he  repent  and  foreswear  disloyalty,  and  recom- 
mended the  fullest  rights  of  citizenship  to  the  black  loyalist  of 


39 

the  South  ;  and  when  theKev.  Dr.  Spear  in  his  speech,  exclaim- 
ed "I  would  hang  Jefferson  Davis,  I  would  hang  General  Lee, 
and  would  keep  on  hanging  the  leading  traitors  until  the  ju- 
dicial arm  of  the  government  had  as  fully  vindicated  Union, 
liherty  and  law,  as  have  the  swords  of  Grant  and  Sherman  ;" 
the  House  thundered  their  approhation,  and  then  the  whole  As- 
sembly arose  to  their  feet  and  sang  a  patriotic  song,  ''My  Coun- 
try, 'tis  of  Thee,  &c."  The  session  that  has  just  closed  unani- 
mously DECLARED  IN  FAVOR  OF  NEGRO  SUFFRAGE,  OF  THE  CONTINU- 
ANCE OF  THE  FreEDMEN'S  BurEAU  SYSTEM,  OF  THE  CiVIL  RiGHTS  BILL, 
AND  THE  CONDIGN  PUNISHMENT  OF  ALL  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  REBELLION, 

OF  COURSE,  BY  HANGING.  The  adoption  of  the  last  resolution  was 
followed  by  great  applause.  Brethren,  if  I  continue  in  my 
present  ecclesiastical  connection,  you  see  the  prospect  before 
me — abject  submission  to  the  deliverances  and  injunctions  of 
the  highest  judicatories  of  the  Church,  which  I  believe,  before 
God,  are  in  direct  opposition  to  the  teachings  of  His  word  and 
to  the  fixed  standards  of  our  Church  which  I  have  solemnly 
pledged  myself  to  sustain,  and  to  which  your  charter  binds  the 
minister  of  tliis  congregation.  The  assembly  are  determined 
to  uphold  their  usurpations  and  to  force  all  who  are  under  their 
jurisdiction  to  yield  to  their  stern,  unconstitutional  and  cruel 
edicts.  They  have  not  the  right,  but  they  have  the  numerical 
power  to  accomplish  their  unrighteous  purpose.  They  have 
now  an  overwhelming  majority,  and  they  have  made  all  neces- 
sary arrangements  to  increase  and  consolidate  their  power. 

The  word  of  God  and  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  alike, 
forbid  any  other  tests  of  membership  in  Christ's  Church,  than 
a  profession  of  repentance  toivards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  our  confession  of  faith  forbids  any  other  test 
of  ministerial  qualifications,  (provided  the  person  applying  has 
sufficient  knowledge  to  fit  him  to  teach,)  than  the  sincere  and 
cordial  adoption  of  our  standards  of  doctrine  and  Church  order. 
Our  admirable  Church  constitution  fixes  the  necessary  quali- 
fication of  Christian  and  ministerial  communion,  and  it  is  a 
flagrant  violation  of  this  constitution  to  exclude  any  man  or  any 
class  of  men  from  our  Church  connexion  who  are  sound  in  doctrine 


40 

and  give  good  evidence  that  they  are  Christians,  because  of 
their  opinions,  however  erroneous,  upon  the  political  questions 
that  agitate  and  divide  mankind  in  every  age  and  country.  A 
united  Church  in  a  united  country  is  the  earnest  desire  of  my 
heart.  "In  1861,"  said  Dr.  Van  Dyke  to  the  Assembly  in 
St.  Louis,  "we  planted  the  bitter  root ;  in  1862  and  1863,  the 
trunk  shot  up  strong  and  vigorous  ;  in  1864,  the  broad  branches 
covered  the  land  with  their  shadow;  in  1865,  the  fruit  ripened, 
which  we  are  gathering  to-day." 

There  is  a  terrible  consistency  in  these  proceedings.  The 
declaration  and  testimony  men,  solemnly  refused  to  do  that 
which  the  Assembly  ordered  them  to  do,  concerning  the  exam- 
ination of  ministers  and  members  of  the  Church  from  the 
South,  upon  their  views  of  freedom  and  loyalty,  and  concerning 
the  conduct  of  domestic  missions  in  the  Southern  States.  For 
this,  they  have  been  ecclesiastically  degraded  and  pun- 
ished.    The  political  questions  decided  by  the  Assembly  are  : 

1st.  That  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
allegiance  of  the  citizen  is  due  primarily  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, in  opposition  to  the  opinion  held  by  many  of  the  most 
eminent  men  in  the  land,  and  by  a  great  political  party  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  from  the  foundation  of  the  government 
that  it  is  due  primarily  to  the  State,  and  through  the  State  to 
the  general  government. 

2d.  That  the  members  of  our  Church  are  bound  by  their 
allegiance  to  Christ  to  obey  and  uphold  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, whatever  might  be  the  attitude  and  requirements  of  the 
several  State  governments  under  which  they  reside.  Now  these 
political  principles  may  or  may  not  be  correct;  that  is  not  the 
point.  What  we  assert  is,  that  the  Assembly,  sitting  as  a 
Court  of  Jesus  Christ,  had  no  scriptural  warrant  and  no  divine 
authority  for  announcing  any  such  doctrine  and  for  imposing 
any  such  requirement ;  and  their  doing  so  was  a  clear  and  cul- 
pable violation  of  our  standards  which  forbids  Synods  and 
Councils  to  handle  any  other  than  ecclesiastical  subjects  ;  and 
positively  requires  them  not  to  intermeddle  with  civil  aifairs 
which  concern  the  Commonwealth.     You  will  search  the  sacred 


41 

scriptures  in  vain  to  find  a  single  instance  where  Christ  or  His 
inspired  apostles  ever  decided  any  question  involving  disputed 
political  allegiance,  or  endorsed  any  human  government  in  its 
contest  with  the  rival  claims  of  any  other  government.  The 
sacred  scriptures  teach  us  to  "obey  the  powers  that  he,"  to  obey 
civil  magistrates,  and  to  reverence  lawful  authority  under  what- 
ever form  of  government  we  may  live  ;  to  obey  the  laws  of  the 
government  under  which  our  lot  may  be  cast,  unless  they  are 
in  contravention  to  the  requirements  of  Grod's  law.  If  so,  we 
must  obey  God  rather  than  man,  let  the  consequences  be  what 
they  may.  The  Assembly  had  no  right  to  decide  these  political 
questions  one  way  or  the  other.  They  had  no  right  afterwards 
to  make  authoritative  declarations  (based  upon  this  decision) 
as  to  the  course  the  Federal  Government  ought  to  pursue,  or  to 
prescribe  to  Church  members  the  political  party  to  which  they 
should  belong.  To  crown  all  their  political  deliverances,  they 
insist  upon  their  adoption  as  a  term  of  communion  in  the  Church, 
and  make  a  refusal  to  carry  them  out  a  ground  of  discipline. 
I  never  have  and  never  will  obey  these  unscriptural,  unconsti- 
tutional and  cruel  orders,  and  what  is  more,  I  will  not  remain 
in  ecclesiastical  connection  with  any  Church  that  persistently 
requires  them  to  be  obeyed.  I  will  maintain  the  sole  headship 
of  Christ  over  His  Church,  and  the  spirituality  and  indepen- 
dence of  the  Church.  I  can  firmly  stand  upon  the  simple  basis 
of  our  acknowledged  standards.  I  will  not  and  I  cannot  stand 
upon  any  basis  which  is  in  direct  contravention  to  the  word  of 
God  as  interpreted  by  those  standards.  Brethren,  in  view  of 
these  things,  I  can  no  longer  remain  in  connection  with  this 
General  Assembly  and  the  Church  of  which  it  is  the  bond  of 
union.  My  connection  with  it  would  be /ormaZ,  holloiv-hearted, 
hypocritical.  I  cannot  aff'ord  to  sacrifice  my  own  self  respect 
and  conscience,  and  to  lose  the  smiles  of  God  and  the  confi- 
dence of  good  men,  to  propitiate  the  favor  of  the  great  Sanhe- 
drim of  the  Church  and  secure  for  myself  ease,  comfort  and 
every  worldly  blessing.  Timid  men  of  weak  faith  have  been 
dragooned  into  the  support  of  measures  which  have  been  here- 
tofore adopted,  at  which  their  reason  and  better  nature  revolted. 


42 

And  many  sucli  will  notv  acquiesce  in  all  that  the  Aseemhly  has 
done  or  luill  do,  even  in  their  Union  luith  a  body  more  extrene 
and  fanatical  than  itself — a  body  not  yet  satiated  ivith  the 
war  that  has  been  terminated,  but  cries  of  hungry  vengeance 
for  more  blood.  '' Oli  my  soul!  enter  not  thou  into  their 
secrets  ;  unto  their  Assembly,  mine  honor,  be  not  thou  united." 
The  word  of  Grod  commands  us  to  withdraw  Church  fellowship 
from  those  who  teach  grievous  errors.  See  1st  Timothy  and 
6th  chapter:  "  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke 
count  their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of 
God  and  His  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed,  and  they  that  have 
believing  masters,  let  them  not  despise  them,  because  they  are 
brethren  ;  but  rather  do  them  service,  because  they  are  faith- 
ful and  beloved,  partakers  of  the  benefit.  These  things  teach 
and  exhort. 

If  any  man  teach  otherwise  and  consent  not  to  wholesome 
words,  even  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the 
doctrine  which  is  according  to  godliness,  he  is  proud,  knowing 
nothing,  but  doting  about  questions  and  strifes  of  words, 
whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil  surmisings. 

Perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds  and  destitute 
of   the    truth,    supposing  that    gain  is  godliness  ;  from  such 

WITHDRAW  THYSELF." 

I  had  fondly  believed,  when  the  war  was  over  and  peace  was  re- 
stored, that  the  fierce  spirit  of  ecclesiastical  intrusion  and  fanati- 
cism would  be  allayed  ;  and  that  the  Old  School  Presbyterian 
Church  would  return  to  her  appropriate  sphere  and  work,  and 
would  cease  to  be  a  political  organ,  (to  decide  political  ques- 
tions and  to  dictate  to  the  Grovernment  its  policy,  even  to  the 
extent  of  what  cost  and  blood,  war  should  be  carried  on,)  and 
that  she  would  abolish  the  political  terms  of  Christian  and 
ministerial  union  which  she  had  prescribed,  and  that  there 
would  be  a  re-union  of  Christian  hearts  and  a  burying  of  all 
hate  and  strife,  and  bitterness.  I  was  rejoiced  to  see  the  re- 
union of  Northern  and  Southern  Ei)iscopalians  upon  terms  of 
perfect  equality  in  one  ecclesiastical  organization,  without  any 
calling  for  repentance  on  the  one  side  or  the  other.     I  was  re- 


43 

joiced  to  see  the  re-union  of  the  great  societies  of  the  Masons 
and  the  Odd  Fellows,  and  other  re-unions  that  might  be  men- 
tioned. And  my  soul  longed  for  the  re-union  of  the  severed 
parts  of  that  grand  old  Church  around  which  the  tenderest 
and  strongest  affections  of  my  heart  have  fondly  clung  ;  to 
whose  welfare  I  have  devoted  the  dew  of  my  youth,  and  the 
strength  of  my  manhood ;  for  whose  sacred  principles  I  think 
I  would  be  willing  to  die.  They  have  been  the  firm  basis 
uj)on  which,  whatever  character  I  have,  has  been  built ;  they 
have  given  me  courage  and  joy  in  every  dark  day  of  trial  and 
sorrow.  This  hope  I  can  no  longer  entertain.  The  man  is 
either  very  weak  and  uninformed,  or  else  he  is  very  uncandid, 
who  tells  you  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  union  of  the  Old 
and  New  School  Churches  will  take  place.  It  is  as  fixed  and  cer- 
tain as  any  future  event  that  has  not  been  revealed  to  us  by  the 
word  of  God.  Even  if  this  union  had  not  been  determined  upon, 
the  deliverances  of  the  General  Assembly  from  1861  to  1864, 
inclusive,  and  the  action  of  1865  and  1866,  which  is  the  logi- 
cal sequence  and  the  practical  application  of  these  deliverances, 
and  which  is  the  consummation  of  her  apostacy,  from  the  doc- 
trine of  the  truly  spiritual  and  divine  nature  of  the  Church's 
calling  and  work,  render  longer  connection  with  that  body  im- 
possible upon  my  part.  The  recent  transactions  of  that  once 
venerable  body,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  to  use  the  language  of  one  of  the  aggrieved  parties, (Dr. 
Wilson,)  have  been  characterized  "by  such  a  total  disregard  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  Christian  liberty,  by  such  an  ut- 
ter recklessness  of  the  requirements  of  the  constitution  of  the 
Church,  by  such  a  contempt  of  the  claims  of  Christianity  as 
expressed  in  the  word  of  God  ;  in  one  word,  by  a  spirit  so  wild, 
revolutionary  and  desperate,  as  to  have  aroused  the  indignation 
of  the  most  moderate,  and  inspired  even  the  timid  and  hesita- 
ting with  courage  and  determination  to  play  the  man  for  jus- 
tice and  truth^  and  the  defence  of  that  freedom  which  was  pur- 
chased for  the  Church  by  the  blood  of  that  Prince  of  Martyrs, 
and  which  has  been  transmitted  to  us  by  those  who  drank  of 
the   same   cup  of  suffering,    and   were   baptised   by  the  same 


44 

bloody  baptism."  Noble  words  from  a  noble  Christian  minister  ! 
From  the  depths  of  my  heart  I  respond  to  every  word  and  sylla- 
ble. I  bear  my  testimony  to  the  worth  of  this  man.  He  is  my 
friend.  I  honor  and  love  him.  How  different,  oh!  how  different 
from  the  spirit  of  your  worldly,  ivise,  expediency  men,  who  never 
decide  any  question  by  the  eternal  and  immutable  standards  of 
right  and  truth,  but  by  the  low  and  shifting  standards  of  utili- 
ty and  expediency,  and  present  results.  This  was  not  the  rule 
of  action  of  the  long  line  of  ancient  worthies,  of  the  apostles  and 
primitive  Christians,  and  of  the  whole  army  of  martyrs.  Nor  was 
it  the  rule  which  governed  the  immortal  Chalmers  and  the  four 
hundred  Presbyterian  ministers  who  made  their  exodus 
from  the  established  Church  of  Scotland,  when  the  civil  gov- 
ernment undertook  to  intermeddle  with  the  right  of  the  people 
to  choose  their  own  pastors.  It  was  a  matter  that  did  not  per- 
sonally concern  Chalmers  and  Cunningham,  &c.,  yet  for  a  prin- 
ciple— '^''the  exalted  headship  of  Christ  over  his  Church,  they 
gave  up  their  manses  and  their  church  buildings  and  all  their 
worldly  support,  and  went  forth  from  their  livings  not  know- 
ing whither  they  went.  Hundreds  of  noble  men  who  were 
amply  provided  for  during  life,  abandoned  their  earthly  all.  and 
threw  themselves  upon  the  providence  of  God  for  the  sake  of 
those  great  principles  for  which  we  are  now  contending,  viz:  that 
Christ's  kingdom  is  an  independent  sovereignty  within  its  own 
sphere,  and  owes  allegiance  to  none  but  its  own  Divine  Head 
and  King  ;  that  it  is  a  spiritual  kingdom,  and  has  to  do  with 
men  solely  in  their  spiritual  relations  to  God  in  Christ  as  Re- 
deemer— and  that  all  intermeddling  with  secular  and  political 
affairs,  which  belong  to  the  State,  is  forbidden  by  the  revealed 
will  of  God  and  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  tends  to  the  corruption  of  the  Church  and  to  the  injury  of 
the  State. 

These  are  some  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  Presbyterianism, 
principles  vital  to  the  spiritual  life  and  growth  of  the  Church  ; 
and  it  is  the  persistent  utterance  and  the  powerful  advocacy  of 
these  great  and  precious  truths,  that  has  caused  this  mighty 
commotion  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Old  School  Presby- 


45 

terian  Church.     When    the  General  Assembly  of  1865  passed 
their  acts  of  ecclesiastical  outlawry  of  the  whole  Southern  peo- 
ple, and  actually  altered  the  terms  of  Christian  and  ministerial 
communion  in  the  Church  of  God,  overturning  the  very  founda- 
tions of  the  Christian  Church,  and  erecting  in  its  stead  an  ec- 
clesiastico-political  organization,  and  were  more  solicitious  about 
securing  loyalty  to  Csesar  than  loyalty  to  Christ  and  His  cause, 
it  aroused  the  righteous  indignation  of  some  of  the  noblest, 
purest  and  ablest  men  in  the  Church,  and  they  boldly  stepped 
forth  to  battle  for  the  truth,  and  to  stay  the  threatened  ruin  of 
the  Church.     They  sounded  the  trumpet  of  alarm — they   en- 
deavored to  awaken  God's  people  out  of  their  slumber,  and  to 
prevent  the  crown  of  their  King  from  being  trodden  under  the 
feet  of  men — and  they  stood  up  for  the  right  of  God's  poor  suffer- 
ing people  in  the  South,  to  a  place  in  their  Father's  house,  upon 
the  terms  which  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  Himself  had 
appointed,  and  which  no  man,  or  body  of  men  on  earth,  has  a 
right  to  alter.     The  General   Assembly  had  usurped  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  Divine  Master,  and  these  faithful  and  able  wit- 
nesses for  the  truth,  withstood  them  and  loudly  called  upon 
God's  people  to  come  up    to  the  rescue.     They  put  forth  the 
"Declaration   and   Testimony,"    to   awake   God's    people    to 
sense   of  the   deep    wrong  that  had  been   committed   against 
Christ's  Kingdom  and  cause,  and  to  warn  them  against  com- 
plete and  final  apostacy  from  the  true  and  spiritual  idea  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  as  a  purely  spiritual  Kingdom.     I  have  care- 
fully  examined   that    document.      Its   doctrines   are  true,  its 
arguments  sound,  its  statement  of  facts  incontrovertible,  and  its 
conclusions  irresistible.     It  has  never  been  answered  ;  it  never 
can  be.     And  yet  the  last  General  Assembly,  regardless  of  the 
written  constitution  of  the  Church  and  of  the  guaranteed  rights 
of  every  member,  arrogated  to  itself  unlimited  power,  and  ex- 
pressed its  fixed  purpose  to  exclude  from  the  Church  the  au- 
thors and  signers  of  this  Declaration  and  Testimony,  and  it  is 
at  the  peril  of  instant  dissolution  for  any  Presbytery  to  allow 
one  of  these  doomed  men  to  sit  and  deliberate  with  them.    Not 
only  so,  they  sternly  insist  that  these  new  tests  and  terms  of  com- 


46 

munion  must  be  carried  out — that  it  is  contumacy  in  Church. 
Courts  to  refuse  to  do  so — and  they  solemnly  warn  ministers  and 
elders,  &c.,  not  to  agitate  the  Church  by  their  opposition  to  the 
action  of  the  Assembly.  They  have  refused  "  to  modify,  to 
take  backer  to  explain"  anything.  "They  have  determined 
upon  their  course  and  they  have  the  power  and  the  loill,  not  the 
right,  to  strike  down  every  obnoxious  man.  They  will  tolerate 
only  those  who  bow  the  knee  to  their  authority,  and  co-operate 
with  them  in  sustaining  the  Boards  of  the  Church,  all  of  which 
are  under  the  control  of  the  most  radical  men  in  the  Church, 
and  their  secretaries  have  been  among  the  most  active  partisans. 
I  cannot  conscientiously  sustain  these  Boards  under  their  pres- 
ent administration,  or  in  any  way  lend  my  influence  to  add  to 
the  strength  or  numbers  of  this  Church  while  it  is  completely 
under  the  control  of  men  who  have  seriously  violated  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Church,  and  who  express  their  fixed  purpose 
to  continue  to  apply  tests  (which  have  been  proved  to  be  politi- 
cal, and  therefore  unscriptural  and  unconstitutional,)  to  j^rivate 
Christians  as  well  as  to  Christian  ministers  who  come  from  the 
Southern  States,  or  to  all  who  will  not  confess  that  their  political 
action  for  the  last  five  years,  was  a  violation  of  the  written  word 
and  revealed  will  of  God,  and  express  their  cordial  approval  of 
the  political  deliverances  of  the  General  Assembly  from  1861-6. 
I  am  with  all  the  intensity  of  my  nature  opposed,  to  the  in- 
troduction of  political  questions  into  the  pulpit  or  the  Chnrch 
courts,  and  will  never  submit  to  the  establishment  of  political 
terms  of  communion  in  any  Church  with  which  I  am  con- 
nected. I  will  belong  to  no  Church  that  insists  upon  its  right 
and  duty  to  intermeddle  with  political  questions,  and  which 
opens  wide  the  door  for  those  angry  discussions  which  rend  the 
body  of  Christ  and  bring  a  deep  reproach  upon  his  cause — which 
degrade  the  ministry  and  the  ordinances  of  religion,  and  oblit- 
erates all  the  lines  of  separation  between  the  Church  and  the 
State,  and  entangles  and  identifies  them  with  each  other  to  the 
serious  injury  of  both.  My  record  on  this  subject  is  without  a 
blot.  So  also  I  am  opposed  to  disqualifying  men  from  partici- 
pation   in    civil    affairs    because    of   their  religious  opinions, 


47 

and  ecclesiastical  connections.  I  am  a  Protestant  and  a 
Presbyterian  "ex-ammo,"  and  yet  when  a  great  party  was 
organized  which  excluded  my  fellow-citizens  of  the  Catho- 
lic faith  from  all  participation  in  the  government  of  the 
country,  when  that  party  was  carrying  everything  before 
it,  and  had  complete  possession  of  the  city  of  Louisville,  where 
I  then  lived,  and  many  Christian  ministers  and  people  were 
active  members  of  it,  I  then  entreated,  through  the  politicax 
press,  my  countrymen,  and  especially  all  true  Protestants,  not 
to  attempt  to  deprive  any  man  of  his  political  rights  because  of 
his  religious  faith  ;  that  it  was  contrary  to  the  genius  of  our 
institutions  and  inimical  to  the  best  interest  of  both  Church  and 
State.  Go  and  ask  the  distinguished  Archbishop,  who  is  my 
neighbor  now,  as  he  was  then,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  that 
appeal,  coming  as  it  did  from  a  man  whose  Protestantism 
and  Presbyterianism  were  above  suspicion,  and  which  was 
spread  all  over  the  State  of  Kentucky  and  into  other  States, 
was  supposed  to  have  had  a  mighty  influence  in  turning  back 
the  swelling  tide  of  popular  sentiment,  and  in  bringing  many 
to  see  the  error  of  their  course.  My  principles  upon  these  sub- 
jects are  fixed.  I  have  matured  them  well.  Let  there  be  no 
confounding  of  the  functions  of  the  Church  and  State.  Let 
each  confine  itself  to  its  own  obvious  sphere.  The  Church  of 
Christ  though  in  the  world,  is  not  of  it,  and  in  it  nothing  avails 
but  the  creature.  Not  for  my  life  would  I  refuse  any  man  ad- 
mission into  the  Church  of  God,  who  asked  to  come  in  upon  the 
terms  of  the  gospel — repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Let  it  be  known  of  all  men,  that  the 

ONLY  CONDITION  OF  MEMBEl^SHIP  IN  ANY  ChUECH  TO  WHICH  I  WILL 
EVER  MINISTER,  IS  FAITH  IN  THE  LORD  JeSUS  ChRIST  AND  SUB- 
MISSION TO  His  REVEALED  WILL.  I  wiU  never  ask  any  man 
as  a  prerequisite  to  membership  in  the  Church,  whether  he 
is  in  favor  of  a  monarchy  or  a  republic,  whether  he  has  been 
in  the  Northern  or  the  Southern  army,  whether  he  agrees 
with  the  deliverances  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  subject 
of  rebellion  and  of  loyalty  and  of  freedom ;  and  should  a 
minister  come  from   any  part  of  the  world,  and  ask  to  be  ad- 


48 

mitted  as  a  member  of  any  Presbytery  with  whicli  I  may  be 
connected,  and  brings  satisfactory  testimonials  of  his  good 
standing,  and  adopts  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
I  will  vote  to  receive  him  and  never  ask  any  questions  about 
his  political  views  or  opinions,  or  apply  to  him  any  new  un- 
scriptural,  unconstitutional  tests. 

You  have  heard  in  this  house  many  able  ministers  of  the 
gospel  from  the  South,  preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ 
with  pathos  and  with  power.  Yet  these  men,  (with  Dr.  Leigh- 
ton  Wilson,  who  spent  eighteen  or  twenty  years  of  his  life  as 
a  missionary  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  who  has  done  as  much 
as  any  living  man  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, and  whom  Dr.  Hodge  pronounced  has  one  of  the  wisest  and 
best  of  men,  and  a  host  of  others,)  are  forever  excluded  from  the 
Church  organization  with  which  we  are  connected,  unless  they 
will  express  their  repentance  for  any  connection  they  may  have 
had  with  the  rebellion,  or  countenance  they  may  have  given  it ; 
and  also  express  their  cordial  approval  of  the  deliverances  of 
the  Assembly  upon  loyalty  and  freedom.  I  verily  believe  that 
the  whole  course  pursued  by  the  two  last  Assemblies,  since  the 
close  of  the  war,  is  inimical  to  the  best  interests  both  of  Church 
and  State.  It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly, by  its  action,  is  responsible  for  the  grievous  schism  which 
exists  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  is  on  account  of  the 
''unconstitutional,  unjust  and  cruel  action  "  of  the  Assembly 
of  1861,  that  the  Southern  Presbyteries  and  Synods  felt  con- 
strained to  withdraw  from  their  ancient  and  cherished  connex- 
ion; and  it  is  the  persistent  adherence  to  this  action  by  the  As- 
sembly of  1865,  and  the  clearly  declared  purpose  by  the  Assem- 
bly of  1866,  of  enforcing  them  upon  all  in  ou-r  communion,  by 
the  exercise  of  discipline,  that  perpetuates  this  schism. 

I  know  what  they  mean .  They  have  made  the  old  school  Pres- 
byterian Church  an  ecclesiastico-political  organization — and 
they  will  not  rest  until  they  have  silenced  every  manly  voice  of 
opposition,  and  have  compelled  submission  to  their  usurpations. 
We  have  acquiesced  under  this  yoke  until  we  have  become  fa- 
miliar with  our  degradation.     We  have  lost  the  spirit  of  true 


49 

Christian  lil3erty,  and  are  indifferent  to  the  great  questions 
which  lie  at  the  basis  of  our  grand  okl  Church,  and  you  hear 
men  say  who  ought  to  know  better  as  Presbyterians,  it  matters 
not  to  us  what  the  General  Assembly  does,  we  are  not  bound 
by  their  decisions.  I  tell  you  this  is  Congregationalism.  The 
radical  principles  of  Presbyterian  Church  government  and  dis- 
cipline, are  that  ''the  several  different  congregations,  taken  col- 
lectively, constitute  the  Church  of  Christ,  called  emphatically 
the  Church  ;  that  under  the  constitution  a  larger  part  of  the 
Church  or  a  representation  of  it,  should  govern  a  smaller,  or 
determine  matters  of  controversy  which  arise  therein  ; — that  in 
like  manner  a  representation  of  the  whole  should  govern  and 
determine  in  regard  to  every  part,  and  to  all  the  parts  united  ; 
that  is,  that  a  majority  shall  govern  ;  "  and  when  the  General 
Assembly  has  decided  any  case,  judicially,  the  matter  is  settled, 
there  is  is  no  higher  court  to  appeal  to.  The  only  remedy  left 
is  separation.  The  Presbyterian  Church  is  not  a  mechanical 
but  an  organic  unity ;  like  a  tree  or  a  human  body,  the  same  sap 
or  blood  runs  through  all  the  branches  or  members  ;  the  arm 
cannot  be  sound  and  healthy  when  the  blood  in  the  heart  is 
impure.  If  the  General  Assembly  should  persistently  deny 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  could  any  orthodox  Christian  remain  in 
connexion  witli  that  body  without  being  a  partaker  of  the  apos- 
tacy?  No,  no  !  That  is  another  phase  of  the  doctrine  of  ex- 
pediency versus  principle.  Church  membership  in  anybody  is  an 
expression  of  communion  of  faith,  sentiment  and  feeling  with 
that  body.  Brethren,  I  know  not  what  you  feel  upon  this  subject, 
for  I  have  kept  myself  aloof  from  my  congregation  in  regard  to 
this  matter,  but  as  for  myself,  I  cannot  remain  longer  in  con- 
nexion with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  old  ship  has  taken  on  forbidden  freight  and  is  sailing  over 
a  stormy  sea,  in  forbidden  waters ;  she  is  madly  rushing  on, 
and  there  are  breakers  ahead  ;  she  lias  thrown  away  her  chart 
and  compass  ;  her  pilots  are  drunk  ;  and  I  cannot  trust  myself 
any  longer  to  their  guidance.  Let  us  take  to  the  life-boat,  and 
hold  on  to  the  chart  and  the  compass,  and  keep  in  the  safe  and 
good  old  channel  of  our  fathers ;  and  if  ever  the  once  noble  vessel 
4 


50 

which  we  have  left  returns  from  her  wanderings,  and  gets  again 
in  the  safe  channel,  we  will  welcome  her  back,  and  re-unite 
(dropping  the  imagry)  wpon  the  basis  of  the  ivord  of  God  and 
the  standards  of  the  Church.  We  are  no  schismatics.  They 
are  the  schismatics  whose  apostacy,  from  fundamental  princi- 
ples, and  whose  furious  and  vindictive  spirit  towards  those  who 
were  once  united  to  them  by  the  strongest  ties,  have  made  it 
necessary  for  us,  in  order  to  be  faithful  to  Christ  and  his  cause, 
to  ivithdraw.  I  have  borne  and  forborne  until  I  am  forced  either 
to  separate  myself  from  them,  or  to  acquiesce  in  their  hateful 
doings,  or  to  be  guilty  of  contumacy  to  the  highest  judicatory 
of  the  Church  by  an  open  defiance  of  her  power,  which  would 
certainly  end  in  ecclesiastical  degradation_  without  a  Presbytery 
or  Synod  to  shield  or  protect  me.  Perfect  freedom  of  speech 
and  of  action  no  longer  exists  in  the  Old  School  General 
Assembly.* 

Brethren,  I  have  given  you  my  views  upon  the  whole  subject. 
If  a  majority  of  you  are  with  me,  I  shall  rejoice  and  take  cour- 
age, and  continue  to  be  your  pastor  ;  if  otherwise,  we  must 
part  as  pastor  and  people.  I  shall  throw  myself  upon  the  prov- 
idence of  that  covenant  God,  who  has  never  failed  me  in  any 
time  of  need,  and  will  cheerfully  endure  whatever  suffering  or 
reproach  may  come  upon  me,  on  account  of  my  fidelity  in  wit- 
nessing for  the  Headship  of  Christ,  and  for  the  spirituality  and 
independence  of  his  blood-bought  Church.  May  God  bless  us 
all,  and  guide  us  to  do  our  duty  ! 

As  an  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  fierce  intolerance  and  bit- 
ter persecution  which  exists  among  the  new  school  Presbyte- 
rians with  which  the  old  school  are  soon  to  be  united,  and 
which,  instead  of  subsiding  after  the  return  of  peace,  as  might 
have  been  reasonably  expected,  is  steadily  "  waxing  worse  and 
worse." 

The  American  Presbyterian,  published  at  Philadelphia,  and 
probably  the   most  influential  journal  in  that  Church,  in  its 

*  See  their  refusal  to  record  the  able  protest  of  Dr.  Boardman  and  others,  agaiust 
their  exclusiou  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  LonisvillePresbytery. 


51 

issue  of  June  21st,  unblusliingly  advocates  the  Hg'/i^  and  duty  of 
the  civil  government  to  forbid  Christians  to  form  Church  organ- 
izations according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences. 
Speaking  of  the  recent  movements  in  some  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Churches  in  this  city,  in  severing  their  connexion  with 
the  old  school  General  Assembly  North,  the  editor  of  this  paper 
says  :  "  We  regard  this  as  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  movement 
to  rescue  and  perpetuate  in  the  Church  the  sectional  and  re- 
bellious spirit  which  it  was  the  aim  of  the  war,  if  not  to  ex- 
terminate, at  least  to  disable  from  all  outward  demonstrations. 
a  wise  government  in  our  judgment,  would  forbid  all  ex- 
tended sectional  organizations  which  are  not  called  for  by  any 
dictate  of  humanity,  and  which  are  absolutely  destitute  of  dis- 
tinctive features  or  reasons  for  separate  existence,  except  as 
they  embody  and  conserve  the  rebel  spirit.  no  southern 
Church,  higher  than  an  individual  Church,  should  be  tolerated, 

MUCH  LESS  should  PERMISSION  BE  GIVEN  FOR  THE  EXTENSION  OF  REBEL 
INSTITUTIONS,  IN  THE  FORM  OF  NEW  DENOMINATIONS    IN    THE    NORTH. 

But  this  is  the  opportunity  for  such  movements.  Rebel  de- 
monstrations are  no  offense  to  those  who  are  entrusted  with  the 
execution  of  the  laws.  G-reat  as  will  be  the  mischief,  we  expect 
to  see  the  emissaries  of  an  apostate  Christianity,  planting 
themselves  in  more  than  one  of  the  loyal  cities  of  the  North. 
Could  we  but  hope  for  a  fair  enforcement  of  the  Civil  Rights 
bill  in  behalf  of  our  own  enterprises  in  Southern  cities,  we 
would  not  fear  for  the  result.  But  the  pro-slavery  spirit,  arro- 
gant as  Romanism,  claims  toleration  and  defense  everywhere, 
while  it  persecutes  and  prohibits  everything  contrary  to  its  own 
spirit  wherever  it  has  the  power." 

This  is  the  real  animus  of  the  great  majority  of  the  Radicals 
in  the  old  as  well  as  the  new  school  Church  in  the  Northern 
States.  They  would  if  they  could  take  away  both  our  civil  and 
religious  liberty.  The  measures  adopted  by  the  last  Assembly, 
taken  in  connexion  with  the  debates  thereon,  are  responsive  to 
the  same  intolerant  and  relentless  spirit.  I  am  profoundly 
grateful  to  God,  that  our  civil  rulers  are  not  under  the  control 
of  fierce,  blood-thirsty,  and  cruel  ecclesiastics. 


ADDENDUM. 


The  continued  misrepresentations  of  certain  points  involved  in  this  con- 
troversy, make  it  necessary  to  add  something  to  what  has  been  already 
said  concerning  them,  in  the  text  of  the  foregoing  discourse. 

1,  The  gravamen  of  the  accusation  made  against  the  Assembly  of  1866 
is,  that  that  body  not  only  re-affirmed  the  unscriptural  and  unconstitu- 
tional acts  of  the  Assemblies  of  the  five  preceding  years,  but  reit- 
erated its  determination  to  enforce  those  acts  by  discipline  through  all  the 
courts,  and  furnished  an  instructive  example  of  that  "  spirit  of  meek- 
ness and  forbeai-ance"  ("as  they  understand  it")  in  conducting 
"process"  which  they  recommend  to  the  inferior  courts.  They  have 
practically  said  to  the  whole  Church,  "Behold  our  meekness  and  for- 
bearance towards  the  erring  brethren  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  and  go 
ye  and  do  likewise."  It  has  been  said  by  the  Commissioner  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Baltimore  to  the  last  Assembly  (who  was  appointed  '•'■Due- 
tor  Dubitantium"  and  Remover  General  of  "misapprehensions"  in  this 
community),  that  the  Assembly  would  have  done  nothing  to  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  certainly  would  not  have  done 
what  they  did,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  indignity  and  provocation  of- 
fered to  the  As.sembly  in  the  lavish  distribution  of  copies  of  the  "  Decla- 
ration and  Testimony"  through  the  pews  of  the  Church  in  which  the 
Assembly  held  its  sessions.  Can  it  be  possible  that  this  loving  brother 
had  forgotten  the  memorial  of  the  Convention  which  met  in  St.  Louis,  in 
advance  of  the  Assembly's  meeting,  and  which  furnished  not  only  the 
docket,  but  the  decisions  and  sentences  of  the  court  beforehand  ?  Does 
he  not  Imoic  that  the  exclusion  of  the  Louisville  Commissioners  was  a 
foregone  conclusion,  and  that  this  was  one  of  the  leading  purposes  for 
which  Dr.  R,.  J.  Breckinridge,  who  had  been  foiled  in  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, called  that  caucus  ?  Had  he  forgotten  that  the  Assembly  adopted 
that  memorial?  Or,  docs  he  think,  in  sincerity  and  truth,  that  his  own 
small,  meaningless  resolutions,  offered  at  the  close  of  a  meeting  of  nearly 
two  weeks  distinguished  by  a  rancor  which  disgusted  all  right  minded 
men  in  St.  Louis  (and,  unless  we  have  been  egregiously  misinformed, 
even  hwiself),  expressed  more  precisely  the  animus  of  the  body,  than  the 
elaborately  prepared  and  extended  papers  which  they  had  adopted  before  ? 


53 

Is  he  so  innocent  as  this  ?  If  so,  he  ought  to  be  absolved  from  all  respon- 
sibility for  saying  nothing  about  the  Memorial  or  the  Pastoral  Letter; 
and  ought,  unquestionably,  to  have  been  relieved  from  the  labor  and  re- 
sponsibility of  "  removing  misapprehensions"  in  this  community. 

But  to  return.  "  The  Assembly,"  we  are  told,  "  has  avowed  its  pur- 
pose not  to  enforce  its  acts,  excejyt  upon  the  rebellious  and  defiant  courts." 
Now  the  plain  meaning  of  this  is,  that  it  will  not  enforce  its  acts  upon  any 
minister,  court,  or  elder,  who  shall  be  silent^  and  go  on  giving  their  money 
to  promote  the  schemes,  consolidate  the  power,  and  sustain  the  reputation 
of  the  radical  majority.  "  Only  do  not  testify  against  us,"  they  say, 
'■'■  and  give  us  your  money,  and  you  may  do  with  our  deliverances  as  you 
please."  And  well  may  they  say  so.  What  body  of  men  on  earth  could 
ask  more  than  this  ?  "  Give  us  the  sole  and  exclusive  use  of  all  the 
means  of  creating  or  directing  public  opinion ;  silence  your  testimony 
(the  only  weapon  God  has  put  into  your  hands),  and  we  give  you  a  carte 
blanche  for  the  rest ;  provided  always,  you  send  your  contributions  to 
sustain  the  Boards,  Seminaries,  &c.,  which  we  have  filled,  or  will  fill,  with 
the  men  who  agree  with  us,  and  will  carry  out  our  measures  for  dividing 
and  distracting  the  Southern  Church,  and  for  taking  its  property ;  in 
which,  however,  our  "  magnanimity  "  will  be  satisfied  with  all  that  the 
law,  administered  according  to  justice,  ("as  we  understand  it,")  will 
allow  us."  What  "  dwellers  upon  earth"  would  not  be  satisfied  with 
such  an  arrangement  as  this  ?  What  more  has  the  whore  of  Babylon, 
riding  upon  the  scarlet  colored-beast,  ever  asked  of  God's  witnesses,  than 
that  they  should  be  silent  and  give  their  money  ? 

We  appeal  to  every  man  in  our  Church  who  disapproves  of  the  acts  of 
these  Assemblies.  Here  is  a  body  which  says  over  and  over  again,  in 
every  variety  of  form,  that  the  doctrine  of  States'  rights  is  a  damnable 
doctrine,  and  that  those  who  have  allowed  their  sympathies  and  conduct 
to  be  regulated  by  it  in  the  recent  struggle,  are  unworthy  of  the  com- 
munion of  the  Church,  however  pure  and  blameless  in  other  respects ; 
that  the  whole  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  (except  a  few  intelligent 
Union  men,  or  very  weak-minded  and  hardly  responsible  rebels),  consists 
of  ecclesiastical  outlaws,  and  can  never  be  received  into  the  holy  com- 
munion of  the  Church  of  Drs.  D  V.  Maclean  and  Thomas  E.  Thomas; 
that,  therefore,  Thos.  J.  Jackson,  Jas.  H.  Thornwell,  and  a  host  of  dis- 
tinguished and  undistinguished  men,  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy, 
who  died  in  the  uurepented  sin  of  rebellion,  have  gone  to  perdition  ;  that 
the  impenitent  living  rebels  (impenitent  as  to  the  sin  of  rebellion) 
have  no  right  to  their  Churches,  and  may  be  and  shall  be  deprived  of 


54 

them,  if  it  can  he  done  hy  laio,  (for  botli  Presidents  Lincoln  and  Johnson 
have  refused  to  do  it  for  them  hy  force) ^  and  asks  for  your  contributions  to 
carry  out  this  among  other  measures.  Will  you  do  it  ?  Can  you  do  it? 
You  who  venerate  the  memory  of  these  Southern  brethren,  many  of  whom 
have  elevated,  strengthened,  comforted,  melted  you,  while  with  tongues 
of  fire  they  set  before  you  the  wonderful  love  of  Christ  to  sinners ;  and 
made  your  hearts  throb  with  joy  and  gratitude  that  God  had  exalted  you 
to  fellowship  with  His  Son  ?  Can  you  do  it  ?  You  who  still  weep  over 
the  graves  of  your  own  flesh  and  blood  fallen  in  this  struggle,  can  you 
support  and  identify  yourselves  with  a  General  Assembly  which  insults  your 
dead,  and  follows  them  into  the  unseen  world  with  the  hot  thunderbolts 
of  wrath?     Never!  we  humbly  trust,  never! 

2.  We  are  told  again,  that  the  General  Assembly  has  done  nothing 
which  all  other  Evangelical  Churches  have  not  done,  including  the 
Churches  of  the  South.  If  the  men  who  assert  this  really  believe  what 
they  say,  then  we  assert,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they  are  either  so  weak 
as  to  be  incapable  of  distinguishing  things  that  differ,  or  they  are,  for  the 
time,  so  blinded  by  passion  and  prejudice  that  they  cannot  see.  In  either 
case,  they  are  not  precisely  the  men  to  undertake  the  removal  of  "misap- 
prehensions." If  men  absorbed  in  a  war  involving  all  their  earthly  con- 
cerns, pay  a  passing  tribute  to  the  devotion  of  their  people  to  the  cause, 
in  a  "  Narrative  of  Religion,"  is  this  the  same  as  handing  over  to  perdi- 
tion all  who  differ  from  them?  If  they  say,  in  another  "  Narrative,"  that 
it  is  the  mission  of  the  Church  in  the  South  ' '  to  conserve  the  institution 
of  slavery,  and  to  make  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  a  blessing  to 
both,"  is  this  the  same  as  a  claim  to  legislate  upon  a  political  institution, 
when  they  tell  us  that  they  meant  no  such  thing,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that 
they  meant  only  that  from  the  position  of  the  Church  in  the  South,  it  had  a 
mission  which  no  other  Church  could  have,  to  bring  the  wholesome  influ- 
ences of  the  gospel  to  bear  upon  both  master  and  slave,  and  so  to  se- 
cure the  performance  of  their  relative  duties  as  prescribed  in  the  word  of 
God;  and  thereby  to  "  conserve  the  institution,"  prevent  its  degenerating 
into  oppression  on  the  one  hand,  and  hopeless  suffering  on  the  other  ? 
We  challenge  any  man  to  lay  his  finger  on  one  "deliverance"  of  any 
Southern  Assembly,  Synod,  Presbytery  or  Session  which  charges  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Northern  Church  with  the  sin  of  Federalism,  much  less  upon  any 
deliverance  which  hands  over  Federalists  of  the  North,  who  have  carried  out 
their  principles  by  making  war  upon  the  South,  to  the  flames  of  .the  pit ; 
or  even  upon  any  deliverance  which  threatens  any  of  their  own  people  with 
discipline  who  do  not  acknowledge  the  government  of  the  Southern  Con- 


55 

federacy,  whether  dejure  or  de  facto.  It  cannot  be  done.  The  action  of 
the  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  of  which  such  efficient  use  has  been  made, 
comes  nearer  to  a  political  action  than  any  other.  But  the  act  reads, 
"We,  the  members  of  the  Synod,  assembled,  &c.,"  indicating  that  the 
members  spoke  not  in  their  capacity  as  a  court,  but  as  individual  citizensj 
and,  we  have  little  doubt,  (the  records  are  not  before  us)  that  an  exami- 
nation of  their  records  would  show  this  to  be  the  case.  But  be  this  as  it 
may,  it  is  absurd  and  monstrous  to  affirm  that  this  Synod  has  gone  as  far  as 
the  Assemhliesof'Q\-QQ.  Further,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  South- 
ern Church  twice  refused  (or  rather  an  effort  to  that  end  has  twice  fallen 
through  in  the  Assembly)  to  send  a  petition  to  the  civil  power,  for  the  in- 
corporation of  an  article  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States, 
recognizing  the  supremacy  of  Christ  and  of  the  Bible ;  an  emphatic  tes- 
timony to  the  jealousy  with  which  Southern  Presbyterians  regard  any 
commingling  or  confounding  of  the  spheres  and  functions  of  the  Church 
and  the  State.  (See  the  minutes  of  the  Southern  Assembly  for  '61  and 
'63.)  Once  more,  notice  the  difference  between  the  spirit  of  the  acts  of 
the  Southern  and  Northern  Assemblies,  We  again  challenge  any  man  to 
point  out  one  sentence  in  any  act  of  the  former  body,  which  breathes  a 
spirit  of  malignity  and  hate ;  while  in  the  acts  of  the  other,  epithets  of 
malignant  abuse  dance  through  the  sentences,  "in  all  the  mazes  of  meta- 
phorical confusion."  Would  to  God  that  the  Presbyterian  people  of  this 
city  could  read /or  themselves,  the  acts  of  the  two  Assemblies,  North  and 
South;  look  on  this  picture  and  then  on  that ;  thei,  they  would  have  their 
"  misapprehensions  "  removed,  more  effectually  than  by  a  thousand  "  ex- 
planations "  of  men  who  succeed  only  in  proving  that  they,  at  least,  ought 
to  remain  in  the  Northern  Assembly. 

3.  But,  lastly,  we  are  charged  with  the  sin  of  schism.  An  excellent 
stone  this  for  a  "  churchman  "  to  pelt  with,  but  an  awkward  weapon  in  the 
hands  of  Presbyterians  who  have  been  very  prone  to  schism,  especially 
where  the  doctrine  of  the  supremacy  of  Christ  in  His  Church  has  been 
trampled  under  foot,  and  His  House  subjected  to  the  control  of  Caesar. 
The  truth  is,  the  men  who  are  now  urging  the  changes  upon  this  word, 
know  or  ought  to  know  that  "  schism,"  in  the  scriptural  sense,  is  simply 
"division"  of  sentiment  or  feeling,  the  breach  of  that  harmony  which 
ought  to  prevail  in  the  body  of  Christ;  not  a  mere  difference  of  opinion, 
but  such  a  difference  as  leads  to  the  formation  of  parties  or  factions ;  and 
involving  the  breach  of  Christian  love  and  internal  fellowship ;  and  thus, 
whether  the  division  leads  to  actual  rupture  of  the  bonds  of  external  fel- 
lowship or  not.     Schism,  in  the  ecclesiastical  sense,  necessarily  implies  a 


56 

visible  separation  from  tlie  body.  In  the  former  sense,  schism  always  im- 
plies sin ;  generally  on  both  sides.  In  the  latter  sense,  schism  always  im- 
plies sin  on  one  side,  but,  generally,  on  the  side  which  makes  it  necessary, 
by  its  departure  from  the  standards  of  faith  and  order,  which  all  alike 
have  come  under  solemn  obligations  to  observe  and  hold.  Now,  in  the 
first  sense  of  the  term,  there  is  already  schism  in  the  O.  S.  General  As- 
sembly; there  are  parties  and  factions  which  call  one  another  by  hard  names; 
which  Christian  love  never  invented  j  and  the  extremes  can  no  more  mix 
than  oil  and  water.  One  of  the  brethren  belonging  to  the  middle  party 
(or  as  we  might  call  it,  the  party  of  the  tertium  quid)  lately  defended,  be- 
fore a  large  audience  in  this  city,  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1866, 
(against  which  he  had  himself  voted),  in  excluding  the  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery Commissioners  from  their  seats.  He  spoke  in  the  house  which 
the  zeal,  energy  and  unselfish  devotion  of  one  of  those  Commissioners 
had  erected  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  extension  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  stood  in  the  pulpit  from  which  that  Commissioner  had  pro- 
claimed the  glad  tidings  of  salvation,  with  an  earnestness  and  eloquence 
for  which  hundreds  in  this  city  will  bless  him  forever  He  spoke,  in  the 
eloquence  peculiar  to  himself,  of  the  exquisite  beauty  of  Christian  love. 
Yet  not  one  word  was  there  of  indiguant  protest  against  the  atrocious 
outrage  which  had  been  perpetrated  upon  that  Commissioner  and  others 
in  St.  Louis,  in  denying  them  atrial;  nay,  affirmed  and  attempted  to  prove 
that  there  was  a  trial.  Not  one  tear  of  compassion  did  he  shed  for  the 
erring  brother  (as,  of  course,  he  must  have  regarded  him),  not  one  pass- 
ing petition  that  he  might  be  restored  to  the  path  of  truth.  Ris  charity 
seemed  to  be  reserved  for  those  who  agreed  with  himself — after  the  man- 
ner of  publicans  and  sinners,  who  "love  those  that  love  them,"  and  that 
do  as  they  say.  Is  this  the  love,  0  Christ,  by  which,  Thou  sayest,  men 
shall  know  thy  disciples  ? 

In  the  other  sense  of  the  word,  who  is  responsible  for  the  schism  ? 
They  who  "withdraw  them.selves,"  according  to  God's  command,  or  they 
who  have  compelled  them  to  take  this  step  ?  Have  not  the  dominant 
party  in  the  Church,  the  tertium  quids  themselves  being  witnesses,  vio- 
lated the  Constitution  of  the  Church  not  only,  but  violated  it  to  such  an 
extent^  (Drs.  Hodge,  Backus,  Dickson  and  others  being  witnesses  ;  see 
Protest  of  '61),  as  to  compel  a  large  portion  of  the  Church  either  to  re- 
nounce its  communion,  or  to  renounce  the  jurisdiction  of  their  civil  gov- 
ernment ?  Alas !  it  is  the  old  story  of  the  lamb  troubling  the  water  of 
the  wolf  higher  up  the  stream.  Elijah  was  a  troubler  of  Israel — in 
Ahah's  opinion.     So  now  the  defenders  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the 


57 

FUNDAMENTAL  doctrine  of  the  supremacy  of  Christ  as  King,  are  the 
troublers  of  Israel,  because  they  will  neither  consent  to  apologize  for  the 
deliverances  on  "  slavery,  loyalty  and  freedom,"  nor  to  silence  their  testi- 
mony against  them ;  nor  even  yield  in  the  small  matter  of  giving  them 
their  money.  For  this  they  are  publicly  pronounced  guilty  of  a  greater 
sin  than  has  been  committed  by  the  Assembly  from  '61  to  '66.  Let  God 
be  the  judge ! 


THE  ACTION  OF  THE  NORTHERN  0.   S.   ASSEMBLY 

OF  1865. 

WJiereas,  During  tlie  existence  of  the  great  rebellion,  which, 
has  disturbed  the  peace  and  threatened  the  life  of  the  nation,  a 
large  number  of  Presbyteries  and  Synods  in  the  Southern  States, 
whose  names  are  on  the  roll  of  the  General  Assembly  as  con- 
stituent parts  of  this  body,  have  organized  an  Assembly  de- 
nominated "  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Confederate  States 
of  America,"  in  order  to  render  their  aid  in  the  attempt  to  es- 
tablish, by  means  of  the  rebellion,  a  separate  national  exist- 
ence, and  ''to  conserve  and  perpetuate  the  system  of  slavery," 
therefore, 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly  regards  the  civil  rebellion  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  negro  slavery  as  a  great  crime,  both  against  our  national  government 
and  against  God,  and  the  secession  of  those  Presbyteries  and  Synods  from  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  under  such  circumstances  and  for  such  reasons,  as  un- 
warranted, schismatical  and  unconstitutional. 

Eesolved,  2.  That  the  General  Assembly  does  not  intend  to  abandon  the  ter- 
ritory in  which  these  Churches  are  found,  or  to  compromise  the  rights  of  any 
of  the  Church  courts,  or  ministers,  ruling  elders  and  private  members  belong- 
ing to  them,  who  are  loyal  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  On  the  contrary,  this  Assembly  will  recognize  such 
loyal  persons  as  constituting  the  Churches,  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  in  all  the 
bounds  of  the  schism,  and  will  use  earnest  endeavors  to  restore  and  revive  all 
such  Churches  and  Church  courts. 

Resolved,  3.  The  Assembly  hereby  declares  that  it  will  recognize  as  the 
Church,  the  members  of  any  Church  within  the  bounds  of  the  schism,  who  are 
loyal  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  whose  views  are 
in  harmony  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  with  the  several 
testimonies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery. 
And  where  any  three  ministers,  who  entertain  the  views  above  mentioned,  be- 
long to  the  same  Presbytery,  such  ministers  are  hereby  authorized  and  di- 
rected to  continue  their  organization  as  a  Presbytery  ;  or  any  two  such  minis- 
ters are  authorized  to  receive  any  minister  of  the  same  views,  regularly  dis- 
missed to  them,  and  thus  continue  their  organizations  with  the  Churches  above 
described  in  the  same  bounds,  in  connection  with  this  Assembly.  But  if  a  suf- 
ficient number  are  not  found  in  one  Presbytery,  they  are  authorized  to  unite 


59 

with  the  loyal  ministers  and  Churches  of  one  or  more  adjacent  Presbyteries, 
retaining  the  name  of  one  or  both  such  united  Presbyteyies  as  shall  be  deemed 
expedient.     A  similar  course  is  also  authorized  with  regard  to  Synods. 

It  is  hereby  ordered  that  all  our  Presbyteries  examine  every 

minister  applying  for  admission  from  any  Presbytery  or  other 

ecclesiastical  body  in  the  Southern  States,   on  the  following 

points  : 

1.  Whether  he  has  in  any  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  his 
own  free  will  and  consent,  or  without  external  constraint,  been 
concerned  at  any  time  in  aiding  or  countenancing  the  rebellion 
and  the  war  which  has  been  waged  against  the  United  States ; 
and  if  it  be  found  by  his  own  confession  or  from  sufficient  tes- 
timony, that  he  has  been  so  concerned,  that  he  be  required  to 
confess  and  forsake  his  sin  in  this  regard  before  he  shall  be  re- 
ceived. 

2.  Whether  he  holds  that  the  system  of  negro  slavery  in  the 
South  is  a  Divine  institution,  and  that  it  is  "  the  peculiar  mis- 
sion of  the  Southern  Church  to  conserve  the  institution  of  slave- 
ry as  there  maintained,"  and  if  it  be  found  that  he  holds  either 
of  these  doctrines,  that  he  be  not  received  without  renouncing 
and  forsaking  these  errors. 

This  injunction  to  Presbyteries  is  in  like  manner  applicable 
to  Synods,  and  it  is  hereby  ordered  that  upon  the  application 
of  any  Presbytery  to  be  received  into  any  Synod  where  such 
Presbytery  is  or  has  been  connected  with  the  Southern  General 
Assembly,  such  Synod  shall  examine  all  the  members  of  said 
Presbytery  on  the  points  above  named,  and  the  reception  of 
such  Presbytery  or  any  of  the  ministers  thereof  by  such  Synod 
shall  depend  upon  their  compliance  with  the  conditions  before 
mentioned. 

Church  sessions  are  also  ordered  to  examine  all  applicants 
for  church  membership  by  persons  from  the  Southern  States, 
or  who  have  been  been  living  in  the  South  since  the  rebellion, 
concerning  their  conduct  and  principles  on  the  points  above 
specified ;  and  if  it  be  found  that  of  their  own  free  will  they 
have  taken  up  arms  against  the  United  States,  or  that  they 
hold  slavery  to  be  an  ordinance  of  Grod,  as  above  stated,  such 


60 

PERSONS  SHALL  NOT  BE  ADMITTED  TO  THE  COMMUNION  OF  THE  CHURCH 
TILL  THEY  GIVE  EVIDENCE  OF  REPENTANCE  FOR  THEIR  SINS  AND  RE- 
NOUNCE THEIR  ERROR. 

The  General  Assembly  gives  counsel  to  the  several  cliurcli 
courts  specified  in  these  orders,  that  in  discharging  the  duties 
enjoined  therein,  due  regard  be  paid  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  and  that  justice  be  tempered  with  mercy.  Especially  is 
this  counsel  given  to  churches  in  the  border  States,  where  many 
impulsive  and  ardent  young  men,  without  due  consideration, 
have  been  led  away  by  their  superiors,  or  seduced  from  their 
loyalty  by  their  erroneous  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of 
State  Eights.  Such  persons,  though  highly  criminal,  are  far 
less  so  than  their  unprincipled  and  ambitious  leaders.  While 
in  the  treatment  of  even  these,  the  honor  of  religion  ought  to 
be  fully  vindicated,  more  tenderness  may  be  properly  exercised 
than  duty  requires  or  admits  in  dealing  with  their  guides  and 
deceivers.  By  kind  and  faithful  instruction  and  admonition 
and  by  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  most  of  them,  it  is 
hoped,  will  be  reclaimed  from  the  error  of  their  ways,  and  be- 
come loyal  citizens  and  valuable  church  members. 

It  is  further  ordered  that  if  any  minister  or  ministers  belong- 
ing to  any  Presbytery  or  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the 
General  Assembly,  have  iied  or  been  sent  by  civil  or  mili- 
itary  authority  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  on 
account  of  their  disloyalty,  or  who  may  have  gone  for  the  same 
reason  to  any  of  the  Southern  States,  and  have  aided  in  this 
rebellion,  such  Presbytery  or  Presbyteries  shall  take  action  on 
the  subject,  and  unless  they  obtain  satisfactory  evidence  of  the 
repentance  of  such  ministers,  they  shall  declare  and  enter  upon 
their  records  that  they  are  thenceforth  suspended  from  the 
functions  of  the  gospel  ministry  until  their  cases  can  be  regu- 
larly issued.  And  if  after  two  years  they  shall  still  remain 
beyond  the  reach  of  such  Presbytery  or  Presbyteries,  the  names 
of  such  ministers  shall  be  erased  from  the  roll,  and  they  shall 
thereupon  be  no  longer  deemed  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 


^PI'ENDIX. 


In  order  that  our  readers  may  have  a  clear  and  full  under- 
standing of  the  matters  in  controversy  between  us  and  our  ad- 
heriiig  brethren,  I  have  added  an  Appendix,  which  contains 
a  part  of  the  objectionable  action  of  the  two  last  Assemblies, 
and  also  a  portion  of  the  Pastoral  Address  of  the  last  Southern 
Assembly,  (1865,)  defining  their  idea  of  the  true  nature  of  the 
Church  and  their  position  and  relations,  both  to  the  civil  gov- 
ernment and  to  the  Northern  Assembly.  A  careful  perusal  of 
these  will  be  a  complete  refutation  of  the  glosses  and  false 
interpretations  of  the  two  adhering  brethren  who  undertook  to 
correct  the  misapprehensions,  or  ^^misrepresentations,"  which 
had  been  recently  circulated  (by  some  person  or  persons  not 
named)  in  this  community.  It  will  be  seen  from  these  official  pa- 
pers how  determined  the  Assembly  were  to  maintain  "  in  their 
integrity,"  their  past  deliverances  on  the  subject  of  "loyalty 
and  slavery,"  and  how  decisive  was  their  refusal  to  allow  either 
individuals  or  the  lower  judicatories  of  the  Church  to  exercise 
their  discretion  in  executing  the  orders  of  the  Assembly  upon 
that  subject : 

MEMORIAL   ADOPTED   BY   THE   NORTHERN  ASSEM- 
BLY, 1866. 

Your  memorialists,  therefore,  do  hereby  respectfully  represent,  in  ref- 
erence to  the  recent  persistent  attempts  made  in  various  parts  of  the 
Church  to  have  the  deliverances  and  injunctions  of  the  General  Assembly 
(produced  by  the  disturbed  state  of  the  Church  and  nation  during  the 
past  five  years)  reconsidered  and  changed  ;  that  the  General  Assembly 
has  nothing  in  the  matter  aforesaid  to  change,  nothing  to  explain,  nothing 
to  modify,  nothing  to  take  hack,  nothing  to  amend  in  any  way,  shape  or 
form  whatever ;  it  being  needful  only  for  any  one  to  correct  the  misre- 
presentations published  and  industriously  circulated  concerning  those  de- 
liverances and  injunctions,  in  order  clearly  to  vindicate  both  the  moral 
and  ecclesiastical  right  of  the  Assembly  to  enact  the  same. 


62 

All  the  more  do  your  memorialists  earnestly  press  upon  the  Assembly  the 
importance  of  thus  firmly  adhering  to  all  that  has  been  said  or  done,  regard- 
ing the  great  moral  and  religious  issues  involved  in  the  struggle  of  the 
past  five  years ;  inasmuch  as  the  spirit  of  rebellion  still  rages  in  some 
portions  of  the  Church,  even  to  the  extent  of  public  ofl&cial,  as  well  as 
public  personal,  defiance  unto,  and  insult  of,  the  authority  of  the  General 
Assembly,  notable  instances  of  which  are  the  adoption,  by  one  of  our 
Presbyteries,  and  many  of  our  members,  of  a  ''  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony" reviling  the  Assembly,  and  covering  the  Church  with  unmerited 
reproach ;  and  especially  the  election  of  some  as  Commissioners  to  the 
Assembly,  whose  eminence  in  open  hostility  to  the  loyal  deliverances  of 
the  Assembly,  and  to  the  Assembly  itself,  is  unsurpassed  in  the  history 
of  our  Church. 

Your  memorialists,  in  calling  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  to  the  op- 
position thus  made  by  individuals,  by  Church-courts,  and  by  the  press, 
do  hereby  also  invite  its  attention  to  the  vast  multitude  of  fatal  heresies, 
connected  with,  and  logically  growing  out  of  it — not  the  least  of  which 
is  that  which  denies  to  the  deliverances  and  injunctions  of  the  Assembly, 
during  the  past  five  years  (upon  slavery  and  rebellion)  any  binding  force 
whatever. 

The  action  of  the  supreme  tribunal  of  our  Church  is  denounced  as 
contrary  to  the  constitution  and  immemorial  usage  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  disobedience  to  the  same  publicly  and  privately  counseled. 

The  peace  and  purity  of  the  Church  imperatively  demand  that  the 
General  Assembly,  whose  duty  it  is  to  suppress  schismatical  contentions 
and  disputations,  shall  adopt  efficient  measures  to  put  an  end  to  the  anar- 
chy and  confusion  which  this  course  of  things  is  bringing  upon  the  whole 
Church.  They  who  thus  revile  the  authority  and  disturb  the  harmony 
of  the  Church,  should  be  required  to  desist  from  such  revolutionary  and 
schismatical  conduct — and  where  Church  officers  or  courts  persist,  in 
defiance  of  the  order  of  the  Assembly,  they  should  be  dealt  with  as  offenders 
against  the  peace,  purity,  and  order  of  the  house  of  God.       *       *       * 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  no  alternative  consistent  with  safety,  with 
self-respect,  with  the  righteousness  of  its  own  past  conduct,  with  fidelity 
to  divine  truth  or  Christian  duty,  or  with  obedience  to  God,  but  to  accept 
the  renunciation  of  these  deluded  men,  to  testify  against  their  sinful  acts, 
and  to  keep  her  skirts  clear  of  their  miserable  doings.  Three  great  duties 
remain  to  her,  connected  with  this  subject,  upon  the  right  performance 
of  which  a  great  reward  awaits  her,  and  upon  the  neglect  of  which,  trou- 
ble and  confusion  !     The  first  is,  to  purify  herself  from  the  widely-diffused 


63 

poison  of  the  times,  wliicli  (in  a  form  more  or  less  virulent)  is  diffused 
through  all  the  Churches  ;  and  to  do  this  as  remembering  that  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church  is  of  Grod,  is  an  ordinance  of  mercy  to  backslid- 
ers, and  stands  related  to  the  threatenings  of  God's  word,  in  some  manner 
as  the  sacraments  thereof  do  to  the  promises  of  God.  The  second  is  to 
hold  out,  and  wide  open,  the  arms  of  her  love  to  every  child  of  God  in 
the  Southern  country  who  has  been  a  victim — not  the  willing  partaker  of 
the  sins  against  God,  against  His  Church,  and  against  their  country, 
against  which  Divine  Providence  has  testified  by  such  severe  and  most 
righteous  judgments.  The  third  is  to  proceed,  at  once,  and  with  a  zeal 
proportioned  to  the  urgency  of  the  necessity,  to  redeem  the  solemn  promise 
made  by  the  first  Assembly,  after  the  schism  organized  in  1861 — that  she 
would  wholly  disregard  its  existence,  and,  as  God  might  enable  her, 
would  strive  to  recover  all  she  might  lose  by  it,  and  to  extend  and  estab- 
lish, more  and  more,  throughout  the  whole  South,  the  precious  system  of 
Divine  Truth,  unto  the  liberty  and  power  of  which  God  has  called  her  by 
His  grace. 

Let  the  revenge  we  will  ask  of  God  be  a  double  share  in  the  work  of 
saving  those  who  have  cast  us  out  as  doubly  vile. 

Adopted  unanimously,  and  ordered  to  be  signed  by  the  ofiicers  in  behalf 
of  one  hundred  and  eleven,  in  Convention  assembled  at  St  Louis,  Mis- 
souri, May  14,  1866.* 


PASTORAL   LETTER, 

OF  THE    NORTHERN    ASSEMBLY,  TO    THE   CHURCHES    UNDER    THEIR  CARE 
TOUCHING  THE  RELATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENTS. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1865  met  a  few  weeks  after  the  last  battles 
of  a  gigantic  civil  war,  which  had  continued  four  years.  That  war  orig- 
inated in  rebellion  against  Lhe  Government  of  the  United  States.  Dur- 
ing its  progress,  the  Church  of  our  fathers  became  divided,  and  in  De- 
cember, 1861,  some  ten  Synods  and  forty-four  Presbyteries,  with  the 
churches  under  their  care,  organized  a  separate  Church  under  another 
General  Assembly.  Four  General  Assemblies — namely,  those  of  1S61, 
1862,  1863  and  1864 — had  deliberately  and  solemnly  pronounced  this 
rebellion  a  heinous  offence,  in  the  light  of  both  human  and  divine  law, 
and  had  enjoined  upon  the  people  under  their  care  the  duty  of  upholding 
the  Government  against  which  the  rebellion  was  waged.  When,  there- 
fore,  the  Assembly  of  1865  convened,  recognizing  these  doctrines  upon 

*This  Memorial  of  the  Convention  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority. 


64 

the  rebellion  and  loyalty  as  true,  and  recognizing  the  well  known  fact  that 
many  persons  lately  of  our  ecclesiastical  household,  some  of  them  minis- 
ters and  elders,  had  been  prominently  concerned  in  instigating  and  aiding 
the  rebellion,  that  body  simply  designed  to  apply,  as  a  logical  and  right- 
eous necessity,  the  principle  laid  down  by  the  four  preceeding  Assemblies. 
As  they  successively  declared  the  rebellion  to  be  a  sin  and  gross  offence, 
the  last  Assembly  made  provision  that  those  in  the  Southern  Church  who 
had  been  guilty  of  willingly  aiding  the  rebellion  should  acknowledge 

THEIR  SIN  AND  PROFESS  REPENTANCE  AS  A  CONDITION  PREEEDENT,  pro- 
vided they  should  wish  to  return  to  their  former  relations  with  us.  It  is 
impossible  to  see  what  could  have  been  done  less  than  this,  without,  on  the 
one  hand,  totally  ignoring  the  solemn  deliverances  of  the  four  previous  As- 
semblies, and  in  effect  treating  their  doctrines  upon  rebellion  and  loyalty  as 
erroneous ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  while  admitting  these  doctrines  to  be  true, 
allowing  the  men  who  had  been  guilty  of  setting  them  at  naught  to  come 
back  into  our  fellowship  without  inquiry  into  their  conduct,  and  thus  mak- 
ing us  partakers  of  their  sins 

We  regard  it  as  completely  within  the  province  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  make  these  provisions.  Rebellion  against  lawful  civil  authority  is 
a  gross  sin  by  the  Word  of  Grod,  and  is  so  declared  in  terms  by  our  stand- 
ards. These  standards,  also,  make  it  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
"  bear  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine  and  immorality  in  practice  in 
any  Church,  Presbytery  or  Synod."  Four  Assemblies  had  borne  testi- 
mony against  the  "  immorality"  of  the  rebellion  •  the  fifth  simply  enjoined 
upon  Sessions,  Presbyteries  and  Synods  the  duty  of  requiring  repentance 
of  the  "  immorality  "  in  any  who  might  apply  for  admission  who  had 
willingly  aided  the  rebellion.  In  this  the  last  Assembly  but  called  the 
attention  of  the  lower  courts  to  what  was  their  obvious  duty  without  any 
injunction;  but  such  injunction  became  necessary  for  two  reasons :  _/??-.si', 
because  some  Preshyteries  loere  in  doubt  as  to  their  duty  and  had  over- 
tured  that  Assembly  for  direction;  and,  secondly,  because  it  was  feared 
that  in  some  portions  of  the  Church,  the  lower  courts  would  not  act,  ex- 
cept binder  an  express  injunction  of  the  Assembly.  Beyond  this,  it  was 
manifestly  essential  that  there  should  be  a  uniform  rule  of  procedure  for 
all  the  courts  touching  the  o^ense  of  rebellion,  applicable  to  all  who 
should  apply  for  admission  from  the  Southern  Church.  Such  rule  the 
last  assembly  pr-'vided.  In  this  provision  there  was  nothing  new.  It 
was  but  a  direction  to  deal  with  gross  offenders,  should  they  seek  to  join 
the  Church  from  which  they  had  separated.  If  they  should  not  make 
application,  they  would  not  be  disturbed.  *         *         *         *         * 


65 

It  is  thus  too  clear  to  admit  of  doubt  that  the  Assembly  of  1865  was 
not  only  fully  competent  to  make  the  provisions  in  question,  but  that,  had 
it  failed  to  do  so,  it  would  have  fallen  short  of  its  duty.  The  only  fea- 
ture in  these  provisions  which  cau  be  called  new  arises  from  the  fact  that 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country  had  never  before  been  called  to 
deal  with  such  an  oflfense. 

While,  therefore,  the  last  Assembly  but  fulfilled  its  duty  in  issuing  those 
injunctions,  it  left  their  application  to  the  persons  concerned,  entirely  to 
the  lower  courts.  In  its  direction  to  them  it  showed  that  it  was  actuated 
by  conciliation  and  kindness.  It  '^  gave  counsel  to  the  several  Church 
courts"  that  "in  discharging  the  duties  enjoined,  due  regard  be  paid  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  that  justice  be  tempered  with  mercy." 
It  directed  that  "  teuderuess"  should  be  exercised,  especially  towards  the 
young  who  had  been  led  astray  by  "  unprincipled  and  ambitious  leaders  ;" 
and  it  expressed  the  hope  that  "by  kind  and  faithful  instruction  and  ad- 
monition, and  by  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  most  of  them  would  be 
reclaimed  from  the  error  of  their  ways  and  become  loyal  citizens  and  valua- 
ble members  of  the  Church." 

The  injunctions  and  councils  of  the  last  Assembly  were  thus  kind  and 
fraternal  towards  those  who  were  guilty  of  having  willingly  aided  the  re- 
bellion. Any  concessions  touching  the  offences  of  such  persons  would 
have  been  the  height  of  unkindness.  It  would  have  been  a  connivance  at 
their  sin,  and  would  have  brought  down  upon  them  and  upon  us  alike  the 
displeasure  of  God. 

In  regard  to  our  brethren  throughout  the  South  who  did  not  aid  the 
rebellion,  or  who  aided  it  from  the  force  of  circumstances,  or  under 
protest  of  conscience,  the  General  Assembly  has  ever  felt  the  deepest 
concern.  That  of  1862  spake  to  such,  as  follows  :  "  To  those  in  like  cir- 
cumstances who  are  not  chargeable  with  the  sins  which  have  brought  such 
calamities  upon  the  land,  but  who  have  chosen,  in  the  exercise  of  their 
Christian  liberty,  to  stand  in  their  lot  and  suffer,  we  address  words  of 
affectionate  sympathy,  praying  God  to  bring  them  off  couquerers.  To 
those  in  like  circumstances  who  have  taken  their  lives  in  their  hands,  and 
risked  all  for  their  country  and  for  conscience's  sake  we  say,  we  love  such 
with  all  our  heart,  and  bless  God  such  witnesses  were  found  in  the  time  of 
thick  darkness."  The  Assembly  of  1863  thus  said  to  the  same  class  : 
"  We  tender  our  kind  sympathies  to  those  who  are  overtaken  by  troubles 
they  could  not  avoid,  and  who  mourn  and  weep  in  secret  places,  not  un- 
seen by  the  Father's  eye."     The  present  Assembly,  in  a  paper  adopted 


66 

witli  entire  unanimity,  says  of  the  same  persons,  that  we  "  still  cherish  a 
kindly  and  fraternal  regard  for  them,  and  whenever  any  of  them  shall  de- 
sire to  return  to  their  former  connection  with  us,  they  will  receive  a  cor- 
dial welcome."  And  the  present  Assembly  further  says  :  "  In  regard  to 
those  who  have  voluntarily  aided  and  countenanced  the  said  rebellion  and 
separation,  this  Assembly  disclaims  all  vindictive  feelings,  and  all  disposi- 
tion to  exercise  an  undue  severity,  and  reiterates  its  readiness  to  receive 
them  whenever  they  shall  have  complied  with  the  conditions  laid  down  by 
the  last  General  Assembly  on  page  563  of  its  printed  minutes." 

It  thus  appears  that  six  Greneral  Assemblies  in  succession,  including  the 
present,  have,  with  remarkable  unanimity,  maintained  the  same  position 
concerning  the  rebellion,  and  concerning  those  engaged  in  it.  After  care- 
fully reviewing  the  whole  course  of  these  years  of  strife  and  alienation, 
we  find  nothing  to  recall  or  modify  in  the  deliverances  which  have  been 
made.  We  have  taken  our  position  upon  the  clearest  principles  of  the 
Word  of  God,  as  set  forth  in  our  standards.  We  have  aimed  to  reclaim 
offenders  by  demanding  only  what  Christ  requires  of  us  as  rulers  in  his 
house.  We  have  repeatedly  expressed  our  solemn  judgment  regarding 
their  offences,  but  we  have  uniformly  done  it  in  faithfulness  and  kindness 
only,  as  our  duty  required.  While  to  these,  our  brethren,  who  have  thus 
offended  against  the  law  of  Christ,  we  would  reiterate  the  language  of  the 
Assembly  of  1862,  and  ''earnestly  addressed  words  of  exhortation  and 
rebuke,"  we  still  extend  to  them  the  hand  of  kindness,  and  desire  that  our 
former  ecclesiastical  fellowship  may  be  restored,  whenever  IT  CAN  BE 

DONE  UPON  THOSE  PRINCIPLES  "WHICH  SIX    GENERAL  ASSEMBLIES  HAVE 

ANNOUNCED.  To  form  a  union  upon  any  other  basis,  would  only  serve 
to  bring  together  those  who  could  not  act  in  harmony,  and  to  perpetuate 
strife  and  alienation. 

Upon  both  branches  of  the  deliverances  of  the  last  Assembly — loyalty 
and  freedom — we  therefore  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion,  that  they  should 
be  maintained  in  their  integrity. 

One  other  topic  demands  our  consideration.  In  consequence  of  the 
rebellion  and  slavery,  and  of  the  deliverances  of  the  five  preceding  As- 
semblies thereupon,  one  Presbytery  in  the  Church,  and  some  one  hun- 
dred or  more  ministers  and  elders,  have  set  themselves  against  these  de- 
liverances, by  ecclesiastical  action,  or  formal  organization,  and  have  pub- 
lished their  schismatical  doctrines  to  the  world.  The  disapprobation  by 
ministers  and  members  of  the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  when  ex- 
pressed in  proper  terms  and  spirit,  and  with  due  acknowledgement  of  sub- 
ordination to  its  authority,  is  a  right  which  belongs  to  every  one  under  its 


67 

jurisdiction.     The  General  Assembly  claims  no  infallibility,  but  it  pos- 
sesses a  clear  authority,  derived  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  its  acts 
resulting  from  such  authority  are  to  be  respected.     No  combination  of 
ministers  or  members  may  properly  be  formed   within  the  bosom  of  the 
Presbyterian   Church  'for  the  purpose  of  openly  resisting  the   authority 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  of  setting  at  naught  and  contemning  its 
solemn  decisions,  while  the  individuals  composing  such  combinations  still 
claim  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  ministers  and  members ;  much  less 
may  any  lower  Court  of  the  Church  thus  repudiate  the  Asssembly's  authori- 
ty, and  still  claim  and  exercise  all  the  powers  of  a  Court  in  good  standing. 
The  principle  which  would  admit   this  would  prove  destructive  of  any 
government,  secular  or  religious,  for  it  is  the  essence  of  anarchy.     Not- 
withstanding this,  several  Presbyterians  have  openly  declared  that  they 
will  not  regard  the  Assembly's  authority,  especially  the  acts  of  the  last 
Assembly  concerning  the  terms  of  receiving  ministers  and  members  from 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church.     We  trust  that  upon  further  reflect 
tion  they  will  reconsider  such  action,  and  again  show  a  proper  subordina- 
tion.    One  Presbytery,  however,  that  of  Louisville,  in  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, adopted  a  paper  in  September  last  called  a  "  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony," which  arrays  itself  against  all  the  deliverances  of  the  five  Assem- 
blies from  1861  to  1865  enacted  upon  slavery  and  rebellion.     This  paper 
has  been  signed  by  ^rtain  ministers  and  elders  in  other  Presbyteries  and 
Synods,  chiefly  in  the  Synod   of  Missouri,     The  present  Assembly  felt 
called  upon  to  take  decisive  action  in  the  premises.     This  paper  exhibits 
organized  rebellion  and   schism  within  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  whose 
design  is  to  resist  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly.     It  pronounces 
the  last  five  Assemblies  guilty  of  heresy,    schism  and  virtual  apostacy. 
Such  an  organization,  with  such  aims,  bringing  such  charges,  and  anima- 
ted by  such  a  spirit  as  the  said  paper  exhibits,  the  Assembly  could  not 
overlook.     The  simple  question  presented  was,  whether  a  single  subordi- 
nate Court,  with  such  individuals  of  other  Presbyteries  as  might  join  it, 
should  be  allowed  to  carry  on  its  schismatical  and  rebellious  schemes  with 
impunity,  and  still  claim  and  exercise  all  the  rights  of  a  Court,  and  the 
individuals  concerned  have  all  the  rights  of  office-bearers  in  the  Church 
accorded  to  them,  while  openly  defying  the  General  Assembly ;  or  whether 
the  Assembly  which  represents  the  whole  Church  should  require  due  sub- 
ordination and  respect   to  its  authority.     The  signers  of  the  said  paper 
openly  avow  their  determination  to  continue  agitation  against  the  solemn 
acts  of  the  last  five  Assemblies,  until  they  shall  bring  the  Church,  through 


68 

action  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  their  views,  or,  failing  in  this^  they 
declare  that  they  may  feel  called  upon  to  abandon  the  Church. 

In  this  posture  of  affairs  the  Assembly  could  not  hesitate  in  its  duty. 
It  censured  all  the  persons  who  have  signed  the  "Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony," deprived  them  of  the  right  to  sit  in  any  Church- court  above  the 
session,  and  cited  them  to  the  bar  of  the  next  General  Assembly.  This 
measure  was  clearly  justified,  and  was  demanded  for  the  purity,  peace 
and  order  of  the  Church. 

Dr.  Backus  of  Schenectady  moved  to  amend  the  pastoral  letter  by 
adding  thereto  the  following  : 

"■That  the  Assemhly  distinctly  recognizes  that  individuals  and  judica 
tories  of  the  Church  may,  without  contumacy,  and  with  entire  loyalty  to 
our  Church,  disapprove  of  and  reject  the  deliverances  alluded  to,  and  may 
consistently  discriminate  between  the  absolute  obligation  to  constitution  rides, 
and  the  respect/id  regard  ivhich  is  due  to  injunctions  and  orders  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  that  are  not  of  the  nature  of  constitutional ^^rinciplesj' 

The  amendment  of  Dr.   Backus  avas,  on  motion,  laid  on  the 

TABLE. 

This  letter  was  adopted  with  but  few  dissenting  voices. 

Dr.  Krebs  presented  the  following,  to  be  added  as  supplementary  to  the 
pastoral  letter :  ^ 

It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  this  body  that  some  of  the  minis- 
ters under  our  care  are  not  able  to  subscribe  to  the  recent  testimonies  of 
the  General  Assembly,  on  the  subject  of  loyalty  and  freedom,  and  that 
some  who  have  not  signed  or  formally  approved  the  "  Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony  "  do,  nevertheless,  hesitate  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the 
last  Assembly,  touching  the  reception  of  members  from  the  South  known, 
or  supposed  to  have  been  in  sympathy  with  the  rebellion  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  would  treat  such  ministers  with  kindness  and 
forbearance,  and  would  by  no  means  interfere  with  the  full  and  free  dis- 
cussion on  their  part  of  the  testimonies  and  requirements  referred  to,  we 
deem  it  a  solemn  duty  which  we  owe  to  them  and  to  the  Church  tc  guard 
them  against  giving  countenance  in  any  way  to  declarations  and  movements 
which  are  defiant  to  tJte  Assembly's  authority,  and  schismatical  in  their 
tendency  and  aim,,  and  toe  do  earnestly  exhort  them,  in  the  name  and  for 
the  sake  of  our  common  Lord  and  Master,  to  study  and  pursue  the  things 
which  make  for  'peace. 

The  amendment  of  Dr.  Krebs  was  adopted. 


69 

PASTOEAL   LETTER   OF    THE    SOUTHERN   ASSEMBLY  OF 

1865. 

I.  Our  relations  to  the  civil  governments  of  the  Gountr^j, — The  storm  of 
war  has,  during  the  four  years  past,  swept  over  nearly  every  part  of  our 
bounds;  a  war  so  vast  in  its  proportions,  so  bitter  in  its  animosities,  so 
desolating  in  its  effects,  as  to  make  it  an  astonishment  to  the  nations.  Its 
sacrifices  in  treasure  and  in  blood,  its  public  losses  and  private  griefs, 
swell  beyond  all  calculation.  As  to  its  particular  causes,  or  upon  which 
party  rests  the  blame,  chiefly  or  wholly — these  are  questions  which  the 
Church  of  Christ  has  no  commission  to  decide.  Beyond  a  doubt,  how- 
ever, its  great  root  is  to  be  found  in  those  lusts  which  war  in  the  members. 
Of  these  it  becomes  us  to  own  our  full  share,  and  because  of  them,  to 
humble  ourselves  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God. 

During  the  prevalence  of  this  war,  ''the  higher  powers"  actually 
bearing  rule  over  most  of  our  bounds,  and  to  which  under  the  word  of 
God  we  were  required  to  be  "subject,"  were  the  Governmentof  the  Con- 
federate States,  and  those  of  the  several  States  constituting  it.  By  the 
event  of  the  war  the  first  has  been  overthrown,  and  the  second,  as  con- 
stituents thereof,  are  changed.  The  "higher  powers"  now  bearing  rule 
over  us  are  confessedly  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  those 
existing  in  the  States  wherein  we  reside.  The  rightfulness  of  these  seve- 
ral authorities,  or  to  which  of  them  the  allegiance  of  our  people,  as  citi- 
zens, was,  or  is  primarily  due,  are  matters  upon  which  a  judicatory  of  the 
Churcb  has  no  right  to  pronounce  judgment.  The  relation  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  to  civil  governments  is  not  one  dejure,  but  de  facto.  As  right 
and  good,  or  wrong  and  wicked,  they  rise  and  fall  by  the  agency  or  per- 
mission of  God's  providence.  In  either  case  the  attitude  of  the  Church 
towards  them  is  essentially  the  same,  As  long  as  they  stand  and  are  ac- 
knowledged, obedience  is  to  be  enjoined  as  a  duty,  factious  resistance 
condemned  as  a  sin.  But  in  regard  to  conflicts  between  existing  govern- 
ments, or  as  to  movements  in  society,  peaceful  or  otherwise,  to  eflfect 
political  changes,  the  Church  as  such  has  no  more  control  over  them  than 
it  has  over  the  polls  of  the  country.  If  it  has  authority  to  uphold  on  the 
one  side,  it  has  equal  power  to  condemn  on  the  other;  if  to  suppress  a 
political  movement,  then  also  to  instigate  it.  In  truth  it  has  neither; 
and  to  assert  the  contrary  is  to  corrupt  the  Church  in  its  principles,  for- 
ever embroil  it  with  the  strifes  of  the  world,  and  plunge  it  headlong  into 
ruin. 

Under  these  views,  and  considering  the  extraordinary  conflict  through 


70 

v/liich  the  country  lias  passed,  as  well  as  the  extraordinary  circumstances 
ill  -which  it  is  now  placed,  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  exhort  you,  breth- 
ren, to  "  ohej  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves." 
Fulfil  with  scrupulous  fidelity  all  your  obligations  to  the  governments  of 
the  land;  remeirbering  the  duty  of  this  compliance,  "not  only  for  wrath, 
but  also  for  conscience  sake.*'  "■  For  so  is  the  will  of  God,  that  with  well 
doing  ye  may  put  to  silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men." 

II.  Our  relation  to  the  Church. — It  is  not  necessary  we  should  here 
minutely  define  the  nature  of  the  Church.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  it  is 
a  kingdom,  though  in  the  world  yet  not  of  it;  that  it  is  a  body  of  which 
Christ  is  the  sole  Head ;  purchased  by  His  blood,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  merit,  and  renewed  by  His  Spirit,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  pow- 
er; and  that  it  is  united  to  Him  by  the  bond  of  faith.  From  this  living 
Head  the  members  receive  all  their  vitality,  control  and  protection.  It  is 
therefore  a  spiritual  body.  Its  sole  commission  is  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  ev.ry  creature,  and  it  is  called  to  that  holy  living  which  the  gospel 
enforces. 

It  follows  from  this,  according  to  the  admirable  statement  of  our  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  chap.  31,  sec.  4,  that — '•  Synods  and  Councils  are  to  han- 
dle or  conclude  nothing  but  that  which  is  ecclesiastical ;  and  are  not  to 
intermeddle  with  civil  affairs,  which  concern  the  Commonwealth,  unle.^s 
by  way  of  humble  petition  in  cases  extraordinary,  or  by  way  of  advice, 
for  satisfaction  of  conscience,  if  they  be  thereunto  required  by  the  civil 
magistrate." 

It  is  equally  clear  from  this  and  from  what  was  before  observed,  that 
the  civil  magistrate  or  military  ruler  has  not  the  shadow  of  a  right  to 
restrain  the  freedom  of  the  Church,  by  excluding  its  own  chosen  pastors 
and  imposing  others,  or  closing  its  houses  of  worship,  or  visiting  pains 
and  penalties  upon  its  ministers  or  members  for  using  the  privilege  of 
worship. 

How  often  both  of  these  great  principles  have  been  trampled  into  the 
dust  within  a  few  years  past,  melancholy  facts  most  fully  attest.  Of  all 
such  utter  confusion  of  the  things  of  Ca3sar  with  the  things  of  God,  it 
becomes  our  people  to  beware,  and  against  it  faithfully  to  bear  witness 

The  events  passing  before  us,  bring  up  with  fresh  power  the  importance 
of  keeping  in  mind  this  very  point,  this  vital  truth,  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  indeed  a  sjnritual  kingdom,  and  is  there/ore  like  Mount  Zion, 
that  abideth  forever.  The  Church  is  safe  through  the  deluge,  but  only 
in  her  own  ark,  not  in  the  ark  of  the  State.  It  is  owing  to  this  fact, 
and  to  this  only,  that  she  can  ride  out  the  storms  that  leave  the  shores 


71 

of  this  world  strewn  with  the  wreck  of  everything  which  the  hand  of  man 
has  constructed. 

But  it  is  our  desire,  brethren,  to  counsel  you  at  present  concerning  the 
special  relation  you  sustain  to  this  part  of  the  Church  with  which  you 
are  more  immediately  connected.  Four  years  ago  we  were  constrained  to 
organize  a  separate  General  Assembly.  This  was  done  because  of  an  at- 
tempt by  a  part  of  the  Church  to  impose  a  yoke  upon  our  consciences, 
"  which  neither  we  nor  our  fathers  were  able  to  bear."  Our  testimony 
upon  this  and  other  points  of  great  interest,  is  before  the  Christian 
Churches  of  the  world,  in  the  address  made  to  them  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1861 ;  and  if  any  schism  exists,  we  are  willing  the  impartial 
judgment  of  men  should  be  passed  upon  the  question,  as  to  where  the  sin 
of  it  lies.  This  organization  was  formed  out  of  elements  among  the  old- 
est in  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country.  It  carries 
with  it  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  original  Church.  It  includes  a  ter- 
ritory of  twelve  States.  It  embraces  ten  Synods,  forty-sis  Presbyteries, 
one  thousand  ministers  and  about  seventy  thousand  church  members,  and 
was  effected  and  has  been  continued  with  a  unanimity  which  has  hardly 
a  parallel  in  the  history  of  such  movements.  It  was  not  made  to  subserve 
any  political  or  secular  interest  whatsoever.  The  reasons  for  its  continu- 
ance not  only  remain  as  conclusive  as  at  first,  but  have  been  exceedingly 
strengthened  by  events  of  public  notoriety,  occurring  each  succeeding 
year. 

It  may  be  proper  at  this  point  to  declare  concerning  other  churches  in 
the  most  explicit  manner,  that,  in  the  true  idea  of  "  the  communion  of 
saints,"  we  would  willingly  hold  fellowship  with  all  who  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity ;  and  especially  do  we  signify  to  all  bodies,  min- 
isters, and  people  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  struggling  to  maintain  the 
true  principles  of  the  same  time-honored  Confession,  our  desire  to  estab- 
lish the  most  intimate  relations  with  them  Vv^hich  may  be  found  mutually 
edifying  and  for  the  glory  of  God.  *  *  ■■'•  *  * 

"We  would  have  it  distinctly  understood  that  in  our  ecclesiastical  ca- 
pacity, we  are  neither  the  friends  nor  the  foes  of  slavery ;  that  is  to  say, 
we  have  no  commission  either  to  propagate  or  abolish  it.  The  policy  of 
its  existence,  or  non-existence  is  a  question  which  exclusively  belongs  to 
the  State.  We  have  no  right,  as  a  Church,  to  enjoin  it  as  a  duty  or  con- 
demn it  as  a  sin.  Our  business  is  with  the  duties  which  spring  from  the 
relation;  the  duties  of  the  masters  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  their  slaves 
on  the  other.     These  duties  we  are  to  proclaim  and  enforce  with  spiritual 


72 

sanctions.  The  social,  civil,  political  problems  connected  with  this  great 
subject  transcend  our  sphere,  as  God  has  not  entrusted  to  His  Church  the 
organization  of  society,  the  construction  of  government,  nor  the  allotment 
of  individuals  to  their  various  stations.  The  Church  has  as  much  right 
to  preach  to  the  monarchies  of  Europe,  and  the  despotisms  of  Asia,  the 
doctrines  of  republican  equality,  as  to  preach  to  the  governments  of  the 
South  the  extirpation  of  slavery."  *         *         *         *         *         Jic 

This  relation  is  now  overthrown,  suddenly,  viclently;  whether  justly 
or  unjustly,  in  wrath  or  in  mercy,  for  weal  or  for  wo,  let  history  and  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  decide.  But  there  are  two  considerations  of  vital 
interest  which  still  remain. 

One  is,  that  while  the  existence  of  slavery  may,  in  its  civil  aspects,  be 
regarded  as  a  settled  question,  an  issue  now  gone,  yet  the  lawfulness  of  the 
relation  as  a  question  of  social  morality,  and  of  scriptural  truth,  has  lost 
nothing  of  its  importance.  When  we  solemnly  declare  to  you,  brethren, 
that  the  dogma  which  asserts  the  inherent  sinfulness  of  this  relation  is  un- 
scriptural  and  fanatical;  that  it  is  condemned  not  only  by  the  word  of 
God,  but  by  the  voice  of  the  church  in  all  ages ;  that  it  is  one  of  the 
most  perniciou3  heresies  of  modern  times;  that  its  countenance  by  any 
church,  is  a  just  cause  of  separation  from  it,  (1  Tim.  6,  1 — 5)  we  have 
surely  said  enough  to  warn  you  away  from  this  insidious  error,  as  from  a 
fatal  shore. 

Whatever,  therefore,  we  may  have  to  lament  before  God,  either  for 
neglect  of  duty  or  for  actual  wrong  towards  our  servants,  while  the  relation 
lasted,  we  are  not  called,  now  that  it  has  been  abolished  to  bow  the  head 
in  humiliation  before  men,  or  admit  that  the  memory  of  many  of  our 
dear  kindred  is  to  be  covered  with  shame  because,  like  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob,  they  had  bond-servants  born  in  their  house,  or  bought  with 
their  money ;  and  who  now  redeemed  by  the  same  precious  blood,  sit 
down  together  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  other  consideration  connected  with  this  subject,  is  the  present  con.' 
dition  of  this  pcojjic.  We  may  righteously  protest  that  with  their  wretch- 
edness already  incalculably  great,  that  with  their  prospects  to  human 
view,  dismal  as  the  grave,  our  church  is  not  chargeable;  that  it  may 
hold  up  its  hands  before  heaven  and  earth  washed  of  the  tremendous 
responsibility  involved  in  this  change  in  the  condition  of  nearly  four 
millions  of  bond-servants,  and  for  which  it  has  been  hitherto  generally 
conceded   they  were  unprepared.* 

*The  sentiments  contained  in  this  paper  are  a  perfect  refutation  of  the  charge  made 
against  tlie  Soutliorn  Assembly,  that  it  is  eitlier  political  or  rebellious  in  its  .spirit. 


o 


'Pr-:  cV>urcVi    ivn  +1  5.  A, 

ADDRESS 

TO    THK 

PRESBYTERIAN   PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 


St.  Louis,  Missouei,  June  5,  1866. 
To  the  Presbyterian  people  of  God — Ministers,  Ruling  Elders, 
Deacons,  and  private  members — within  the  bounds  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  (Old  School,)  "  who  hold  like  precious  faith 
with  us,"  touching  the  crown  rights  of  Jesus  Christ,  King  in 
Zion,  and  the  non-political  character  of  the  visible  Church,  as 
the  "kingdom not  of  this  world." 

fathers  and  JSrethren  beloved  in  the  Lord — The  undersigned 
commissioners,  and  other  ministers  and  elders  in  attendance 
upon  the  present  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  St.  Louis, 
as  Christian  brethren  speaking  to  Christian  brethren  of  the  same 
Church,  feel  constrained  by  fidelity  to  our  official  vows;  by  love 
of  the  Church,  in  whose  service  many  of  us  have  spent  the  vigor 
of  life,  and  by  faithfulness  to  you  as  fellow-citizens  with  us  of 
the  same  glorious,  free,  spiritual  commonwealth,  to  warn  you  of 
the  perils  now  impending  over  the  Church  of  your  fathers;  to 
stir  up  your  pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance  of  "  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus  " ;  to  exhort  you  as  brethren  and  encourage  you 
"  earnestly  to  contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints"  ; 
and  to  suggest  to  you  such  measures  in  order  to  unity  and  effi- 
ciency of  action,  in  defence  of  truth  and  righteousness,  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  case  seem  to  demand. 

You  are  aware,  brethren,  that  since  the  deliverance  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1861,  known  as  the  "Spring  Resolutions," 
most  serious  differences  of  opinion  and  divisions  have  existed 
among  us  touching  questions  so  fundamental  as  the  kingly  office 
of  Christ  in  his  Church,  as  organized  and  visible,  with  i-eference 


to  the  secular  affiiirs  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world — the  nations 
among  which  this  spiritual  nation  is  not  reckoned.  You  are 
doubtless  aware,  also,  that  the  larger  part  of  those  leaders  and 
teachers  of  the  Church  in  whose  piety,  wisdom,  and  profound 
study  of  the  subject,  the  Church  has  heretofore  most  confided, 
however  they  may  have  differed  on  questions  of  detail,  have 
concurred  in  and  solemnly  uttered  the  opinion  that  the  action  of 
1861,  was  in  its  nature  political  action,  and  that  the  principles 
involved  in  that  deliverance  are  "  repugnant  to  the  Word  of 
God,  as  that  Word  is  interpreted  in  our  Confession  of  Faith." 
In  proof  of  which  we  need  only  to  refer  you  to  the  protests  of 
the  theological  Professor  at  Princeton  in  the  Assembly  of 
1861  and  the  deliverance  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  prepared 
by  the  Professors  at  Danville,  in  the  same  year. 

Many  others  of  us,  also,  have  regarded  this  action  as  but  an- 
other of  the  numerous  attempts  made  ever  since  the  era  of  the 
WestminsterAssembly,to  inoculate  our  Presbyterian  system  with 
the  ideas  and  spirit  of  that  semi-Erastian,  congregational  Inde- 
pendency which  disturbed  the  peace  and  defeated  some  of  tlie 
leading  purposes  of  that  celebrated  council  of  the  Church;  and 
which  again,  under  the  plan  of  union  of  1801,  would  have  over- 
turned the  true  Presbyterianism  of  the  United  States  but  for 
the  revolution  of  1837. 

That  semi-Krastian  system,  concurring  generally  with  ours  in 
doctrine  and  forms  of  worship,  is  the  more  dangerous  to  our 
peace  from  the  fact  that  the  less  thoughtful  readily  mistake  it 
for  Presbyterianism  or  its  equivalent,  while  it  is  fundamentally 
the  antagonist  of  Presbyterianism  in  points  so  important  as  those 
of  the  crown  rights  of  Christ  in  his  Church ;  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  as  implying  the  power  of  the  whole,  within  the  limits  of 
Christ's  laws,  over  the  power  of  every  part;  the  exclusively  spir- 
itual character,  purpose  and  functions  of  the  Church ;  and  the 
incompetency  of  the  Church  courts  to  entertain  and  pronounce 
upon  questions  pertaining  to  the  civil  Government,  or  to  use  her 
ordinances  and  agencies  for  the  propagation  of  political  opinions, 
or  for  aiding  in  the  execution  of  secular  enterprises. 

It  is  in  confirmation  of  this  oj^inion  that  the  deliverance  of 
1861  originated  with  a  mind  trained,  not  under  Presbyterian, 
but  under  Congregational  influences,  and  which  received  that 
training  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliels  who  led  the  New  England 
Churches  to  throw  their  influence  with  a  political  party,  and,  in- 


deed,   to  become  a  constituent  portion   of  the  political  party 
which  arrayed  itself  in  dangerous  hostility  against  the  National 
Administration  during  an  era  of  war  and  perilous  struggle  with 
a  foreign  power.     It  is  in  further  confirmation   of  this  opinion 
that  those  Avho  have  originated  and  most  zealously  labored  to 
force  upon  the  Church  the  deliverance  of  1861  and  its  practical 
results,  have  been,  with  a  few  eminent  exceptions,  those  who 
remained  with  us  after  the  division  of  1837,  rather  from  expedi- 
ency and  force  of  circumstances  than  from  an  intelligent  con- 
currence with  us  in  principle;  and  -who  have  been  since  then 
most  immediately  under  the  influence  of  the  serai-Erastianism 
of  New  England.     It  is  still  further  in  confirmation  of  this  opin- 
ion that  the  same  men  in  the  Church  who  have  most  zealously 
labored  to  give  currency  to  the  principles  of  the  resolutions  of 
1861,  are  those  who  have  been  laboring  most  zealously  to  per- 
suade the  Church  to  ignore  the  revolution  of  1837,  whereby  she 
cast  off  the  corruptions  of  the  New  England  semi-Erastianism, 
and  who  seek  to  join  together  what  that  revolution  put  asunder. 
And  what  makes  all  this  the  more  manifest  is  the  fact  that  the 
very  Assembly  which  carries  the  principles  of  the  act  of  1861  to 
their  extremest  limits,  even  to  the  disintegration  of  the  Church, 
by  cutting  off  those  who  testify  against  those  principles,  has  ta- 
ken formal  action,  by  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  ot  Con- 
ference, for  are-union  with  the  New  School  Assembly;  and  that, 
too,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the  latter  Assembly  had  just 
made  a  deliverance  on  national  affiiirs  thoroughly  Erastian  in  its 
spirit  and  principles,  endorsing  the  acts  of  Congress  as  against 
the  Executive,  in  the  matter  of  the  civil  rights  bill  and  negro 
suffrage,  calling  for  more  blood  in  the  "condign  punishment" 
of  certain  political  and  military  leaders,  and  formally  re-aftirm- 
ing,  to  the  fullest  extent,  the  "Church-State"  heresy  of  New 
England,  in  proclaiming  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Christians  to  make 
our  political  Government  the  "  Christian  commonwealth,"  in 
utter  derogation  of  the  crown  rights  of  Zion's  King,  wJio  has  es- 
tablished  the    Christian    commonwealth  separate  and  distinct 
from  the  2^olitical  commonwealth,  which  he  has  ordained  in  the 
hands  of  the  civil  magistrate.   So  that  the  party  who  have  forced 
upon  the  Church  the  principles  of  1861  and  the  monstrous  meas- 
ures growing  out  of  those  principles,  may  be  fairly  taken  to  have 
endorsed,  by  their  vote  to  re-unite  with  the  New  School,  these 
discreditable  political  deliverances,  and  this  anti-Presbyterian 


theory  ot  the  Church-State,  promulgated  by  the  New  School 
Assembly  of  1861. 

:"■  That  you  may  more  clearly  see  the  enormity  of  the  acts 
of  usurpation  by  the  present  General  Assembly,  which  are 
the  more  immediate  occasion  of  this  address,  we  desire  to  fix 
your  attention  distinctly  upon  the  grave  errors  of  doctrine,  the 
defections  from  the  ecclesiastical  principles,  and  those  violations 
of  our  specific  Church  Constitution,  involved  in  the  preceding 
acts  and  deliverances  of  the  Assemblies  previous,  of  which  these 
recent  acts  of  usurpation  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  natural  and 
necessary  outgrowth. 

Intelligent  Christians  need  not  be  informed  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  kingly  office  of  Jesus  Christ — "  Head  over  all  things  to 
liis  Church" — is  not  less  prominently  held  forth  in  the  Word  of 
God  than  the  doctrine  of  his  offices  of  prophet  and  priest;  and 
that  any  utterance  or  act  by  a  court  of  the  Church  which  ignores 
or  obscures  his  office  asking,  is  an  error  equally  important  with 
any  similar  error  touching  his  prophetic  or  priestly  office.  Nay, 
indeed,  such  error  as  to  the  kingly  office  involves,  necessarily, 
error  touching  his  prophetic  and  priestly  offices. 

Intelligent  Presbyterians  need  not  be  informed  that  it  is  a  dis- 
tinctive and  fundamental  principle  of  our  Church  polity,  as  enun- 
ciated by  the  fathers  of  Presbyterianism,  that  the  power  eccle- 
siastical vested,  through  Jesus  Christ,  the  Mediator,  in  the  courts 
of  the  Church,  to  be  exercised  according  to  the  positive  law  of 
Christ's  revealed  Word,  for  the  calling  and  edifying  of  his  elect, 
is  intrinsically  distinct  from  that  civil  power,  (see  Second  Book 
of  Discipline,  Introduction,)  which  also,  as  the  Author  of  nature, 
he  hath  vested  in  the  civil  governments,  set  up  among  men  for 
the  conservation  of  their  temporal  interests,  to  be  exercised  un- 
der those  moral  laws  which  reason  and  the  light  of  nature  teach. 
And  this  ordinance  of  civil  power  pertains  to  all  governments 
alike,  whether  Christian,  heathen  or  infidel ;  since,  as  our  Con- 
fession of  Faith  declares,  "  infidelity  or  diflTerence  in  religion  doth 
not  make  void  the  magistrate's  just  and  legal  authority."  (Chap. 
23.)  And  these  powers,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  diffiiring  thus  in- 
trinsically in  the  source  of  their  authority  and  in  the  law  or  rule 
of  faith  which  is  to  guide  their  exercise,  diffiir  also  in  this,  that 
the  one  contemplates  the  subjects  only  as  Christians,  nominal 
or  real,  the  other  only  as  citize?is.  They  differ,  moreover,  in 
their  end  and  purpose,  "  the  magistrate  handling  external  things 


only,"  wliile  "  the  ecclesiastical  power  doth  determine  nothing 
concerning  men's  bodies,  goods,  dignities,  and  cwil  rights,  but 
is  employed  only  about  the  inward  man,  or  the  soul."  (See  2d 
Book  of  Discipline,  A.  D.  1578,  and  Gillespie's  One  Hundred 
and  Eleven  Propositions,  1647.) 

Intelligent  American  Christians  need  not  be  told  that,  under 
our  civil  Constitution,  in  which  for  the  first  time  in  history  the 
independence  of  the  Church  or  her  right  to  self-government  and 
perfect  liberty  of  religion  is  formally  recognized  by  the  State, 
the  American  Churches  are  especially  called,  in  the  providence 
of  God,  to  bear  witness  for,  and  to  propagate  these  great  truths 
which  our  fiithers,  failing  to  realize  their  ideal  under  the  oppres- 
sion of  their  civil  tyrants,  hesitated  not  to  testify  for,  sealing  their 
testimony  with  their  blood.  And  therefore  any  apostacy  from 
these  truths  by  the  American  Church  is  a  sin  of  double  aggra- 
vation, being  committed  against  both  the  law  which  Christ  hath 
ordained  as  King  and  Lawgiver  of  his  Church,  and  the  law 
which  in  his  providence  he  caused  to  be  ordained  for  us  in  this 
peculiar  civil  Constitution. 

Now,  taking  the  several  deliverances  and  acts  of  the  General 
Assemblies  touching  the  civil  and  military  strifes  of  the  country 
from  1861  to  1866  inclusive,  and  interpreting  them,  one  by  the 
other,  as  parts  of  the  same  general  system  of  doctrine  and  polity, 
it  must  be  apparent  to  every  candid  man  that  these  deliverances 
and  acts  are  in  Contravention  of  the  foregoing  principles.  With- 
in the  brief  limits  of  an  address  intended  chiefly  to  suggest  and 
enforce  the  duty  of  practical  action,  we  cannot  do  more  than 
refer  you  to  these  acts ;  with  the  further  suggestion  that  the  ac 
tion  and  spirit  of  the  lower  courts  and  the  pulpits  of  the  Church 
have  in  a  great  measure  reflected  the  spirit  of  these  acts  and  de- 
liverances of  the  supreme  court ;  and  these  are  therefore  fairly  to 
be  taken  as  representative  of  the  state  of  opinion  on  this  subject. 

As  already  intimated,  the  germinal  error  of  which  the  long 
series  of  unscriptural  acts  and  deliverances  of  the  General  As- 
sembly are  the  logical  outgrowth,  was  the  action  of  1861,  which 
is  as  follows: 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian patriotism  which  the  Scriptures  enjoin  and  which  has  al- 
ways characterized  this  Church,  do  hereby  acknowledge  and  de- 
clare our  obligations  to  promote  and  perpetuate,  so  far  as  in  us 
lies,  the  integrity  of  these  United  States  ;  and  to  strengthen,  up- 


6 

hold  ami  encourage  the  Federal  Government  in  the  exercise  of 
all  its  functions,  under  our  noble  Constitution,  and  to  this  Consti- 
tution in  all  its  provisions,  requirements  and  principles,  we  pro- 
fess our  unabated  loyalty."  And  that  this  resolution  was  meant 
to  enunciate  something  more  than  scriptural  obedience  to  the 
civil  government,  or  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  is  obvious  enough 
from  the  fact  that  a  similar  resolution,  avowing  loyalty  to  the 
Constitution  merely,  without  reference  to  the  Administration, 
had  been  already  rejected  by  the  same  vote  which  adopted  this. 

Now,  whatever  may  have  been  the  duty  of  members  of  the 
Assembly  as  citizens,  in  the  premises,  and  however  proper  such 
an  utterance  from  a  meeting  of  Christian  men  as  citizens,  with 
or  without  the  participation  of  their  fellow-citizens  not  Christians, 
it  is  manifest  that  the  adoption  of  such  a  resolution  by  a  court 
of  Christ's  house  as  such,  evinces  a  total  misconception  of  the 
functions  of  a  court  which  our  Confession  declares  can  "  handle 
or  conclude  nothing  but  that  which  is  ecclesiastical,"  and  which 
cannot  deal  with  men  as  citizens,  but  men  only  as  they  stand 
related  to  Christ  the  Saviour.  And  the  lanffuaf^e  and  ideas  of  tlie 
deliverance  are  clearly  those  of  men  who  in  their  conceptions 
utterly  confound  the  powers  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  "  which 
confusion,"  as  the  Scottish  fathers  express  it,  "  tends  to  the  cor- 
ruption of  all  religion."  The  natural  duty  of  patriotism — a  duty 
devolving  upon,  and  capable  of  being  discharged  by  a  heathen 
or  infidel  alike  with  the  Christian  citizen — is  decJared  by  the  As- 
sembly to  be  a  Christian  virtue  enjoined  as  such  in  the  Scriptures. 
The  obligations  of  mere  natural  justice  to  uphold  and  strengthen 
the  civil  government — an  obligation  resting  upon  men  as  citizens, 
whether  heathen,  infidel,  or  Christian — is  made  the  subject  of 
special  enactment  by  a  court  of  Christ,  as  though  it  were  a  duty 
peculiar  to  the  courts,  ministers  and  members  of  the  kingdom 
not  of  this  world.  The  question  of  allegiance,  as  between  rival 
Cogsars,  is  decided  in  favor  of  one  theory  as  against  two  other 
theories,  either  of  which  could  perhaps  have  shown  as  much  or 
more  authority  in  its  favor  from  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  ex- 
pound for  the  people  questions  of  allegiance.  For  it  is  notorious 
that  from  the  origin  of  our  peculiar  government  the  opinions  of 
men  learned  in  Constitutional  Law  have  been  divided  between 
the  three  theoiies:  first,  that  the  allegiance  of  the  citizen  is  due 
primarily  to  the  F'ederal  Government ;  second,  the  theory  that 
it  is  due  primarily  to  the  States,  severally  ;  third,  the  theory  that 


it  is  due  pritnarily  and  naturally  to  the  States,  and  through  the 
States  by  their  constitutional  compact  artificially  to  tlie  Federal 
Government.  Now  while  it  is  for  the  Church  to  enjoin  true  al- 
legiance as  a  duty,  it  is  not  for  the  Church  thus  to  decide  ques- 
tions of  allegiance.  And  in  manifest  derogation  of  the  crown 
rights  of  the  Church's  adorable  Head,  this  court  of  the  Church, 
as  such,  not  as  a  meeting  of  citizens  merely,  makes  here  formal 
profession  of  its  loyalty  to  the  civil  administration  at  Washington, 
as  though  saying,  in  effect,  "We  have  no  king  but  Cfesar."  By  a 
singular  inconsistency,  also,  the  Assembly  declares  it  as  an  obliga- 
tion upon  the  consciences  of  the  citizens  of  Christ's  spiritual  com- 
monwealth, to  promote  and  perpetuate  the  geographical  integrity 
of  Caesar's  couimonwealth,  concerning  which  Christ  hath  not 
spoken,  while  in  the  very  act  it  of  necessity  destroys  the  integri- 
ty of  Christ's  spiritual  commonwealth,  in  face  of  Christ's  special 
injunction  of  one  Church,  with  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism." For  by  laying  down  terms  of  fellowship  which  excluded 
one-third  of  the  Church  from  its  communion,  our  household  of 
faith  was  rent  asunder  and  sectionalized  according  to  the  divi- 
sions of  Ciesar's  empire. 

We  point  out  these  erroneous  principles  in  the  first  political 
deliverance  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  you  may  perceive 
more  clearly  the  applications  of  them  in  the  wrong  action  and 
deliverances  of  the  subsequent  five  years.  In  full  accordance 
with  (his  wrong  theory  of  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  courts 
of  the  Church,  the  Assembly  of  1862  proceeded,  in  a  deliverance 
on  the  state  of  the  country,  to  declare  in  the  name  of  Christ 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  National  Government  to  prosecute  the 
war  to  the  last  extremity;  and  the  duty  of  all  men  to  sustain  the 
Federal  Government  in  so  doing;  to  denounce  the  sin  of  those 
who  act  otherwise  ;  to  charge,  anonymously,  certain  persons  as 
"  disturbers  of  the  Church  "  ;  certain  "office-bearers  and  mem- 
bers as  faithless  to  all  authority,  human  and  divine  "  ;  and  to  ex- 
hort all  that  not  only  their  outward  conduct,  but  "  their  heart, 
their  temper  and  their  motives  toward  the  Government  be  care- 
fully examined."  The  whole,  as  it  will  be  seen,  proceeding  up- 
on the  assumption  of  the  false  doctrines  of  1861 ;  and  thereupon 
proceeding  actually  to  dictate  its  military  policy  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  their  political  duties  to  the  people  ;  and  to  reckless 
denunciation — without  even  inquiry,  much  less  trial,  and  without 
even  naming  tlie  parties — of  "  office-bearers  and  members  "  in  a 


manner  tliat  might  have  justified  the  cliarge  against  the  Assem- 
bly of  calumnious  assault  by  those  so  denounced  had  they  been 
named. 

The  effect  of  the  false  doctrines  and  false  views  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  Church  enunciated  in  1861  appeared  in  the  Assem- 
bly of  1863  in  the  singular  spectacle  of  a  discussion,  extending 
through  several  days,  in  this  venerable  highest  court  of  the 
Church  on  so  trifling  a  question  as  the  raising  of  a  flag  over  the 
Church  in  which  it  assembled,  and  a  solemn  order  on  the  subject 
passed  by  a  large  majority  ascertained  by  a  formal  call  of  the 
ayes  and  noes  !  We  may  therefore  pass,  without  special  notice, 
its  other  deliverances  and  proceed  to  the  very  remarkable  out- 
growth from  the  errors  of  18G1,  which  we  find  in  the  Assembly 
of  1864.  For  now  the  effects  of  casting  the  Church  upon  the 
current  of  popular  political  sentiment  and  making  her  a  party  to 
Caesar's  strifes  and  divisions,  become  very  apparent.  The  fruits 
of  the  "  Spring  resolutions,"  confounding  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  secular  and  ecclesiastical  powers  appear :  first,  in  the 
spirit  pervading  some  of  the  minor  proceedings  of  the  body. 
Such  was  the  adoption  of  a  motion  substituting  thanhsgiving 
for  liisting  and  humiliation^  the  motion  being  made  on  the 
ground  that  an  order  for  the  latter  would  impair  public  confi- 
dence in  the  success  of  the  army,  produce  a  fall  of  the  govern- 
ment stocks  and  embarrass  the  administration  at  Washington. 
Also  a  call  to  public  humiliation  and  repentance  for  the  sin  of 
having  supported  at  political  elections  "candidates  of  known 
unfitness  in  preference  to  those  who  have  every  mental  and  moral 
qualification."  Also  in  a  deliverance  calling  upon  the  people  to 
seek  an  amendment  to  the  civil  Constitution  of  the  country 
which  would  be  utterly  subversive  of  the  great  principle  of  non- 
ecclesiasticism  on  which  it  rests,  making  the  Constitution  a  theo- 
logical creed  afiirniing  the  great  first  truth  of  the  Gospel,  the 
Divinity  of  Christ ;  and  at  the  same  time  asserting  the  bold 
Erastian  heresy  that  the  revealed  Will  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  directly  in  the  face  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  interpreted  by  the  symbols  of  the  Scottish  Reformation 
and  the  fathers  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  that  '•'•the  politi- 
cal and  civil  power  is  grounded  upon  the  law  ov"  nature 
ITSELF,  and  for  that  cause  is  common  to  Infidels  with  Chris- 
tians." (See  Gillespie's  Propositions,  No.  44.)  Whereas  "  the 
power  and  policy  of  the  Church  should  lean  upon  the  Word  of 


God  immediately  as  the  only  ground  thereof^  (Second  Book 
Discipline,  Sec.  II.)  Our  Confession  of  Faith  expressly  denies 
to  the  civil  magistrate  any  "administration  of  the  Word."  But, 
manifestly,  if  the  revealed  will  of  Christ  is  the  supreme  law  of 
the  land,  then  the  civil  Constitution  must  of  course  appoint  a 
court  with  powers  to  interpret  the  revealed  Word  as  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land.  Besides,  as  already  cited,  the  Confession  ex- 
pressly declares  that  "  infidelity  or  difference  in  religion  doth  not 
make  void  the  magistrate's  just  and  lawful  authority." 

But,  secondly,  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1864  in  the  case 
of  the  I'ine-street  Church  and  Dr.  McPheeters,  in  a  very  decided, 
though  indirect,  manner,  enunciated  the  heresy  correlative  to 
that  of  the  intrusion  of  the  Church  into  the  secular  sphere,  name- 
ly, the  intrusion  of  the  secular  power  into  the  spiritual  sphere. 
For  in  the  action  on  that  case,  the  Assembly  endorsed  the  con- 
duct of  those  who  not  only  submitted  to,  \)\\%  procured^  the  con- 
stitution of  a  Presbytery  under  a  military  oath  dictated  by  a 
military  officer,  who  is  a  Papist,  to  Protestant  Ministers,  and  in 
effect  condemned  those  who  resisted  the  impious  usurpation. 
And  now  we  find  that  the  Assembly  of  1866,  in  reviewing  the 
records  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri  for  1865,  have  by  their  condem- 
nation of  these  records  directly  endorsed,  and  even  undertaken  to 
enforce  the  duty  of  submission  to  a  court  of  Jesus  Christ,  thus 
wearing  the  collar  of  Caesar. 

And,  thirdly,  the  Assembly  of  1864  in  its  extraordinary  deliv- 
erance on  slavery  evinces  how  thoroughly  that  body  had  become 
permeated  Avith  the  leaven  of  the  secular  theories  and  concep- 
tions of  the  Church,  and  the  prevailing  political  passions  of  the 
hour.  The  tone  and  spirit  of  the  paper  is,  throughout,  that  of  the 
current  secular  philanthropism  of  the  times,  rather  than  the  tone 
and  spirit  of  the  "  revealed  Word  "  upon  which,  as  our  fathers 
taught,  every  delivei'ance  of  the  Church  must  immediately  rest. 
Its  language  and  argument  is  that  of  the  secular  philanthropism  of 
the  age  which  knows  no  Christ.  Neither  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Christ,  nor  any  title  of  God  expressive  of  His  covenant  relation 
to  the  Church,  nor  a  single  proof  from  the  Word  of  God  is  con- 
tained in  the  whole  deliverance.  The  testimonies  of  the  Church 
are,  by  garbling  them,  perverted.  The  doctrine  of  the  sinfulness 
of  slavery  is  affirmed  in  the  very  terms  and  spirit  of  the  infidel 
philanthropism  against  which  the  Assembly  of  1845  testified. — 
The  acceptance  of  this  dogma  is  in  effect  made  a  term  of  com- 


10 

munion,  in  face  of  thecl  eclaration  of  1845  that  to  set  up  such 
term  of  communion  must  operate  practically  as  a  dissolution  of 
the  Church,  And,  worse  than  all,  that  is  declared  to  be  a  "  guilt " 
and  a  "sin"  which  has,  beyond  question,  been  allowed  to  exist 
.without  challenge  in  the  Church  of  God  from  its  first  organiza- 
tion until  now  ;  that  which  patriarchs  and  prophets  not  only 
tolerated  but  enacted  laws  for  and  practised,  and  that  which  ex- 
isted in  a  more  aggravated  form  than  it  has  existed  in  our  age 
and  country — Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles  allowed  to  exist  in 
the  Church  without  rebuke.  Such,  and  so  rapid,  was  the  luxur- 
iant growth  from  the  germinal  error  of  1861. 

We  have  entered  into  this  detail  that  you  may  have  more 
distinctly  before  you  the  platform  of  "Doctrine,  loyalty  and 
freedom"  which  the  Assembly  of  1865  proceeded  to  embody  in 
concrete  form,  and  actually  ordered  to  be  enforced,  as  practi- 
cally the  law  of  the  Church,  by  its  several  enactments  making 
these  deliverances  on  "  Doctrine,  loyalty  and  freedom,"  a  test 
whereby — First,  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  shall  try  all 
applicants  for  aid  from  its  funds,  turning  off  the  self-denying 
Missionary  whose  conscience  revolted  at  the  monstrous  usurpa- 
tion involved  in  such  a  test,  to  starve  Avith  his  wife  and  little 
ones,  or  give  up  his  covenanted  work.  Second,  the  test 
whereby  the  inferior  Courts  should  try  all  ministers  coming  to 
them  from  regions  of  the  Church  supposed  to  be  not  in  sympa- 
thy with  these  doings  of  the  Assembly,  no  matter  how  true  in 
their  adherence  to  the  standards  of  our  faith,  how  earnest  their 
zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  how  i:)ure  in  their  walk  and  con- 
versation, or  how  apostolic  in  spirit  and  labors  for  the  Church. 
Third,  the  test  whereby  the  Pastors  and  Sessions  shall  try  the 
humbled  soul  who  comes  to  them  longing  for  communion  with 
the  people  of  God,  failing  to  stand  which  test,  they  shall  debar 
him  from  the  Church,  no  matter  how  thorough  his  conviction  of 
sin,  how  clear  his  apprehension  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  sincere  his 
acceptance  of  and  trust  in  Him  for  salvation. 

It  is  this  practical  embodiment  of  the  errors  of  the  preced- 
ing Assemblies,  and  this  formally  requiring  an  acceptance  of 
tbese  errors,  as  a  condition  of  ministerial  and  private  fellowship 
with  the  Church,  which  distinguishes  the  acts  of  1865  by  a  "  bad 
preeminence"  over  all  that  preceded.  There  were  other  deliv- 
erances made  by  the  Assembly  at  Pittsburgh,  which  alone 
would  entitle  it  to  preeminence.     Such  was  its  untruthful  dec- 


11 

laration,  in  face  of  notorious  facts  and  official  testimony,  as  a 
premise  of  its  action  against  Southern  ministers  and  people, 
that  the  Southern  Assembly  was  organized  to  perpetuate 
slavery.  Such  was  its  declaration  as  a  ground  of  thanksgiving 
to  God — equally  in  the  face  of  terrible  facts  attested  by  thou- 
sands in  the  Border  States  and  Northern  prisons — that  in  the 
war  "the  National  honor,  untarnished  by  acts  of  barbarism  and 
cruelty,  had  been  vindicated."  Such  was  its  demand  of  repent- 
ance and  confession  of  their  sin,  from  individuals  who  had  taken 
the  Southern  side  during  the  war,  and  its  demand  of  a  formal 
renunciation  of  errors  from  those  who  hold,  with  patriarchs  and 
prophets,  Christ  and  his  apostles,  that  slavery,  except  in  the 
abuse  of  the  relation,  is  not  sinful.  Such  the  unworthy  and 
unmanly  assault,  by  insinuation,  under  cover  of  its  solemn  offi- 
cial narrative  on  the  state  of  religion,  on  the  Presbytery  of  St. 
Louis  as  having  acted  hypocritically  in  its  testimony  against 
military  usurpation  in  the  courts  of  the  Church. 

These,  and  numerous  other  instances  which  might  be  cited, 
show  how  abundant  is  the  harvest  from  the  tares  sown  in  1861, 
and  how  terribly  the  Church  that  once  begins  the  "  sowing  to 
the  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption."  The  thoughtful 
christian,  who  carefully  considers  the  full  significance  of  these 
deliverances  and  their  necessary  logical  results,  cannot  avoid 
the  conclusion  that  they  seriously  affect  some  of  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  by  obscuring  the  view  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  King  and  sole  Law-giver  in  his  Church,  and  in 
consequence  tarnish  the  glory  of  his  prophetic  office,  in  setting 
up  against  the  teaching  of  his  infallible  Word  the  command- 
ments of  men,  or,  at  least,  by  obscuring  his  Word  with  the 
false  glosses  of  men ;  and,  in  consequence,  again  hide  from  the 
view  of  the  people  his  relation  to  them  as  Intercessor  in  his 
priestly  office,  teaching  them  by  his  Spirit  what  to  ask  for,  that 
their  prayers  may  be  answered. 

They  seriously  affect  the  unity  of  the  Church,  producing 
therein  conflicts  for  the  foith  once  delivered  to  her  saints,  alien- 
ation in  feeling  between  those  of  the  same  household,  by  intro- 
ducing the  strifes  and  passions  of  the  political  world  within  the 
enclosures  of  the  Covenant,  all  leading  inevitably  to  schism  in 
the  Church,  and  thereby  the  marring  of  her  beauty,  the  impair- 
ing and  obscuring  of  her  testimony  for  the  truth,  and  the 
enfeebling  of  her  agencies  for  carrying  on  the  Lord's  work. 


12 

They  directly  tend  to  the  subversion  of  the  foundations  of 
our  ecclesiastical  polity — that  system  whose  distinctive  feature, 
heretofore,  has  been  the  clear  assertion  of  Christ's  prerogative 
as  Law-giver  in  Zion,  and  the  rights  of  the  people  under  the 
constitution  and  laws  which  Christ  has  ordained  for  their  protec- 
tion as  well  as  for  their  government. 

They  directly  conflict  with  the  fundamental  provisions  of  that 
specific  constitution  and  form  of  government  which,  speaking 
in  Christ's  name,  and  guided  by  Christ's  law,  our  fathers  estab- 
lished for  us. 

It  was  fondly  supposed  by  many  of  our  brethren,  "who  hoped 
against  hope,"  that  the  errors  of  doctrine  and  ecclesiastical  pol- 
ity to  which  we  have  referred,  would  prove  to  have  been  the 
mere  temporary  mistakes  of  human  infirmity,  into  which  our 
office-bearers  and  courts  had  been  led  during  the  excitement 
and  passions  incident  to  a  civil  war;  and,  therefore,  that  they 
would  be  corrected  immediately  after  the  return  of  peace.  But 
not  only,  as  we  have  shown  you,  have  these  errors  sprung  from 
a  deliberate  purpose  to  "  bring  in  another  gospel  which  is  not 
another  "  on  the  subject  of  the  Church's  sphere ;  not  only  is  there 
a  natural  and  necessary  logical  relation  between  the  errors  first 
promulgated  and  their  results,  and  a  "  marvellous  method  in  the 
madness"  of  these  men  of  excitement  and  passion;  but,  instead 
of  retracing  the  ftital  steps  taken  in  1865  towards  outrage  and 
violence  to  the  consciences  of  those  who  "run  not  with  them 
to  the  same  excess  of  riot"  by  forcing  upon  them  the  acceptance 
of  these  errors  as  a  condition  precedent  to  fellowship,  the  As- 
sembly of  1866  has  deliberately  proceeded  to  execute  sentence 
against  those  who  refuse  to  accept  them. 

We  will  not  insult  your  intelligence,  christian  brethren,  by 
entering  into  any  argument  and  exposition  to  convince  you  of 
the  utter  subversion  of  all  the  fundamental  principles  of  Pres- 
byterianism,  the  utter  defiance  of  our  constitutional  rules,  and 
the  utter  recklessness  of  the  reputation  of  a  Supreme  Court  of 
Christ  involved  in  the  recent  exclusion  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  from  the  house,  not  only  without  trial,  but  without 
plausible  pretext,  and,  still  worse,  without  even  a  hearing,  by 
the  call  for  the  previous  question.  Sufiice  it  to  say,  it  is  an 
enormity  of  error  in  the  practical  application  of  bad  principles 
worthy  to  follow  as  the  natural  sequence  of  such  enormous 
erorrs  of  doctrine   and   principle    as   we   have   been   reciting. 


o 

The  saddest  fact  of  all,  indeed,  is  the  very  consistency  of  this 
reckless  act  of  usurpation  and  tyranny  with  the  reckless  princi- 
ples of  usurpation  and  tyranny  whiclt  have  been  inculcated  for 
five  years  past,  and  ordered  to  be  made  a  part  of  the  Covenant 
of  the  Church  by  the  previous  Assembly. 

We  may  cite,  as  another  instance  of  the  claim  to,  and  exercise 
of  arbitrary  imperial  power  by  this  Assembly,  its  extraordinary 
edict,  in  effect  appointing  certain  men — one  or  more  of  them 
under  actual  process  before  the  Session — as  ruling  elders  of  the 
Walnut-street  congregation  in  Louisville,  and  commanding 
them  to  be  recognized  as  such  by  the  lower  courts  and  pastors, 
though,  under  the  circumstances,  as  confessed  by  a  previous 
vote  of  the  Assembly,  and  by  the  confession  of  the  judicial  com- 
mittee, it  was  impossible  the  Assembly  should  know  whether 
they  were  ruling  elders  or  not.  And  this  arbitrary  exercise  of 
power  was  directly  in  contempt  of  the  Synod,  whose  committee 
had  not  yet  had  opportunity  to  report,  and  explain  its  extraor- 
dinary action  in  ordering  an  election.  It  was  a  gross  insult  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  which,  after  all  diligence  in  the 
case,  had  not  yet  been  able  to  act  for  want  of  time.  And  it 
was,  moreover,  a  defamation  of  the  Presbytery,  in  imputing  to 
that  body  an  unwortliy  motive,  and  asserting  what  it  was  impos- 
sible should  be  true,  that  the  Presbytery  had  denied  one  of  these 
men  a  seat  in  the  body,  since  the  Presbytery  had  not  been  able 
to  take  up  the  report  ot  its  committee — selected  on  the  nomin- 
ation of  these  men  themselves — touching  their  claim  to  be 
recognized  as  elders.  And  that  all  this  should  have  been  done 
under  pressure  of  the  plea  that  "congregational  rights"  are  in- 
volved, cannot  tail  to  make  the  impression,  to  the  great  scandal 
of  religion,  especially  in  the  community  most  affected  by  it,  that 
the  highest  court  of  the  Church  is  herein  lending  itself  to  the 
petty  strategy  of  a  litigant  party,  in  order  to  influence  the  judg- 
ment of  a  civil  court,  in  a  question  concerning  church  property. 
Indeed,  our  people  throughout  the  country  may  well  take  the 
alarm,  under  tnis  claim  of  a  power  which  puts  the  property  of 
every  Presbyterian  congregation  in  the  land  under  the  control 
of  any  unscrupulous  faction  which  may  at  any  time  control  a 
majority  of  members  in  the  Assembly. 

We  may  cite  again,  as  an  illustration  of  the  unlimited  power 
claimed  for  the  Assembly,  the  summary  expulsion  of  a  member, 
thereby  disfranchising  a  Presbytery,  without  even  inquiry;  and 


14 

that,  too,  for  no  other  reason  than  offence  given  to  a  member, 
by  tlie  public  expression,  focetiously,  with  a  little  exaggeration, 
of  what  the  larger  portion  of  a  large  congregation  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  express  privately,  and  that  in  the  face  of  a  disclaimer  of 
any  intention  to  offend  on  the  part  of  the  member  expelled. 
Obviously,  no  member  of  a  General  Assembly,  under  such  a 
construction  of  the  powers  of  the  house,  has  any  other  protec- 
tion than  the  mere  will  of  an  irresponsible  majority  of  members 
against  such  public  official  denunciation ;  nor  has  any  Presby- 
tery other  security  for  being  represented  in  this  body  more  than 
the  will  of  this  same  irresponsible  majority. 

We,  perhaps,  weary  you,  brethren,  with  this  melancholy  de- 
tail of  despotic  usurpations  to  which  the  false  doctrines  and 
principles  promulged  from  1861  to  1865  have  naturally  and  log- 
ically led  in  the  Assembly  of  1866.  And  yet  we  cannot  pass 
without  fixing  your  attention  specially  upon  the  enormous  out- 
rage upon  the  fundamental  law  of  Christ's  house,  and  every  prin- 
ciple of  our  specific  Constitution  involved  in  the  Assembly's  ac- 
tion, after  thirteen  days  of  discussion,  almost  wholly  by  those 
hostile  to  the  proceeding  of  the  parties  condemned  :  first,  in  pro- 
nouncing sentence  in  terms  almost  scurrilous  against  the  men 
who  dared  to  protest  against  the  false  doctrines  of  the  Assem- 
bly;  secondly,  in  pretending  to  postpone  the  subject  so  decided 
by  referring  it  as  undecided  to  another  Assembly  ;  thirdly,  in  ex- 
pelling the  condemned  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony 
not  only  from  the  Assembly,  but  from  the  lower  courts,  as  though 
these  courts  were  mere  subject  departments  of  the  Assembly, 
thus  in  effect  disorganizing  all  the  Church  courts  above  the  ses- 
sion of  several  districts  of  the  country,  and  yet  with  singular  in- 
consistency leaving  the  Church  sessions  and  congregations  to  be 
led  by  men  whom  the  highest  court  of  the  Church  has  vilified  as 
"  slanderers  "  of  the  Church,  schismatics  and  rebels  against  her 
authority ;  fourthly,  in  dissolving  any  Presbytery  that  shall 
dare  judge  of  the  qualification  of  its  own  members,  except  under 
this  edict,  thus  casting  out  of  the  ministry  of  the  Church  whole 
Presbyteries  for  no  other  cause  than  declining  to  execute  this 
lawless  edict  of  the  Assembly ;  fifthly,  in  dictating  to  all  Synods, 
also,  the  conditions  on  which  persons  shall  be  allowed  to  sit 
therein ;  sixthly,  in  exercising  the  right  to  violate  its  own  law 
within  the  hour  of  its  enactment  by  a  motion  in  form  to  suspend 
the  law,  but  in  fact  to  admit  into  the  present  Assembly  the  very 


15 

men  who  cannot  be  admitted  to  seats  in  Presbyteries  or  Synods 
without  leading  to  an  instant  dissohition  of  these  divinely  or- 
dained judicatories. 

We  may  cite  as  additional  evidence  of  the  reckless  and  vin- 
dictive spirit  of  the  Assembly — all  the  worse  from  the  occasional 
empty  protestations  of  forbearance  and  chi'istian  affection — the 
decisive  vote  by  which  any  and  every  proposition  to  express 
kindness  towards  the  Southern  Churches,  or  to  relax  in  the  least 
the  application  of  the  cruel  and  suicidal  orders  of  the  Assembly 
of  1865,  has  been  rejected.  The  votes  on  the  propositions  of  Dr. 
Van  Dyke,  Dr.  Boardman,  Dr.  Backus,  and  others,  are  illustra- 
tions of  this.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  formal  adoption  by 
the  Assembly,  as  its  own,  of  the  reasons  assigned,  and  the  apolo- 
gies offered  for  its  action,  as  for  instance  in  the  papers  of  Dr. 
Gurley  and  Dr.  Krebs,  evince  most  clearly  that  the  ground  on 
which  the  Assembly's  action  really  rests,  is  little  other  logically 
than  the  ground  that  "  might  makes  right  " ;  and  that  the  As- 
sembly may  in  its  deliberate  enactments  and  deliverances  give 
expression  to  the  passions  and  blind  prejudices  of  its  members. 
For  it  is  impossible  not  to  perceive  that  these  papers  are  an  ef- 
fort to  assign  reasons  by  those  who  have  no  reasons  to  give,  and 
to  substitute  shallow  plausibilities  for  the  weighty  arguments  of 
intelligent  and  earnest  conviction. 

We  call  your  attention  also  to  the  very  remarkable  paper  of 
this  Assembly,  purporting  to  be  a  solemn  Pastoral  Address  to 
the  Churches,  though  on  the  face  of  it  lie  all  the  marks  of  a  par- 
tizan  apology  for  acts  and  utterances,  which  the  authors  of  the 
Address  evidently  deem  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  justify 
on  any  of  the  ordinary  methods  of  ecclesiastical  reasoning.  To 
say  nothing  of  the  want  of  true  dignity  suitable  to  a  solemn 
Pastoral  Address  manifest  in  the  special  pleadings,  evasions  and 
false  issues  of  this  paper;  to  say  nothing  of  the  incongruity  of 
appealing  to  the  faith  of  God's  people  for  the  acceptance  of  pro- 
positions which  can  be  plausibly  maintained,  only  by  a  logical 
finesse  which  marks  the  chicanery  of  pleadings  in  a  petty  court, 
rather  than  the  grave  utterance  of  an  ecclesiastical  body  as- 
sembled in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ;  to 
say  nothing  of  bold  statements  as  of  fact  in  Church  history  con- 
cerning so  great  a  question  as  making  civil  treason  the  subject 
of  ecclesiastical  sentence,  which  are  notoriously  in  the  face  of 
history  ;   we  call  your  attention  simply  to  the  strange  assertion 


16 

of  this  paper  that  the  previous  erroneous  deliverances  of  1865 
are  to  be  taken  not  only  as  final,  but  indisputable  germinal  truths 
upon  which  subsequent  action  of  the  Assembly  is  to  rest  as  its 
ultimate  ground. 

And  hence  it  follows  that  the  dogma  of  the  sinfulness  of 
slavery  is  a  first  truth,  the  challenge  of  which  shall  render  a  man 
unfit  to  sit  in  the  Church  court ;  the  dogma  that  rebellion 
against  the  civil  Government  of  the  United  States,  without  re- 
spect to  the  controverted  question  of  State  sovereignty,  is  a  sin, 
is  declared  to  be  a  final  truth,  which  may  exclude  those  who  dis- 
pute it  from  the  Church ;  the  dogma  that  the  bad  rhetoric  of  a 
protest  by  a  lower  court  against  usurpation  is  a  sin  which  may 
be  punished  by  excluding  a  Presbytery  from  representation  in 
the  Assembly,  and  by  divesting  ministers  of  their  right  to  sit  in 
any  judicatory  above  the  Session. 

But  we  need  not  cite  further.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  spirit 
pervading  this  paper  is  the  spirit  of  autocratic,  imperial  power, 
and  that  its  intent  is  to  set  up  the  General  Assembly  as  above 
all  Constitutions,  Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  Churches,  in  such 
sense  that  its  vote  by  a  majority  of  four  to  one  can  make  that 
law  which  is  no  law,  and  that  truth  which  is  no  truth. 

It  may  still  further  illustrate  to  you  the  despotic  spirit  of  this 
Assembly,  that  while  it  claims  the  privilege  of  denouncing  Pres- 
byteries, ministers,  and  elders,  with  all  the  freedom  of  the  indi- 
vidual partizan  in  ecclesiastical  controversy — applying  to  men 
without  examination  or  hearing,  such  epithets  as  "slander,  trea- 
son, rebellion,"  &c.,  it  at  the  same  time  excludes  Presbyteries 
and  individual  ministers  from  the  exercise  of  their  functions  for 
applying  less  offensive  terms  to  its  proceedings.  Thus  in  effect 
it  destroys  all  freedom  of  speech,  and  pours  contempt  upon  the 
rights  of  conscience. 

Perhaps  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  even  in  the  days 
of  the  tyrants  who  seized  upon  her  agencies  as  a  means  of  pro- 
moting their  despotic  ends,  exceeds  the  arbitrary  act  of  this  As- 
sembly in  excluding  from  record,  in  the  face  of  the  Constitution, 
the  protest  of  Dr.  Boardman  on  the  preposterous  plea  that  its 
terms  were  not  respectful ',  thereby  in  effect  charging  that  emi- 
nent minister  of  the  Church,  so  distinguished  for  his  courtesy  of 
language  and  behavior  towards  all  men,  either  with  ignorance 
of,  or  contempt  for,  the  ordinary  and  most  obvious  laws  of  eccle- 
siastical and  gentlemanly  propriety.     This,  too,  by  an  Assembly 


17 

which  beyond  all  precedent  has  indulged  in  terms  of  vitupera- 
tion and  insult  towards  lower  courts  and  ministers! 

Manifestly  this  outrage  could  not  have  been  perpetrated  ex- 
cept by  a  body  which  assumes  imperial  power  to  itself,  even 
to  the  extent  of  silencing  all  protests  and  arguments  against  its 
proceedings  which  it  finds  inconvenient  to  answer. 

It  is  impossible  to  account  for  the  inconsistencies  and  absurd- 
ities involved  in  the  several  arbitrary  acts  of  the  Assembly  of 
1866,  except  on  the  supposition  that  those  who  have  enacted 
them  are  utterly  unconscious  of  the  great  facts  concerning  the 
nature  and  functions  of  the  Church  and  her  courts,  which  our 
fathers  maintained  as  beyond  dispute  the  ordinances  of  Christ 
according  to  the  Scriptures.  And  the  melancholy  reflection  is 
forced  upon  us  that  as  in  all  the  inspired  ages,  so  now,  the  ignor- 
ing of  Christ's  kingly  office  indicates  the  appearance  of  fatal 
apostacy  in  the  visible  Church.  That  such  is  the  tendency  now, 
and  that  these  despotic  acts  result  from  that  tendency,  is  mani- 
fest from  the  fact  that  instead  of  acting  freely  as  a  court  of 
Christ,  to  utter  simply  what  he  dictates,  the  Assembly  acts  un- 
der a  conspiracy  gotten  up  before  its  meeting  to  control  its  ac- 
tion, and  under  dictation  of  a  secret  caucus,  which  commenced 
its  sessions  the  day  previously,  composed  in  part  of  members  of 
the  Assembly,  and  in  part  of  self-constituted  directors  of  the 
Church ;  the  fact  that  under  such  conspiracy  and  drill,  as  the 
leaders  boast,  they  have  a  majority  of  four  to  one,  accounts  read- 
ily enough  for  the  character  of  the  acts  and  deliverances  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1866. 

In  this  state  of  the  case  the  inquiry  presses  itself  upon  us,  as 
office-bearers  in  the  Church, — as  we  doubt  not  it  will  upon  you 
so  soon  as  the  enormities  which  we  have  seen  and  heard  here 
shall  be  carried  to  you  on  the  wings  of  the  press — can  nothing 
be  done  to  stay  this  work  of  ruin?  "We  believe  much  can  be 
done,  and  therefore  thus  address  you.  We  believe  the  time  has 
come  for  action  on  the  part  of  all  those  of  us  who  perceive  that 
great  issues  of  doctrine,  ecclesiastical  principle,  and  constitutional 
law  are  involved  in  the  acts  and  deliverances  of  the  last  six  Gen- 
eral Assemblies.  Of  course  those  who  perceive  nothing  more  in 
them  than  some  irregularities  and  departures  from  usage  ;  some 
unfortunate  ebullitions  of  men  under  excitement ;  some  success- 
ful strategy  of  a  party,  to  be  met  with  counter  strategy,  or  some 
constitutional  blunders  that  ought  to  be  overlooked — all  such  will 
2 


18 

think  US  mad  in  our  zeal,  and  will  be  indisposed  to  listen  to  our 
suggestions.  But  those  Avho  perceive  the  great  principles  in- 
volved, should  take  immediate  action — prompt,  decisive,  courage- 
ous, but  prudent  and  intelligent  action.  And  this  should  be, 
moreover,  the  concerted  action  of  all  those  who  sympathize  with 
the  protests  which  have  been  made  upon  the  great  principles  in- 
volved, against  the  action  of  the  last  six  Assemblies.  That  is 
the  merest  partizan  strategy,  brethren,  which  would  represent 
this  as  any  sectional  or  peculiarly  local  issue.  The  case  of  the 
Louisville  Presbytery,  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  of  the  signers 
of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  or  the  signers  of  the  protests 
of  '61,  '62,  '65,  and  '66,  and  of  every  individual  office-bearer  who 
has  been  persecuted  for  sympathy  with  these  protests,  is,  for  all 
the  purposes  of  practical  duty  as  a  witness-bearer,  the  case  of 
every  Presbyterian  man  and  woman  who  can  comprehend  these 
principles,  and  concurs  with  these  brethren.  And  recent  expe- 
rience and  observation  should  satisfy  any  of  us  of  the  danger, 
even  to  our  own  views  of  truth  and  duty,  of  quiet  acquiescence 
under  usurpation,  and  how  readily  we  may  become  so  familiar- 
ized with  even  the  outrages  and  usurpations  which  at  first  shock 
our  moral  sense  and  amaze  our  insulted  self-respect,  that  we 
cease  our  testimony  for  truth,  and  sink  into  a  state  of  listless 
subjugation. 

Taking  this  view  of  the  case,  the  undersigned  commissioners 
and  other  ministers  and  elders  attending  upon  the  sessions  of 
the  General  Assembly  at  St.  Louis,  and  thus  put  in  advance  of 
our  brethren  in  our  knowledge  of  the  spirit  and  acts  of  that 
body,  have  availed  ourselves  of  the  opportunity,  thus  incident- 
ally afforded,  for  conference  and  concert  of  action.  And  as  a 
first  step  toward  organizing  the  influence  and  action  of  our 
brethren  in  all  parts  of  the  Church,  who  agree  with  us,  for  an 
effort  to  check  the  progress  of  this  defection  from  our  standards 
of  faith  and  order,  have  concurred,  and  ask  their  concurrence 
with  us,  in  the  preliminary  action  indicated  in  the  following 
paper,  viz : — 

The  undersigned  commissioners,  and  other  ministers  and 
elders,  attending  upon  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
St.  Louis,  after  several  conferences  in  reference  to  the  uncon- 
stitutional and  revolutionary  principles  asserted  in  revolu- 
tionary acts  consummated  by  that  body,  being  deeply  im- 
pressed   with    the    solemnity    of    the    crisis    now    upon    the 


19 

Church,  in  which  her  peace  and  unity  have  been  destroyed, 
and  her  purity  and  liberty  greatly  jeopardized,  feel  it  to  be 
a  duty  imperative  lapon  them,  in  faithfulness  to  their  trust, 
to  urge  upon  all  those  ministers  and  elders  who  cannot  submit 
to  the  unconstitutional  acts  and  deliverances  of  the  General 
Assembly,  such  united  action  as  may  give  some  hope  of  rescu- 
ing the  Church  of  our  fathers  from  irretrievable  ruin.  In  order 
to  the  attainment  of  this  united  action,  we  ask  your  concurrence 
with  us  in  the  following,  viz : — 

1.  That  all  Synods,  Presbyteries,  churches,  ministers  and  elders 
that  have  adopted  or  have  concurred  in  the  "  Declaration  and 
Testimony,"  or  any  other  protests  against  the  decrees  of  the 
General  Assembly,  touching  "  Doctrine,  loyalty  and  freedom," 
from  A.  D.  1861  to  1865,  inclusive,  while  they  stand  fast  by  the 
Church  and  her  constitution  as  higher  than  any  Assembly,  stand 
fast  also  in  the  principles  and  purposes  of  the  said  testimony 
and  protests  respectively,  unmoved  by  the  threats  and  violence 
of  this  present  General  Assembly;  and  that  they  all  stand 
united,  whether  they  may  now  elect  to  confirm  theif  former 
testimonies  by  further  solemn  protests  and  deliverances,  or  by 
deliberate  refusal  to  send  commissioners  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, so  long  as  the  erroneous  doctrines  and  unconstitutional 
enactments  of  the  Assembly  are  persisted  in,  or  in  any  other 
form  which  may  seem  to  them  best. 

2.  That  a  conference  of  ministers  and  eldei's,  who  agree  in 
these  views,  be  held  at  St.  Louis  on  the  15th  day  of  August, 
A.  D.  1866,  to  consider  what  further  steps  should  be  taken  to 
defend  our  doctrines,  and  order,  and  christian  freedom,  and  to 
protect  our  rights  in  the  Church,  from  which  it  is  proposed  first 
to  exclude  us,  and  then  give  it  over  into  the  hands  of  another 
body  foreign  to  us. 

3.  That  until  such  meeting  can  be  held,  in  order  to  maintain 
and  cultivate  the  spirit  of  christian  beneficence,  and  to  protect  our- 
brethren  in  Missouri,  or  any  church  who  may  unite  with  us  in 
this  testimony,  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  Mis- 
souri at  its  last  meeting,  together  with  A.  Davidson  and  S.  Cas- 
sady,  of  Louisville,  be  requested  to  act  as  an  agency  for  the  col- 
lection and  disbursement  of  funds  in  aid  of  such  feeble  churches 
and  missionaries  in  any  part  of  the  Church  as  have  been  or  may 
yet  be  cut  ofi"  from  support  by  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions, 
under  the  cruel  orders  of  the  Assembly  of  1865,  or  by  the  ac- 
tion of  the  present  Assembly. 


20 

You  will  perceive,  brethren,  that  the  general  purpose  of  the 
action  here  proposed,  is  neither  to  acquiesce  in  the  erroneous  de- 
liverances and  acts  of  usurpation  by  the  General  Assembly  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  on  the  other  to  withdraw  from  the  Church  of 
our  fathers,  to  whose  strength  and  wealth  we  have  contributed 
as  freely  as  others,  leaving  all  that  has  been  gained  in  the  hands 
of  the  usurping  faction  who  have  availed  themselves  of  the  con- 
fusion of  the  times  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  Southern  Churches 
to  get  the  possession  and  control  of  the  Churches,  courts  and 
other  agencies.  Our  view  is  that  our  duty  to  witness  for  the 
"  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  " — the  truth  both  as  it  relates  to  the  doc- 
ti'ine  in  the  current  sense,  and  to  the  Divinely  ordained  princi- 
ples of  ecclesiastical  polity  as  well — requires  us  to  contend  earn- 
estly here.  Believing  that  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  are 
the  outgrowth  of  views  of  doctrine  and  order  difiering  funda- 
mentally from  the  views  gathered  by  our  fathers  and  by  us  from 
the  Scriptures — covering  the  most  vital  doctrines  of  our  creed 
and  the  very  first  truths  of  our  ecclesiastical  polity,  we  regard  it 
as  a  case  which  leaves  no  room  for  hesitancy  or  ground  for  com- 
promise on  the  one  hand,  nor  permits  a  quiet  surrender  of  our 
Church  to  those  who  teach  and  enact  such  fundamental  errors 
on  the  other.  For  this  reason  we  propose  concerted  action  as  a 
band  of  witness-bearers  to  testify  for  the  truth  until  the  Lord 
shall  restore  the  Church,  or  permit  those  against  whose  errors 
we  testify  to  drive  us  from  it. 

And  in  view  of  the  various  opinions  on  this  subject  which,  as 
we  are  aware,  exist  even  among  those  of  us  who  agree  concern- 
ing the  great  points  involved,  permit  us  to  suggest,  in  conclusion, 
some  of  the  reasons  which  should  unite  us  all  in  the  effort  here 
proposed. 

1.  There  are  those  in  our  Church  who  have  been  exceedingly 
restive  under  the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  disposed  to 
renounce  its  jurisdiction  and  enter  other  Protestant  Churches. 
Many  such  have  already  left  us,  and  nothing  has  pained  us  more 
than  the  general  tendency  to  the  disintegration  of  our  Churches 
in  many  localities  under  the  sense  of  outrage  from  these  acts,  or 
under  the  style  and  spirit  of  jiulpit  ministrations  which  these 
acts  of  Assembly  have  fostered.  To  some  of  our  people  the  wiser 
and  more  politic  action  of  the  Episcopal  Church  has  suggested 
the  idea  of  a  place  of  refuge  there  from  the  troubles  of  our  body. 
To  others  the  imaginary  freedom  from  such  troubles  in  bodies 
that  recognize  no  such  oneness  of  the  Church  as  the  General 


21 

Assembly  represents,  seems  to  offer  refuge.  We  are  persuaded 
that  this  tendency  among  any  of  our  people  arises  from  a  forget- 
fulness  on  their  part  of  their  duty  to  bear  witness  as  Christians 
for  the  great  truths  of  doctrine  and  polity  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking.  Nor  will  they  find  themselves  relieved  in  the  least 
from  the  evils  they  complain  of  by  such  change  as  they  propose, 
except  at  the  expense  of  fidelity  to  those  obligations  to  Christ, 
the  king,  which  their  Presbyterian  training  has  inculcated  upon 
them.  Have  they  no  duty  to  discharge  towards  us,  their  breth- 
ren, who  in  this  time  of  rebuke  and  blasphemy  stand  forth  as 
witnesses  for  the  truths  which  our  fathers  sealed  with  their  blood  ? 
Can  we  bear  witness  effectually,  each  standing  aloof  to  himself, 
or  merging  with  those  who  bear  no  witness  for  these  truths  ? 

2.  There  are  many  others  who,  feeling  grieved  and  outraged  by 
the  acts  of  the  present  Assembly  in  execution  of  the  unscriptural 
and  unconstitutional  orders  of  1865,  will  be  disposed  no  longer  to 
wait,  but  apply  at  once  for  connection  with  the  Southei-n  Churches, 
where  they  may  enjoy  the  same  standard  of  faith  and  worship,  find 
a  concurrence  in  their  testimony,  and  feel  secure  against  these  evils 
on  the  platform  of  the  Macon  Assembly  touching  the  relations 
of  the  Church  to  secular  affairs.  But  we  feel  assured  that  all 
such  brethren,  on  fuller  consideration  of  the  subject  in  the  light 
of  the  suggestions  we  have  made  touching  witness-bearing,  must 
perceive  that  far  more  can  be  accomplished  in  favor  of  these 
great  truths  on  the  plan  of  concerted  action  here  suggested  for  a 
distinct  and  special  testimony,  than  by  a  mere  concurrence  with 
the  testimony  of  the  Macon  Assembly.  Here  our  testimony  is 
borne  with  an  eye  single  to  these  particular  truths ;  there  it  be- 
comes obscured  somewhat  by  being  blended  with  testimony  on 
other  points,  and  its  power  greatly  impaired  by  reason  of  preju- 
dices arising  from  other  sources  than  hostility  to  these  particu- 
lar truths.  Here  also  they  have  the  opportunity  of  forcing  their 
doctrines  upon  the  attention  of  gainsayers  in  the  Church,  and 
by  the  very  conflict  fixing  the  attention  of  the  Christian  world 
at  large  upon  these  questions  which  hitherto  have  been  so  sadly 
overlooked.  And  we  may  add,  if  the  Lord  in  his  kindness  shall 
again  incline  the  hearts  of  his  people  toward  an  organic  unity 
of  all  who  agree  in  the  same  great  truths,  then,  as  a  united  body 
who  have  testified  specially  for  these  truths,  we  may  fairly  ask 
our  brethren  with  whom  we  may  become  united  to  join  us  in 


22 

this  testimony  and  secure  us  by  special  covenants  in  favor  of 
these  principles  against  future  usurj^ations. 

3.  On  the  other  hand  there  are  many  of  our  brethren  who, 
while  they  concur  heartily  in  even  the  most  advanced  of  the 
protests  against  the  acts  of  the  several  Assemblies,  have  held 
back  hitherto  on  the  ground  that  the  time  had  not  come  for  ac- 
tion. Whatever  justice  there  may  have  been  in  such  opinion 
heretofore,  there  can  surely  be  no  hesitancy  now.  Forbearance 
must  certainly  cease  to  be  a  virtue,  when  the  Assembly,  by  a 
majority  secured  through  concerted  effort,  under  the  dictation  of 
an  irresponsible  caucus,  not  only  reaffirms  all  the  erroneous  doc- 
trines and  principles,  and  endorses  the  propriety  of  enforcing 
them  as  terms  of  fellowship,  but  proceeds  actually  to  the  execution 
of  the  purposes  in  the  most  reckless  and  revolutionary  manner. 
If  our  brethren  believe,  as  we  know  they  do,  that  great  issues  of 
doctrine  and  ecclesiastical  polity  are  here  involved,  they  will 
surely  hesitate  no  longer  to  unite  their  influence  and  action  with 
any  body  of  brethren  who,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  lift  up  a 
standard. 

4.  The  same  reason  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  brethren, 
who,  agreeing  with  us  in  judgment  as  to  the  doctrines  involved, 
have  yet  insisted  that  action  should  be  delayed,  on  the  ground 
that  these  acts,  passed  in  a  time  of  excitement,  though  they 
might  remain  as  historic  monuments  of  the  era,  would  be  practi- 
cally a  dead  letter  on  the  statute  book.  It  is  no  reproach  to 
these  brethren  that  their  judgment  of  what  fanaticism  was  capa- 
ble of  doing  has  been  so  charitable.  But  now  that  the  most  un- 
charitable judgments,  and  the  worst  fears  of  those  more  zealous 
for  Christ's  crown-rights  have  been  more  than  realized,  will  not 
these  brethren  unite  with  us,  and  take  up  their  testimony  against 
acts  that  so  far  transcend  in  enormity  all  their  conceptions  of 
what  was  possible,  and  which  so  cast  contempt  upon  all  their 
charitable  predictions  ? 

5.  Even  those  of  our  brethren  who  hitherto  have  been  able  to 
perceive  no  other  issues  involved  in  this  conflict  than  questions 
of  form,  and  of  the  application  of  constitutional  rules,  must  at 
least  admit  now  that  such  questions  of  form  have  become  very 
vital  questions,  when  they  see  large  Presbyteries,  and  even  two 
Synods,  not  only  threatened  with  dissolution,  but,  we  may  say, 
condemned  already  and  only  awaiting  execution  of  the  sentence. 


23 

Will  not  such  brethren  unite  with  us  in  some  vigorous  action, 
if  it  be  only  to  save  the  cherished /brms  of  the  Constitution  ? 

6.  And  indeed  we  might,  if  the  aid  of  such  brethren  would 
strengthen  our  cause,  appeal  even  to  those  who  see  nothing  in 
the  proceedings  of  the  last  five  years  beyond  simply  their  im- 
policy and  inexpediency,  and  urge  them  to  unite  their  efforts 
with  ours  to  stay  the  progress  of  the  fatal  inexpediency,  which  is 
so  obviously  disintegrating  the  Church  and  making  her  name  a 
reproach. 

We  have  thus  laid  before  you  in  all  candor  and  honesty,  breth- 
ren, the  views  which  we  entertain,  and  the  motives  which  impel 
us  to  unite  in  solemn  protest  by  action,  and  to  ask  you  to  join  us 
in  this  protest  against  the  pi'oceedings  of  the  present  Assembly, 
as  the  alarming  culmination  of  the  defection  from  our  doctrine 
and  order,  begun  six  years  ago,  and  steadfastly  persisted  in 
from  that  time  to  the  present.  We  do  not  profess  that  we  our- 
selves fully  agree  in  all  the  details  of  the  several  protests  and 
arguments  against  the  deliverances  of  the  Assembly  for  these 
six  years  past,  and  of  course,  therefore,  do  not  ask  you  either  to 
express  your  concurrence  in  all  the  views  which  have  been  main- 
tained in  opposition  to  these  proceedings  heretofore,  or  to  make 
your  protests  against  the  present  revolutionary  action  of  the  As- 
sembly in  some  uniform  method  suggested  by  us.  But  we  do 
agree,  and  trust  you  will  all  agree  with  us,  that  the  time  has 
come  for  the  testimony  of  united,  steadfast,  and  active  op- 
position against  the  usurpation  which  seeks  to  force  upon  us, 
as  part  of  the  doctrine  and  ecclesiastical  polity  of  our  Church, 
these  dangerous  errors  and  false  principles.  And  as  signifying 
your  concurrence  with  us  in  this  regard,  we  respectfully  request 
that  the  ministers  and  ruling  elders  to  whom  this  address  comes, 
will  send  their  names  to  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris,  at  St.  Louis,  and  A. 
Davidson,  at  Louisville,  and  attend  or  arrange  for  being  repre- 
sented, in  such  manner  as  you  may  see  fit,  at  the  Conference  to 
be  held  at  St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  on  the  15th  day 
of  August,  1866,  for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  on  the  present 
alarming  state  of  affairs  in  our  Church,  and  determining  what 
further  action,  if  any,  shall  be  taken  in  the  premises 

"We  suggest  that  those  who  expect  to  attend  the  Conference 
send  their  names  at  once  to  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris,  that  provision 
ma;f  be  made  for  their  entertainment  during  their  stay  in  St. 
Louis. 


24 


We  also  suggest  that  a  fund  be  immediately  raised,  either  by 
collections  in  our  churches,  or  by  the  free-will  offerings  of  indi- 
viduals, to  defray  the  travelling  expenses  of  brethren  who  may 
come  to  the  Conference.  Let  the  money  raised  for  this  purpose 
be  forwarded  to  A.  Davidson,  at  Louisville. 

[Signed,]  [Signed,] 


MINISTEKS. 

THOMAS  C.  SMITH, 
JAMES  M.  CHANEY, 
JAMES  A.  QUARLES, 
WILLIAM  WILEY, 
W.  W.  ROBERTSON, 
S.  J.  P.  ANDERSON, 
R.  L.  McAFEE, 
T.  A.  BRACKEN, 
J.  L.  YANTIS, 
ROBERT  MORRISON, 
R.  CARSON, 
H.  A.  BOOTH, 
J.  T.  HENDRICK, 
J.  N.  GILBRAITH, 
H.  F.  ALBRIGHT, 
GEORGE  SLUTER, 
D.  OWEN  DAVIE S, 
STUART  ROBINSON, 
S.  R.  WILSON, 
R.  P.  FARRIS, 
A.  D.  MADEIRA, 
WILLIAM  H.  PARKS, 
CHARLES  D.  SIMPSON, 
CHARLES  FUELLER, 
J.  M.  TRAVIS, 
L.  P.  BOWEN, 
SAMUEL  LYNN, 
JAMES  H.  BROOKES. 


RULING   ELDERS. 

JACOB  S.  BROWN, 
JOHN  R,  FORD, 
G.  C.  SWALLOW, 
GEORGE  W.  JARRETT, 
J.  B.  HENDERSON, 
ROBERT  J.  WOOD, 
C.  A.  WICKLIFFE, 
JOHN  J.  GILL, 
J.  W.  GIBSON, 
LUTHER  T.  WOODS, 
EDWARD  BREDELL, 
GEORGE  W.  BUCHANAN, 
E.  S.  LEMOINE, 
JOSEPH  CONWAY, 
MARTIN  BAKER, 
JOSEPH  CULBERTSON, 
JOSEPH  M.  CULBERTSON, 
JOHN  McLANAHAN, 
E.  T.  SCOTT, 
W.  C.  BEAN, 
SAMUEL  W.  BARBER, 
J.  T.  DOUGLASS, 
JAMES  QUARLES, 
JOHN  J.  HOGE, 
JAMES  L.  SLOSS, 
JOHN  G.  CHILES, 
J.  W.  PRYOR, 
CHARLES  H.  MARSHALL, 
THOMAS  G.  RUSSELL, 
BENJAMIN  H.  BATTE, 
HENRY  BARRON. 


MINUTES 

OF  THE 

SYNOD  OF  KENTUCKY, 

Held  at  Louisville,  Ky,,  October  11, 1865. 

LouisviLLB,  Ky.,  October  11,  1885. 

The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  according  to  adjournment,  met 
in  the  Chestnut  Street  Church,  Louisville,  on  Wednesday, 
October  11th,  1865,  at  7  o'clock,  p.  M.,  and  J.  L.  MoKee, 
the  Moderator,  being  unable  to  preach,  the  Synod  was  open- 
ed with  a  sermon  by  R.  G.  Brank,  a  former  Moderator,  from 
Matthew  13th  chapter,  83rd  verse. 

After  sermon.  Synod  was  constituted  with  prayer. 

MEMBERS  PRESENT. 
Presbytery  of  Transylvania. 

Ministers.  —  A.  A.  Hogue,  R.  A.  Johnston,  S.  S.  .Mc- 
Roberts,  S.  B.  Cheek,  B.  P.  Humphrey,  T.  H.  Cleland,  J.  S. 
Braddock,  W.  H.  Honnell,  R.  W.  Landis,  W.  J.  McKnight, 
James  Matthews,  J.  Cooper,  M.  Sanders,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  T. 
Lapsley,  R.  L.  Stanton,  G.  J.  Reid,  W.  D.  Symington,  G.  0. 
Barnes,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  D.  P.  Young. 

Elders. — J.  G.  Phillips,  C.  D.  Armstrong,  M.  S.  Shuck, 
B.  N.  Penick,  S.  S.  Fry,  J.  H.  Wilmore,  J.  Askens,  J.  H. 
Moore,  W.  Sampson,  S.  T.  Wilson,  J.  Paxton,  G.  W.  Welsh, 
J.  P.  Lapsley,  W.  Harvey,  J.  Reid,  J.  A.  Mitchell,  W.  H. 
McAfee,  V.  Kennedy. 

Of  West  Lexingtok. 

Ministers. — W.  H.  Forsythe,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  J.  D. 
Matthews,  J.  G.  Simrall,  S,  Yerkes,  F.  G.  Strahan,  T.  A. 
Bracken,  R.  G.  Brank,  J.  K  Lyie,  J.  S.  Hays,  J.  M.  Scott, 
,R.  Douglass,  G.  Morrison,  M.  Van  Lear,  W.  George,  G.  H. 
Rout,  B.  Forman.  '^  •^'    ' 


Mders.—  B.  T.  Milton,  J.  Taliaferro,  R.  Young,  G.  Mar- 
shall, J.  F.  Bell,  W.  M.  Dickey,  W.  B.  Kincaid,  R.  F.  Thomp- 
son, W.  A.  Smith,  F.  P.  Kincaid,  J.  H.  Wallace,  W.  Emer- 
son, S.  Holloway,  J.  H.  Hockady,  W.  H.  Rainey,  W.  Allen, 

S.  C.  Bulh 

Of  Louisville. 

Ministers. — S.  Williams,  W.  C.  Matthews,  J.  H.  Dinsmore, 
M.  G.  Knight,  R.  Morrison,  J.  L.  McKee,  J.  P.  McMillan, 
E.  Wurts,  W.  T.  McEIroy,  W.  W.  Duncan,  S.  R.  Wilson,  J. 
V.  Cosby,  S.  B.  McPheeters,  J.  C.  Young. 

Mders.—n.  Y.  Sprowl,  B.  A.  Brown,  A.  G.  Watts,  D.  L. 
Brooks,  P.  Jett,  G.  Bergen,  J.  B.  Cox,  T.  W.  Rodman,  L. 
L.  Warren,  T.  W.  Riley,  J.  Ervin,  W.  S.  Allen,  J.  Gault, 
D.  McKinley,  S.  Casseday,  C.  A.  Wickhffe,  W.  C.  Hanna, 
H,  Deckert. 

Of  Ebenezer. 

Ministers. — T.  H.  Urmston,  D.  0.  Davies,  R.  L.  Breck, 
Elder.— J.  L.  Walker. 

Of  Muhlenburg. 
Minister. — J.  Woodbridge. 
Elder. — P.  Thompson. 

Of  Paducah. 
Minister. — J.  Hawthorn. 

Elders.— V.  B.  McGoodwin,  D.  N.  Stinson,  J.  Marshall. 
Synod  adjourned  until  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 
Closed  with  prayerr 


Thursday,  Oct.  12, 1865,  9  o'clock,  a.  m. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer.  The  minutes  of 
the  last  session  were  read. 

W.  F.  McKinney,  Elder  from  the  Presbytery  of  Transyl- 
vania, R.  F.  Caldwell,  Minister  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Ebenezer,  A.  C.  Dickerson  and  S.  Y.  Garrison,  Ministers, 
and  E.  F.  Easton  and  J.  L.  Herdman,  Elders  from  the 


Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg,  S.  W.  Cheney,  Minister  from  the 
Presbytery  of  West  Lexington,  and  W,  W.  Hill,  Minister 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  appeared  in  Synod  and 
took  their  seats. 

Nominations  were  made  for  Moderator  of  Synod  during 
the  present  sessions.  The  calling  of  the  roll  Avas  commenced, 
but  the  house  not  being  full  the  calling  was  suspended. 

A  paper  was  introduced  by  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  calling 
in  question  the  right  of  those  members  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  and  others,  who  have  endorsed  and  adopted  the 
paper  styled  the  "Declaration  and  Testimony,"  to  sit  and 
act  as  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

The  said  paper  is  as  follows : 

"  In  making  up  the  roll  of  the  members  of  this  Synod  for  the  trans- 
action of  business,  it  is  necessary  to  determine  the  ecclesiastical  status 
of  those  office-bearers,  who  constituted  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  at  its  late  regular  sessions,  and  a  number  of  Avhom  executed 
and  published  a  paper,  styled  "Declaration  and  Testimony,"  which 
paper  was  endorsed  and  adopted  by  a  majority  of  said  Presbytery.  In 
discharge  of  this  duty,  this  Synod  adjudges  and  determines  that  the  said 
action  of  the  majority  of  the  said  Presbytery,  endorsing  and  adopting 
said  "  Declaration  and  Testimony" — and  of  such  office-bearers,  under 
the  care  and  jurisdiction  of  this  Synod,  as  have  executed  and  published 
it,  or  as  shall  hereafter  do  so  ;  did  and  da,  each  and  every  one,  by  said  acts, 
assume  such  a  state  of  open  rebellion  against  the  Church,  and  open  con- 
tempt and  defiance  of  her  scriptural  authority,  and  in  such  contempt  of 
her  faith  and  order,  and  acts,  as  to  render  eacli  ;iirl  every  one  of  them 
unqualified,  unfit  and  incompetent  to  sit  ai'vl  ;iol  vs  -i  member  of  thi.';  or 
any  other  Court  of  the  Presbyterian  Churc;  .  ' 

On  the  question  of  order  raised,  that  after  the  commenc- 
ing of  the  call  of  the  roll  the  introduction  of  said  paper  was 
out  of  order,  the  Moderator  decided  that  said  paper  was 
in  order.  An  appeal  was  taken  from  the  decision  of  the 
Moderator,  and  by  a  vote  of  the  Synod  the  decision  of  the 
Moderator  was  sustained. 

A  motion  was  made  to  lay  said  paper  on  the  table,  which 
motion  was  lost^ 

A  motion  was  made  to  refer  said  paper  to  a  Committee, 

which  motion  was  also  lost. 

A  motion  was  made  to  place  said  paper  on  the  Docket, 
which  motion  prevailed. 


The  roll  was  called  for  the  election  of  Moderator  and  Tem- 
porary Clerk  of  Synod.  R.  L.  Breck  was  chosen  Moderator^ 
and  J.  S.  Hays,  Temporary  Clerk. 

On  motion,  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  Breckinridge  was 
made  the  first  order  of  the  day  for  this  afternoon. 

The  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  other  papers 
from  Centre  College  were  presented  to  Synod,  and  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Centre  College  to  be  hereafter  appointed^ 

Synod  took  recess  until  ^  after  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 


I  After  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess,  Synod  resumed  business. 

J.  E.  Spilman,  J.  M.  Worrall,  J.  F.  Coons,  B.  M.  Hobson, 
J.  F.  Hendy  and  J.  M.  Evans,  Ministers,  and  S.  W.  McKib- 
ben,  S.  Taylor,  J.  M.  Preston  and  E.  Ladd,  Elders  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Ebenezer,  appeared  in  Synod  and  took  their 
seats.     Their  reasons  for  tardiness  were  sustained. 

The  Moderator  announced  the  following  standing  Commit- 
tees, yiz : 

On  Bills  and  Overtures — J.  L.  McKee,  W.  L.  Breckin- 
ridge, A.  A.  Hogue,  S.  B.  McPheeters,  C.  A.  Wickliffe,  F. 
P.  Kincaid,  G.  Marshall. 

Judicial  CommiUee — J.  T.  Lapsley,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  S» 
R.  Wilson,  R.  G.  Brank,  W.  Sampson,  W.  B.  Kincaid,  S, 
Casseday. 

On  Minutes  of  the  Assembly — J.  Woodbridge,  W.  C.  Mat- 
thews, E.  Wurts,  T.  H.  Gleland,  S.  S.  Fry,  J.  P.  Lapsley, 
S.  T.  Wilson. 

Narrative— E.  P.  Humphrey,  W.  W.  Hill,  R.  V.  Sprowl. 

Centre  College  —  J.  D.  Matthews,  J.  Hjiwthorn,  M.  S. 
Shuck,  J.  H.  Moore. 

Finance — L.  L.  Warren,  G.  W.  Welsh,  R.  Young. 

Devotional  Exercises — J.L.  McKee,  R.  Knott,  S.  Casseday. 

To  Collect  the  Si/nodical  Tax^S.  C.  Bull,  A.  G.  Watts. 


PRESBYTERIAL  RECORDS. 

1st.  Transylvania— R.  F.  Caldwell,  S.  Williams,  J.  F.  Ber. 

2nd.  West  Lexington— J.  V.  Cosby,  S.  B.  Cheek,  W.  H. 
McAfee. 

3rd.  Louisville — T.  A.  Bracken,  G.  J.  Reid,  J.  Taliaferro. 

4tli.  Muhlenhurg — S.  Yerkes,  S.  W.  Cheney,  J.  Gault. 

5th.  Paducah—'F.  G.  Strahan,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  11.  Wallace. 

At  ^  after  3  o'clock,  the  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up, 
viz :  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  Breckinridge. 

A  motion  was  made  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  said 
paper,  until  a  complaint,  now  lodged  with  the  Stated  Clerk 
of  the  Synod,  by  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville, 
touching  the  same  subject  matter,  shall  have  been  issued. 
This  motion  was  laid  on  the  table.  The  said  paper  was  then 
read — also  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  in 
adopting  the  paper  styled  the  "  Declaration  and  Testimony." 
The  said  "Declaration  and  Testimony"  was  read  in  part. 
At  the  close  of  the  session,  the  reading  was  suspended. 

The  following  times  for  meeting,  recess  and  adjournment, 
during  the  present  sessions  of  Synod,  were  fixed,  viz:  to. 
meet  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m.  ;  recess,  at  ^  after  12  o'clock,  M. ; 
meet  at  |  after  3  o'clock,  p.  m.,  and  adjourn  at  5  o'clock,  P.  M. 

The  appeal  and  complaint  of  J.  C.  Young  and  others 
agiairist  the  same  Presbytery,  also  the  complaint  of  B.  F. 
Avery,  also  of  T.  J.  Hackney,  were  presented  to  the  Synod 
and  referred  to  the  Judicial  Committee. 

J.  L.  McKee,  at  his  request,  was  relieved  from  serving  on 
the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures. 

In  accordance  with  a  standing  rule  of  Synod,  nominations 
■were  made  for  Trustees  of  Centre  College  to  fill  the  places  of 
those  Trustees  whose  term  of  service  expires  at  the  present 
session  of  Synod. 

Synod  adjourned  until  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Closed  with  prayer. 


1 


I 


Friday,  Oct.  12,  9  o'clock,  p.  m. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer.  In  the  absence 
of  R.  L.  Breck,  the  Moderator,  called  home  by  sickness  in 
his  family,  R.  G.  Brank  was  chosen  Moderator  pro  tern. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  session  were  read,  corrected  and 
approved. 

J.  A.  Bogle,  Minister,  and  J.  "W.  Gray,  Elder  from  the 
Presbytery  of  .Transylvania,  B.  H.  McCown,  Minister  and 
R.  N.  Barbour,  Elder  from  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  and 
C.  J.  Blackburn  and  E.  Howe,  Elders  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Ebenezer,  appeared  in  Synod  and  took  their  seats.  Their 
reasons  for  tardiness  were  sustained. 

A  communication  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Prince- 
ton College  was  laid  before  Synod,  read  and  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures, 

W.  Ernst,  Trustee  of  the  Hollingsworth  Fund,  presented 
his  annual  report,  which  was  read  and  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Finance. 

The  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises  presented  their 
report  in  part,  recommending  that  the  Synod  spend  an  half 
hour  each  day  in  devotional  exercises,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Moderator,  commencing  at  10  o'clock. 

The  report  was  received  and  amended,  by  setting  apart 
the  first  half  hour  of  each  morning's  session  for  devotional 
exercises,  and  thus  amended  the  report  was  approved. 

The  unfinished  business  was  resumed,  viz  :  the  considera- 
tion of  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  Breckinridge.  The  reading 
of  the  "Declaration  and  Testimony"  was  concluded.  The 
Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  at  its  sessions  in 
Bardstown,  touching  the  same  subject  matter  and  on  the 
subject  of  Domestic  Missions,  were  read — also  the  action  of 
the  late  General  Assembly  on  Overtures  Nos.  6  and  7 — also 
the  protest  of  S.  R.  Wilson  and  others  to  certain  acts  of  the 
Assembly  of  1865 ;  also  the  actions  of  the  Assemblies  of 
1861  and  2  on  the  same  general  subjects  were  read. 


On  motion,  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject  yr&s 
postponed  until  J  after  3  o'clock,  this  afternoon. 

Henderson  was  chosen  as  the  place  for  the  next  meeting 
of  the  Synod,  and  the  time  the  2nd  Wednesday  in  October 
next,  at  ^  after  7  o'clock,  P.  m. 

At  J  after  12  o'clock.  Synod  took  recess  until  J  after  3 
o'clock,  p.  M. 


f  After  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess  Synod  came  to  order,  C.  A.  Preston,  Elder 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Ebenezer,  and  J,  Marshall,  Elder 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg,  appeared  in  Synod  and 
took  their  seats. 

A  circular  from  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly, 
touching  the  Contingent  Fund  of  said  Assembly,  was  pre- 
sented to  Synod,  read  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Finance. 

The  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises  reported  in  part, 
announcing  their  appointments  for  preaching  on  the  Sabbath 
in  the  churches  of  the  several  denominations  in  the  city, 
whose  houses  of  worship  have  been  tendered  to  the  Synod 
during  the  present  sessions. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  viz :  the  consider- 
ation of  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  Breckinridge. 

At  5  o'clock.  Synod  adjourned  until  9  o'clock,  to-morrow 
morning. 


Saturday,  Oct.  13,  9  o'clock,  p.  m. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer.  At  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  devotional  exercises,  the  minutes  of  the  last 
session  were  read  and  approved. 

W.  L.  Nourse,  J.  N.  Sanders,  I.  N.  Canfield  and  R.  Valen- 
tine, Ministers  from  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  and  J.  P. 


Hendrick,  Minister  from  tlie  Presbytery  of  Ebenezer,  appear- 
ed in  Synod  and  took  their  seats.  Their  reasons  for  tardi- 
ness were  sustained. 

The  Judicial  Committee  presented  their  report  in  patt," 
viz :  on  the  complaint  of  J.  P.  McMillan  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville — case  No.  1;  and  on  the  appeal  and 
complaint  of  J.  C.  Young  and  others,  against  the  same 
Presbytery  —  case  No.  2.  The  report  was  received  and  put 
on  the  Docket.     The  report  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Judicial  Committee  beg  leave  to  report  as  follows :  That  papers, 
in  the  form  of  protest,  complaint  and  appeal,  have  been  placed  in  their 
hands,  through  the  Stated  Clerk  of  Synod,  from  four  diiferent  parties  and 
involving  as  many  distinct  cases. 

"  Up  to  this  time,  the  Committee  have  only  been  enabled  to  examine 
the  papers  of  two  of  the  four  cases  named. 

"The  papers  examined  are  as  follows,  (to-wit:) 

"The  paper  marked  No.  1,  and  containing  the  complaint  of  J.  P. 
McMillan  against  the  action  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  touching  a 
paper,  styled  a  "  Declaration  and  Testimony." 

"And  No.  2.  The  paper  marked  No.  2,  and  containing  the  appeal  and 
complaint  of  John  C.  Young  and  others  against  the  a(?tion  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville,  in  setting  aside  and  declaring  null  and  void  the 
proceedings  of  the  2nd  Church,  Louisville,  in  the  election  and  ordination 
of  certain  persons  as  Elders  in  such  Church. 

"The  Committee  find  each  of  these  papers  to  be  in  order,  and  recom- 
mend that  Synod,  at  its  convenience,  take  up  and  issue  each  of  these 
cases,  after  the  manner  prescribed  in  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii : 
sec.  3,  par.  8." 

The  annual  report  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological 
Fund  was  presented  to  Synod,  read  and  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Finance,  and  the  said  Committee  were  direct- 
ed to  recommend  to  Synod  a  suitable  time  for  the  election  of 
Trustees  of  said  Fund  to  serve  during  the  present  ecclesias- 
tical year. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  viz :  the  consider- 
ation of  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  Breckinridge.  The  protest 
of  Dr.  Hodge  and  others  against  the  Resolutions  of  the  As- 
sembly of  1861,  known  as  the  Spring  Resolutions,  were 
read ;  also  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  1861,  on 
the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  for  the  same  year;  also  the 
protests  and  dissents  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly  on  the 


state  of  the  country  in  1862;  also  the  action  of  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky  in  April,  1863;  also  part  of  the  action  of  the 
Assembly  of  1864  on  the  subject  of  slavery;  also  the  action 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  1864  on  the  Minutes  of  the 
Assembly  for  the  same  year;  also  the  Rosecrans  oath,  and 
his  orders  to  the  Provost  Marshals  of  Missouri ;  also  several 
sections  of  the  new  Constitution  of  Missouri,  prescribing  a 
certain  oath,  etc.;  also  extracts  from  the  narrative  of  the 
state  of  religion  of  the  Assembly  in  1864  ;  also  the  action  of 
the  Assembly  of  1845  on  the  subject  of  slavery;  also  ex- 
tracts from  the  memorial  to  the  Assembly  of  1865,  known 
as  the  Stanton  Memorial ;  also  extracts  from  the  Records  of 
the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  in  1861  on  the  state  of  the  country; 
also  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1865  on  the  Overture 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Cahfornia;  also  the  action  of  the 
Assembly  of  1865  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky 
for  1864;  also  the  protest  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly 
of  1865,  directing  the  Board  of  Missions  only  to  employ 
persons  of  known  loyalty,  as  Missionaries ;  also  the  action 
of  the  Presbyteries  of  Transylvania,  West  Lexington  and 
Ebenezer,  at  their  recent  Fall  sessions,  on  the  Minutes  of 
the  Assembly  of  1865,  were  read. 

At  J  after  12  o'clock.  Synod  took  recess  until  J  after  3 
o'clock,  p.  M. 


i  After  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess.  Synod  came  to  order.  H.  Berkley,  Elder 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  appeared  in  Synod  and 
took  his  seat. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  viz:  the  consideration 
of  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  Breckinridge.  The  attention  of 
the  Synod  was  called  to  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Sangamon  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1865.  The 
attention  of  the  Synod  was  also  called  to  the  action  of  the 


10 

Synod  of  Cincinnati  in  1864  on  the  same  general  subjects 
and  to  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  on  the 
Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1865. 

Also  extracts  from  the  Memorial  to  the  Assembly  of  1834; 
also  extracts  from  the  "Act  and  Testimony"  of  1834;  also 
extracts  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1837,  abrogat- 
ing the  Plan  of  Union,  were  read.  Also  a  part  of  the  22nd 
chapter  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  on  oaths  was  read.  There 
were  also  read  from  the  Catechism,  the  questions  and  answers 
on  the  sins  forbidden  uiider  the  Second  Commandment;  also 
from  the  Book  of  Discipline,  there  were  read  sections  4th 
and  5th  of  chapter  4th,  and  sections  4,  5,  7  and  8  from 
chapter  5tli,  on  process  against  a  bishop  or  minister.  Also 
the  22nd  chapter  of  Matthew,  from  the  13th  to  the  22nd 
verse;  also  the  13th  chapter  of  Romans,  from  the  1st  to  the 
8th  verse;  also  1  Peter,  2nd  chapter,  from  the  Ist  to  the 
13th  verse ;  also  1  Timothy,  6th  chapter ;  also  Hebrews,  13th 
chapter,  17th  verse  were  read. 

At  ^  after  5  o'clock,  the  consideration  of  the  subject  w%% 
suspended.  ■,::]  lo 

S.  Reid,  Elder  from  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  h,0.j[ 
leave  of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod,    ojij 

Synod  adjourned  until  Monday  morning,  9  o'clock.     \j\ 

, ,,, , aolo'o 

Monday,  Oct.  15,  1865,  9  o'clock,  a.  m. 

Synod  met  and  Avas  opened  with  prayer.  In  the  absence 
of  R.  G.  Brank,  the  Moderator  pro  tem,  the  devotional  ex- 
ercises of  the  Synod  were  conducted  by  Dr.  W.  L.  BreckiniS 
ridge.  At  the  close  of  these  services,  J.  G.  Simrall  was 
chosen  Moderator  pro  tem. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  session  were  read  and  approved. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  presented  a  report 
upon  the  petition  of  the  Henderson  Church,  requesting  to  be 
transferred  from  the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg  to  the  Pres- 


11 

bytery  of  Louisville.     The  report  was  received,  approved, 
and  is  as  follows  : 

This  is  a  petition  from  certain  members  of  that  Church,  requesting 
Synod  to  change  the  boundary  line  between  the  Presbyteries  of  Muhlen- 
burg  and  Louisville,  in  such  manner  as  to  place  the  Church  of  Hender 
son,  now  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg,  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  and  to  put  it  under  the  care  of 
that  body.  It  appears  that  this  subject  has  been  considered  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg,  and  the  proposal  has  not  met  its  approbation. 
Wherefore  the  Committee  recommend  that  the  consideration  of  this 
paper  bo  postponed  until  the  next  meeting  of  Synod,  which  has  been 
ordered  to  be  held  at  Henderson,  when  the  subject  may  be  better  ex- 
amined than  at  this  time. 

The  Committoe,  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Synod, 
on  the  boundary  line  between  the  Presbyteries  of  Ebenezer 
and  West  Lexington,  presented  their  report,  which  was  re- 
ceived and  put  on  the  Docket. 

A  petition  from  certain  members  of  the  Walnut  Street 
Church,  Louisville,  asking  a  redress  from  certain  grievances, 
was  presented  to  Synod,  read,  and  on  motion,  referred  to  a 
select  Committee,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Moderator. 

The  Committee  on  Finance  presented  their  report  in  part: 
1st,  on  the  report  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Fund, 
and  2nd,  on  the  report  of  William  Ernst,  Trustee  of  the 
HoUingsworth  Fund,  recommending  the  approval  of  each  of 
these  reports.     The  report  was  approved. 

The  report  of  William  Ernst,  Trustee  of  the  HoUingsworth 
Fund,  is  as  follows : 

William  Ernst,  in  account  with  the  Hollingstoorth  Fund. 

1864,  Oct.         To  balance  in  cash,  as  per  report  Nov.,  1864,  $12  67 
"     Nov.  7.    Interest  on  $1,800,  U.  S.  5-20  Bonds,          $54  00 

Premium  on  same,  71  28 

1865,  May  15.  Interest  on  $1,900  U.  S.  5-20  Bonds, 

Premium  on  same,  30^, 


Nov.  7,  1864.  By  investment  in  U.  S.  5-20  Bonds, 
May  15, 1865.  Do  do 

Balance, 


f 


57 
17 

00 
38 

74 

38 

00 
00 
83- 

102 

104 

6 

212 

33 

$212  33 


12 


The  Present  State  of  the  Fund. 

Investment  in  U.  8.  5-20  Bonds,  $2,000  00 

Cash  balance  on  hand,  6  33- 


1 


2,006  33 

The  above  report  is  respectfully  submitted  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
•October  11,  1865.  W.  Ernst,  Truttee. 

The  report  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Eund  is  as 
follows : 

1864,  Nov.  4.   To  deposit  in  N.  B'k  Ky.  to  creditof  Seminary, 

II         II        g  11  u  u  u 

"    Dec.  9.  "  "  "  " 

1865,  Jan.   6.  "  "  "  " 

i<        II    j4  II  II  II  II 

"    Apr.  20.  "  F.  City  B'k  "  " 

"    May  20.  "  "  "  " 

July   6.  "  "  "  » 

i>     ]3  II  II  <i  u 


$256  50 

28 

50 

523 

95 

243 

50 

•  18 

00 

256  50 

282 

51 

238 

50 

24  GO 

$1,871  96 


1864,  Nov.  4.  By  intereston  9  City  of  Louisville  Bonds,  $256  50 
"       "     5.  "  1  "  28  50 

"     Dec.  9.   U.  S.  5-20  Bonds,  219  00 

Premium  on  gold,  304  95 


523  95 

1865,  Jan.  6.  Franklin  B'k,  dividend,  37  50 

"       "  Bank  of  liouisville,  dividend,  15  00 

"       "  Bank  of  Kentucky.       "  171  00 

"       "  Merchants'  Bank,  "  20  00 

"       "    14.  Commercial     "  "  18  00 

"  Apr.  20.  By  interest  on  9  Bonds  City  of  Louisville,     256  50 
"  May  20.  "  U.  8.  5-20  i3onds,     219  00 

Premium  on  gold,  63  51 


282  51 

"  July    6.  Franklin  B'k,  dividend,  37  50 

"      "  Merchants',  "  15  00 

"      "  B'k  Louisville,      "  15  00 

"      "  B'k  Kentucky,      "  171  00 

"      "   13.  Commercial,         "  24  00 

1,871  96 

$1,871  96 

Bonds  and  Stocks,  belonging  to  the  Theological  Fund  of  Synod  of  Ky 

Bank  Stock,  at  par  value,  $8,300  00 

10  City  of  Louisville  Bonds,  at  par  value,  10,000  00 

U.  S.  5-20  Bonds,  "  7,000  00 

$25,600  00 


13 

Banh  Stocks. 

5  Shares  Bank  Louisville,  $100  each. 

6  "         Commercial  Bank,  100  each. 
57     "        Bank  of  Kentucky,  100  each. 
50      "         Franklin  Bank,  25  each. 

10     "        Merchants'  Bank,  25  each. 

Income  received  for  the  year,  ending  October  1,  1865,  $1,871  96,  be- 
ing 7-three-tenth  per  cent,  net  earnings. 

No  change  in  investments  since  last  report. 

L.  L.  Warren,  President, 
W  Prather, 
E.  P.  Humphrey, 
J.  L.  McKee. 

As  directed  by  the  Synod,  the  Committee  on  Finance  re- 
commended as  a  suitable  time,  that  the  election  of  Trustees^ 
of  the  Theological  Fund  to  serve  during  the  ensuing  year,  be  f 
held  as  the  first  business  this  afternoon.     The  recommend- 
ation was  approved. 

It  was  ordered  that  the  election  of  Trustees  of  Centre 
College  take  place  at  the  same  time. 

S.  Taylor,  S.  W.  McKibben  and  J.  H.  Wilmore  had  leave  *! 
of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod,  after  the  } 
session  of  this  morning.  | 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  viz :  the  consider-  ■ 
ation  of  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge. 

Certified  extracts  from  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  • 
Missouri  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1865  were  read. 

At  a  few  minutes  before  the  time  fixed  for  recess,  the 
consideration  of  the  unfinished  business  was  suspended. 

The  Moderator  announced  the  following  select  Committee 
on  the  petition  from  certain  members  of  the  Walnut  Street 
Church,  LouisvilU,  viz :  R.  F.  Caldwell,  E.  Forman,  R.  A 
Johnston,  J.  Woodbridge,  C.  A.  Campbell,  J.  M.  Preston,  C' 
P.  Thompson,  G.  Marshall,  C.  J.  Blackburn. 

The  Coinmittee  on  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Eb- 
enezer  presented  their  report,  which  was  received  and  put 
on  the  Docket. 

At  i  after  12  o'clock.  Synod  took  recess  until  |  after  3 
o'clock,  p.  M. 


( 


14 


i 

\ 


I  After  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess,  Synod  came  to  order.  The  Committee  on 
the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  presented 
their  report,  which  was  received  and  put  on  the  Docket. 

At  his  request,  R.  F.  Caldwell  was  relieved  from  serving 
as  Chairman  of  the  select  Committee  on  the  petition  from 
certain  members  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  Louisville, 
and  E.  Forman  was  made  Chairman  of  said  Committee. 

The  Judicial  Committee  presented  their  report,  No.  2, 
which  was  received,  approved  and  is  as  follows : 

The  Committee  further  report  that  the  two  remaining  papers  in  their 
hands,  (to-wit,)  the  one  of  T.  J.  Hackney,  being  a  protest  and  complaint 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  Session  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church 
against  himself;  and  the  other,  the  protest  and  complaint  of  B.  F. 
Avery  against  the  same  Session  in  its  proceedings  against  himself,  have 
been  duly  examined. 

In  the  judgment  of  your  Committee,  neither  of  these  papers  can  pro- 
perly come  before  Synod,  in  the  form  of  complaint,  at  the  present  time, 
inasmuch  a^  both  these  cases  are  still  pending  in  the  lower  Court. 

The  Committee,  however,  for  the  relief  of  the  parties  aggrieved,,  re- 
commend that  Synod  allow  them  to  place  the  papers  in  the  liands  of  the 
special  Committee  on  the  petition  of  Mr.  McNaughton  and  others,  inas- 
much as  the  matters  complained  of  are  substantially  of  the  nature  of 
those  named  in  the  petition. 

According  to  the  order  of  tlie  day,  Trustees  of  the  Theo- 
ogical  Fund  were  elected.  The  same  persons  were  re-elect- 
ed Tru.jtoes  for  tlia  ensuing  year,  (viz,)  L.  L.  Warren,  E.  P. 
Humphrey,  W.  Prather,  J.  L.  McKee  and  B.  F.  Avery. 

On  motion,  the  election  of  Trustees  of  Centre  College  was 
postponed  until  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Centre  Col- 
lege shall  have  been  acted  upon. 

On  motion,  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  John  C.  Young 
and  others  against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  was  made 
the  first  order  to  succeed  the  unfinished  business  now  before 
Synod. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  consider- 
ation of  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge. 

At  the  hour  fixed  for  the  daily  adjournment,  the  rule  was 
suspended,  and  Synod  took  a  recess  until  |  after  7  o'clock,  p.  m. 


15 

I  After  7  o'clock,  p.  m.  ■► 

After  recess,  Synod  came  to  order. 

The  Committee,  to  whom  the  papers  from  Centre  College 
were  referred,  presented  their  report,  which  was  received 
and  put  on  the  Docket. 

The  Committee  to  collect  the  Synodical  Tax  reported  that 
they  had  collected  the  sum  of  ^144,  The  report  was  receiv- 
ed and  approved,  and  the  Committee  directed  to  pay  over 
said  sum  to  the  Treasurer  of  Synod. 

J.  V.  Logan,  Minister  from  thePresbytery  of  Transylvania, 
appeared  in  Synod  and  took  his  seat.  His  reasons  for  tardi- 
ness were  sustained. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  con- 
sideration of  the  paper  oflfered  by  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge, 

Dr.  W.  L.  Breckinridge  read  a  paper,  which  he  proposed 
to  introduce  as  a  substitute  for  the  paper  now  before  the 
Synod,  and  moved  the  indefinite  postponement  of  the  original 
paper,  with  a  view  to  take  up  his  paper. 

After  some  discussion,  a  call  was  made  for  the  previous 
question,  which  call  being  sustained  by  a  vote  of  the  house, 
the  discussion  was  suspended,  and  the  main  question  put. 

Upon  a  question  of  order,  raised  as  to  what  was  the  main 
question,  the  ]Moderator  decided  that  it  was  upon  the  adop 
tion  of  the  paper  offered  by  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  and  uot 
upon  the  pending  motion  for.  its  indefinite  postponement. 

An  appeal  was  taken  from  the  decision  of  the  Moderator, 
and  the  decision  of  the  Moderator  was  sustained  by  the 
Synod  by  a  vote  of  64  to  53. 

A  motion  was  made  for  adjournment  and  lost.  '■ "  , 

Upon  a  question  of  order  raised  that  the  majority  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  who  adopted  the  "Declaration  and 
Testimony,"  had  no  right  to  vote  upon  a  paper  calling  in 
question  the  propriety  of  their  own  action,  the  Moderator 
decided  said  motion  to  be  out  of  order. 

The  vote  was  taken  by  yeas  and  nays  on  the  adoption  of 


16 

the  original  paper  offered  by  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  and 
resulted  as  follows:  Yeas,  22;  nays,  107;  non  H(|uet,  5. 

Yeas. — R.  A.  Johnston,  J.  S.  Braddock,  R.  W.  Landis,  W.  EL  Hon- 
nell,  James  Matthews,  J.  Cooper,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  T.  Lapsley,  R.  L. 
Stanton,  IS.  S.  Fry,  J.  A.  Mitchell,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  J.  K.  Lyle,  G. 
Morrison,  B.  N.  Fenick,  J.  H.  Dinsmore,  J.  P.  McMillan,  W.  S.  Allen, 
J.  F.  Coons,  E.  Ladd,  C.  A.  Preston,  A.  C.  Dickerson — 22. 

N'at/s.—S.  B.  Clieek,  E.  P.  Humphrey,  T.  II.  Cleland,  W.  J.  :McKnight, 
M.  Sanders,  G.  J.  Reid,  G.  O.  Barnes,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  D.  P.  Young, 
J.  G,  Phillips,  M.  S.  Shuck,  W.  F.  McKinney,  J.  H.  Moore,  W.  Samp- 
son, J.  Paxton,  G  W.  Welsh,  J.  P.  Lapsley,  W.  H.  McAfee,  V.  Kennedy, 
J.  P.  Hughes,  W.  U.  Wherritt,  R.  S.  Tate,  J.  A.  Bogle,  J.  V.  Logan,  W. 
H.  Forsythe,  J.  U.  Matthews,  J.  G.  Simrall,  S.  Yerkes,  F.  G.  Strahan,  T. 
A.  Bracken,  R.  Douglass,  M.  Van  Lear,  W.  George,  G.  H.  Rout,  E.  For- 
man,  J.  M.  Scott,  J.  Taliaferro,  R.  Young,  W.  Brown,  G.  Marshall,  J.  F. 
TBell,  W.  M.  Dickey,  W.  B.  Kincaid,  W.  A.  Smith,  F.  P.  Kincaid,  J.  H. 
Wallace,  S.  Holloway,  J.  H.  Hockady,  W.  Allen,  S.  C.  Bull,  \V.  C.  Mat- 
thews, M.  G^Kni^ht,  R.Morrison,  E.  Wurts,  W.  T.  McElroy,  W.  W. 
Duncan,  S.  R.  Wils^on,  J.  V.  Cosby,  S.  B.  McPheeters.  J.  C.  Young,  W. 
W.  Hill,  W.  L.  Nourse,  J.  N.  Sanders,  L  N.  Canfield,  R.  \.  S prowl,  B. 
A.  Brown,  A.  G.  Watts,  P.  Jett,  G.  Bergen,  J.  B.  Cox,  K.  Knott,  L.  L. 
Warren,  T.  W.  Riley,  J.  Gault,  D.  McKinley,  S.  Casseday,  C.  A.  Wick- 
liffe,  H.  Deckert,  W.  C.  Hanna,  H.  Bei-kley,  T.  H.  Urmston,  D.  0.  Davies, 
J.  M.  Worrall,  B.  M.  Hobson,  J.  M.  Evans,  J.  F.  Hendy,  H.  M.  Scudder, 
J.  P.  Hendrick,  J.  M.  Preston,  C.  J.  Blackburn,  J.  Woodbridge,  E.  Howe, 
S.  Y.  Garrison,  H.  V.  D.  Nevius,  P.  Thompson,  J.  M.  Ilerdman,  E,  F. 
Easton,  J.  Hawthorn,  C.  A.  Campbell,  P.  B.  McGoodwin,  J.  Marshall, 
J.  Erwin,  J.  E.  Spilman,  R.  N.  Barbour,  A.  D.  Metcalf,  W.  D.  Syming- 
ton, D.  L.  Brooks— 107. 

Nbn  liquet. — S.  S.  McRoberts,  W.  H.  Rainey,  J.  S.  Hays,  J.  L.  Mc- 
Kee,  R.  F.  Caldwell— 5. 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  any  members  of  Synod,  now 
temporarily  absent,  upon  their  return,  have  the  privilege  of 
recording  their  votes  upon  said  paper. 

At  their  request,  H.  V.  D.  Nevius,  Minister,  and  C.  P. 
Armstrong,  Elder,  had  leave  of  absence  from  the  remaining 
sessions  of  Synod. 

A  motion  was  made  to  adopt  the  paper  read  by  Dr^  W.  L. 
Breckinridge.     This  motion  was  seconded. 

Synod  adjourned  until  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 


Tuesday,  Oct.  16,  9  o'clock,  p.  m. 
Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer.     After  the  con- 
clasion  of  the  devotional  exercises,  the  minutes  of  the  last 
session  were  read,  corrected  and  approved. 


17 

The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Muhlenburg  presented  their  report,  which  was  received,  ap- 
proved, and  is  as  follows,  (viz:)  The  Committee  recommend 
the  approval  of  these  Records  as  far  as  written,  page  202. 
But  while  making  this  recommendation,  they  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  these  Records  have  not  been  before  Synod 
since  October,  1860. 

The  Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  present- 
ed their  report,  which  was  received  and  put  on  the  Docket. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  presented  their 
report  on  the  communication  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
Princeton  College.  The  report  was  received,  and  after  some 
discussion  recommitted  to  the  same  Committee. 

The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Paducah  presented  their  report,  which  was  received,  approv- 
ed and  is  as  follows.  [This  paper  is  not  in  the  hands  of  the 
Stated  Clerk.] 

The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville presented  their  report  in  part,  viz  :  On  the  Records  of 
said  Presbytery  to  March,  1865,  recommending  the  approval 
of  said  Records,  thus  far,  without  exception.  The  report 
was  received  and  approved. 

Br.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  gave  notice  of  his  appeal  and 
complaint  to  the  next  General  Assembly  against  the  action 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  rejecting  a  paper  offered  by 
him,  touching  the  action  of  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Louisville,  in  endorsing  and  pubhshing  a  paper,  styled 
"Declaration  and  Testimony." 

The  motion,  made  and  seconded  at  the  last  session,  for  the 
adoption  of  the  paper,  read  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  was 
called  up,  and  a  motion  made  to  make  it  the  first  order  of 
the  day,  after  the  hearing  and  issuing  of  the  complaint  of 
J.  P.  McMillan  against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville. 

On  the  question  of  order  raised,  the  Moderator  decided 
that  neither  the  present,  nor  the  original  motion  could  be 
entertained  by  the  Synod. 


18 

On  motion^  the  whole  subject  was  laid  on  the  table  by  a 
Yote  of  53  to  47,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  up  the  order  of 
the  day. 

Judicial  Case,  No.  2,  was  taken  up,  viz  :  The  appeal  and 
complaint  of  J.  C.  Young  and  others  against  the  Presbytery 
of  Louisville.     The  said  appeal  and  complaint  is  as  follows : 

The  undersigned,  according  to  notice,  regularlj  served,  do  hereby 
appeal  and  complain  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  against  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  in  regard  to  an  appeal  signed  by  George  W.  Mor- 
ris and  others  against  the  conduct  of  a  congregational  meeting  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Louisville,  in  electing  John  Hormire 
and  J.  B.  Kinkead  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elders  in  that  church,  and  also 
in  regard  to  an  appeal  and  complaint,  signed  Andrew  Davidson,  against 
the  conduct  of  the  Session  of  the  aforesaid  church,  in  ordaining  and 
inducting,  the  aforesaid  persona  into  the  office  of  Kuling  Elders,  vrhich 
action  is  as  foUovrs : 

"In  the  case  of  the  appeal  of  George  W.  Morris  and  others,  from  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Louisville,  against  the  action  of  said  church 
in  the  election  of  Ruling  Elders,  Presbytery  sustain  the  appeal  for  the 
following  reasons,  viz: 

"  Ist.  The  action  was  taken  under  the  decision  of  the  Moderator, 
admitting  proxy  votes  on  a  preliminary  question.  The  decision  it  was 
not  competent  for  the  Moderator  to  make,  it  being  not  a  mere  point  of 
order,  but  involving  some  of  the  most  important  rights  and  privileges  of 
the  whole  church,  and  the  character  of  the  after  proceedings  of  the  con- 
gregation depending  upon  its  decision.  It  was  therefore  alone  com- 
petent for  the  meeting  itself  to  decide  whether  such  votes  could  be  re- 
ceived at  all  or  not. 

"  2nd.  An  appeal  having  been  taken  to  the  house  from  the  decision 
of  the  Moderator,  this  appeal  necessarily  suspended  all  other  proceedings 
until  it  had  been  disposed  of;  yet  it  appears  from  the  Records  that  the 
business  went  on,  and  no  action  was  ever  taken  upon  the  appeal. 

"  3rd.  By  the  admission  of  proxy  votes  under  the  ruling  of  the  Moder- 
ator, the  whole  complexion  of  the  meeting  was  changed,  an  actual 
majority,  then  present,  became  a  minority,  and  their  wishes  were  entire- 
ly thwarted.  This  was  manifestly  unjust.  Voting  by  proxy,  is  unknown 
to  our  system  of  government  It  is  unconstitutional  and  unscriptural, 
and  in  its  tendency,  subversive  of  the  Gospel  liberty  of  the  Church. 

"4th.  It  was  highly  unjust  and  injuriom  for  those  who  had,  by  the 
introduction  of  these  proxy  votes,  obtained  control  of  the  action  of  the 
meeting  to  press  the  election  in  the  face  of  the  opposition  of  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  members  of  the  Church;  and  this,  the  more,  because  it 
does  not  seem  clearly  settled  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Church  to 
receive  proxy  votes  in  such  cases.  To  persist  in  an  election,  under  such 
circumstances,  was  to  imperil  not  only  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church, 
but  its  very  existence. 

"For  these  reasons,  this  Presbytery  judge  the  action  of  the  Church 
to  have  been  irregular,  unconstitutional  and  unscriptural,  and  therefore 
necessarily  null  and  void. 

"In  the  case  of  the  appeal  and  com>plaint  of  A,  Davidson  from  the 


19    • 

Session  of  the  2nd  Presbyterian  Church,  Louisville,  against  the  decision 
of  the  Session  to  proceed  with  the  ordination  and  introduction  of  certain 
persons  into  the  office  of  Kuling  Elders  in  that  church,  Presbytery 
sustain  the  complaint  for  the  following  reasons,  viz: 

"1st.  The  persons  who  were  thus,  by  the  Session,  directed  to  be 
ordained  and  inducted  into  the  office  of  Ruling  Elders  in  the  2nd  Church, 
and  were  in  consequence  of  this  direction  actually  ordained  and  inducted 
into  that  office,  were  never  duly  chosen  by  the  Church,  but  were  elected 
in  an  illegal  manner. 

"2nd.  The  Session  apprized  of  the  fact  that  notice  of  an  appeal  had 
been  given,  and  that  the  appeal  would  be  carried  up  to  the  Presbytery 
against  the  action  of  the  Church  in  the  election  of  these  Elders,  due 
regard  therefore  for  the  rights  and  interests  of  all  the  parties  concerned, 
and  for  the  peace  of  the  Church,  ought  to  have  led  them  to  suspend  all 
further  proceedings  in  the  case.  The  action  of  the  Session  was  there- 
fore unjust  and  precipitate. 

"  In  view  therefore  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  the  final  judgment  of 
this  Presbytery  is  that  the  ordination  and  induction  of  these  persona 
into  the  ofBce  of  Ruling  Elders  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  was 
unwise  and  hasty,  and  inasmuch  as  these  persons  were  illegally  and 
unconstitutionally  elected,  they  can  only  be  viewed  as  private  Church 
members,  unless  they  be  duly  elected  and  inducted  into  office  hereafter. 

"  In  coming  to  this  decision,  the  Presbytery  wish  to  be  distinctly 
understood  as  in  no  way  impugning  the  Christian  character  or  stand- 
ing of  the  persons,  immediately  affected  in  this  decision. 

"Robert  Morrison,  Stated  Clerk." 

"Against  this  action,  we  appeal  and  complain  for  the  following  reasons: 

"1st.  Because  the  Presbytery  decided  to  receive  as  valid  the  appeal, 
signed  by  <^ieorge  W.  Morris  and  others,  which  decision  was  contrary  to 
the  law  of  appeals  contained  in  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  This  Book,  in  chapter  vii.,  section  3rd,  article  1st,  de- 
fines an  appeal  to  be  the  'removal  of  a  cause,  already  decided,  from  an 
inferior  to  a  superior  judicatory,  by  a  party  aggrieved.'  The  same 
Book,  chapter  X.,  article  8th,  declares  'the  Presbytery  have  power  to 
receive  and  issue  appeals  from  Church  Sessions.' 

"  Now  since  the  aforesaid  appeal  did  not  comply  with  either  of  these 
requirements,  inasmuch  as  a  congregational  meeting  cannot,  with  pro- 
priety, be  regarded  as  an  'inferior  judicatory'  or  a  'judicatory'  of  any 
kind  whatever,  and  inasmuch  as  it  did  not  come  from  a  church  Session, 
but  from  a  part  of  a  church  congregation,  therefore  it  was  not  a  valid 
'  appeal,'  and  the  Presbytery,  in  receiving  it  as  such,  acted  in  manifest, 
contravention  of  the  plain  rulings  of  the  Book  of  Discipline  as  previous- 
ly cited. 

"  2nd.  Because  the  action  of  the  Presbytery,  in  sustaining  the  appeal 
signed  George  W.  Morris  and  others,  and  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  A. 
Davidson,  was  taken  in  the  face  of  facts  laid  before  the  body,  and  is 
therefore  illegal;  and  furthermore,  because  it  is  unjust,  in  the  extreme,, 
to  the  great  majority  of  the  members,  and  therefore  calculated  to  totally 
destroy  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Church.  For  the  proofs  of  these 
charges  we  refer  to  all  the  papers  and  Records  involved  in  the  twO' 
cases,  which  papers  and  Records  arc  hereby  made  a  part  of  our  appeal 
and  complaint. 

"3rd.  Because  the  final  aentcnce  of  the  Presbytery,  reversing  the 


20 

action  of  the  Church  and  Session,  and  consequently  deposing  from  the 
office  of  Ruh'ng  Elders  John  Homire  and  J.  B.  Kinkead,  is  intemperate- 
]y  harsh  in  its  tone  and  bearing,  and  being  generally  attributed  to  a 
political  bias  of  the  Presbytery,  is  productive  of  an  excitement  both  in 
the  Church  and  community,  -which  is  directly  hostile  to  the  growth  of 
religion  and  the  prevalence  of  brotherly  love  and  charity  in  our  midst. 
For  these  reasons  and  others  unassigned  here,  we  appeal  and  complain. 
"Signed :  John  C.  Young, 

W.  Prather, 
K.  Knott. 
''Louisville,  Sept.  9,  1865." 

As  required  by  the  Form  of  Government,  the  Moderator 
charged  the  Court,  as  about  to  sit  in  a  judicial  capacity. 

On  motion,  the  Rule,  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly 
in  the  trial  of  judicial  cases,  was  adopted  by  the  Synod  to 
be  observed  in  the  present  trial. 

The  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee  was  read;  also  the 
appeal  and  complaint ;  also  all  the  Records  of  the  Presbyte- 
ry, touching  the  case ;  also  the  Records  of  the  Church  Ses- 
sion; all  the  papers  in  the  case  were  read. 

E.  Ladd,  Elder,  and  J.  D.  Matthews,  Minister,  had  leave 
of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod. 

Synod  took  recess  until  J  after  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 


^  AfteiS  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 
After  recess,  Synod  resumed  business.     P.  B.  McGood- 
win  had  leave  of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of 

Synod. 

R.  J.  Breckinridge,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  others,  pro- 
duced and  read  his  appeal  and  complaint  to  the  next  General 
Assembly  against  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in 
rejecting  a  paper,  oflfered  by  him,  touching  the  action  of  a 
majority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville.     It  is  as  foUows : 

"This  appeal  and  complaint  of  Robert  J.  Breckinridge  and  others 
against  the  several  acts  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  the  matters,  ap- 
pearing on  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  at  its  recent 
sessions,  and  in  matters  contained  in  a  certain  printed  and  published 
paper,  entitled  '  Declaration  and  Testimony,'  is  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  all  the  acts  and  doings 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  and  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  and  the 
makers,  signers  and  publishers  of  the  said  '  Declaration  and  Testimony ' 


21 

in  the  premises,  in  the  fullest  and  most  ample  manner,  that  all  the  sub- 
jects and  all  the  parties  can  be  brought  before  said  General  Assembly. 
And  the  object  of  doing  this  is  that  the  General  Assembly  may  redress 
the  wrongs  done  and  the  neglects  of  duty  deliberately  committed  by  the 
said  Synod  and  by  a  casual  majority  of  said  Presbytery;  and  that  it 
may  censure,  as  its  righteous  judgment  may  deem  proper,  the  sinful  acts 
of  the  parties  brought  before  the  Synod,  by  a  minute  proposed  to  it  by 
the  said  Kobert  J.  Breckinridge,  and  rejected  by  the  Synod,  in  part  by 
the  votes  of  the  parties  arraigned.  And  the  reasons  of  this  appeal  and 
complaint  are  the  same  reasons  stated  in  the  paper  above  mentioned  of 
Robert  J.  Breckinridge  ofiered  to  Synod,  together  with  the  further 
reasons,  that  the  purity,  peace  and  continued  prosperous  existence  of  Pres- 
byterianism  in  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  demand  an  early  and 
effective  interposition  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  way  of  direct 
action,  both  upon  individual  office-bearers  ■who  are  in  avowed  contempt 
and  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  Church  and  against  its  teach- 
ings,'and  upon  Church  Courts  who  not  only  neglect  to  censure  such  re- 
bellion, disorder,  heresy  and  schism,  but  openly  connive  at  the  existence 
thereof, — wherefore  this  appeal  and  complaint  in  open  Synod. 

"  Signed  by  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  Jacob  Cooper,  Speed  S..  Fry, 
J.  S.  Braddock,  Robert W.  Landis,  George  Morrison,  R.  L.Stanton,  H. 
H.  Allen,  A.  C.  Dickerson,  J.  K.  Lyle,  W.  H.  Honnell,  John  F.  Coons, 
Jas.  Matthews,  B.  N.  Penick,  Jas.  ll.  Dinsmore,  J.  T.  Lapsley,  E.  Ladd, 
John  Askins,  C.  A.  Preston." 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  again  presented 
their  report  on  the  communication  from  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  Princeton  College.  The  report  vras  received,  approved 
and  is  as  follows : 

"This  is  a  communication  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College 
at  Princeton,  Kentucky,  expressing  the  desire  of  the  Board  and  other 
friends  of  the  Institution,  that  it  may  be  put  under  the  care  of  this  Synod. 

"We  recommend  that  the  Synod  comply  with  the  request  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  Princeton  College,  and  that  the  Committee  consist 
of  J.  Woodbridge,  H.  H.  Hopkins,  H,  V.  Nevius,  A.  C.  Dickerson,  John 
Marshall,  A.  W.  Graham,  William  Sampson,  Geo.  T.  Wood. 

"  Further  that  the  Committee  be  requested  to  meet  in  Princeton  at 
an  early  day,  carefully  inquire  into  the  whole  matter,  and  make  full 
report  to  Synod  at  its  next  sessions.  They  are  charged  with  no  power 
to  conclude  the  business,  but  to  obtain  all  needful  information,  and  sub- 
mit the  same  to  this  body,  with  such  recommendation  as  the  Committee 
may  desire  to  offer." 

On  motion,  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Minutes  of 
the  Assembly,  now  on  the  Docket,  was  made  the  first  order 
of  the  day,  after  the  hearing  and  issuing  of  the  complaint  of 
J.  P.  McMillan  against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville. 

J.  Marshall,  Elder,  had  leave  of  absence  from  the  remain- 
ijP^g  sessions  of  Synod  after  the  session  of  this  morning. 


liie  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  appeal 
and  complaint  of  J.  C.  Young  and  others  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville.  The  majority  of  the  members  of  said 
Presbytery  were  heard  in  part,  in  defense  of  their  decision. 

At  J  after  12  o'clock,  Synod  took  a  recess  until  J  after  3 
o'clock,  p.  M. 


^  After  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess.  Synod  resumed  business.  The  Treasurer  of 
Synod  presented  his  annual  report,  which  was  received  and 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Finance. 

On  motion,  Resolved  that  Committees  be  appointed  to  pre- 
pare biographical  sketches  of  the  lives  of  the  deceased  breth- 
ren of  the  Synod  during  the  last  year,  viz :  Brethren  J.  C. 
Barnes,  G.  B.  Armstrong,  A.  S.  Howsley,  J.  J.  Pierce. 

The  Moderator  appointed  said  Committee,  as  follows: 
To  prepare  such  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Father  Barnes — W. 
L.  Breckinridge,  G.  0.  Barnes,  J.  K.  Lyle. 

Of  G.  B.  Armstrong— :i .  M.  Worrall,  J.  E.  Spilman,  R. 
F.  Caldwell. 

OfA.S.Eoivsley—J.Yimt^oYn,  A.  D.Metcalf,  I.  Bard. 

Of  J.  J.  Pierce — J.  Woodbridge,  S.  Y.  Garrison,  A.  C. 
Dickerson. 

At  their  request,  E.  Forman  and  S.  B.  Cheek  had  leave  of 
absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod  after  the 
session  of  this  morning. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  appeal 
and  complaint  of  J.  C.  Young  and  others  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville. 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Synod,  having  devoted 
two  sessions  to  the  hearing  of  the  original  parties  in  the 
case  now  under  trial,  and  one  session  to  the  hearing  of  five 
members  of  the  Presbytery  complained  of,  will  now  devote 
such  portion  of  the  present  session  as  may  be  required  to 
the  further  hearing  of  the  majority  and  minority  of  the  Pres- 


23 

•kr      h 

hjterj,  and  will  devote  the  session  succeeding  the  present 
one,  as  far  as  necessary  to  the  hearing  of  the  members  of  this 
Court  sitting  in  the  case,  and  to  the  conclusion  of  the  case. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  order,  the  majority  and 
minority  of  the  Presbytery  were  fully  heard. 

Synod  took  a  recess  until  I  after  7  o'clock,  p.  m. 


^  After  7  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess,  Synod  came  to  order.  J.  Hawthorn  and 
J.  M.  Worrall,  Ministers,  and  B.  N.  Penick,  Elder,  had  leave 
of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod,  after  the 
session  of  to-night. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  t!ie  appeal 
and  complaint  of  J.  0.  Young,  etc. 

A  motion  was  made  that  the  members  of  Synod,  in  giving 
their  opinions  upon  this  case,  be  Umited  to  ten  minutes  each. 
This  motion  was  laid  on  the  table.  All  the  parties  having 
been  heard,  and  the  inferior  judicatory  out  of  the  house,  the 
roll  was  called  so  that  each  member  of  Synod  might  express 
his  opinion. 

After  the  calhng  of  the  roll,  the  vote  was  taken  under  the 
ruling  of  the  Moderator,  the  decision  of  the  Court  was 
given  in  this  form,  viz — 1st,  To  sustain  the  appeal  and  com- 
plaint in  whole ;  2nd,  To  sustain  it  in  part ;  3rd,  Not  to 
sustain  it,  and  resulted  as  follows :  To  sustain  the  appeal  and 
complaint,  42 ;  to  sustain  in  part,  11;  not  to  sustain,  14; 
non  liquet,  4. 

It  was  thereupon  declared  as  the  judgment  of  the  Synod 
that  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  J.  C  Young  and  others 
against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  be  sustained,  and  that 
the  decision  of  said  Presbytery  in  the  case  be  reversed. 

Synod  adjourned  until  9  o'clock  to-morrow  morning. 

Closed  with  prayer. 


24 

Thuksday,  Oct.  19, 1865,  9  o'clock,  a.  m. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer.  At  the  close  of 
the  devotional  exercises,  the  minutes  of  the  last  session  were 
read,  corrected  and  approved. 

A  paper  was  presented  to  Synod  by  those  voting  to  sustain 
the  appeal  and  complaint  of  J.  C.  Young,  etc.,  in  part,  giving 
their  reasons  therefor.     It  is  as  follows  : 

"Th€  undersigned  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  who  voted  to 
sustain  in  part  the  appeal  of  Rev.  J.  C.  Young  from  a  judgment  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  beg  leave  to  enter  upon  record  the  following 
statement  of  their  vote. 

"  They  regard  the  proceedings  of  the  congregational  meeting  as  so 
grossly  irregular  and  the  principle  of  voting  by  proxy  as  so  obviously 
improper  and  unauthorized  by  the  Word  of  God,  or  the  Constitution  of 
the  Churcbj  as  to  have  justified  the  Presbytery  in  setting  aside  the 
election  and  treating  it  as  a  nullity,  had  it  not  been  followed  by  the 
ordination  of  the  persons  so  elected  to  the  Eldership.  We  agree  with 
the  Presbytery,  therefore,  substantially  in  its  views  of  these  points 
abstractly  considered. 

"  But  as  there  was  in  fact  an  election,  which,  however  irregular  in  its 
forms  and  erroneous  in  the  principle  upon  which  it  was  conducted,  was 
nevertheless  conducted  in  good  faith  and  without  fraud,  we  dissent  from 
the  Presbytery  in  its  judgment  that  the  ordination  in  pursuance  of  the 
results  of  that  election,  was  thereby  rendered  null  and  void. 

"  Signed— J.  B.  Spilman,  T.  H.  Urmston,  E.  Howe,  J.  G.  Simrall,  M. 
Van  Lear,  B.  M.  Hobson,  E.  F.  Easton,  J.  F.  Hendy,  J.  Woodbridge." 

A  motion  was  made  to  suspend  the  order  of  the  day,  viz : 
to  take  up  the  complaint  of  J.  P.  McMillan  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  and  to  postpone  the  complaint  until 
the  next  meeting  of  Synod.  An  amendment  was  offered  to 
the  motion  to  suspend  and  to  take  up  a  paper  read  for  in- 
formation by  Judge  Sampson.  The  motion  to  suspend  the 
order  of  the  day  as  thus  amended,  was  adopted. 

Accordingly  the  paper  offered  by  Judge  Sampson  was 
taken  up.     It  was  considered  item  by  item.    It  is  as  follows  : 

"This  Synod,  in  the  exercise  of  that  freedom,  with  which  Christ 
makes  his  people  free,  in  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  of  respect  to  those  who  are  over  us  in  the  Lord,  makes  the  following 
deliverance,  touching  some  of  the  recent  acts  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  in  regard  to  the  late  act  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  adopting  a 
paper,  called  the  'Declaration  and  Testimony.' 

"  1st.  The  acts  of  the  last  General  Assembly  on  Overtures  Ncs.  6  and 
7  and  Resolution  No.  4  on  the  Report  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions, in  the  judgment  of  this  Synod,  are  unwise,  as  tending  to  destroy 


25 

the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Church,  and  in  some  of  their  provisions 
unconstitutional  and  unscriptural,  and  we  indulge  the  hope  and  belief 
that  the  General  Assembly,  in  calmer  times,  will  review  and  correct 
these  deliverances. 

"  2nd.  Whilst  the  Synod  thus,  in  firm  but  respectable  terms,  expresses 
disapprobation  of  these  acts,  it  is  also  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  that 
neither  these  acts  nor  the  deliverance  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the 
state  of  the  country,  made  in  the  years  1861,  1862,  1863  and  1864,  nor 
any  or  all  of  them,  justify  a  withdrawal  from  our  connection  with  the 
General  Assembly,  and  we  here  again  assert,  we  will  '  adhere  with  un- 
broken purpose  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  '  and 
will  oppose  every  effort  to  interrupt  our  ecclesiastical  relations  with  the 
General  Assembly,  or  to  produce  schism  or  division  on  the  ground  of 
said  acts  and  deliverances. 

'•  3rd.  The  Synod,  having  caused  a  certain  paper,  styled  the  '  De- 
claration and  Testimony,'  lately  adopted  by  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville, 
to  be  read  in  its  hearing,  and  having  carefully  considered  the  same, 
hereby  expresses  its  disapprobation  of  the  terms  of  this  paper,  and  of  its 
spirit  and  intent,  indicated  on  its  face,  as  looking  to  the  further  agitation 
of  the  Church,  if  not  its  division,  at  a  time  when  great  mutual  forbear- 
ance is  called  for  among  brethren  to  the  end  that  we  may  have  quietness 
and  repose.  Wherefore  the  Synod  enjoins  upon  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville,  in  particular,  and  upon  all  the  Presbyteries  and  Churches, 
Ministers  and  people  subject  to  it  in  the  Lord,  to  forbear  whatever  tends 
to  disturbance  and  alienation,  beseeching  them  in  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  that  'they  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no 
divisions  among  them ;  but  that  they  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the 
same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment.' 

"  Finally,  this  Synod  earnestly  recommends  to  all  under  its  charge  to 
'  study  the  things  which  make  for  peace,'  to  exercise  great  mutual  for- 
bearance towards  each  other,  and  '  endeavoring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the 
spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,'  prayerfully  trusting  that  in  the  good  provi- 
dence of  God,  a  way  may  be  opened  for  a  reunion,  under  the  General 
Assembly,  of  all  who  profess  the  faith,  adhere  to  the  standards  and  love 
the  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

At  the  hour  for  recess,  notice  was  given  of  a  call  for  the 
question  on  the  adoption  of  the  nrst  item  of  the  po  per  immedi- 
ately after  the  reassembhng  of  the  Synod  in  the  afternoon . 

Synod  took  recess  until  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 


3  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess.  Synod  came  to  order.  On  motion,  the  con- 
sideration of  the  report  of  the  select  Committee  on  the  peti- 
tion of  certain  members  of  the  "Walnut  Street  Church,  was 
made  the  first  order  of  the  day  after  the  disposal  of  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly. 

The  Committee  on  Finance  to  whom  was  referred  the  an- 


$8  47 

5  00 

3  00 

50  00 

59  60 

$126  07 

97  00 

^6 

nual  report  of  the  Treasurer  of  Synod,  presented  their  re- 
port, recommending  the  approval  of  the  report.  The  report 
of  the  Treasurer  was  approved,  and  is  as  follows : 

S.  S.  McRoBERTS,  Treasurer^  in  account  with  Synod  of  Kentuchy. 
1864,  Oct.  To  amount  received  at  Danville,  $97  00 

CREDITS. 

By  balance  due  Treasurer,  see  last  report, 
"    Amount  paid  Sexton, 
"    Postage  on  printed  Minutes, 
"    Salary  of  Stated  Clerk  for  1864, 
"    Paid  for  printing  Minntes  for  1864, 

Deduct  amount  received  as  above. 

Balance  due  Treasurer,  $29  07 

S.  S.  McRoBERTs,  Treasurer. 
Lonisville,  Oct.,U,  1865. 

Also  the  Committee  on  Finance,  to  whom  had  been  refer- 
red a  communication  from  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General 
Assembly,  touching  an  increase  of  the  Contingent  Fund  of 
said  Assembly,  presented  their  report,  which,  on  motion,  was 
recommitted  to  the  same  Committee  with  directions  to  re- 
commend some  plan  by  which  to  raise  the  necessary  funds. 

The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  con- 
sideration of  the  paper  offered  by  Judge  Sampson. 

According  to  notice,  given  before  the  recess,  the  call  for 
the  previous  question  on  the  motion  to  adopt  said  paper, 
item  by  item,  was  made.  The  call  was  sustained,  and  on 
motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  yeas  and  nays  on  each  item 
and  upon  the  whole  paper  be  recorded.  The  first  item  was 
adopted  by  yeas,  76;  nays,  22;  non  liquet,  1,  as  follows: 

Yeas—S.  S.  McRoberts,  S.  B.  Cheek,  T.  H.  Cleland,  W.  J.  McKnight, 
M.  Sanders,  G.  J.  Reid,  G.  O.  Barnes,  J.  A.  Bogle,  J.  V.  Logan,  W.  P. 
McKinney,  D.  P.  Young,  J.  H.  Moore,  W.  Sampson,  G.  W.  Welsh,  J.  P. 
Lapsley,  J.  Paston,  J.  R.  Hughes,  W.  H.  Forsythe,  J.  G.  Simrall,  P.  G. 
Strahan,  T.  A.  Bracken,  R.  I)ougla,ss,  M.  Van  Lear,  J.  S.  Hays,  W. 
George,  G.  H.  Rout,  J.  M.  Scott,  W.  B.  Brown,  R.  Younii,  W.  H.  Rainey, 
J.  P.  Bell,  W.  B.  Kinkaid,  S.  Holloway  S.  C.  Bull,  G.  Marshall,  J.  C. 
Young,  W.  C.  Matthews,  I\I.  G.  Knight,  R.  ^Morrison,  J.  L.  McKee,  E. 
Wurts,  S.  R.  Wilson,  J.  V.  Cosby,  S.  B.  McPheeters,  W.  W.  Hill,  W. 
L.  Nourse,  J.  N.  Sanders,  I.  N.  Canfield,  R.  V.  Sprowl,  B.  A.  Brown,  A. 
G.  Watts,  D.  L.  Brooks,  P.  Jett,  G.  Bergen,  R.  Knott,  L.  L.  Warren,  J. 


27 

Gault,  D.  McKinley,  S.  Casseday,  C.  A.  Wickliffe,  W.  C.  Hanna,  T.  H. 
Urmston,  D.  O.  Davies,  R.  F.  Caldwell,  J.  B.  Spilman,  B.  M.  Hobson,  J. 
M.  Evans,  J.  P.  Hendrick,  W.  W.  Duncan,  J.  M.  Preston,  E.  Howe,  W. 
L.  Breckinridge,  J.  Woodbridge,  P.  Thompson,  J.  M.  Herdman,  E.  F. 
Easton — 76. 

Nays — R.  A.  Johnston,  E.  P.  Humphrey,  J.  S.  Braddock,  W.  H.  Hon- 
nell,  R.  W.  Landis,  J.  Matthews,  J.  Cooper,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  T.  Lapsley, 
R.  L.  Stanton,  B.  N.  Penick,  S.  S.  Fry,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  S.  Yerkes,  J. 
K.  Lyle,  R.  Morrison,  J.  H.  Dinsmore,  W.  T.  McElroy,  J.  F.  Coons,  C. 
A.  Preston,  S.  Y.  Garrison,  A.  C.  Dickerson — 22. 

Non  liquet — J.  L.  Walker — 1. 

The  second  item  was  adopted  by  yeas,  57;  nays,  35;  non 
liquet,  10 : 

YeasS.  S.  McRoberts,  S.  B.  Cheek,  E.  P.  Humphrey,  T.  H.  Cleland, 
J.  S.  Braddock,  W.  H.  Honnell,  R.  W.  Landis,  W.  J.  McKnight,  J.  Mat- 
thews, J.  Cooper,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  T.  Lapsley,  R.  L.  Stanton,  G.  J.  Reid, 
W.  L.  Breckinridge,  J.  A.  Bogle,  B.  N.  Penick,  S.  S.  Fry,  W.  F.  McKin- 
ney,  W.  Sampson,  G.  W.  Welsh,  W.  H.  Wherritt,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  S. 
Yerkes,  J.  K.  Lyle,  J.  S.  Hays,  G.  Morrison,  G.  H.  Rout,  W.  B.  Brown, 
W.  H.  Rainey,  W.  B.  Kinkaid,  S.  C.  Bull,  W.  C.  Matthews,  M.  G.  Knight, 
J.  L.  McKee,  J.  P.  McMillan,  B.  A.  Brown,  A.  G.  Watts,  R.  Knott,  L. 
L.  Warren,  D.  McKinley,  R.  F.  Caldwell,  J.  E.  Spilman,  B.  M.  Hobson, 
J.  M.  Evans,  J.  F.  Coons,  J.  P.  Hendrick,  J.  M.  Preston,  C.  A.  Preston, 
J.  Woodbridge,  S.  Y.  Garrison,  A.  C.  Dickerson,  J.  M.  Herdman,  J.  H. 
Dinsmore,  J.  L.  Walker,  J.  C.  Young,  G.  W.  Riley — 58. 

Nays — M.  Sanders,  G.  0.  Barnes,  D.  P.  Young,  J.  V.  Logan,  J.  Pax- 
ton,  J.  R.  Hughes,  W.  H.  Forsythe,  F.  G.  Strahan,  R.  Douglass,  W. 
George,  J.  M.  Scott,  G.  Marshall,  J.  F.  Bell,  S.  Holloway,  R.  Morrison, 
W.  T.  McElroy,  W.  W.  Duncan,  S.  R.  Wilson,  J.  V.  Cosby,  S.  B.  Mc- 
Pheeters,  W.  L.  Nourse,  J.   N.  Sanders,  I.  N.  Canfield,   R.  Y.  Sprowl, 

D.  L.  Brooks,  P.  Jett,  G.  Bergen,  J.  Gault,  S.  Casseday,  C.  A.  Wickliffe, 
W.  C.  Hanna,  D.  O.  Davies,  P.  Thompson,  E.  F.  Easton,  R.  Young — 35. 

Non  liquet — J.  H.  Moore,  J.  P.  Lapsley,  T.  A.  Bracken,  M.  Van  Lear, 

E.  Wurts,  W.  W.  Hill,  T.  H.  Urmston,  E.  Howe,  J.  G.  Simrall— 9. 

The  third  item  was  adopted  by  yeas,  54;  nays,  46  ;  non 
hquet,  2. 

Yeas—R.  A.  Johnston,  S.  S.  McRoberts,  S.  B.  Cheek,  T.  H.  Cleland, 
E.  P.  Humphrey,  J.  S.  Braddock,  W.  H.  Honnell,  R.  W.  Landis,  W.  J. 
McKnight,  J.  Matthews,  J.  Cooper,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  T  Lapsley,  R.  L. 
Stanton,  G.  J.  Reid,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  J.  A.  Bogle,  B.  N.  Penick,  S. 
S.  Fry,  W.  F.  McKinney,  W.  Sampson,  G.  W.  Welsh,  W.  H.  Wherritt, 
R.  J.  Breckinridge,  S.  Yerkes,  J.  K.  Lyle,  J.  S.  Hays,  G.  Morrison,  W. 
H.  Rainey,  W.  B.  Khikaid,  S.  C.  Bull,  W.  C.  Matthews,  J.  H.  Dinsmore, 
M.  G.  Knight,  J.  L.  McKee,  J.  P.  McMillan,  J.  C.  Young,  B.  A.  Brown, 
A,  G.  Watts,  R.  Knott,  L.  L.  Warren,  G.  W.  Riley,  D.  McKinley,  T.  H. 
Urmston,  R.  F.  Caldwell,  J.  E.  Spilman,  J.  M.  Evans,  J.  F.  Coons,  J.  P. 
Hendrick,  J.  L.  Walker,  J.  M.  Preston,  C.  A.  Preston,  S.  Y.  Garrison, 
A.  C.  Dickerson — 54. 

Nays — M.  Sanders,  G.  0.  Barnes,  D.  P.  Young,  J.  V.  Logan,  J.  H. 
Moore,  J.  Paxton,  J.  P.  Lapsley,  J.  R.  Hughes,  W.  H.  Forsythe,  J.  G. 
Simrall,  F.  G.  Strahan,  T.  A.  Bracken,  R.  Douglass,  M.  Van  Lear,  W. 


28 

George,  G.  H.  Rout,  W.  B.  Brown,  R.  Younir,  G.  Marshall,  J.  F.  Bell,  J. 
M.  Scott,  S.  Holloway,  R.  Morrison,  E.  AVurts,  W.  T.  McElroy,  W.  W. 
Duncan,  S.  R.  Wilson,  S.  B.  MoPhecters,  W.  W.  Hill,  J.  N.  Sanders,  I. 
N.  Canfield,  R.  V.  SprowJ,  D.  L.  Brooks,  P.  Jett,  G.  Bergen,  J.  Gault,  S. 
Casseday,  C.  A.  Wickliile,  W.  C.  Hanna,  1).  < ).  Davies,  B.  M.  Ilobson,  E. 
Howe,  J.  Woodbridge,  P.  Thompson,  J.  M.  Ilerdman,  E.  F.  Easton— 46. 
Non  liquet — J.  A^  Cosby,  W.  L.  Nourse — 2. 

The  fourth  and  last  item  was  adopted  unanimously  by  one 
hundred  votes. 

The  whole  paper  was  adopted  by  yeas,  53;  nays,  47;  non 
hquet,  2. 

Yeas — R.  A.  Johnston,  S.  S.  McRoberts,  8.  B.  Cheek,  E.  P.  Humphrey, 
T.  H.  Cleland,  J.  S.  Braddock,  A.  C.  Dickerson,  W.  H.  Honnell,  R.  W. 
Landis,  W.  J.  McKnight,  J.  Matthews,  J.  Cooper,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  T. 
La{)sley,  G.  J.  Reid,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  I].  X.  Penick,  S.  S.  Fry,  W.  F. 
McKinney,  W.  Sampson,  J.  Paxton,  G.'W.  Welsh,  J.  P.  Lapsley,  W.  H. 
Wherritt,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  J.  G.  Simrall,  S.  Yerkes,  J.  K.  Lyie,  J.  S. 
Hays,  G.  Morrison,  v\^.  H.  Rainey,  W.  B.  Kinkaid,  S.  C.  Bull,  W.  C. 
Matthews,  J.  H.  Dinsmore,  M.  G.  Knight,  J.  L.  McKee,  J.  P.  :McMillan, 
J.  C.  Youug,  B.  A.  Brown,  A.  G.  Watts,  R.  Knott,  L.  L.  Warren,  G.  W. 
Riley,  D.  McKinley,  R.  F.  Caldwell,  J.  E.  Spilman,  J.  M.  Evans,  J.  F. 
Coons,  J.  P.  Hendrick,  J.  L.  Walker,  J.  M.  Preston,  S.  Y.  Garrison- — 53. 

Nays — M.  Sanders,  R.  L.  Stanton,  D.  P.  Young,  J.  V.  Logan,  J.  H. 
Moore,  J.  R.  Hughes,  W.H.  Forsythe,  F.  G.  Strahan,  T.  A.  Bracken,  R. 
Douglass,  M.  Van  Lear,  W.George,  G.  H.  Rout,  J.  M.  Scott,  W.  B.  Brown, 
R.  Young,  G.  Marshall,  J.  F.  Bell,  S.  Holloway,  G.  0.  Barnes,  R.  Mor- 
rison, E.  Wurts,  W.  T.  McElroy,  W.  W.  Duncan,  S.  R.  Wilson,  J.  V. 
Cosby,  S.  B.  McPheeters,  W.  AY  Hill,  W.  L.  Nourse,  J.  N.  Sanders,  I. 
N.  Canfield,  R.  V.  Sprowl,  D.  L.  Brooks,  P.  Jett,  G.  Bergen,  J.  Gault,  S. 
Casseday,  C.  A.  Wickliffe,  W.  C.  Hanna,  II.  Berkley,  T.  H.  Urmston,  D. 
O.  Davies,  B.  M.  Hubson,  J.  Woodbridge,  P.  Thompson,  J.  M.  Hcrdman, 
E.  F.  Easton— 47. 

Non  liquet — C.  A.  Preston,  E.  Howe — 2. 

Synod  took  recess  until  J  after  7  o'clock,  P.  M. 


J  After  7  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess,  Synod  came  to  order.  The  suspended  order 
of  the  day  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  complaint  of  J.  P.  Mc- 
Millan against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville.  The  Moderator 
charged  the  Court  as  about  to  sit  in  a  judicial  capacity. 

It  wa§,  on  motion,  ordered  that  the  complainant  be  allowed 
one  hour  to  state  his  case,  and  that  the  Presbytery  be  heard 
one  hour  in  defense  of  their  decision,  and  then  the  Court  will 
decide  the  case. 

A  paper  was  presented,  signed  by  several  members  of  the 


29 

Presbytery  of  Louisville,  objecting  to  the  Court  taking  up 
and  proceeding  in  the  trial  of  this  case,  which  paper,  if  enter- 
tained, would  be  the  only  reply  in  the  case  on  behalf  of  the 
majority  of  said  Presbytery.  This  paper  the  Synod  refused 
to  have  read  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  by  a  vote  of 
29  to  22. 

A  motion  was  made  to  adjourn  until  next  Fall,  which 
motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  45  to  23. 

A  motion  was  made  to  adjourn  until  to-morrow  morning, 
9  o'clock,  which  motion  v>'as  lost  by  a  vote  of  39  to  29. 

According  to  the  order  prescribed  in  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, the  sentence  complained  of  was  read;  as  also  the 
said  complaint  itself,  which  is  as  follows : 

"  To  the  Moderator  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky : 

"As  you  will  see  from  its  Records,  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  sitting 
in  Bardstown,  at  its  last  regular  meeting  on  the  second  day  of  last  month, 
adopted  a  paper,  styled  '  a  Declaration  and  Testimony,'  '  against  the 
erroneous  and  heretical  doctrines  and  practices  -which  have  obtained  and 
been  prop.agated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  during 
the  last  five  years.'  Two  days  thereafter,  being  the  fourth  day  of  the 
last  month,  I  sent  a  notification  to  Rev.  W.  W.  Duncan,  Moderator  of 
the  Presbytery,  of  my  intention  to  complain  of  said  action  of  the  Pres- 
bytery to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  together  with  reasons  in  these  words: 

"  Shelby  county,  Ky.,  4th  of  Sept.,  1865. 
"Bev.   W.  W.  Duncan,  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville — 

"Reverend  and  Dear  Sir:  —  The  paper,  presented  by  Rev.  S.  R. 
Wilson,  D.  D.,  and  adopted  by  Presbytery  on  the  2nd  instant,  styled  a 
'Testimony,'  etc.,  and  calling  for  a  Church  'Convention  '  in  order  to  re- 
claim an  alleged  'apostacy'  or  else  set  up  an  organization,  separate  and 
distinct  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  I  consider  incorrect  in  statement — heretical 
in  doctrine — contumacious  in  spirit — schismatical  in  effect,  and  agitating 
in  tendency ;  and  for  these  several  reasons  I  hereby  give  you  timely 
notice  of  my  intention  to  complain  of  said  action  of  the  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  at  its  next  regular  meeting. 

"Signed:  J.  P.  McMhxan. 

"And  for  these  same  reasons,  I  now  do  lay  this  my  complaint  before 
the  Synod,  in  the  hope  of  such  redress  as  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church 
may  move  the  Synod  to  grant. 

"Signed:  James  P.  McMillan." 

It  was,  on  motion,  Mesolved,  That  inasmuch  as  the  paper, 
styled  "Declaration  and  Testimony,"  the  adoption  of  which 


ao. 

is  complained  of,  has  been  already  read  in  the  Synod,  it  be 
considered  before  the  Court,  without  being  again  read. 

The  complainant  submitted  his  case,  without  argument,  on 
the  allegations  of  his  complaint  and  the  Records  of  the  said 
Presbytery. 

As  the  only  response  on  the  part  of  the  majority  of  the 
said  Presbytery,  the  aforesaid  paper,  the  reading  of  which 
had  been  previously  refused,  was  presented  and  read,  object- 
ing to  the  trial  of  the  case  at  this  time.  The  said  paper  is 
as  follows  : 

"The  undersigned,  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  now 
present  in  this  Synod,  would  hereby  respectfully  lay  before  this  Synod 
their  objections  io  the  taking  up  and  trying  the  complaint  of  Rev.  J.  P. 
McMillan  against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  for  the  adoption,  at  their 
meeting  at  Bai'dstown,  on  the  second  day  of  September,  A,  D.  1865,  a 
paper,  entitled  a  'Declaralion  and  Testimony,'  because, 

"1st,  The  sessions  of  the  Synod  have  already  extended  to  nearly  twice 
their  ordinary  length — a  large  portion  of  the  members  have  gone  away, 
either  with  or  without  leave,  and  those  that  remain  are  so  exhausted  and 
impatient  of  further  detenliou,  that  it  is  impossible  they  should  give  the 
matters  upon  which  they  are  to  'sit  in  judgment '  that  calm  and  care- 
ful consideration  they  demand. 

"  2nd.  The  subject  matter  of  the  complaint  has  already  been  decided  up- 
on by  the  Synod,  upon  a  motion  to  exclude  from  seats  in  the  body  all  those 
who  concurred  in  the  adoption  of  the  said  'Declaration  and  Testimony,' 
and  also  in  the  passing  of  a  paper,  introduced  by  Judge  Sampson;  it  is 
obviously,  therefore,  in  our  judgment,  unjust  to  tlie  Presbytery  in  this 
manner,  just  upon  the  eve  of  adjournment,  to  reopen  the  question  which 
has  been  twice  already  decided  by  the  Synod. 

"  8rd.  There  are  iu  this  Synod  some  twenty-five  members,  who  have 
already  given  sentence  against  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville, who  adopted  the  '  Declaration  and  Testimony,'  as  'incompetent  and 
and  unfit'  to  be  considered  constitutional  members  of  any  Presbyterian 
Court,  and  have  voted  to  cut  them  ofif  from  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
With  what  justice  then  can  this  Synod  allow  these  members,  who  have 
already  judged  the  matter,  condemned  the  party,  now  proposed  to  be 
brought  to  ttie  bar,  and  put  that  judgment  on  record,  to  sit  in  the  trial 
of  the  complaint?  In  our  opinion,  these  membeis,  by  their  action  in  the 
premises,  have  rendered  themselves  incompetent  to  talie  any  part  in  the 
trial  of  the  aforesaid  complaint.  If,  however,  these  members  be  excluded 
from  sitting  iu  judgment  on  the  case,  as  it  seems  to  us  they  ought  in 
justice  and  equity  to  be,  then  the  decision  must  be  left  to  a  very  small 
minority  of  the  Synod. 

"But,  if  the  Synod  shall,  under  the  state  of  facts,  proceed  with  the 
hearing  of  the  case,  we  simj^ly  ask  that  these  objections  be  entered  upon 
the  Record,  and  we  make  no  further  answer  to  the  plea  of  the  complaint. 

"Signed — Samuel  R.  Wilson,  Samuel  B.  McPheeters,  R.  V.  Sprowl,  J. 
N.  Sanders,  R.  Morrison,  J.  V.  Cosby,  C.  A.  Wickliife,  S.  Casseday,  W.  L. 
Nourse,  W.  T.  McElroy,  AV.  W.  Duncan,  W,  C.  Hanna,  P.  Jett,  J.  Gault,  L 
N.  Canfield,  E.  Wurts,  M.G.  Knight,  G.  Bergen,  II.  Berkley,  D.L.Brooks." 


31 

A  resolution  was  presented  by  J.  S.  Hays,  postponing  the 
case  until  the  next  meeting  of  Synod,  on  the  adoption  of 
which  the  mover  called  for  the  previous  question.  The 
call  for  the  previous  question  was  sustained  by  a  vote  of  26 
to  19.  The  main  question  was  put,  and  the  resolution  adopt- 
ed by  a  vote  of  36  to  19.     The  resolution  is  as  follows : 

"The  general  subjects  on  which  this  appeal  is  based,  having  been  al- 
ready decided,  and  the  sessions  of  this  Synod,  being  already  greatly  pro- 
tracted, it  is  hereby  resolved  that  the  further  hearing  of  this  case  be  post- 
poned till  the  next  regular  meeting  of  Synod.'' 

R.  J.  Breckinridge  gave  notice  of  his  complaint  against 
this  action  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

C.  A.  Wickhffe  had  leave  of  absence  from  the  remaining 
sessions  of  Synod. 

Synod  adjourned  until  to-morrow  morning,  9  o'clock. 

Closed  with  prayer. 

■ ♦■»»*« 

Friday,  Oct.  20,  1865,  9  o'clock,  a.  m. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  devotional  exercises,  the  minutes  were  read,  corrected 
and  approved. 

At  their  request,  C.  A.  Preston  and  "W.  H.  Rainey  had 
leave  of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod. 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Committee  on  the  Re-  \ 
cords  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  be  reheved  from  further  ' 
reporting  on  said  Records. 

The  Committee  on  Finance  again  presented  their  report 
on  the  Contingent  Fund  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  said 
report  was  received,,  approved,  and  is  as  follows,  (viz :) 

"The  General  Assembly,  at  its  last  session,  appointed  the  Stated  Clerk, 
Treasurer,  and  Corresponding  Secretary,  a  Committee  to  assess  the  sev- 
eral Synods  for  the  relief  and  restoration  of  the  Contingent  Fund  of  the 
Assembly. 

"In  the  discharge  of  the  duty  thus  imposed,  the  Committee  have  sent 
to  this  Synod  a  Circular,  stating  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  Churches 
of  this  Synod  to  contribute  one  hundred  and  nine  dollars  to  this  Fund, 
at  their  earliest  convenience  after  the  present  meeting  of  Synod. 

"It  appears  from  the  statements  of  the  Circular  that  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  Contingent  Fund  is  not  sufficient  to  defray  the  necessary 
expenses  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  the  expense  of  its, 
delegates  to  corresponding  bodies,  and  publishing  the  minates.. 


32 


$30  00 

30 

00 

17 

00 

17 

00 

10  00 

5 

00 

"  The  Committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  Churches  of  this  Synod 
should  contribute  their  proportion  of  these  expenses,  and  recommend  the 
assessment  of  the  Presbyteries,  viz  : 

Presbytery  of  Louisvill«, 

"  "    Transylvania, 

"  "    West  Lexington, 

"  "    Ebenezer, 

"  "    Muhlenburg, 

«  "   Paducah, 

$109  00 

And  that  these  amounts  be  raised  and   forwarded  to  G.  H.  Van  G elder, 
Treasurer,  Philadelphia,  at  the  earliest  convenience  of  the  Presbyteries." 

The  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly.  On  motion  of 
the  Chairman  of  said  Committee,  the  consideration  of  the 
whole  report  was  postponed  until  the  ne.xt  meeting  of  Synod, 
except  item  5tli  recommending  a  day  of  prayer  for  the  youth 
of  the  land,  which  was  adopted  and  is  as  folloAvs : 

"On  page  548  is  a  resolution,  that  all  our  Churches  unite  with  other 
Christian  bodies  in  setting  apart  the  last  Thursday  in  February  as  a  day 
of  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  our  children  and  youth, 
and  especially  upon  those  assembled  in  tlie  schools,  colleges  and  institu- 
tions of  learning  in  our  land,  and  that  a  collection  be  taken  upon  that 
day  for  the  College  Fund  of  the  Board  of  Education.  We  call  the  attention 
of  the  Churches  under  our  care  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Assembly." 

The  next  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  (viz,)  the  report 
[of  the  select  Committee  on  the  papers  from  the  Walnut  St. 
[Church.     The  report  of  said  Committee  is  as  follows: 

"The  special  Committee,  to  whom  were  referred  certain  petitions  and 
complaints  from  members  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  recommend  that 
said  papers  be  returned  to  those  to  wliom  they  belong,  as  they  appertain 
to  matters  now  pending  before  the  Session  of  said  Church.  And  your 
Committee  would  remind  those  who  feel  aggrieved,  that  when  the  case 
pending  shall  be  issued,  if  they  should  feel  that  injustice  has  been  done, 
they  may  appeal  or  complain  to  the  higher  Courts  in  regular  order." 

All  the  papers  were  read,  (viz,)  the  petition  of  D.  Mc- 
Naughton,  the  petition  of  certain  members  of  said  Church, 
the  complaint  of  T.  J.  Hackney,  the  complaint  of  B.  F.  Avery, 
the  petition  of  certain  members  of  said  Church  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  the  Records  of  said  Presbytery,  two 
letters  of  D.  Mclifaughton,  a  letter  from  the  Session  of  said 
Church  to  W.  T.  McElroy.  All  the  papers  having  been  read, 
a  substitute  was  offered  for  the  report.     After  some  discus- 


33 

sion,  the  previous  question  "vras  called  for,  on  the  motion  to 
adopt  said  substitute.  The  call  for  the  previous  question  was 
sustained.  The  main  question  was  put.  The  substitute  was 
adopted  and  is  as  follows : 

"Synod,  having  the  papers  in  reference  to  <he  Walnut  Street  Church, 
orders  that  a  Committee,  consisting  of  J.  L.  McKee,  S.  R.  Wilson,  J.  C. 
Younpr,  R.  Knott  and  William  Garvin,  be  and  they  are  hereby  appointed 
to  visit  said  confrregation,  -with  the  power  to  call  a  congregational  meet- 
ing, for  the  purpose  of  electing  additional  Ruling  Elders;  calling  a  Pastor 
or  choosing  a  stated  supply,  and  doing  any  other  business,  competent  to 
a  congregational  meeting,  that  may  appear  to  them,  the  said  congrega- 
tion, necessary  for  their  best  interests. 

"To  this  Committee  aro  referred  all  the  papers  in  the  case,  with  direc- 
tions to  attend  to  the  matter  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible,  and  repeat 
their  whole  action  to  the  Synod,  at  its  next  regular  meeting. 

"The  Session,  when  it  shall  have  been  constituted,  as  above  provided 
for,  shall  proceed  at  as  early  a  day  as  practicable  to  adjudicate  all  the 
cases  now  pending  in  that  congregation,  until  which  time  all  further 
proceedings  in  the  above  cases  are  suspended." 

R.  J.  Breckinridge,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  others,  pre- 
sented the  complaint  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  of  which 
he  gave  notice  at  the  last  session.  It  was  read  and  is  as  follows: 

"This  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  undersigned  members  of  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky  against  certain  acts  of  that  Court,  in  the  matter  of  the  ap- 
peal and  complaint  of  J.  P.  McMillan  against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville, 
then  pending  before  the  Synod — is  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  before  the 
General  Assembly  the  said  Synod,  and  its  said  acts  of  records  in  the 
premises — and  of  likewise  bringing  before  the  Assembly  the  conduct  of 
«ertain  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  acting  in  Synod  in  the 
name  of  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  which  conduct  the  Synod,  instead  of 
censuring  as  it  deserves,  gave  efficacy  to  by  allowing  it  not  only  to  pass 
without  any  disapproving  notice,  but  by  immediately  postponing  till  the 
next  annual  meeting  of  the  Synod  the  case  of  McMillan  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  then  already  advanced  to  the  fourth  stage  of  actual 
trial  prescribed  in  the  standards  of  the  Church.  The  members  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  designed  to  be  reached  by  this  proceeding,  are 
those  twenty  individuals  whose  names  are  signed  to  a  paper,  laid  before 
Synod,  when  the  Presbytery  complained  of  was  called  upon  to  respond 
to  the  complaint  of  McMillan,  which  paper  is  part  of  the  Record  in  this 
case,  and  is  made  part  of  this  appeal  and  complaint.  And  the  eifect,  as 
to  those  twenty  persons,  of  this  proceeding  on  their  part,  and  the  censure, 
if  any,  proper  to  be  intlieted  on  them  therefor,  the  Assembly  is  prayed  to 
determine  and  adjudge;  and  the  nature  and  deserts  of  the  Synod  less  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  in  breaking  up  the  trial  in  the  midst,  upon  the 
filing  of  said  written  declaration  by  said  twenty  persons — thus  giving  a 
year's  further  time  for  the  working  of  mischief  in  our  Church  and  all  our 
congregations  by  the  heretical  and  rebellious  'Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony,' etc.,  against  which  McMillan's  complaint  was  being  tried — is  what 
the  Assembly  is  also  prayed  to  determine,  adjudge  and  correct. 

"  The  Synod  refused,  in  the  first  place,  to  do  any  thing,  touching  the 


34 

persons  of  the  parties,  engaged  in  organized  disturbance  of  the  Church  and 
rebellion  against  its  authoi-ity;  and  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  R.  J.  Breck- 
inridge and  others  was  taken  from  that  action  and  is  prayed  to  be  tried 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  connection  with  this  appeal  and  complaint 
against  the  M«Vcf  proceeding  of  the  Synod,  in  refusing  as  herein  before  set 
forth,  to  try  and  adjudge  the  matter  contained  iri^aid  'Declaration  and 
Testimony.'  In  the  stscond  action  of  the  Synod  in  the  matter  of  the  gen- 
eral disturbance,  created  by  that  '  Declaration  and  Testimony,'  and  its 
authors,  though  it  condemned,  by  the  aid  of  those  making  this  and  the 
former  appeal  and  complaint,  the  acts  and  proposals  of  that  hereticul  and 
rebellious  publication  and  its  authors,  it  refused  to  do  even  this  much, 
unless  in  connection  with  such  manner  of  simultaneous  action  against 
the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  for  five  years  past,  as  was  clearly  in- 
dicative of  the  views  and  intentions  which  controlled  the  acts  of  the 
Synod  which  are  the  special  ground  of  this  appeal  and  complaint.  And 
for  the  reasons,  and  with  the  objects  and  to  correct  the  great  evils  herein 
before  set  forth,  is  this  appeal  and  complaint  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"In  open  Synod  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  October  20th,  1865. 

"  Signed — R.  J.  Breckinridge,  Jacob  Cooper,  Robert  W.  Landis,  R.  L. 
Stanton,  J.  S.  Braddock,  R.  A.  Johnston,  J.  K.  Lyle,  George  Mori-ison,  A. 
C.  Dickerson,  W.  H.  Honnell,  J.  H.  Dinsmore."  , 

Synod  took  recess  until  3  o'clock,  p.  m. 


3  o'clock,  p.  m. 

After  recess,  Synod  came  to  order.  The  Committee  on 
the  Narrative  presented  their  report,  which  was  received, 
approved  and  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Presbytery  of  Ebenezer  reports  larger  additions  to  one  of  the 
Churches  and  smaller  additions  to  others  under  its  care.  The  Presbyte- 
ry however  laments  a  decline  in  spirituality,  conformity  to  the  world, 
and  the  prevalence  of  fashionable  amusements  in  many  places.  There  is, 
however,  a  general  feeling  on  the  part  of  Ministers  and  Elders  of  their 
dependence  on  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  The  Presbytery  of  West  Lexington  reports  that  interesting  meetings 
have  been  held,  with  many  additions  to  the  Churches  in  several  of  the 
congregations.  The  congregations  are  generally  supplied  with  preach- 
ing, Sabbath-schools,  prayer-meetings  and  contributions  to  the  Boards  are 
not  altogether  neglected. 

"  The  Presbytery  of  Louisville  reports  that  the  means  of  grace,  includ- 
ing prayer-meetings,  Sabbath-schools  and  Bible  Classes,  are  enjoyed  in 
most  of  the  Churches.  One  of  the  Churches  has  been  revived,  and  con- 
siderable accessions  have  been  made  to  a  few  others.  The  Presbytery 
laments  the  increasing  prevalence  of  vice  in  the  land.  But  whilst  it  finds 
many  things  to  deplore  in  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  Churches,  it  also 
finds  enough  that  is  encouraging  to  lead  the  brethren  to  thank  God  and 
go  forward  in  the  great  work  assigned  to  them. 

"The  Synod  aifectionately  exhorts  all  the  brethren,  both  oflBce-bearers 
and  communicants,  to  unite  in  earnest  prayer  to  God  for  the  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  all  our  congregations." 


35 

In  behalf  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted: 

"  Resolved,  1st,  That  this  Synod  heartily  approves  the  principles  and 
objects  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  sincerely  rejoices  at  its  ever 
increasing  efficiency  and  prosperity. 

"2nd,  That  in  zealous  eflForts  to  circulate  the  Holy  Scriptures  "'without 
note  or  comment,  we  will  cheerfully  co-operate  with  Rev.  D.  Welburn, 
its  Agent  for  Kentucky." 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Transylvania  was  taken  up;  as  recommended  by 
the  Committee,  the  Records  were  approved,  except  the  action 
of  the  Presbytery  on  subjects  still  pending  in  the  higher 
Church  Courts,  on  which  no  action  was  taken.  On  the  Re- 
cords of  the  Presbyteries  of  West  Lexington,  Louisville  and 
Ebenezer,  precisely  the  same  action  was  taken  by  the  Synod. 
•  Persons  to  serve  for  three  years  as  Trustees  of  CentreJ 
College  were  voted  for  by  ballot. 

J.  F.  Coons,  J.  P.  H'Cndrick  and  W.  L.  Nourse  had  leave 
of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Centre  College  was  taken 
up,  and  after  some  time  spent  in  its  consideration,  it  was  in- 
definitely "postponed. 

On  counting  the  ballots  the  following  persons  were  found 
to  be  elected  Trustees  of  Centre  College  for  three  years,  viz: 
O-  F.  Lee,  L.  L.  Warren,  T.  T.  Alexander,  E.  Forman  and 
R.  L.  Breck. 

On  motion,  the  standing  rule  of  Synod,  requiring  that  an 
•equal  number  of  Ministers  and  other  persons  shall  be  Trus- 
tees of  the  College  at  the  same  time  was  suspended,  and  the 
:above  hst  of  persons  declared  to  be  duly  elected  Trustees  of 
ithe  College. 

On  motion,  ordered  that  the  Treasurer  of  Synod  pay  the 
Stated  Clerk  the  usual  sum  for  his  services,  and  that  he  pay 
the  sexton  of  this  Church  ten  dollars  for  his  services  during 
the  present  sessions  of  Synod. 

On  motion,  resolved  that  the  thanks  of  Synod  are  most 


m 

cordially  extended  to  the  citizens  of  Louisville  for  tlie  very 
courteous  and  hospitable  manner  in  which  the  members  have 
been  entertained  during  the  protracted  sessions;  to  the  Pastor 
and  members  of  the  Chestnut  Street  Church  for  their  kind- 
ness in  the  use  of  their  house  of  worship,  and  to  all  the  pas- 
tors and  Churches  for  their  courtesy  to  the  members  of 
Synod  in  opening  their  pulpits  to  them;  to  the  newspaper 
reporters  for  reporting  the  proceedings  of  Synod,  and  to  the 
Railroad  Companies  for  the  reduction  of  fare  to  the  mem- 
bers of  Synod. 

Synod  having  fiaished  its  business,  the  minutes  of  the  last 

[session  were  read  and  approved,  and  Synod  adjourned  to 

meet  in  Henderson,  Ky.,  on  the  2nd  Wednesday  in  October 

next,  at  7  o'clock,  p.  m. 

•  Closed  with  singing,  prayer  and  the  apostolic  benediction. 

J.  G.  SIMRALL,  Mod.  pro  tern., 
Attest:  J.  S.Hays,   Temporary  Clerk. 

S.  S.  McRoBERTS,  Stated  Clerk. 


APPENDIX. 


STANDING  ORDERS. 

1st.  "That  hereafter  it  be  enjoined  upon  the  Presbyteries  in  the  Synod, 
to  report  on  the  state  of  religion  within  their  bounds,  and  that  these 
Presbyterial  reports  be  read  in  Synod,  in  place  of  the  free  conversation 
on  the  state  of  religion,  hitherto  held  at  each  meeting  of  Synod,  and  made 
the  foundation  of  the  Synodicol  Narrative  on  the  state  ©f  religion." — "* 
Passed  at  Henderson,  October,  1847. 

2d.  "That  not  more  than  two  persons  from  the  same  congregation  shall 
be  Trustees  [of  Centre  College]  at  the  same  time;  that  as  far  as  possible 
an  equal  number  of  Ministers  and  other  persons  should  be  Trustees ;  and 
that  instead  of  being  nominated  by  a  Committee,  they  should  be  nominat- 
ed and  elected  in  open  Synod." — Passed  at  Russellville,  October,  1848. 

During  the  same  session  of  Synod,  it  was  made  a  standing  order  to 
nominate,  on  the  second  day,  at  3  o'clock,  p.  m.,  of  each  stated  meeting, 
persons  to  fill  vacant  places  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Centre  College, 
and  in  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New  Albany  Seminary;  also.  Visi- 
tors to  Centre  College^  and  persons  to  preach  the  Annual  Sermons. 

[The  Annual  Sermons  have  been  abolished,  and  the  Synod  has  now  no 
connection  with  the  New  Albany  Seminary,  and  so  much  of  this  standing 
order  as  relates  to  these  is  thereby  repealed.] 

3d.  "The  standing  order,  allowing  only  two  persons  from  the  same 
congregation  to  be  Trustees  at  the  same  time,  was  so  far  modified  as  to 
permit  four  persons  to  be  elected  Trustees  at  the  same  time,  from  the  con- 
gregation of  Danville." — Passed  at  Danville,  1849. 

4th.  "  That  it  be  a  standing  order  of  the  Synod,  that  the  Trustees  of  the 
Theological  Fund  be  elected  annually  by  ballot,  and  that  they  make  an 
a»nual  report  to  Synod." 

5th.  "That  it  be  made  a  standing  order  of  Synod,  that  at  the  close  of 
every  meeting  of  Synod,  the  Stated  Clerk  shall  mark  the  absentees,  who 
shall  be  called  on  for  their  reasons  of  absence,  whenever  they  appear  in 
Synod.'  —Passed  at  Shelbyville,  1846. 

6th.  "  That  previous  to  each  meeting  of  Synod  the  Stated  Clerk  of  Synod 
procure  from  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  several  Presbyteries  recent  and  cor- 
rect lists  of  the  names  of  their  members," — Passed  at  Russellville,  1848. 


38 

7th.  "  That  the  Sjnodical  tax  of  fifty  cents  to  each  member  be  taken  up 
on  the  second  day  of  every  meeting  of  Synod." — Passed  at  RuBsellville  1851. 

8th.  "That  it  be  a  standing  rule  of  Synod,  that  hereafter  the  Stated 
Clerk  shall  have  published  in  pamphlet  form,  five  hundred  copies  of  the 
Minutes  of  each  meeting  of  Synod,  and  that  he  send  a  copy  to  each 
Minister,  Licentiate  and  Elder,  attending  the  meeting  of  Synod,  and  to 
each  Church  Session  belonging  to  the  Synod,  and  to  other  persons  desir- 
ing a  copy,  reserving  enough  for  the  use  of  Syn«d,  and  that  the  remain- 
ing copies  be  laid  on  the  table  of  Synod  at  the  next  meeting.  And  fur- 
ther, that  to  defray  the  expenses  of  this  publication,  the  annual  tax  to 
each  member  of  Synod,  shall  be  one  dollar,  instead  of  fifty  cents." — ; 
Passed  at  Danville,  1853. 

[This  was  modified  at  Greensburgh,  in  1855,  so  as  to  require  ouly  three 
hundred  copies  to  be  published.  Modified  at  Hopkinsville,  in  1859,  by 
requiring  not  only  every  member  of  Synod  whether  present  or  absent  to 
pay  his  share^  but  also  requesting  the  Church  Sessions  not  represented  in 
Synod  to  pay  each  the  same  amount.] 

9th.  "  That  it  be  a  standing  order  of  Synod,  that  the  Trustees  of  the 
Theological  Fund  pay  over,  half-yearly,  the  interest  of  said  Fund  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  according  to  the  covenants  and 
agreement  between  the  Synod  and  the  Assembly." 

10th.  "  That  a  Standing  Committee  on  Finance  be  appointed  at  each 
meeting  of  Synod,  to  whom  shall  be  referred  all  matters  apprppriate  to 
such  a  Committee." 

11th.  "That  the  Faculty  of  Centre  College  be  requested  to  make  an 
annual  report  to  the  Synod  on  the  internal  state  of  the  College." 

12th.  "  That  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Centre  College  be  directed  to 
send  up  annually  to  Synod  the  records  of  their  proceedings,  or  a  copy  of 
ihfl  aame," 


39 
TRUSTEES  OP  CENTRE  COLLEGE. 


FIRST  CLASS -Office  expires  1866. 
Rev.  R.  G.  Brank,  Lexington,  Rev.  J.  L.  McKee,  Louisville, 

Rev.  A.  A.  HoGUE,  Lebanon,  Rev.  W.  C.  Matthews,  Shelby ville, 

Rev.  R.  A.  Johnston,  Paint  Lick,     Rev.  S.  Yerkes,  Danville^ 
Rev.  S.  S.  McRoBERTS,  Stanford. 

SECOND  CLASS.-Office  expires  1867. 

Rev.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  Danville,         Thomas  Barbee,  Esq.,  Danville, 

Rev.  R.  F.  Caldwell,  Sharpsburg,    W.  Ernst,  Covington, 

Gen.  J.  T.  Boyle,  Louisville,  G.  Marshall,  Esq  ,  Lexington. 

THIRD  CLASS.-Office  expires  1868. 
G.  F.  Lee,  Esq.,  Danville,  L.  L.  Warren,  Esq.,  Louisville^ 

T.  T.  Alexander,  Esq.,  Columbia,   Rev.  E.  Forman,  Danville. 
Rev.  R.  L.  Breck. 


MODERATORS  OP  THE  SYNOD  OF  KENTUCKY. 


*David  Rice, 

Lexington,  Ky., 

Oct.  14, 

1802 

♦Samuel  Shannon, 

i( 

Sept.  6, 

1803 

*James  Kemper, 

Danville, 

Oct.  16, 

1804 

*James  Blythe, 

i( 

Oct.  15, 

1805 

*James  Welsh, 

Lexington, 

Oct.  21, 

1806 

*Archibald  Cameron, 

(I 

Oct.  20, 

1807 

*William  Williamson, 

(( 

Oct.  12, 

1808 

*Samucl  Rannells, 

(( 

Oct.  11, 

1809 

*Robert  G.  Wilson, 

II 

Oct.  11, 

1810 

*John  P.  Campbell, 

(I 

Oct.     9, 

1811 

*John  Howe, 

K 

Oct.  14, 

1812 

*James  Blythe, 

Bardskown, 

Oct.  13, 

1813 

*Samuel  Findley, 

Lexington, 

Sept.  9, 

1814 

♦Robert  Henderson, 

Nashville,  Tenn., 

Oct.    4, 

1815 

*Joseph  B.  Lapsley, 

(1 

Oct,     9, 

1816 

♦Robert  M.  Cunningham, 

Springfield,  Ky., 

Oct.     8, 

1817 

♦Robert  Marshall, 

Lexington, 

Oct.  14, 

1818 

♦Thomas  Cleland, 

Danville, 

■Oct.  13, 

1819 

♦Robert  Stuart, 

Shelbyville, 

Oct.  11, 

1820 

♦Samuel  K.  Nelson, 

Lexington, 

Oct.  10, 

1821 

♦John  McFarland, 

Harrodsburg, 

Oct.  15, 

1822 

♦James  K,  Burch, 

Lexington, 

Oot.     8, 

1823 

♦Gideon  Blackburn, 

Shelbyville, 

Oct.  13, 

1824 

♦James  Blythe, 

Louisville, 

Oct.  12, 

1825. 

40 


*Jeremiah  Chamberlain, 
*James  K.  Burch, 
*Eli  Smith, 
*Jame9  C.  Barnes, 

John  D.  Paxton, 
*John  T.  Edgar, 
*John  C.  Young, 

William  L.  Breckinridge, 
*Andrew  Todd, 

Nathan  L.  Rice, 

Samuel  Lynn, 
*.J-.imes  K.  Burch, 
*John  F.  Price, 

James  Hawthorn, 
*LeAvis  W.  Green, 
*John  C.  Young, 

David  C.  Prector, 

Edward  P.  Humphrey, 

H.  H.  Hopkins, 
*Nathan  H.  Hall, 

William  C.  Matthews, 

David  T.  Stuart, 

Daniel  L.  Gray, 

Robert  J.  Breckinridge, 

Joseph  J.  Bullock, 
*Robert  C.  Grundy, 

John  D.  Matthews, 

Benjamin  M.  Hobson, 

John  Montgomery, 

William  W.  Hill, 

Robert  A.  Johnston, 

Robert  F.  Caldwell, 

Stuart  Robinson, 

John  H.  Rice, 

Robert  G.  Brank, 

Aaron  A.  Hogue, 

S.  Yerkes, 

J.  K.  Lyle, 

J.  L.  MeKee, 

Robert  G.  Brank, 


Danville, 


Paris, 

Frankfort, 

Danville, 

Louisville, 

Lexington, 

Danville, 

Bowling-Green, 

Bardstowu, 

Danville, 

Paris, 

Hopkinsville, 

Danville, 

Frankfort, 

Maysville, 

Lexington, 

Richmond, 

Harrodsbnrg, 

ShelbyviJle, 

Henderson, 

Russellville, 

Danville, 

Frankfort, 

Louisville, 

Bardstown, 

Danville, 

Lexington, 

Covington, 

Greensburg, 

Shelbyville, 

Lebanon, 

Hopkinsville, 

Louisville, 

Harrodsburg, 

Paris, 

Frankfort, 

Danville, 

Louisville, 


Oct.  11, 
Oct.  10, 
Oct.  3, 
Oot.  8, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  12, 
Oct.  10, 
Oct.  9, 
Oct.  8, 
Oct.  14, 
Oct.  12, 
Oct.  11, 
Oct.  10, 
Oct.  9, 
Sept.  24, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  4, 
Oct.  9, 
Sept.  25, 
Oct.  1, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  12, 
Oct.  11, 
Oct.  9, 
Oct.  8, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  12, 
Oct.  10, 
Oct.  10, 
Oct.  8, 
Oct.  14, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  10, 
Oct.  9, 
May  1, 
Oct.  14, 
Oct.  13, 
Oct.  12, 


1826 
1827 
182^ 
1829 
ISSO 
1831 
1832 
1833 
1834 
1835 
1836 
1887 
1888 
1839 
1840 
1841 
1842 
1843 
1844 
1845 
1846 
1847 
1848 
1849 
1850 
1851 
1852 
1853 
1854 
1855 
1856 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 


STATED  CLEEKS  OP  THE  SYNOD  OP  KENTUOKT. 


When  elected. 

When  elected. 

*Robert  Marshall, 

1802 

*John  T.  Edgar, 

1822 

*James  Welsh, 

1803 

*John  Hudson, 

1826 

*John  P.  Campbell, 

1810 

Samuel  Steel, 

1829 

*Robert  Stuart, 

1812 

Robert  Davidson, 

1834 

*Thomas  Cleland, 

1821 

S.  S.  McRoberts, 

1841 

*Deceased. 


OF     THE 


Held  at  Mcnclersoiif  Ky.f  Oct,  10th ,  1866 » 


^^ndeuon^  ^.^  Sdolpel  ioili^  iMS. 


The  Synod  of  Kentucky  met,  according  to  adjournment,  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  Henderson,  Ky.,  on  Wednesday,  October  10th, 
1866,  at  7  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Mod- 
erator, Ecv.  Egbert  L.  Breck,  from  John  I,  2!;) — "  Behold  the  Lamb 
of  Grod,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

After  the  sermon,  the  Moderator  proceeded  to  constitute  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Synod  with  praj^er.  The  Stated  Clerk  being  directed  to 
call  the  roll,  proceeding  with  it  in  an  unusual  order  and  omitting  the 
names  of  a  large  majority  of  the  members  of  the  first  Presbytery 
selected  by  him,  was  directed  by  the  Moderator  to  call  the  roll  of  all 
the  constituent  members  and  churches  of  the  Synod.  Declaring  his 
unwillingness  to  do  this,  he  was  ordered  by  the  Moderator,  in  the 
name  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  to  perform  this  duty,  which  he 
again  refused  to  do.  The  Moderator  then  announced  that  he  was 
charged  with  the  duty  of  directing  all  proceedings  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  House  for  business;  that  though  the  Synod  was  present, 
its  members  were  unknown  until  the  roll  should  be  called;  he,  there- 
fore, could  not  relieve  himself  by  the  submission  to  the  House  of  the 
question  as  to  the  mode  of  procedure.  That,  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  in  view  of  the  difficulties  of  any  other  course  and  according  to 
our  rules,  the  first  and  only  thing  at  thai?  time  in  order,  was  the  call- 
ing of  the  roll ;  that,  as  the  Stated  Clerk  had  refused  to  call  it,  and 
there  was  nothing  in  our  book  making  it  essential  that  this  should 
be  done  by  the  Clerk,  since  the  necessity  was  put  ui)on  him,  he  would 
I^roceed  to  call  it  himself  That,  as  it  was  not  comjjetent  for  him  to 
decide  concerning  the  membership  of  the  Synod,  as  affected  by  any- 
thing that  may  have  transpired  in  the  recess  of  the  body  (it  being  a 


2 

question  not  of  order.  Tout  of  substance  and  vital  principle),  he  could  only 
recognize  the  Sj'nod  as  it  was  and  is,  unaffected  by  anything  not  its  own 
act,  and  leave  the  question  of  membership  to  be  decided  by  the  body 
when  it  should  be  organized.  He  would,  therefore,  call  the  roll  accord- 
ing to  the  official  rolls  of  the  Presbyteries  furnished  to  the  last  G-eneral 
Assembly,  and  printed  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly.  He  announced 
that  he  would  now  proceed,  and  requested  Dr.  Hill  to  assist  him  by 
taking  down  the  names.  Dr.  E.  J.  Breckinridge  said  he  protested 
against  this  whole  procedure.  Dr.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  in  justification 
of  the  course  of  the  Stated  Clerk,  called  attention  to  the  6th  stand- 
ing order  of  the  Synod,  which  rcq^^ires  "  that  j^revious  to  each  meet- 
ing of  the  Synod,  the  Stated  Clerk  procure  from  the  Stated  Clerks 
of  the  several  Presbyteries,  recent  and  correct  lists  of  the  names  of 
their  members."  The  Moderator  decided  that  the  Stated  Clerk  had 
not  complied  with  the  order,  as  it  was  within  his  personal  knowledge 
that  the  Clerk  had  not  applied  for  rolls  to  the  stated  Clerks  of  Pres- 
byteries. 

The  question  was  asked; — Can  the  Moderator  api^oint  a  Clerk? 
Dr.  "Wilson  said  the  Moderator  had  not  appointed  a  Clerk,  but  as  the 
Stated  Clerk  had  refused  to  call  the  roll,  and  the  Moderator  was  the 
only  officer  who  could  organize  the  House,  he  was  about  himself  to 
call  the  roll,  and  had  merel}^  asked  Dr.  Hill  to  assist  him  by  noting 
the  names.     The  Moderator  concurred  in  the  statement. 

Eev.  R.  Douglas  moved,  Kev.  G.  H.  Rout  seconding  the  motion, 
that  the  House  sustain  the  decision  of  the  Moderator.  The  Modera- 
tor decided  that  the  motion  was  out  of  order,  but  that  he  might  avoid 
all  appearance  of  severe  or  partial  ruling  and  give  the  largest  liberty 
to  all,  he  would,  contrary  to  his  clear  conviction  as  to  order,  put  the 
motion  and  take  the  vote,  if  there  was  evidence  of  general  desire 
for  a  test  of  the  sense  of  those  present.  There  being  no  further 
expression  of  such  desire,  and  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  having  given 
notice  to  all  agreeing  with  him  not  to  vote  upon  it,  if  put,  the  Mode- 
rator allowing  no  further  interruptions,  proceeded  to  call  the  roll ; 
Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  calling  on  those  agreeing  with  him  and  adher- 
ing to  the  General  Assembly,  not  to  ansAver  to  the  call.  The  follow- 
ing named  persons  answered  to  the  call  and  wei-c  enrolled  as 

Presbytery  of  Ebenezer : 

Ministers. — D.  O.  Davics,  B.  M.  Hobson,  ,1.  D.  McClintock. 
Elders.— J).  Brooks,  W.  E.  Hudson. 


1 


Louisville : 

Ministers.— J).  T.  Stnart,  W.  W.  Hill.  J.  N.  Saunders,  Eobert  Mor- 
rison, S.  Eobinson,  W.  G.  Allen,  W.  T.  MeEIroy,  G.  C.  Crowe,  W.  L. 
Nourse,  W.  W.  Duncan.  8.  R.  Wilson,  T.  D.  Lea,  R.  Carson,  C.  B. 
Davidson. 

Elders. — Jos.  Robinson,  H,  C.  Offutt,  8.  S.  Fulton,  J.  M.  Demaree, 
E.  Huffman,  W.  M.  Morrison,  W.  G.  Johnson,  J.  P.  McAfee,  G.  W. 
Morris,  P.  Jett,  J.  Gault,  Alex.  Penny,  S.  B.  Shannon,  D.  McCulloch, 
A.  A.  Casseday,  0,  A.  Wickliffe,  J.  C.  Brown,  T.  W.  Duerson. 

Muhleubiirf/  : 

Ministers.— I.  Bard,  W.  G.  Rice,  J.  Woodbridge,  R.  K.  Smoot,  S.  M. 
Luckett. 

Elders.— T>.  Stroud,  J.  W.  McPherson,  J.  M.  Herdman,  H.  H.  Mar- 
tin, E.  F.  Easton,  P.  Berry,  J.  E.  Hughes,  A.  Towns. 

Padiicah : 

Elder,  P.  B.  McGoodwin, 

Tratisylvania : 

Ministers.— i.  A.  Bogle,  J.  V.  Logan,  M.  Saunders,  J.  J.  Cooke,  W. 

D.  Symington,  G.  O.  Barnes,  D.  P.  Young,  R.  L.  Breck,  W.  H.  Woods. 

Elders.— W.  H.  McAfee,  J.  L.  Barnes,  M.  S.  Shuck,  D.  B.  Hughes, 
S.  Jordan,  J.  Paxton,  J.  P.  Lapsley,  8.  P.  Walters,  J.  E.  Sharp,  W. 
Carlisle,  J.  G.  Phillips. 

West  Lexington: 

Ministers.— J .  D.  Matthews,  J.  G.  Simrall,  F.  G.  Strahan,  S.  W. 
Cheney,  T.  A.  Bracken,  R.  G.  Brank,  E.  Forman,  J.  M.  Scott,  R.  Doug- 
lass, M.  Van  Lear,  W.  George,  G.  H.  Rout,  W.  R.Brown. 

Elders.— T.  W.  Bullock,  T.  D.  Urmston,  R.  Young,  I.  C.  Van  Meter, 
A.  C.  Moore,  R.  S.  Taylor,  R.  H.  Wason,  J.  Sutton,  W.  M.  Dickey,  H. 
Stevenson,  G.  Marshall,  D.  H.  Coulter,  Crawford  Moore,  A.  Hutchinson, 

The  following  were  noted  absent,  some  of  whom  being  in  the  house, 
did  not  respond  when  their  names  were  called ; 

Ebenezer  : 

Ministers. — John  H.  Condit,  R.  F.  Caldwell,  J.  C,  Bay  less,  J.  M. 
Worrall,  J.  P.  Hendrick,  J.  F.  Coons,  G.  W.  Coons,  H.  M.  Scudder,  J. 

E.  Spilman,  H.  P.  Thompson,  J.  F.  Hendy,  J.  M.  Washburn,  W.  C. 
Young,  J.  M.  Evans,  T.  H.  Urmston. 

Louisville : 
H.  H.  Hopkins,  8.  Williams,  W.  C.  Matthews,  R.  Valentine,  B.  H. 
McCown,  J,  H.  Dinsmore,  M.  G.  Knight,  H.  C.  Sachse,  F.  Thornton, 


T.  A.  Hoyt,  J.  L,  McKee,  J.  P.  McMillan,  E.  Wurts.  J.  V.  Cosby,  S- 
B.  McPheeters,  J.  C.  Yonng,  I.  W.  Canfield. 

Miihlenbiirg : 
A.  C.  Dickerson.  S.  Y.  Garrison,  A.  D.  Metcalfe,  H.  V.  D.  Nevius, 

A.  Eankin. 

Padticah : 

James  Hawthorne,  0.  A.  Campbell,  G.  K.  Perkins,  J.  P.  Piddle, 

J.  T.  Hendrick. 

Transylvania : 

A.  A.  Hogue,  E.  A.  Johnston,  S.  S.  McEoberts,  S.  B.  Cheek,  W.  S. 
Doak,  E.  P.  Humphrey,  T.  H.  Cleland,  J.  Matthews,  E,  W.  Landis, 
W.  J.  McKnight,  H.  H.  Allen,  J.  T.  Lapsley,  G.  J.  Eeid,  W.  L.  Breck- 
inridge.  J.  H.  Byers. 

West  Lexington: 

W.  H.  Forsyth,  E.  J.  Breckinridge,  S.  Yerkes,  J.  K.  Lyle,  J.  S. 
Hays,  L.  G.  Barboiir. 

Eev.  Dr.  "W.  C.  Matthews,  who  being  present,  did  not  answer  to 
the  call  of  his  name,  desired  to  be  heard.  The  Moderator  enquii-ed 
whether  the  brother  desired  to  have  his  name  enrolled? 

Dr.  Matthews  asked  if  the  Moderator  did  not  know  him  to  be  a 
member  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  The  Moderator  said  if  the 
brother  did  not  desire  his  name  to  be  enrolled,  he  was  not  known  to 
the  Synod. 

The  Moderator  announced  that  the  House  was  prepared  to  proceed 
to  the  election  of  officers. 

Eev.  S.  E.  Wilson  offered  the  following  motion : 

Whkreas,  the  Stated  Clerk,  Rev.  S.  S.  McRoberts,  has  refused  to  call  the  roll  of 
Synod  in  the  usual  manner,  for  the  organization  of  the  body,  and  has  assumed  to 
himself  the  right  of  omitting  the  names  of  some  of  its  constituent  members, 
therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Synod  now  proceed  to  the  election  of  another  Stated  Clerk 
in  stead  of  the  said  S.  S.  McRoberts. 

The  motion  was  carried,  and  Eev.  F.  G.  Strahan  was  elected  Stated 
Clerk.  On  motion  of  Eev.  Dr.  Hill,  Eev.  E.  Douglass  was  elected 
Moderator;  Eev.  Eobert  Morrison  was  chosen  Temporaiy  Clerk. 

Synod  adjourned  to  meet  to-morrow  morning  at  9  o'clock. 

Closed  with  prayer  by  the  Moderator. 


Thursday,  Oct.  11,  1866,  9  o'clock,  a.  m. 
Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Moderator.     The 
minutes  of  the  session  of  last  night  were  read,  and  on  motion  were 


referred  to  the  following  Committee  for  correction,  viz ;  Ministers, 
E.  L.  Breck,  S.  E.  Wilson,  B.  M.  Hobaon  and  Elders  Ci.  W.  Morris 
and  Glass  Marshall. 

P.  B.  McGrOodwin,  Elder  from  the  Princeton  Church,  Paducah 
Presbytery,  asked  and  obtained  leave  of  absence  from  the  remaining 
sessions  of  Synod.  A.  Townes,  Elder  from  Madisonville  Church, 
Muhlenburg  Presbj'tery  being  compelled  to  return  home  had  leave  of 
absence  granted  him  and  his  alternate,  T.  P.  Campbell  took  his  seat 
as  a  member  of  Synod. 

The  Moderator  announced  the  Standing  Committees  as  follows ; 

Bills  and  Overtures — Ministers,  E.  L.  Breck,  S.  Eobinson,  E.  K. 
Smoot;  Elders  J.  Paxton,  Glass  Marshall. 

Judicial  Committee — S.  E.  Wilson,  J.  D.  Matthews,  D.  T.  Stewart, 
Elders  E.  S.  Taylor  and  D.  H.  Coulter. 

Minutes  of  the  Assembly — E.  G.  Brank,  T.  A.  Bracken,  J. 
Woodbridge,  Miles  Saunders;  Elders  T.  W.  Bullock,  S.  P.  Walters. 

Narrative  op  the  State  op  Eeligion — J.  J.  Cooke,  E.  Forman, 
E.  Carson ;  Elders  E.  H.  Wason,  J.  P.  McAfee. 

Centre  College— W.  W.  Hill,  E.  L.  Breck,  E.  G.  Brank,  S.  E. 
Wilson ;  Elders  C.  A.  Wickliffe,  I.  C.  Van  Meter,  G.  Marshall. 

Finance — Elders  G,  W.  Morris,  J.  W.  McPhei-son,  J.  P.  Lapsley. 
Devotional  Exercises — J.  Woodbridge  and  E.  K.  Smoot. 
Synodical  Tax — Elders,  W.  M.  Morrison  and  A.  A.  Casseday. 

PEESBYTEEIAL  EECOEDS.  ^ 

Transylvania — G.  H.  Eout,  M.  Van  Lear  and  Elder  T.  D  .Urmston. 

West  Lexington — B.  M.  Hobson,  J.  N.  Saunders,  Elder  D.  B. 
Hughes. 

Muhlenburg— S.  W.  Cheney,  M.  Saunders,  Elder  T.  C.  Van  Meter. 

Louisville — E.  K.  Smoot,  D.  P.  Young,  and  Elder  W.  M.  Dickey. 

Paducah — W.  W.  Duncan,  .T.  V.  Logan,  and  Elder  Eobert  Young. 

A  committee  consisting  of  C.  A.  Wickliffe.  T.  W.  Bullock  and  J.  W. 
McPherson,  was  appointed  to  procure  from  the  late  Stated  Clerk, 
Eev.  S.  S.  McEoberts,  the  Eecords  and  papers  of  Synod. 

In  the  absence  of  the  written  Minutes  of  Synod,  the  printed 
Eecords  for  the  last  year  were  read  for  general  information. 

Three  complaints  against  the  recent  action  of  the  Presbyterj^  of 
Transylvania,  by  Messrs.  Breck,  Cooke  and  Young,  respectively,  with 


others  joining  thom  in  so  doing,  were  read  and  referred  to  the  Judi- 
cial committee. 

The  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises,  reported  appointing 
preaching  to-night,  in  this  Churcli.  hy  the  Eev.  T?.  (!.  Brank.  Ac- 
cepted and  ajjproved. 

Eev.  J.  T,  Hendrick,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Paducah,  appeared  in 
Synod,  and  gave  reasons  for  tardiness,  which  were  sustained. 

Synod  took  recess  until  :>  o'clock,  P.  M, 


3   O  CLOCK    p.    M. 

Synod  met  and  proceeded  to  business. 

Ministers  T.  D.  Lea,  W.  G.  Eice  and  J.  A.  Bogle,  and  Elders  J.  L. 
Barnes,  W.  B.  Carlisle  and  A.  Penny  obtained  leave  of  absence  from 
the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod,  after  to-day. 

Eev.  W.  W.  Hill,  from  the  committee  on  Centre  College,  jjresented 
a  report  which  was  received  and  laid  on  the  table  for  consideration 
to-morrow  morning.  The  following  persons  were  nominated  as  Trus- 
tees of  Centre  College,  instead  of  the  first  class,  whose  office  expires 
1866.  W.  B.  Kinkead,  M.  Saunders,  J.  V.  Logan,  E.  G.  Brank,  J.  M. 
Meyer,  J.  G.  Phillips  and  I.  C.  Van  Meter.  Li  the  place  of  E.  P. 
Humphrey  of  the  second  class,  G.  H.  Eout,  and  in  the  place  of  T.  T. 
Alexander  of  the  third  class,  G.  C.  Eodgers  and  T.  H.  Moore. 

Eev.  Dr.  Wilson,  Chairman  of  the  Judicial  Committee,  rejiorted 
that  there  had  been  put  into  their  hands,  complaints  numbered  res- 
pectively I,  II,  III,  from  certain  members  of  the  Presbj^tery  of 
Transylvania,  against  certain  proceedings  had  by  that  Presbytery, 
at  its  last  Stated  meeting  in  Stanford.  These  complaints  seem  to  be 
in  order,  and  the  committee  recommend  that  they  be  taken  up  and 
issued  agreeably  to  the  mode  pointed  out  in  the  case  of  an  appeal,  in 
Book  of  Discipline,  ch.  VII,  sec.  3,  Art.  8.  As  these  complaints 
relate  to  different  matters,  it  is  further  recommended  that  they  be 
considered  severally  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  numbered. 

The  rej)ort  was  received. 

The  rule  requiring  Presbyterial  Narratives  on  the  state  of  religion, 
to  be  read  in  Synod,  was  suspended  so  as  to  permit  such  narratives 
at  once  to  be  put  in  the  hands  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  the 
Narrative. 

W.  L.  Nourse  and  Elders  D.  Stroud  and  H.  H.  Martin  obtained 
leave  of  absence  from  the  remaining  sessions  of  Synod. 


The  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee  was  taken  up,  and  Synod 
regolved  to  adopt  its  suggestions. 

The  Moderator  announced  from  the  chair,  that  Synod  was  about  to 
sit  in  a  judicial  capacity,  and  enjoined  on  the  members  to  recollect 
and  regard  their  high  character  as  Judges  of  a  Court  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  solemn  duty  in  which  they  were  about  to  act. 

On  motion,  Synod  resolved  to  take  the  certified  copy  of  the  Presby- 
tery's proceedings  in  the  papers,  as  the  late  Stated  Clerk  had  with- 
drawn fi'om  the  Synod  and  had  taken  the  records  with  him. 

Case  No.  I  was  then  taken  up  according  to  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
as  suggested  above.  The  sentence  complained  of  was  read ;  secondly, 
the  reasons  assigned  by  the  complainants  for  their  complaint ;  and, 
thirdly,  the  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery,  as  above 
alluded  to,  in  the  case.  The  Synod  then  called  for  the  original  par- 
ties in  the  case.  The  complainants  waived  their  right  to  be  heard, 
as  no  one  appeared  in  defence  of  the  Presbytery.  After  all  the 
members  had  an  opportunity  to  express  their  opinions  in  the  case, 
the  final  vote  was  taken  ;  the  complaint  was  sustained  and  the  deci- 
sion of  the  lower  court  was  reversed. 

Case  No,  II  was  then  taken  up.  The  sentence  appealed  from  and 
the  complaint  with  the  reasons  were  read,  and  on  motion,  the  com- 
plaint was  sustained  pro  forma. 

Case  No.  Ill  was  taken  up ;  the  sentence  appealed  from,  and  the 
comjjlaint  with  the  reasons  were  read.  On  motion,  the  comj^laint 
was  sustained  pro  forma. 

A  committee  was  appointed  consisting  of  B.  M.  Hobson,  S.  E. 
Wilson,  E.  Forman,  and  Elders  T.  W.  Bullock  and  J.  M.  Herdman,  to 
express  the  sense  of  Synod  in  thus  sustaining  the  above  complaints. 

On  motion  of  C.  A.  Wicklifi'e,  Eobert  Morrison,  W.  George,  F.  G. 
Strahan,  G.  C.  Crowe  and  S.  M.  Luckett,  were  ajjpointed  a  committee 
to  ascertain  the  exact  nitmber  of  constituent  members  of  the  Synod, 
as  well  as  the  number  and  strength  of  the  Churches  represented  by 
the  persons  Avithdrawing  from  the  Synod  last  night,  (Oct.  10, 1866). 

Synod  then  adjourned  until  8^  o'clock  to-morrow  morning.  Closed 
with  prayer  by  Kev.  D.  P.  Young. 


Friday  Morning,  October  12th,  8|  o'clock. 

Synod  met  and  spent  half  an  hour  in  devotional  exercises.     The 
Minutes  of  yesterday's  sessions  were  read  and  approved. 


E.OV.  Dr.  Robinson  moved  that  it  is  the  sense  of  Synod  that  its 
sessions  should  continue  until  the  gi'eat  questions  forced  upon  us  be 
carefully  settled.     Carried  unanimously. 

In  accordance  with  a  request  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  Synod 
determined  to  hold  an  Interlocutory  Meeting  this  afternoon,  at  2 
o'clock. 

A  paper  from  the  session  of  the  First  Church,  Danville,  was 
received  and  referred  to  the  committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures. 

The  committee  appointed  to  procure  from  the  late  Stated  Clerk  the 
records  and  papers  of  Synod,  presented  the  following  report,  which 
was  received  and  apjiroved,  viz  : 

To  the  Moderator  of  the  Sijnod  of  Kentucky : — The  uuJersigned,  appointed  a  com- 
mittee on  behalf  of  Synod,  to  procure  from  the  Rev.  S.  S.  McRoberts,  the  papers 
and  records  of  your  body,  beg  leave  to  report  that  they  have  discharged  the  duty 
assigned  them  by  addressing  to  the  said  S.  S.  Mclloberts  a  letter  demanding  the 
delivery  of  the  papers  and  records  aforesaid,  and  that  the  said  S.  S.  McRoberts 
refused  to  make  the  delivery.  A  copy  of  the  letter  addressed  to  the  late  Stated 
Clerk,  is  herewith  filed  as  part  of  your  committee's  report. 

Your  committee  begs  leave  to  recommend  to  Synod  the  appointment  of  a  commit- 
tee to  take  such  further  action  in  the  premises  as  will  secure  the  delivery  of  the 
said  papers  and  records.     All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

October  V2th,  1866.  C.  A.  Wicki>ifi-k, 

T.  W.  Bullock, 
John  W.  McPukrson. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  suggestion,  at  the  close  of  the  report, 
Synod  apj)ointed  a  committee  consisting  of  E.  L.  Breck  and  Gr.  O. 
Barnes,  Ministers,  and  T.  W.  Bullock,  Elder. 

On  motion,  the  business  concerning  Centre  College  was  taken  up. 
The  report  of  the  Standing  Committee  was  read,  and  after  being 
adojrted  item  by  item,  was  adopted  as  a  whole,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  committee  on  Centre  College  beg  leave  to  report  to  Synod  that-  they  have  had 
no  report  before  them  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  or  of  the  committee  to  visit  the  \ 
College,  and  they  have,  therefore,  to  take  action  in  the  absence  of  the  documents 
usually  before  Synod.  They  find  from  the  Minutes  of  the  last  Synod,  that  the  fol- 
lowing seven  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  go  out  of  oflSce  at  this  time,  viz : 
R.  G.  Brank,  A.  A.  Hogue,  S.  Yerkes,  R.  A.  Johnston,  S.  S.  McRoberts,  J.  L.  McKee, 
and  W.  C.  Matthews,  whose  places  are  to  be  filled  at  this  meeting  of  Synod. 

They  recommend,  therefore, 

1st.  That  Synod  now  proceed  to  nominate  members  in  their  places,  according  to 
the  standing  rule  on  that  subject. 

2d.  That  Synod  enjoin  upon  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  take  all  the  steps  neces- 
sary to  preserve  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  the  entire  control  of  the  College  and 
the  property  secured  to  it  by  Charter. 


9 

3d,  That  the  Board  of  Trustees  shall  inquire  into  the  conditibn  of  any  Theologi- 
cal funds  subject  to  their  control,  and  take  steps  to  preserve  the  same  to  this  Synod. 

4th,  They  recommend  to  Synod  to  nominate  and  elect  Trustees  of  the  Theologi- 
cal Fund  belonging  to  Synod,  and  instruct  them  to  take  all  the  steps  necessary  to 
preserve  the  same  to  this  Synod,  and,  further,  to  inquire  as  to  what  interest  Synod 
may  have  in  the  endowment  fund  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  at  Danville,  and 
take  the  steps  necessary  to  preserve  the  rights  of  Synod  therein. 

The  first  class  of  Trustees,  whose  term  of  office  expires  this  year 
in  Centre  College,  were  elected  by  ballot,  and  are  W.  B.  Kinkead, 
M.  Saunders,  E.  CI.  Brank,  J.  M.  Meyer,  J.  V.  Logan,  J.  G.  Phillips 
and  I.  C.  Yan  Meter. 

The  following  persons  were  elected,  by  ballot,  Trustees  of  the 
Theological  Fund,  viz:  S.  E, "Wilson,  S.  Eobinson,  CI.  W.  Morris,  A. 
A.  Gordon  and  S.  Casseday. 

The  committees  appointed  to  examine  the  Eecords  of  Transyl- 
vania, Muhlenburg  and  Paducah  Presbyteries,  report  that  these 
Eecords  have  not  come  into  their  hands,  and  ask  to  be  discharged. 
Agreed  to.  The  Eecords  of  West  Lexington  Presbytery  were  ap- 
proved as  far  as  written. 

It  was  made  the  first  order  of  the  day  to-morrow  morning,  to 
select  the  place  and  time  of  the  next  stated  meeting  of  Synod. 
Synod  took  recess  until  2  o'clock  P.  M. 


Z    O  CLOCK    P.    M. 

Synod  met  and  resolved  itself  into  an  interlocutory  meeting ;  Eev. 
J.  T.  Hendrick  in  the  chair.  About  5  o'clock  the  interlocutory  meet- 
ing rose,  and  Synod  came  to  order. 

W.  M.  Morrison,  from  the  committee  on  Synodical  tax,  reported 
ninety-one  dollars  ($91.00)  collected.  The  report  and  money  were 
received  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Stated  Clerk.  Synod  took 
recess  until  8-^-  o'clock,  this  evening. 


8^  o'clock  p.  m. 

Synod  met  and  resolved  itself  into  an  interlocutory  meeting. 
After  spending  a  short  time,  the  meeting  arose  and  Synod  was  called 
to  order,  and  determined  to  appoint  a  committee  of  six  persons,  one 
from  each  Presbytery,  to  prepare  a  pastoral  address  to  the  churches 
under  our  care.  The  committee  consist  of  the  following,  viz  :  E.  L. 
Breck,  Transylvania;  S.  E.  Wilson,  Louisville;  E.  K.  Smoot,  ilfw/i^en- 
hwg ;  B.  M.  Hobson,  Ehenezer ;  E.  G.  Brank,  West  Lexington;  and  J. 
T.  Hendrick,  Paducah,  with  liberty  to  choose  their  own  chairman. 


10 

The  consideration  of  the  report  on  the  Walnut  Street  Church  case, 
was  made  the  second  order  of  the  day  for  to-morrow  morning, 

Eev.  I.  Bard  obtained  leave  of  absence  from  the  further  sessions 
of  Synod. 

Adjourned  until  8^  o'clock  to-morrow  morning.  Closed  with  prayer 
by  Eev.  G.  O.  Barnes. 


Saturday,  Oct.  13th,  8^  o'clock  a.  m. 

Synod  met  and  was  opened  with  prayer  by  Eev.  W.  George.  The 
Minutes  of  yesterday  were  read  and  approved. 

Synod  resolved  itself  into  an  interlocutory  meeting;  Eev.  Miles 
Saunders  in  the  chair.  At  11  o'clock  the  interlocutory  meeting  arose, 
and  Synod  came  to  order.  Eev.  E.  L.  Breck,  from  the  committee  on 
the  Minutes  of  the  first  evening's  proceedings,  presented  their  report, 
which  was  received  and  adojited,  and  is,  as  found  in  the  Minutes  of 
the  first  day,  as  above.  It  was  made  the  first  order  of  the  day  this 
afternoon,  to  name  a  place  and  time  for  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Centre  College.  The  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up, 
and  Lebanon  was  chosen  as  the  place,  and  the  second  Wednesday  of 
October,  1867,  at  7  o'clock  P.  M.,  as  the  time  of  the  next  Stated 
Meeting  of  Synod. 

The  majority  of  the  committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures  reported 
Overtures  Nos.  1  and  2,  with  recommendations  in  reference  thereto. 
Eeceived  and  put  on  the  Docket. 

Synod  took  recess  until  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

2  o'clock  p.  m. 

Synod  came  to  order.  Eev.  J.  T.  Hendrick  called  attention  to  the 
condition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Paducah,  it  being  without  a  quorum, 
consisting  of  only  two  ministers,  though  nearly  all  the  churches 
adhere  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  The  matter  was  referred  to 
Messrs.  Hendrick,  Woodbridge  and  Smoot,  with  Elders  Easton  and 
McPherson. 

Overtures  Nos.  1  and  2  were  taken  from  the  Docket.  They  were 
read,  amended  and  unanimously  adopted,  and  are  as  follows : 

The  committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures  report  that  they  have  had  under  conside- 
ration Overtui'e  No.  1,  being  a  memorial  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  concern- 
ing certain  grievances  which  have  arisen  out  of  the  action  of  the  last  Synod 
appointing  a  committee  to  visit  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  Louisville ;  also,  Over- 
ture No.  2,  being  a  remonstrance  from  the  Session  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church  on 
the  same  subject. 


11 

The  committee  recommend  that  Synod  adopt  the  following  minute  as  its  judgment 
in  the  premises : 

1.  The  action  of  the  last  Synod  taken  during  the  haste  and  confusion  that  often 
attend  the  close  of  Synodical  Sessions,  and  in  the  presence  of  only  a  small  minority 
of  the  body,  in  appointing  Messrs.  McKee,  Young,  Wilson,  Knott  and  Garvin  a 
committee  "to  visit"  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  "  with  the  power  to  call  a  congre- 
gational meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  additional  ruling  Elders,  &c."  was 
not  in  accordance  with  our  Constitution  which  expressly  enumerates  among  the 
specific  powers  of  Presbytery,  the  power  "  to  visit  particular  churches  for  the  pur- 
pose of  inquiring  into  their  state  and  redressing  the  evils  which  may  have  arisen 
in  them."  (Form  Gov,  chap.  X,  sec.  8.)  The  express  allotment  of  this  power  to 
the  Presbytery,  precludes  the  supposition  that  the  same  power  may  be  inferred  to 
the  Synod,  also,  from  the  general  clause  appended  to  the  enumeration  of  the  spe- 
cific powers  of  the  Synod  (chap,  xi,  sec.  4),  which  declares — "  generally  to  take 
such  order  with  respect  to  the  Presbyteries,  sessions,  and  people,  &c," 

Whatever  the  power  of  the  Synod  over  the  power  of  the  Presbytery  might  have 
been,  in  case  the  Presbytery  had  exercised  amiss,  or  had  omitted  properly  to  exer- 
cise its  powers  in  this  matter,  the  Synod  had  already  approved  the  course  of  the 
Presbytery  in  the  matter,  by  giving  a  judgment  in  the  case  substantially  the  same 
with  that  of  the  Presbytery.  And,  however  proper  it  may  have  been  to  nominate 
a  committee  of  Synod  as  a  friendly  referee,  at  the  request  or  with  the  consent  of 
contending  parties,  yet  in  this  case  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  visit,  was 
not  at  the  request,  or  on  consent  of  either  the  Presbytery  or  the  Church  Session. 
The  Synod,  therefore,  regarding  the  appointment  of  such  a  committee  in  such  case, 
as  unconstitutional,  must  regard  the  action  taken  by  the  committee  as  null  and  void. 

2.  Even  had  there  been  no  doubt  about  the  power  of  the  Synod  to  appoint  such 
a  committee,  as  above  shown,  the  course  of  Messrs.  McKee,  Young  and  Knott,  a 
portion  of  the  committee  after  its  appointment,  in  forcing  themselves  as  visitors 
upon  the  congregation,  and  proceeding  to  organize  a  partisan  meeting  on  the  pub- 
lic street,  to  the  great  scandal  of  religion,  was  not  only  highly  indiscreet,  but  also 
transcending  the  powers  which  Synod  intended  to  confer  upon  that  committee- 
Nor  did  the  Synod  so  instruct  the  committee  to  proceed,  regardless  of  the  state  of 
affairs,  as  to  justify  the  committee  in  going  forward  against  the  remonstrances  of 
the  Session.  And,  the  subsequent  publication  of  their  action  as  official  and  author- 
itative, to  be  cited  as  the  official  judgment  of  Synod  before  "reporting  their  action 
to  this  body,  at  its  next  regular  meeting,"  according  to  their  express  instruction, 
was  also  not  only  an  irregulai'ity  highly  censurable,  but  was  done  in  contempt  of 
the  authority  of  Synod.  And  still  more  censurable  was  the  immediate  institution 
of  a  law  suit  by  the  parties  ordained  by  the  Synod's  committee,  on  the  strength  of 
this  irregular  action  of  the  committee. 

3.  Concerning  the  subsequent  action  of  the  General  Assembly  at  St.  Louis,  in 
solemnly  declaring  "  by  virtue  of  its  authority  and  obligation  to  give  advice  and 
instruction  in  all  cases  submitted  to  them,  does  truly  declare  that  said  McNaugh- 
ten,  Avery  and  Leech  (those  ordained  as  Elders  by  the  Synod's  committee)  are  to  be 
recognized  and  acknowledged  as  ruling  Elders  in  the  said  Church,  and  in  all 
Church  Courts,  and  Sessions  subject  to  or  under  the  care  of  this  Assembly,  are  sol- 
emnly enjoined  to  respect  and  sustain  their  authority  as  such ;"  this  Synod  feels 


12 

imperatively  called  on  to  utter  its  solemn  protest,  as  a  palpable  violation  of  the 
spirit  and  letter  of  our  Constitution,  and  in  derogation  of  the  prerogatives  both  of 
the  Synod  and  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville.  This  claim  under  a  general  power  to  give 
advice  and  instruction ;  to  set  aside  the  express  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
which  gives  the  oversight  of  the  particular  Cougregatiou  to  the  Presbytery,  and 
the  oversight  of  the  Presbytery  to  the  Synod;  this  claim  to  order  those  to  be  regarded 
and  treated  as  ruling  Elders  in  the  Church,  whom  the  Assembly  giving  the  order 
could  not  possibly  know  to  have  been  lawfully  elected  ruling  Elders  by  the  people; 
the  claim  to  take  a  case  then  pending  before  both  the  Church  session  and  the  Pres- 
bytery, each  using  all  diligence  to  bring  it  to  a  speedy  issue,  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  inferior  Courts  and  summarily  to  pronounce  judgment  upon  it;  and  all  this 
without  any  hearing  of  the  parties,  or  any  offer  to  hear  them,  but  on  a  mere  ex 
parte  statement  of  a  litigant  party  seeking  this  summary  order  of  the  Assembly, 
that  it  might  be  used  to  secure  a  certain  decision  of  the  Civil  Court  in  a  case  pend- 
ing before  it  at  the  time  the  order  of  the  Assembly  is  given ;  all  this  is  so  clearly 
in  contradiction  of  the  Constitution  and  to  the  entire  spirit  of  our  system,  that  this 
Synod  would  be  faithless  to  its  trust  and  reckless  of  the  reputation  of  Presbyterian- 
ism  among  intelligent  men,  did  it  not  in  this  solemn  manner  remonstrate  against 
such  an  outrage  upon  one  of  our  Presbyteries  and  Churches. 

4.  The  Synod  approves  in  general  of  the  coui'se  which  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville has  taken,  and  the  judgment  which  it  has  rendered  in  this  matter. 

The  Muhlenburg  Presbytery,  at  the  request  of  the  Moderator  of 
the  Presbytery,  was  ordered  to  meet  at  once  in  the  Lecture  room  of 
this  Church. 

The  committee  on  the  Minntes  of  the  Assembly,  presented  their 
report,  which  was  received  and  j)ut  upon  the  Docket. 

The  committee  on  the  Narrative  j)resented  their  report,  which  was 
received,  adopted  and  is  as  follows,  viz : 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  Narrative  of  the  state  of  Religion  within 
our  bounds,  report  as  follows  :  The  Synod  is  gratified  to  learn  from  the  reports  of 
the  Presbyteries  under  its  care,  that  notwithstanding  the  agitations  forced  upon 
their  Churches  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  divisions  and  strifes  which  have 
resulted  therefrom,  the  work  of  the  Ministry  has  been,  and  is  still  going  regularly 
forward.  The  preaching  of  the  word,  the  pi'ayer  meetings,  the  labors  of  the  sab- 
bath schools,  Missionary  eiforts  ;  all  the  various  parts  of  the  work  are  proceeding 
as  usual.  Nor  have  these  been  without  success.  The  attendance  upon  the  worship 
of  the  Sanctuary  is  good,  the  hearts  of  God's  people  so  deeply  interested  in  the 
glorious  though  distracting  contest  for  the  Crown  rights  of  their  King,  are  still  de- 
votedly fixed  on  their  Prophet  and  their  Priest,  and  many  have  been  added  to  the 
Church.  A  number  of  the  Churches  have  enjoyed  preiocus  seasons  of  refreshing 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  during  the  past  year,  particularly  within  the  bounds 
of  the  Presbyteries  of  Ebenezer,  Louisville,  Transylvania  and  West  Lexington; 
some  of  them  more  remarkable  than  they  have  experienced  for  many  years.  In 
all  this  we  greatly  rejoice,  as  we  have  thereby  afforded  the  evidence  that  the  Lord 
has  not  left  nor  forsaken  his  people. 


13 

There  are  Churches  within  the  bounds  of  several  of  the  Presbyteries  which  are 
not  regularly  supplied,  and  there  are  also  wide  regions  in  the  limits  of  this  Synod, 
seriously  demanding  the  labors  of  Missionaries  and  Evangelists.  We  need  faithful 
and  laborious  Ministers  to  supply  these  destitutions.  AVe  earnestly  pray  that  the 
Lord  will  send  us  men  suited  to  this  arduous  but  important  work,  that  they  may 
cultivate  these  neglected  fields,  which  by  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be 
made  to  bloom  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Synod  rejoices  in  the  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  Churches  and 
people  within  its  bounds,  adhere  with  unfaltering  fidelity  to  its  jurisdiction  in  its 
struggle  for  the  truth.  The  great  majority  are,  and  will  remain  true  to  the  word 
of  God,  and  the  Constitution  which  embodies  its  teachings.  We  are,  moreover, 
greatly  encouraged  to  hope  and  expect  that  it  is  their  most  earnest  desire  to  meet 
and  settle  the  vexatious  but  extremely  important  questions  in  dispute  with  which 
they  have  been  called  to  deal,  in  a  charitable  and  generous  manner,  in  the  love 
and  fear  of  God. 

When  in  the  providence  of  God  these  questions  shall  have  been  determined,  and 
all  our  Church  affairs  shall  become  settled,  when  purity  and  peace  shall  once  again 
return  and  prevail  among  us,  we  look  that  then  there  shall  also  be  more  glorious 
manifestations  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  the  power  of  his  gospel  in  our 
midst,  than  our  eyes  have  heretofore  beheld. 

Eev.  Dr.  Hendrick  presented  the  report  of  the  committee  on  the 
boundary  of  Paducah  Presbytery.  It  was  received,  adopted,  and  is 
as  follows : 

The  committee  to  adjust  the  boundary  of  the  Paducah  Presbytery,  report  by 
recommending  that  the  County  of  Union  be  added  to  Paducah  Presbytery,  and 
so  much  of  Christian  County  as  to  include  the  Churches  of  Newstead  and  Lafay- 
ette, together  with  the  Rev.  W.  G.  Allen  and  Rev.  S.  M.  Luckett,  of  the  Muhlenburg 
Presbytery;  and  that  said  Presbytery  be  directed  to  meet  in  Paducah  on  Friday, 
before  the  first  Sabbath  in  April,  1867,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  that  Rev.  C.  A. 
Campbell  open  Presbytery  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  is  elected; 
Rev.  C.  A.  Campbell  is  further  empowered  to  call  a  meeting  of  Presbytery,  at  such 
time  and  place  as  he  may  think  besi,  if  he  deem  a  meeting  desirable  before  the 
time  above  named. 

Eev.  J.  Woodbridge,  from  the  committee  on  Devotional  exercises, 
reported,  making  appointments  for  preaching  to-night  at  7' o'clock 
in  this  house,  by  Eev.  C.  B.  Davidson;  to-morrow  morning  at  9 
o'clock,  Eev.  D.  P.  Young  to  the  Children  ;  at  11  o'clock,  Eev.  S. 
Eobinson ;  at  3  o'clock,  the  Moderator,  Eev.  E.  Douglass ;  and  Eev. 
Dr.  W.  W.  Hill  and  B.  M.  Hobson  to  administer  the  Communion ; 
and  Eev.  S.  E.  Wilson  to  preach  at  night.  At  the  Methodist  Church 
at  11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  Eev.  T.  A.  Bracken ;  and  at  night,  Eev.  S.  Eobin- 
son. In  the  Baptist  Church  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  Eev.  E.  L.  Breck, 
and  at  Eace  Creek  at  the  same  hour,  Eev.  J.  M.  Scott.  Eeport  ac- 
cepted and  approved. 

Eev.  S.  Eobinson  presented  a  paper  indicating  matters  which  he 
thought  desirable  for  Synodical  action,  viz : 


14 

1.  The  appointment  of  a  committee  on  Missions,  pledging  the  Synod  to  an  effort 
to  raise  Twenty  Thousand  Dollars  ($20,000)  for  Missionary  purposes,during  the  year. 

2.  A  committee  of  Evangelists  to  visit  all  the  Churches,  and  expound  to  the  peo- 
ple our  position  and  purposes,  and  secure  vigorous  action . 

3.  A  committee  to  visit  such  Churches  and  communities  in  the  States  North  of  us, 
as  may  desire  it,  with  a  view  to  secure  their  co-operation  in  restoring  the  Assembly, 
as  it  was  before  the  war. 

4.  A  committee  to  confer  with  conservative  men  at  the  General  Assembly  at 
Cincinnati,  and  urge  upon  them  co-operation  with  all  of  like  sentiments  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  to  secure  some  arrangement  by  which  those  who  desire  Union 
with  the  New  School  may  unite  with  them,  and  those  who  do  not,  may  unite  in  one 
Assembly. 

5.  A  committee  to  request  the  General  Assembly  at  Memphis,  to  re-affirm  the 
principles  of  the  Macon  Assembly's  letter,  and  to  adopt  the  principles  contained  in 
the  several  testimonies  made  by  us  against  political  action  of  Church  Courts,  and 
to  express  our  sympathy  with  their  distress,  and  our  readiness  to  aid  them  in  car- 
rying on  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

The  paper  Avas  received,  and  pending  a  motion  to  refer  it  to  the 
committee  on  the  Pastoral  Address,  Synod  adjourned  until  Monday- 
morning,  at  8^  o'clock.     Closed  with  praj^er  by  Rev.  J.  Y.  Logan. 


Monday,  October  15th,  8J  o'clock  A.  M. 
Synod  met  and  spent  half  an  hour  in  Devotional  Exercises.     The 
Minutes   of  Saturday's  sessions  were  read,  amended  and  approved. 

The  committee  appointed  to  jjrepare  a  minute  in  regard  to  the 
three  Judicial  cases  issued  by  this  Synod  last  week,  through  their 
chairman,  Rev.  B.  M.  Hobson,  presented  their  report,  Avhich  was  re- 
ceived, adojited,  and  is  as  follows,  viz : 

The  committee  appointed  to  bring  in  a  suitable  minute  expressing  the  view  ef 
Synod  on  the  three  complaints  uttered  by  certain  members  of  the  Transylvania 
Presbytery  against  that  body,  would  report, 

1.  On  Complaint  No.  I. — This  case  originated  in  the  determination  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Transylvania  to  cai-ry  out  an  order  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  dis- 
qualifying any  Minister  or  Ruling  Elder  who  had  signed  a  certain  protest,  called 
the  "  Declaration  and  Testimony,  "  from  sitting  in  any  Church  Court  higher  than 
a  Church  session.  The  complainants  invoke  the  interposition  of  Synod,  to  relieve 
them  from  the  unjust  and  oppressive  ruling  of  the  Presbytery,  which,  under  said 
order  of  the  Assembly,  refused  to  them  the  rights  of  Presbyters  in  the  House  of  God. 

Among  the  powers  guaranteed  to  the  Synod  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Church, 
is  this,  "  to  redress  whatever  has  been  done  by  Presbyteries  contrary  to  order, " 
and  also,  "  to  take  effectual  care  that  Presbyteries  observe  the  Constitution  of  the 
Church. "  The  Synod  under  its  responsibility  to  the  Head  of  the  Church,  and  in 
the  exercise  of  that  original  jurisdiction  thus  given  it  in  the  Constitution,  upon  a 
hearing  of  the  case,  have  sustained  the  complaint  and  reversed  the  decision  of  the 
Presbytery  for  the  following  reasons: 


15 

1.  Because  the  Assembly  lias  assumed  to  itself,  by  this  one  order  under  ■which  the 
Presbytery  acted,  all  the  powers  apportioned  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  to  all 
the  Judicatories  having  a  place  in  our  system  of  Government.  In  the  face  of  the 
original  jurisdiction,  as  seen  above  given  by  the  Constitution  to  the  Synod  over  the 
Presbyteries,  the  Assembly  assumes  original  control  and  concurrent  jurisdiction, 
in  announcing  to  those  bodies  its  judicial  edicts.  And  again,  when  the  Assembly 
prescribes  the  punishment  the  Presbytery  shall  inflict  on  its  individual  members 
for  an  offence  assumed  to  be  such  simply  by  construction,  it  not  only  degrades  the 
Presbytery  from  its  original  jurisdiction  over  its  own  members,  but  makes  them  the 
blind  instruments  of  inflicting  a  penalty,  without  the  concurrence,  it  may  be,  of 
their  own  moral  sense ;  thus  suspending  that  careful  investigation  of  charges  pre- 
scribed in  our  Discipline,  as  well  as  the  right  of  every  one  to  have  process  entered 
against  him  in  the  Presbytery  of  which  he  is  a  member.  It  is  thus  that  the  Assem- 
bly not  only  assumes  the  powers  given  to  Sjnods  and  Presbyteries,  bat  also  assumes 
the  power  of  adjudging  the  Ruling  Elders,  who  may  have  signed  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony,  to  be  unworthy  of  a  delegated  place  in  the  Presbytery,  and  in  this 
way  usurps  the  prerogative  of  a  Church  session  to  judge  of  the  good  standing  of  its 
members.  A  claim  of  power  so  vast  in  its  results,  is  competent  to  supersede  all  the 
Courts  of  the  Church,  and  inaugurate  a  despotism,  which  God's  Presbyterian  people 
have  never  yet  been  able  to  bear. 

2.  In  addition  to  this  consideration,  the  principle  involved  in  this  self-enforcing 
order  of  the  Assembly,  might  be  used  to  work  even  the  dissolution  of  the  whole 
Church,  by  presenting  to  Church  Sessions,  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  the  alternatives 
of  obedience  to  orders  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  dissolution  on  the  other.  From  such 
consequences  flowing  from  the  unconstitutional  exercise  of  power  by  the  General 
Assembly,  the  Synod  recurs  to  the  well  adjusted  powers  of  our  several  Courts,  and 
especially  to  the  delegated  and  well  defined  powers  of  the  Assembly,  with  the  assu- 
rance that  the  present  decision  of  Synod  is  righteous,  and  that  the  just  administra- 
tion of  our  system  will,  with  the  blessings  of  its  Head,  work  no  evil  to  the  Church. 

2.  Complaint  No.  II  calls  for  the  interposition  of  Synod  in  the  behalf  of  Rev.  G.  0. 
Barnes  and  the  Stanford  Church,  This  brother  had  received  a  call  to  said  Church. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Church,  resolutions  had  been  adopted  adverse  to  certain  acts  of 
the  General  Assembly,  while  other  resolutions  expressing  unabated  attachment  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church  were  also  passed  at  the  same  meeting,  A  minority  of  the 
Church,  numbering  16  out  of  118,  assumed  the  departure  of  the  majority  from  the 
Piesbyterian  faith.  On  this  basis  the  Transylvania  Presbytery  received  the  only 
Elder  representing  the  minority,  to  the  exclusion  of  one  representing  the  session 
and  the  majority  of  the  Church,  and  recognized  the  minority  as  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Stanford.  A  call  from  the  majority  was  laid  before  Presbytery,  for  the 
pastoral  services  of  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes;  the  Presbytery  received,  but  declined  placing 
the  call  in  his  hands,  and  deferred  action  on  the  subject  for  a  year. 

After  recognizing  the  minority  as  the  Church  of  Stanford,  it  was  a  singular 
proceedure  in  the  Presbytery  to  entertain  the  call  of  the  majority  for  the  pastoral 
services  of  Mr.  Barnes,  which  was  done  when  they  deferred  placing  the  call  in  his 
hands  for  a  year.  The  recognition  of  the  minority  as  the  Church  of  Stanford  had 
superseded  the  existence  of  any  other  Church  at  Stanford,  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Transylvania ;  but  yet  said  Presbytery  asssumes  to  exercise  juris- 
diction in  the  cases,  and  only  uses  it,  as  the  event  shows,  to  secure  vexatious,  schis- 
matical  ends. 


16 

Another  and  grave  error  committed  by  the  Presbytery,  was  the  recognition  of 
the  minority  and  their  Elder,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  majority  and  their  Elder. 
It  was  not  alleged  the  majority  had,  and  so  far  as  the  Record  shows,  they  had  not 
violated  any  Constitutional  rule  of  the  Church,  nor  were  they  guilty  of  any  offence 
and  amenable  to  discipline.  They  had  only  claimed  to  refuse  obedience  to  certain 
acts  of  the  Assembly,  on  which  it  was  allowable  to  differ  with  Synods  and  Councils 
that  may  err,  and  have  often  erred. 

In  short,  they  had  only  claimed  to  do  what  the  Presbytery,  as  concerning  some  of 
these  acts,  had  done  before  them,  saying  they  ''  exceed  the  powers  of  the  Assembly, 
and  are  unwise  and  inexpedient ;  "J  "  impossible  of  execution  where  they  were  in- 
tended to  be  enforced,  therefore  nugatory  as  to  their  design."  And  yet  this  Pres- 
bytery, without  any  departure  on  the  part  of  the  Church  from  the  faith  of  God's 
people,  and  without  any  offence  against  the  established  order  of  the  house  of  God, 
and  instructing  the  Church  in  disapprobation  to  certain  acts  of  the  Assembly,  in 
their  own  published  minutes,  this  Presbytery,  we  say,  attempts  to  invest  a  portion 
of  this  Church  with  all  the  rights  of  the  Church,  and  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  at- 
tempts to  place  the  minority  in  a  position  to  secure  the  Church  property.  So  grave 
acts  of  injustice  and  attempted  fraud  on  the  rights  of  our  people,  to  the  credit  of  hu- 
manity be  it  said,  have  been  but  seldom  known.  This  Synod,  therefore,  will  redress 
the  wrongs  presented  in  this  complaint,  and  having  given  the  same  a  careful  ex- 
amination, sustains  not  only  pro  forma,  but  de  jure,  the  complaint,  and  reverses  the 
decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  in  the  case,  hereby  ordering  that  the 
majority  resume  all  their  rights,  and  that  the  call  for  the  pastoral  services  of  Rev, 
G.  0.  Barnes  be  placed  in  his  hands  at  a  meeting  of  Presbytery,  if  the  way  be  clear, 
which  the  Synod  hereby  appoints  to  be  held  at  Stanford,  on  Thursday  before  the 
second  Sabbath  of  November  next,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  to  attend  to  this,  and  any 
other  business  which  may  ordei'ly  come  before  it. 

3.  In  Complaint  No.  Ill,  it  is  represented  that  the  Presbytei-y  of  Transylvania 
received  H.  W.  McKee,  a  licentiate,  upon  certificate  of  a  body  claiming  to  be  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,but  known  only  as  a  schismatical  faction  of  said  Presbytery; 
which  representation  of  the  complainants  is  sustained  by  the  official  publication  of 
the  minutes  of  Transylvania  Presbytery. 

This  Synod  declines  the  acknowledgment  that  any  acts  of  said  minority,  that 
schismatically  separated  themselves  from  the  Presbji-tery  of  Louisville,  are  to  be  re- 
garded and  treated  as  of  authority  and  validity  in  the  Presbyteries  or  Churches  un- 
der our  care.  The  said  faction  issuifig  said  certificate  is  the  product  of  the  unconsti- 
tutional exercise  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  which  assumed 
to  exercise  original  jurisdiction  over  Presbyteries  and  their  members,  and  over 
Church  Sessions  and  their  individual  members  as  well.  And  being  firmly  persuaded 
that  in  the  existence  of  said  faction  is  presented  the  perversion  of  the  Constitution 
under  which  we  are  recognized  as  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  our  rights  in  the 
house  of  God,  and  our  franchises  under  the  laws  of  Kentucky,  we  utterly  disclaim 
and  repudiate  every  act  of  said  faction,  or  any  other  in  like  circumstances,  as  utter- 
ly illegal  and  void,  and  not  to  be  recognized  by  our  Church  Courts  for  any  purposes 
whatever. 

The  Synod  having  heard  and  examiaed  the  said  complaint,  do  hereby  sustain  the 
same  and  reverse,  j5ro /orma,  the  action  of  said  Presbytery,  yet  Dot  designing  by 
this  action,  to  decide  as  to  the  validity  of  any  subsequent  steps  which  may  have 
been  taken  with  reference  to  Mr.  McKee. 


17 

Sj-nocl  ordered  the  PresLj^tery  of  Transylvania  to  meet  immediatelj^ 
in  the  Lecture  Eoom  of  this  Church,  to  attend  to  important  business. 

The  case  of  the  Henderson  Church  in  regard  to  a  change  of  Pres- 
byterial  connection,  whicli  was  referred  by  the  last  Synod  to  this, 
Avas,  on  motion  of  Eev.  J.  Woodbridge,  indefinitely  postponed. 

The  complaint  of  Rev.  J.  P.  McMillan,  referred  to  this  Synod,  was, 
on  motion,  dismissed,  no  prosecutor  in  the  case  having  appeared. 

A.  Davidson,  Louisville,  was  elected  Treasurer,  of  Synod,  and  the 
ninety-one  dollars  ($91.00)  collected  at  this  Synod,  was  ordered  to 
paid  over  to  him.  The  usual  fee  often  dollars  to  the  Sexton,  our  friends 
of  the  Hender-  son  Church,  insisted  upon  paying,  themselves.  Synod 
ordered  its  Treasurer  to  furnish  the  Stated  Clerk  Avitli  funds  sufficient 
to  procure  a  book  suitable  for  its  records ;  also,  for  Stationery,  Stamps, 
and  the  publication  of  the  Minutes  of  Synod. 

Eev.  E.  G.  Brank,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  the 
Assembly,  presented  their  report,  which  Avas  received,  amended  and 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz: 

The  Committee  appointed  on  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  report  that  the 
action  taken  by  the  last  Assembly  in  many  matters,  vitally  affects  the  interests  of 
the  Lord's  Kingdom,  and  calls  for  the  serious  attention  and  deliberate  action  of  this 
Synod;  and  especially  is  its  judgment  required  in  such  matters  where  the  action 
of  the  Assembly  relates  directly  or  specifically  to  the  affairs  and  duties  of  the  Church 
within  the  bounds  of  this  Synod. 

I.  The  Assembly,  by  the  passage  of  a  mere  resolution,  known  as  tlie  MacLean 
paper,  found  on  page  12,  printed  Minutes,  without  any  form  of  trial,  without  the  lib- 
ei'ty  of  a  hearing,  and  by  an  oppressive  operation  of  the  Previous  Question,  excluded 
the  Commissioners  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  after  their  credentials  had  been  re- 
ceived, their  nanres  enrolled,  and  they  had  taken  their  seats  in  the  body,  thus  de- 
priving that  Presbytery  of  its  right  of  ref)reseutation  in  the  body  ;  and  in  stating  the 
reasons  of  such  action,  the  Assembly  has  assumed  as  valid  evidence,  impeaching  the 
ministerial  standing  of  one  of  these  Commissioners,  unfounded  rumors  in  relation  to 
the  cause  of  that  minister's  absence  from  the  country.  It  is,  perhaps,  also  worthy  of 
notice  that  the  letter  of  said  Commissioners,  giving  reasons  why  they  could  not  re- 
turn to  the  Assembly,  although  couched  in  respectful  terms,  was  refused  admission 
to  record. 

II.  On  page  GO,  the  Committee  find  the  resolutions,  known  as  the  Gurley  paper, 
Ijy  the  adoption  of  which  the  Assembly  has  infringed  upon  the  exclusive  vested 
rights  and  jurisdiction  of  Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  Sessions  ;  and  in  the  aiiplication 
of  these  resolutions,  the  Assembly  has  determined  the  incompetency  and  unfitness  of 
a  Minister  to  sit  in  Presbytery  and  the  higher  Courts,  while  admitting  and  allowing 
his  comjietency  and  fitness  to  discharge  the  functions  of  the  pastorate,  which  of  itself, 
qualifies  him  for,  and  constitutes  his  right  to,  a  seat  in  the  Presbytery  or  Synod. 
And,  furthermore,  in  the  declared  contingent  dissolution  of  Presbyteries,  the  Assem- 
bly has  attributed  to  its  measures  and  ordinances,  resulting  from  that  overstretch  of 
power,  a  force  and  operation  countenanced  by  no  provision  or  principle  of  the  Consti-- 
tution  of  the  Church. 


The  committee  cannot  fail  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Synod  to  various  other  acts  of 
the  Assembly,  which  call  for  its  grave  (lisaj^iirobation ;  such  as  the  appointment 
of  the  committee  to  arrange  for  a  re-union  with  the  Nero  School,  pji.  44  and  48  ;  tlie 
action  of  the  Assembly  on  Overture  Ko.  20,  in  reference  to  the  Walnut  Street  Church, 
Louisville,  page  54  ;  the  approval  of  the  memorial  of  the  Convention,  page  80  ;  the 
spirit  and  affirmations  of  tlie  pastoral  letter,  page  82  ;  also  the  iiropo=;fil  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  Danville  Theological  Seminary,  page  45. 

Your  committee  would  also  api>roviiig]y  call  the  attention  of  Synod  to  the  recom- 
mendation of  a  week  of  praj^er,  on  page  CO  ;  and,  also,  to  the  recommendation  of  the 
last  Thursday  of  Februarj',  as  a  day  of  prayer  for  Youth,  Schools  and  Colleges,  p.  :J3. 

Sjniod  appointed  T.  W.  Bullock,  R.  L.  Breck  and  E.  G.  Brank,  a 
committee  and  ordered  them  to  ascertain  as  soon  as  possible,  the  rights 
of  Synod  in  regard  to  Centre  College,  and  report  to  the  next  meeting 
of  Synod. 

The  Eev.  CI.  11.  Rout  presented  a  paper,  which  Avas  received.  The 
Rev.  S.  Robinson  read  a  paper  which  he  had  leave  to  substitute  for 
his  paper  read  on  Saturday,  which  Avith  the  paper  of  Rev.  G.  H. 
Rout,  was  referred  to  the  following  special  committee  on  Missions, 
viz:  R.  L  .  Breck,  S.  Robinson,  C  H.  Rout,  B.  M.  Hobson,  R.-K. 
Smoot  and  J.  T.  Hendrick. 

Rev.  Joel  Lambert,  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Sjniod  of  Green 
River,  was  invited  to  take  a  seat  as  a  corresponding  member  of  this 
Synod. 

It  was  made  the  first  order  of  the  day,  to-morrow  morning,  to  hear 
and  consider  the  report  of  the  committee  on  the  Pastoral  Address. 

Synod  ordered  the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg  to  hold  a  meeting 
immediately. 

The  committee  appointed  to  ascertain  the  number  and  strength  of 
the  constituent  members  of  Synod,  &c.,  who  withdrew  from  the  Sj-nod 
obtained  leave  to  have  R.  K.  Smoot  and  D.  P.  Young  added  to  their 
committee,  and  were  directed  to  report  to-morrow  morning,  after  the 
Pastoral  Address  had  been  acted  upon. 

The  committee^of  Bills  and  Overtures,  reported  Overture  Xo.  o, 
being  a  request  from  the  Louisville  Presbytery  for  the  advice  of 
Synod  in  the  matter  of  an  application  to  send  a  Missionary,  and  or- 
ganize a  Church  Avithout  the  bounds  of  this  body,  and  recommend  the 
following  answer : 

Resolved,  That  the  Synod  refer  this,  and  .'similar  applicalions,  to  the  discretion  of 
the  Presbyteries  on  the  Northern  border  of  this  Svnod.    Adopted.    Svnod  took  I'oces 
until  2  o'clock,  P.  ]\I. 


2  o'clock  p.  m. 

Synod  met.     The  Presbyteries  were  directed  to  send  up  a  Statisti- 
cal report  to  Synod  at  its  next  Stated  meeting. 


19 

Eev.  J.  T.  Hendrick  and  Elder  A.  A.  Casseday,  had  leave  of  absence 
after  this  afternoon's  sessions. 

Sjniod  directed  the  Stated  Clerk  to  have  printed  two  hundred 
copies  of  the  Minutes,  additional  to  the  three  hundred  required  by 
the  standing  order  of  Synod. 

The  committee  on  the  Eecords  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  pre- 
sented a  report  -which  was  received,  adopted  and  is  as  follows,  viz : 

The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  Louisville  Presbytery,  report 
them  orderly  and  well  kept  up  to  page  158,  with  the  following  exception  on  page  124: 
In  the  case  of  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation  of  Rev.  Jno.  C.  Young  Avith 
the  Second  Church,  Louisville,  it  appears  the  relation  was  dissolved  without  Prcf^^j'- 
tery  first  citing  the  congregation  to  appear,  by  their  Commissioners,  at  their  next 
meeting,  to  show  cause  why  Presbytery  should  not  accept  the  resignation,  according 
to  Form  of  Government,  chapter  XVII. 

Eev.  E.  L.  Breck,  from  the  Committee  to  whom  Messrs.  Eout  and 
Eobinson's  papers  were  referred,  presented  their  report,  whi^h  was 
taken  up,  considered  and  adopted  item  by  item,  and  then  adopted  as 

a  Avhole,  and  is  as  follows: 

The  refusal  of  this  Synod  to  recognize  the  validity  of  certain  acts  of  the  General 
Assembly,  hitherto  held,  by  men  of  all  parties  among  us,  to  be  unconstitutional  and, 
therefore,  uU  nand  void,  having  led  to  the  secession  of  a  number  of  Ministers  and  a  few 
of  the  Churches  from  this  body,  it  seems  not  only  proper,  but  an  imperative  duty  to  set 
forth,  for  the  information  of  our  own  Churches,  and  of  all  who  have  held  "  like  pre- 
cious faith  with  us,"  concerning  the  sphere  of  the  Church,  the  views  and  purposed 
action  of  the  Synod  in  this  emergency. 

First  of  all,  it  is  not  the  j^urpose  of  this  S\'nod  to  make  any  change  of  its  formal 
ecclesiastical  relations,  but  to  continue  to  stand  in  its  present  position  of  open  pro- 
test and  resistance  to  the  enforcement  of  the  acts  of  the  General  Assemblies  of  1861- 
60,  concerning  "  Doctrine,  Loyalty  and  Freedom,"  as  xmconstitutional,  and,  there- 
fore, null  and  void. 

Xovertheless,  as  this  Synod  did,  in  186j,  declare  its  prayerful  trust  "that  in  the 
good  providence  of  God,  a  way  be  opened  for  a  re-txnion  undert  he  General  Assembly, 
of  all  who  profess  the  faith  and  adhere  to  the  standards,  and  love  the  order  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,"  so  now  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  body  to  shape  its  action  with 
reference  to  that  desire  and  to  the  fact,  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  this  body  stands 
in  a  position  toward  both  sections  of  the  Church,  which  specially  qualifies  it  for  the 
work  of  me-  diation  between  them.  On  the  one  hand  it  stands  in  full  sympathy  with  a 
large  body  of  Conservative  Ministers  and  people  in  the  Northern  Assembly,  and  with 
the  Synod  of  Missouri,  who  like  ourselves,  have  protested  against  the  same  unconstitu- 
tional acts.  On  the  other  hand,  this  Synod  has  held  that  the  Southern  Churches, 
being  driven  into  a  separation  from  us  by  the  unwise  and  unconstitutional  acts  of  our 
General  Assembly,  and  by  circumstances  beyond  their  control,  are,  therefore,  not  schis- 
matical ;  and  those  Churches  are  understood  to  symj^athize  fully  with  this  Synod  in 
its  princijjles  concerning  the  sphere  of  the  Church.  These  facts  make  it  very  appa- 
rent that  this  body  has  a  special  duty  to  discharge  in  the  way  of  promoting  re-union. 
And,  therefore,  while  it  proceeds  with  vigorous  action  to  sustain  its  views  of  truth, 
will  not  forget  its  relations  to  brethren  of  the  Lord  on  either  side.  In  accordance 
with  these  general  views,  the  Synod  will  at  this  time  take  the  following  action : 


20 

1.  Appoint  a  central  committee  of  Missions  to  which  shall  be  entrusted  the  work  of 
supporting  Missionaries  within  our  bounds,  and  sustaining  such  feeble  Churches,  as  by 
reason  of  sympathy  with  the  views  of  this  Synod,  are  cut  off  from  support  by  the 
Board  of  Missions  at  Thiladelphia. 

2.  The  Synod  will  make  an  effort  to  raise,  if  needful,  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars  ($20,000),  to  be  expended  by  this  committee  during  this  year.  It  will  appor- 
tion that  sum  to  be  raised  among  our  Churches,  according  to  their  number  and 
ability,  and  authorize  the  committee  of  Missions  to  send  a  messenger  or  messengers 
to  the  Churches  to  collect  it. 

3.  The  Synod  hereby  invites  all  Presbyterian  Ministers,  and  people  who  concur 
with  us  in  protesting  against  the  present  course  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions 
at  Ailadclphia,  to  co-ojierate  in  the  Missionary  work  through  the  Synod's  commit- 
tee, and  will  instruct  its  committee  to  deal  with  the  utmost  liberality,  that  its  means 
and  the  rights  of  our  own  Churches  will  admit  of,  toward  Missionaries  and  Congre- 
gations without  our  bounds,  who  may  desire  aid.  The  Synod  will  also  instruct  its 
committee  in  carrying  forward  its  work  to  render  such  incidental  aid  as  may  be 
within  Its  power,  to  Ministers  and  Congregations  in  the  Western  and  Southern 
Stales,  esjjecially,  such  as  are  suffering  from  the  persent  distress ;  and  to  act  as  agents 
loi-  forwarding  such  funds  as  may  be  contributed  specially  for  that  object. 

4.  The  Synod,  in  addition  to  a  joastoral  address  to  the  Churches,  hereby  requests 
its  Ministers  to  act  as  Evangelists,  to  visit  all  the  Congregations  within  our  bounds, 
and  expound  to  the  peojjle  our  present  position  and  purposes,  and  sec-ure  their  cor- 
dial co-operation  in  this  action. 

5.  This  Synod  also  hereby  expresses,  on  the  one  hand,  its  sympathy  and  its  readi- 
ness to  co-ojierate  with  such  conservative  brethren  in  the  I>rorthern  A«sembly  as 
desire  to  return  to  the  old  paths;  and  on  the  other  hand,  its  symi^athy  with,  and 
readiness  to  assist  to  the  utmost  of  its  ability,  the  brethren  of  the  Southern  Churches  ; 
and  at  the  sanie  time,  expresses  the  hoiDo  that  they  will  evincea  readiness  to  co-operate 
with  all  conservative  men,  North  and  South,  in  a  common  effort  to  restore  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  as  it  was  before  the  war,  (jn  the  basis  of  those  ancient  conservative 
])rinciples  of  Prcsbytcrianism,  for  which  this  Synod  is  contending. 

S3'nod  decided  to  locate  the  Executive  committee  of  Missions  at 
Louisville  ;  the  whole  committee  to  consist  of  thirteen  members,  one 
from  each  Presbytery  and  seven  from  the  State  at  large.  The  members 
are  as  follows;  Ebenezer—U.O.DnYies;  LouisviUe-AY. 'W.HiW;  MvMen- 
hunj — E.  K.  Smoot;  Paducah — J.  T,  Hendrick;  Tmn-'ojlvania — D.  P. 
Young;   West  Lexington — E.  G.  Brank. 

From  the  State  othenrise — W.  B.  Kinkead,  S.  Casseday,  G.  W.  Mor- 
ris, A.  A.  Gordon  and  J.  II.  liubcr,  Ruling  Elders ;  and  S.  Eobinson 
and  S.  E.  Wilson,  Miiiisters. 

Synod  cmpoAvered  the  committee  to  appoint  their  own  treasurer 
and  sccretar}'.  The  committee  is  ordered  to  meet  in  this  house  at 
12  M.  to-morrow. 

Adjourned  until  8J  o'clock  A.  M.,  to-morrow.  Closed  willi  prayer 
by  Eev.  S.  Eobinson. 


21 

Tuesday  Morxing,  October  IGth,  8^  o'clock. 

Synod  came  to  order,  and  spent  half  an  hour  in  religions  worship. 
The  Minutes  of  yesterday  n^ere  read  and  approved. 

Sjniod  directed  the  Missionary  committee  to  apportion  the  820,000 
to  he  raised  by  our  Presbyteries,  for  Domestic  Missions. 

On  motion  of  Eev.  Dr.  Hill,  Sj'uod  ordered  the  committee,  of  Do- 
mestic Missions  to  meet  once  in  three  months,  and  at  each  meeting, 
to  revise  the  doings  of  the  Executive  committee  in  the  interim,  and 
approve  or  censure  them,  and  give  general  direction  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Executive  committee. 

The  committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  Overture  'No.  4, 
being  a  memorial  from  the  members  of  the  Cliurch  at  Harrodsburg, 
recommending  that  Sjniod  order  a  Minute  to  be  made  of  the  reception 
of  the  memorial,  and  that  it  be  referred  to  Transylvania  Presbytery 
for  sitch  action  as  may  seem  proper.     Adopted. 

A  similar  Overture  from  the  session  of  the  First  Church,  Danville, 
was  reported  by  the  committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures,  with  a  recom- 
mendation similar  to  the  above,  and  that  it  be  also  referred  to  the 
Presbj'tery  of  Transylvania,  to  take  appropriate  action  tliereon. 

Rev.  E.  Morrison,  from  the  committee  concerning  the  number  and 
strength  of  the  Ministers  and  other  persons  who  withdrew  from  the 
Sj-nod,  presented  their  report,  which  was  received,  approved,  and  is 
as  follows,  viz ; 

The  committee  ajipoiutcd  by  tlic  Synod  to  ascertain,  as  far  as  possible,  the  number 
of  the  Ministers  and  Elders,  who  withdrew  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  on  the 
night  of  the  10th  of  October,  18GG,  as  M'ell  as  the  number  and  strength  of  the  Chiirclies 
thus  represented,  hereby  respectfully  report,  viz  : 

According  to  the  printed  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  Sj'iiod  of  Kentucky, 
during  the  last  year,  had  on  its  roll  one  hundred  and  eight  (108)  Ministers,  in  its  six 
Presbyteries,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  (16.")  Churches,  with  a  membership  of 
eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  (11.250). 

Of  these  108  Ministers,  according  to  information  deemed  reliable  and  trustworthy, 
thirty-two  (32)  withdrew  from  the  Synod  on  the  10th  Oct.  18GG,  taking  with  them 
twenty-eight  (28)  Ruling  Elders  representing  a  membersliip,  not  varying  far  from 
eighteen  hundred  (1800)  persons. 

Of  these  32  Ministers,  seven  (7)  are  Pastors,  fifteen  (15)  are  Avithout  charge,  or  are 
not  statedly  preaching  to  any  Congrogatirm,  nine  (0)  are  stated  supplies,  and  one  is 
an  Evangelist. 

The  following  is  a  brief  summary  of- those  Ministers  and  Elders  withdrawing  from 
Synod,  so  far  as  relates  to 


99 


PRFSEVTEKIES. 

MINISTERS. 

PASTOnS. 

STATED 
SUPPLIES. 

WITHOUT 
CHARGE. 

ELDERS. 

MEMBERS. 

Ebcncxcr, 

LouisvjUc, 

MiiJilenbiivfj, 

Padiirnh, 

Transylvania, 

W.  Lexington, 

7 

4 

1 

13 

4 

1 

0 
1 
0 
2 

0 

1 

1 

0 
7 
0 

0 
2 

1 

7 
0 
1 
15 
4 

20 

70(1 

0 

90 

740 

300 

TOTAL, 

;!2         i           7 

<J 

1.^ 

2S 

1850 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Ministers  and  Elders  as  above: 

Ehenezcr : 

Ministers— II.  r.  Thompson,  W.  C.  ;  J.  F.  lIoiKly,  T.  ;  P.  11.  Unnston.  W.  C.  i 
EIiicr—\\.  M.  Talton. 

LonlsviUe : 

.Ministers— J.  II.  Dinsmore,  W.  C.  :  R.  Valentine,  P.;  J.  L.  McKee,  P.:  W.  C. 
Matthews,  S.  S.  ;  J.  P.  McMillan,  P.  :  J.  B.  MeDonnall,  W.  C.  :  J.  C.  Young,  ^X.  C. 
Eldcrs—C.  Bradley,  R.  Cooper,  J.  A.  Miller,  B.  ITnll,  S.  MeWilliams,  J.  B.  Kinkcad, 
T.  J.  Ilaelnicy.  * 

MahlenhiU'if: 

Ministers—A.  C.  Dickerson,  W.  C.  ;  S.  Y.  Onrvison,  W.  C.  :  A.  P.  Metcalfe,  W.  C. ; 
A.  P.nnkin,  t>.  S.  :     Xo  Elders, 

I'{fdi!caJi : 

Mi, lister — T."  ILiwihorne.     Elder—A.  Pean. 

Tran.sj/lcauia: 

Ministers— A.  A.  Hogne,  S.  8.  ;  P.  A.  Johnston,  V/.  C.  ;  S.  S.  McPoberts,  ^^'.  C.  ; 
S.  B.  Cheek,  W.  C. ;  E.  P.  Ilnniphi-ey,  W.  C. :  Jas.  Matthews,  S.  S. ;  W.  J.  McKnight, 
S.  S. ;  11.  II.  Allen,  W.  C. :  J.  T.  Lapsley,  Evaug. ;  G.  J.  Reed,  S.  S. ;  W.  L.  Breckin- 
ridge, S.  S. ;  J.  II.  Byers,  S.  S. ;  II.  W.  McKee,  S.  S.  Elders— ^V.  II.  PaAvling,  G. 
W.  Welch,  J.  Wilson,  W.  W.  Owsley,  T.  T.  Alexander,  G.  T.  Wood,  P.  J.  Cnrry,  J. 
W.  Byers,  B.  N.  Penick,  J.  E.  Ilior,  J.  T.  Williiims,  John  Askins,  Tho^.  Reed.  W. 
n.  Wherref.  8.  W.  Moore. 

Jf'eM  Lf.r hi f/toii  : 

Ministers— R.  J.  Breckinridge,  W.  C.  :  John  Smith  Hays,  P.  ;  S.  Yerkcs.  AV.  C.  ;  J. 
K.  Lyle,  P.     Elders— T.  Bush,  J._B.  Ilarned,  S.  C.  Bull,.W.  F.  Allen. 

Synod  resolved  that  when  it  ndjounis.  it  will  be  to  meet  in  the  Secon*^! 
Church,  Lotiisville,  at  the  call  of  the  }iIoderator,  wlio  is  empowered 
to  call  a  meeting,  if  in  his  judgment  it  be  deemed  neeessar}'. 

The  Missionary  committee  presented  their  report  on  tlic  apportion- 
ment of  the820,000,  to  be  raised  during  tlie  year,  for  Domestic  Missions. 

It  was  received  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz  : 

Louisville, S7.000  ;  West  Lexington,  §4.000  :  Transylvanin,  84.000  ;  Ebenezer,  82.:.00  ; 
Muhlenhurg,  $1,500  ;  Paducah,  .Sl.OOO. 

The  committee  were  authorized,  also,  to  apportion  tlio  amount  to 
be  raised  b}'  the  several  Churches  in  each  Presbytery. 


23 

Eev.  S.  E.  "Wilson  offered  the  following  resolutions,  which  were 
adopted,  viz  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Synod's  commiltee  of  jMissions  be  authorized  to  confer  with  any 
committee  (should  such  be  appointed),  from  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  with  the  view  of 
securing  the  co-operation  of  the  two'  Synods  in  the  effort  to  restore  tlie  purity  and 
unity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  of  Missions  be  authorized  to  receive  funds  collected 
for  Education,  and  appropriate  them  to  the  use  of  such  young  men  seeking  for  the 
Ministry,  as  may  be  recommended  to  them  by  (lie  Presbyteries  under  whose  care 
the}'  have  been  taken. 

Rev.  R.  L.  Breck,  Chairiuaii  of  the  oomniiti,ee  on  the  Pastoral  Address,  jiresentcd 
their  report,  which  was  read,  received  and  unanimously  adopted,  and  Synod  ordered 
the  Stated  Clerk  to  have  three  thousand  copies  of  the  Address  printed.  The  motion  to 
print  500  copies  of  the  minutes  of  Synod,  was  re-considered,  and  it  was  agreed  to 
publish  2500  copies,  including  the  above  address,  for  general  circulation,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  Rev.  S.  Robinson,  Rev.  AV.  T.  McEIroy  and  A.  Davidson,  who  are  appointed 
a  committee  for  their  distribution. 

Still  further,  all  the  Ministers  and  Rniling  Elders  in  vacant  Churches  in  our  bounds, 
are  enjoined  to  see  that  the  above  Address  be  read  to  their  Congregations,  at  as  early 
a  day  as  practicable. 

Rev.  Dr.  Eobinisoii  ofl'ercd,  :ind  S_ynod  iinaniuiously  adopted  the 
following : 

Resoli-ed,  Tliat  the^thanks  of  this  Synod  be  presented  to  the  good  people  of  Hen- 
derson, for  their  unbounded  hospitality  an<l  kindness  to  the  members  of  Synod  during 
our  sojourn  here;  also,  the  expression  of  our  admiration  at  the  singular  wisdom  and 
prudence  which  have  characterized  their  courtesy  to  all  i)a)-ties  under  the  trying  cir- 
cumstances of  the  present  meeting. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  Synod  be  presented  to  tiie  officers  and  people  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Henderson,  and  also  to  our  brethren  of  the  Methodist, 
Baptist,  and  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Churches,  for  the  courteous  tender  of  their 
Church  buildings  for  the  use  of  Synod. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  Synod  be  tendered  to  the  proprietors  of  the  Louisville 
and  Henderson  Packet  Company,  and  to  the  Louisville  and  Lexington,  and  the 
Louisville  and  Is'ashville  Railroads,  for  the  courtesy  of  furnishing  return  tickets  to 
members  going  and  returning  from  Synod. 

The  Minutes  were  read  and  ap]»!(iVL(l. 

* 

The  5th  Standing  Eule  in  regard  Id  llie  Clerk  ealliiig  the  Roll  and, 
marking  absentees,  Avas  susj)ended. 

Synod  then  adjourned  to  meet  in  Lehaiiou,  on  the  Second  Wednesday 
of  October,  1867,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.  Closed  with  singing  of  Hymn 
390 — "Am  I  a  Soldier  of  the  Cross,  iV-c.,"  followed  with  prayer,  and 
the  Apostolic  Benediction  by  the  3I<Kieratoi". 

F.  G.  Straiian,  EUTIIEEFOED  DOUGLASS. 

Stated  Clerl.  Moderator. 

EoBERT  Morrison, 

Temporary  Clerk. 


24 

t 

TRUSTEES  OF  CENTR 

E  COLLGE. 

FIRST  CLASS.-Office 

expires 

1867. 

Rev.  E.  r.  IIujiPHKEY,  Danville 

Tiios. 

Barbee,  K.- 

q.,  Danville, 

Rev.  R.  F.  Caldwell,  Sharpsbursr,                "\V.  Ernst,  Esq., 

I'ovington, 

Gen.  J.  T.  Boyle,  Louisville, 

(r.  Mai 

SUALL,  Es 

].,  Lexington. 

SCOISTD  CLASS.-Office 

expires 

1868. 

G.  F.  Lek,  Esq.,  Danville, 

L.  L.  Warkex,  E 

sq.,  Louisville. 

Hon.  T.  T.  Alexaxdets,  Cohiinb 

a,                 Rev.  E 

.  Form AN, 

Walnut  Hill. 

Bcv.  R.  L.  Breck,  Richnioiid, 

THIRD  CLASS.-Office 

expires 

1869. 

•Hon.  W.  B.  KixKEAD,  Walnut  Hill,               Dr.  J. 

M.  jMeyer 

,  Danville, 

Rev.  M.  Saunders,  Springlleld, 

J.  G.  P 

HiLiPS,  Esq.,  Lebanon, 

Rev.  R.  G.  Brank,  Lexington, 

L  C.  V 

\N  Meter, 

Esq.,  Lexington. 

Rev.  J.  V.  Logan,  Harroclsburg 

' 

TRUSTEES  OF  THEOLOGICAL  FUND. 

Rev.  S.  R.  AVilson,  Louisville. 

S.  Casseday,  Esq 

.,  JjOUi.-<villr. 

Rev.  S.  Robinson,             " 

G.  W.  Morris,  E 

sq.,        •• 

A.  A.  Gordon,  Esq.,          " 

MODERATORS 

••:>  David  Rice, 

OF  THE  SYN( 

)D  OF  1^ 

KENTUCKY. 

Oct.  14,  1802 

Lexington,  Ky., 

•■■Samuel  Shannon, 

" 

Sept.  6,  180;! 

'•■■  James  Kemper, 

Danville, 

Oct.  10,  1804 

■*  James  Blythe, 

" 

Oct.  15,  180.3 

••■■  James  Welsh, 

J^exingion, 

Oct.  21,  ISO G 

•■■  A  r  c  h  i  b  al  d  C  a  m  e  r  o  n , 

"' 

Oct.  20,  1807 

*  William  Williamson, 

a 

Oct.  12,  1808 

*  Samuel  Rannels, 

tl 

Oct.  11,  1809 

■•■Robert  G.  Wilson, 

" 

Oct.  11,  1810 

••■■John  P.  Campbell, 

n 

Oct.    9,  1811 

■■■•  John  Howe, 

ic 

Oct.  14,  1812 

■■■■  James  Blythe, 

Bardstown, 

Oct.  13,  1813 

••■  Samuel  Findley, 

Jjexington, 

Sept.  9,  1814 

*  Robert  Henderson, 

Nashville,  Tenn 

, 

Oct.    4,  1815 

"••■Joseph  B.  Lapsley, 

(t 

Oct.    9,  181G 

•'•■Robert  M.  Cunningham, 

Springfield,  Ky. 

Oct.    8.  1817 

•»  Robert  Marshall, 

Jjexington, 

Oct.  14,  1818                         ! 

*  Thomas  Cleland, 

Danville, 

Oct.  13,  1819 

*  Robert  Stuart, 

Shclbyville, 

Oct.  1 1 ,  1820                         ; 

*  Samuel  K.  Nelson, 

Lexington, 

Oct.  10,  1821                         1 

■»  John  McFarland,         * 

Harrodsburg, 

Oct.  15,  1822 

*  James  K.  Bureh, 

Lexington, 

Oct.    8,  1823 

®  Gideon  Blackburn, 

Shelbyvillc, 

Oct.  13,  1824 

■■■•  James  Blythe, 

Louisville, 

Oct.  12,  1825 

••■  Jeremiah  Chamberlain , 

Danville, 

Oct.  11,  1826 

"■•■James  K.  Bureh, 

it 

Oct.  10,  1827 

•:;^  Eli  Smith, 

tt 

Oct.    3,  1828 

"*  James  C.  Barnes, 

Paris, 

Oct.    8,  1829 

John  D.  Paxton, 

Frankfort, 

Oct.  13,  1830 

■»  John  T.  Edgar, 

Danville, 

Oct.  12,  1831 

■■■John  C.  Young, 

Louisville, 

Oct.  10,  1832 

William  L.  Breckinridge, 

Lexington, 

Oct.    9,  1833 

•••  Andrew  Todd, 

Danville, 

Oct.    8,  18.34 

Nathan  L.  Rice, 

Bowling  Green, 

Oct.  14,  1835 

Samuel  Lynn, 

Bardstown, 

Oct.  12,  1836 

"'■■James  K.  Bureh, 

Danville, 

Oct.  11,  1837 

'^  John  F.  Price, 

Paris, 

Oct.  10,  1838 

25 

James  Hawthorne, 

Ho])kinsville, 

i 

Oct.    9,  1839                          ' 

••■■  Lewis  W.  Green, 

Danville, 

Sept.  24, 1840 

••■•  John  C.  Young, 

Frankfort, 

Oct.  13,  1841                          ! 

■■■  David  C.  Proctor, 

Maysville, 

Oct.  13,  1842                         '' 

Edward  P.  Humphrey. 

Lexington, 

Oct.    4,  1843                         1 

H.  H.  Hopkins, 

Richmond, 

Oct.    9,  1844 

■s  Nathan  H.  Hall, 

Harrodsburg, 

Sept.  2.5, 184.5                          { 

William  C.  Matthews, 

Shelbyville, 

Oak.    I,  1846                          1 

David  T.  Ste^vart, 

Henderson, 

Oct.  13,  1847                          i 

Daniel  L.  Gray, 

Russellville, 

Oct.  12,  1848                         ; 

Robert  J.  Breckinridge, 

Danville, 

Oct.  11,  1849                          i 

Joseph  J.  Bullock, 

Frankfort, 

Oct.    9,  1850                         1 

*  Robert  C.  Gnmdy, 

Louisville, 

Oct.    8,  1851 

John  D.  Matthews, 

Bardstown, 

Oct.  13,  1852 

Benjamin  M.  Hobson, 

Danville, 

Oct.  12,  1853 

John  Montgomery, 

Lexington, 

Oct.  10,  1854 

William  W.  Hill," 

Covington, 

Oct.  10,  1855 

Robert  A.  Johnston, 

Greensburg, 

Oct.    8,  1856 

Robert  F.  Caldwell, 

Shelbyville, 

Oct.  14,  1857 

Stuart  Robinson, 

Lebanon, 

Oct.  13,  1858 

John  H.  Rice, 

Hopkinsville, 

Oct.  1 3,  1859 

Robert  G.  Brank, 

Louisville, 

Oct.  10,  1860 

Aaron  A.  Hogue, 

Harrodsburg, 

Oct.    9,  1861 

S.  Yerkes, 

Paris, 

May    1,  1862                          1 

J.  K.  Lyle, 

Frankfort, 

Oct".  14,  Iboi 

J.  L.  McKee, 

Danville, 

Oct.  13,  1864 

R.  L.  Breck, 

Louisville, 

Oct.  12,  18«5 

R.  Douglas, 

Henderson, 

Oct.  10,  1866 

STATED  CLE 

Whe,i 

RKS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF 

KENTUCKY. 

117((://  elected. 

c/ected. 

»  Robert  Marshall 

1802             «  John  T.  Edgar, 

1822 

•■■James  Welsh, 

1803            «  John  Hudson, 

lo^6 

®  John  P.  Campbell, 

1810                Samuel  Steel, 

1829 

*  Robert  Stewart, 

1812               Robert  Davids.m, 

18,34 

■••■  Thomas  Cleland, 

1821               S.  S.  McRoberts, 

l°tl 

F.  G.  Strahan, 

1866 

•"Deceased. 
4 

THE 


SYNOD  OF   KENTUCKY, 

In  Session  in  Henderson,  October ,  1806, 


Bear  Brethren:  The  extraordinary  po- 
sition in  which  the  Synod  and  the  Church 
in  Kentucky  are  placed,  and  the  difficul- 
ties in  which  they  are  involved  by  the 
events  connected  with  our  present  ses- 
sion, make  it  proper  that  we  address  you 
in  vindication  of  ourselves,  and  in  the 
exercise  of  that  care  for  your  welfare  with 
which  we  are  charged. 

On  the  evening  of  the  10th  instant, 
thirty^-  Ministers  belonging  to  this 
Synod,  and  twenty-sixt  persor.s  claim- 
ing to  be  Ruling  Elders  and  representa- 
tives of  as  many  of  our  churches,  with- 
drew themselves  from  us  by  refusing  to 
answer  to  the  call  of  their  names  and 
churches,  and  subsequently  organizing 
themselves  into  a  body  claiming  the  name 
and  authority  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
and  the  following  day  adjourned  to  meet 
at|another  time  and  place.  One  hundred 
of  your  Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders,  rep- 
resenting all  our  Presbyteries,  regularly 
constituted  by  the  Moderator,  continued 
in  their  places  to  discharge  their  duties  in 
this  judicatory  of  the  Church. 

The  successive  steps  by  which  this  re- 
sult has  been  reached  cannot  be  reviewed 
at  length  in  a  paper  prepared  in  our  cir- 
cumstances. It  is  a  consummation  of 
joint  effects  of  the  unscriptural  deliver- 
ances and  unconstitutional  legislation  of 
the  General  Assembly  during  six  years 
past,  and  the  intemperate  and  divisive 
spirit  with  which  its  offensive  acts  have 
been  sustained  and  its  unlawful  measures 
have  been  pressed  by  parties  among  us. 
From  the  time  the  General  Assembly,  m 
1861,  made  itself  a  party  to  the  civil  strife 
in  our  land,  it  was  painfully  apparent  to 
those  who  loved  the  Church,  and  were  not 
blinded  by  passion,  that  division  must  be 

•Afterwards  increased  to  thirty- two. 
tincreased  to  twenty-eight. 


States,  and  ultimate,  if  the  Assembly 
should  persist  in  that  course,  in  the  bor- 
der States,  and  even  in  the  Northern 
States,  where  public  sentiment  was  then 
less  divided.  It  involved  the  decision  of 
political  questions,  which  made  it  a  neces- 
sity, apart  fi'om  views  they  may  have  en- 
tertained of  separation  by  new  national 
lines,  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  Southern 
Churches,  and  created  disaffection  in  oth- 
er portions  of  the  country  so  far  as  they 
were  divided  in  sentiment  upon  these 
questions.  The  tendency  begun,  aided  by 
the  pressure  of  the  political  excitement  of 
one  section  of  the  country,  and  lavored 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  conservative 
element  of  the  other,  made  rapid  advance 
in  deliverances  and  acts  of  the  Assembly, 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  many,  were  a 
prostitution  of  the  powers  of  the  Church 
to  secular  and  partisan  ends,  and,  to  the 
extent  of  the  authority  of  the  Assem- 
bly, virtually  enlisted  the  Church  in  one 
of  the  great  political  parties  dividing  the 
people.  To  these  growing  departures  from 
the  ancient  order  and  purity  of  the 
Church,  painfully  perceived  by  us,  and 
these  successive  encroachments  upon  our 
liberties  as  Christian  freemen,  this  Sy- 
nod xjontented  itself  with  opposing  a 
firm  but  moderate  resistance,  out  of  an 
anxious  solicitude  for  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  our  Churches,  and  in  the 
hope,  which  it  was  difficult  for  us  to  aban- 
don, that  the  Assembly  in  calmer  times 
would  review  and  correct  these  deliver- 
ances. We  trusted  especially  that  when 
peace  should  be  restored  between  the  hos- 
tile sections,  the  barriers  which  separa- 
ted our  Southern  brethren  from  us  would 
be  removed,  and,  in  the  good  providence 
of  God,  a  way  be  opened  for  a  reunion, 
under  the  General  Assembly,  of  all  who 
profess  the  faith,  adhere  to  the  standards, 


28 


an  inevitable  result — immediats  in  re- 
spect to  the  Churches  in  the  seceded 
and  love  the  order  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  But  all  these  hopes  have  been 
disappointed,  and  all  our  patient  efforts 
to  preserve  the  harmony  of  our  Churches 
and  our  amicable  relations  to  the  Gener- 
al Assembly  have  been  defeated.  The 
two  Assemblies,  met  since  the  conclusion 
of  peace,  have  betrayed  even  an  increas- 
ed violence  of  partisan  spirit;  have  made 
even  more  dangerous  invasions  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  Church ;  have  raised 
even  higher  the  barriers  keeping  out  a 
multitude  of  our  brethren  of  like  faith 
with  us,  and  have  manifested  a 
determination  to  allow  us  no  conserva- 
tive standing  ground,  and  no  escape  from 
the  evils  of  division  and  strife  in  our 
bounds,  through  the  issues  they  have  put 
upon  us.  They  have  enacted  new  terms 
of  church-membership,  and  new  con- 
ditions of  ministerial  qualification.  They 
have  excluded  us  from  participation  in 
the  labors  or  benefits  of  the  great  Board 
of  Domestic  Missions,  without  a  subscrip- 
tion of  our  missionaries  to  the  Assembly's 
views  of  doctrine,  loyalty  and  freedom. 
They  have  required  us  to  punish  our 
members  with  the  censure  and  excom- 
munication of  the  Church  for  political  of- 
fenses from  which  the  State  released  them. 
They  have  enjoined  upon  vis  to  apply 
as  tests  of  fitness  to  our  ministerial  breth- 
ren from  Southern  States,  seeking  admis- 
sion into  our  Presbyteries,  the  Assembly's 
views  of  their  own  past  institutions.  And 
a  grave  censure  has  been  passed  on  the 
Synod  for  failing  to  take  political  action 
to  sustain  the  Government  in  accordance 
with  the  Assembly's  views.  All  these 
obnoxious  and  unscriptural  requirements 
we  have  been  bound  in  conscience  to  dis- 
regard and  to  condem.n,  and  no  one  of  our 
Presbyteries  or  Churches  has  been  dis- 
posed, or  has  dared,  to  comply  with  them. 
Still  we  have  borne  and  waited  patiently, 
and  struggled  to  maintain  the  vmion  of 
our  Synod  and  our  Churches  without  rup- 
ture with,  or  offense  to  the  Assembly. 

The  culmination  of  our  difliculties 
was  made  by  the  action  of  the  late  As- 
sembly in  St.  Louis.  That  body,  after 
excluding  from  its  floor  the  commission- 
ers of  one  of  our  largest  Presbyteries,  for 


the  passage  by  the  Presbytery  of  a  paper 
protesting  against  the  acts  of  the  Assem- 
bly, which  the  Synod  by  a  great  majori- 
ty had  adjudged  not  an  offense  affecting 
any  of  the  ecclesiastical  relations  of  the 
members  of  the  Presbytery,  pronounced 
an  order  citing  by  class  all  the  signers  of 
that  iJaper  to  appear  before  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  declaring  any  Presbytery 
that  should  at  any  meeting  enroll,  as  en- 
titled to  a  seat  or  seats  in  the  body,  any 
one  or  more  of  the  signers  of  the  paper, 
ipso  facto  dissolved,  and  authorizing  and 
directing,  in  such  cases,  the  Ministers  and 
Elders  adhering  to  that  order  of  the  As- 
sembly to  take  charge  of  the  Presbyterial 
records,  to  retain  the  name,  and  exercise 
all  the  authority  and  functions  of  the 
original  Presbytery  until  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Assembly ;  also  requir- 
ing Synods  at  their  next  stated  meetings, 
in  making  up  their  rolls,  to  be  governed  by 
that  action.  This  order  was  regarded  by 
us  as  unconstitutional,  and  therefore 
void ;  as  suoversive  of  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  our  Church  government ;  as  un- 
kind, severe  and  oppressive ;  as  an  intol- 
erable usurpation  of  power ;  and  as  sig- 
nally adapted  to  work  confusion  and  di- 
vision throughout  all  our  bounds,  if  there 

should  be  found  members  of  our  Presby- 
teries who  would  insist  upon  its  enforce- 
ment. Yet,  though  believing  the  Assem- 
bly had  no  right  to  make  it,  and  we 
neither  obligation  nor  right  to  obey  it,  in 
the  spirit  which  has  animated  us  in  all 
these  years  of  difficulty,  we  were  de- 
sirous rather  to  avoid  it,  in  some  way  re- 
spectful to  the  General  Assembly  and 
satisfactory  to  all  our  people,  than  di- 
rectly to  disobey  it.  This  we  were  not 
allowed  to  do.  One  of  our  Presbyteries,  • 
composed  in  large  part  of  persons  of  the- 
class  excepted  to,  was  pronounced  dis- 
solved by  a  minority  of  less  than  one 
fourth  of  its  members.  Another  was  de- 
clared dissolved,  by  a  still  smaller  mi- 
nority, for  pronouncing  the  name  of  a 
single  individual  of  the  class,  who,  out  of 
a  generous  desire  to  save  his  brethren 
trouble,  and  in  accordance  with 
their  counsels,  had  absented  him- 
self, and  was,  at  the  time,  known 
to  be  without  the  bounds  of  the 
Commonwealth.     Yet  another  was  con- 


fThe  first  two  lines  of  this  column  should  be  at  (!)■ 
top  of  the  second  column  on  the  preceding  page.  1 


29 


demned  to  dissolution  by  the  mouth  of  a 
youthful  member  who  had  at  only  its 
preceding  meating  received  from  it  his 
ordination,  and  that  in  the  face  of  the 
fact  that  the  only  member  who  was  of 
the  objectionable  class  was  a  Kuling  Elder 
who  had  consented  to  remain  out  of  the 
body  to  secure  organization  and  prevent 
dissolution.  A  fourth  escaped  the  sen- 
tence only  by  the  generous  forbearance 
of  a  conservative  majority  and  the  ab- 
sence of  the  only  excepted  member.  In 
a  fifth  the  names  ot  two  brethren,  greatly 
beloved  and  useful,  and  against  whom 
no  charge  had  ever  been  preferred  by 
their  Presbytery,  were  omitted  from  the 
roll  by  the  Stated  Clerk,  who  was  sus- 
tained in  his  assumption  by  a  majority 
of  the  Presbytery,  and  they  were  refused 
their  seats  when  formally  claiming  them. 
Such  a  record  of  recklesa  violence  and 
wrong,  inflicted  by  office-bearers  in  a 
Church  holding,  as  we  profess  to  believe, 
the  freest,  most  enlightened  and  most 
scriptural  of  all  ecclesiastical  constitu- 
tions, which  guarantees  to  the  humblest 
member  rights  which  cannot  be  invaded 
without  the  iorms  of  process,  and  espe- 
cially to  every  Minister,  the  protection  of 
his  Presbytery,  and  its  verdict  in  every 
infliction  of  punishment  or  censure, 
seems  to  us  unparalleled,  and  certainly 
has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  our 
Church. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  in  v/Mch 
the  Synod  came  together.  All  means  of 
pacification  had  been  exhausted.  All 
hope  of  adjustment  with  brethren,  who 
have  since  gone  out  from  us,  had  been 
proved  vain.  Nothing  seemed  left  us  but, 
trusting  in  God,  to  go  forward  in  the  or- 
ganization ot  the  Synod,  and  in  discharge 
of  the  duties  we  owe  to  the  Church,  recog- 
nizing no  distinction  which  it  has  been 
attempted  to  make  among  us,  nor  any  of 
the  various  degrees  of  disability  it  has 
been  sought  to  put  upon  any  of  our  num- 
ber. We  have  performed  the  usijal  work 
of  the  Synod,  and  have  endeavored  to 
have  no  interests  of  the  Churches  suffer 
by  our  neglect.  In  all  the  measures  we 
have  taken,  apart  from  the  ordinary  busi- 
ness, we  have  kept  in  view  the  restora- 
tion of  all  our  Churches  on  the  basis  of 
our  standards,  as  it  was  held  by  the  Gen- 


eral Assembly  before  the  late  unhappy 
troubles  in  our  country.  In  all  we  have 
done,  we  have  acted  in  the  confident  ex- 
pectation of  the  approbation  of  our 
Churches  and  people,  and  of  all  dispas- 
sionate fr'ends  of  truth  and  religion. 

Our  relations  now  to  the  General  As- 
sembly will  depend  upon  the  construction, 
by  the  next  Assembly,  of  the  order 
through  which  we  have  been  brought  into 
this  position,  as  it  has  respect  to  Synods. 
We  have  done  nothing  justly  to  disturb 
those  relations.  We  shall  await  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Assembly  in  the  consciousness 
of  rectitude  of  purpose,  and  of  fidelity  to 
the  doctrines  and  order  of  our  Church, 
and  with  faith  in  our  divine  Head,  that 
He  will  give  us  wisdom  to  guide,  and 
grace  to  support,  in  any  new  and  difficult 
circumstances  in  which  we  may  be 
placed. 

And  now,  beloved  brethren,  having 
recognized  your  right  to  know  the  grounds 
of  our  course  and  of  our  claims  upon  you 
— as  those  over  you  in  the  Lord  and  your 
representatives  in  this  court  of  the  Church, 
allow  our  counsels  and  exhortations,  in 
faithfulness  to  the  charge  which  is  given 
to  us. 

1.  We  expect  with  confidence  your 
faithful  support  in  the  circumstances 
made  by  those  who  have  withdrawn 
themselves  from  us.  Our  knowledge  of 
you  does  not  permit  us  to  doubt 
that  you  will  sustain  us  in 
the  resistance  we  have  been  con- 
sti-ained  to  make  to  unlawful  assump- 
tions of  power  and  invasions  of  our 
Christian  liberty,  and  in  the  testimony  we 
have  borne  to  the  truth,  and  to  the  honor 
of  Christ  our  King.  We  know  your  at- 
tachment to  the  old  and  tried  principles 
of  our  faith  and  order,  and  the  zeal  of 
many  impatient  of  our  slowness  in  en- 
countering the  evils  and  difiicvilties  made 
necessary  for  defending  and  preserving 
them.  We  know  that  we  are  accomplishing 
your  wishes  in  our  steadfast  adherence  to 
them.  To  any  who  may  have  been  embar- 
rassed between  their  love  for  the  truth  and 
their  fear  of  strife,  we  are  sure  it  must 
appear  that  we  have  sought  with  all  char- 
ity and  forbearance  some  happier  solu- 
tion of  our  diflBculties,  and  that  no  other 
course  has  been  left  open  to  us.  We  ap- 
peal to  you  with  confidence  for  t  e   ^cti- 


30 


tude  of  our  course,  and  claim  as  the 
Syaod  of  Kentucky  your  continued  faith- 
ful adherence  and  support. 

2.  We  exhort  you  to  faith  in  God.  His 
Church  is  His  peculiar  care.  It  has  His 
promise  and  covenant  assuring  its  pro- 
tection and  preservation.  No  weapon 
formed  against  it  shall  prosper; 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it.  Wo  do  not  permit  our- 
selves to  doubt  that  you  v?ill  cheerfully 
make  sacrifices  and  endure  hardships,  if 
they  shall  bo  found  in  the  way  of  duty; 
that  you  will  take  joyfully  the  spoiling  of 
your  goods,  if  it  shall  be  put  upon  you 
as  a  test  of  faithfulness  to  Christ  and  love 
of  His  Church ;  but  we  believe  that  il  you 
are  faithful  to  Him,  He  will  provide  for 
you,  and  will  give  you  even  the  favor  of 
men  and  of  the  courts  of  justice.  What- 
ever the  trials  He  may  appoint  to  you, 
allow  not  yourselves  to  distrust  His  good 
Providence,  and  His  complete  care  for 
His  Church,  and  its  perfect  security  in 
His  keeping. 

3.  We  feel  it  to  be  our  duty  to  warn  you 
and  put  you  upon  your  guard  against  ef- 
forts and  measures  that  may  be  used  for 
disturbing  your  peace  and  seducing  you 
from  the  Church.  Systematic  agencies 
and  powerful  resources  will  be  employed 
for  this  ijurpose.  We  exhort  you  to  vigi- 
lance and  steadfastness.  It  is  our  pur- 
pose, in  our  cai-e  over  you,  to  render  you 
every  assistance  and  make  every  provis- 
ion for  your  welfare  that  our  wisdom  and 

•  means  can  supply.  It  will  be  needful, 
however,  for  you  to  maintain  an  attitude 
of  watchluland  determined  resistance  to- 
wards all  attempts  to  introduce  divisions 
among  you,  or  to  allure  you  from  your 
adherence  to  the  Synod. 

4.  We  enjoin  upon  you  to  give  liberally 
of  yoHr  means  for  the  encouragement 
and  support  of  your  faithful  pastors,  and 
of  your  brethren  who  may  be  subjected 
to  special  trials  and  hardships  in  this 
struggle  for  th'j  maintenance  of  Christian 
liberty  and  truth.  We  especially  com- 
mend to  your  confidence  and  generous 
support  the  Committee  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions, which  we  have  appointed  as  a 
channel  and  agency  for  your  sympathy 
and  benevolence.  Five  years  since  the 
Synod,    by  unanimous  resolution,    sus- 


pended its  former  relations  to  the  Board 
of  Domestic  Missions;  since  that  time  the 
acts  of  the  Assembly  and  the  conduct  of 
the  Board  have  confirmed  all  the  appre- 
hensions then  felt,  and  have  virtually  ex- 
cluded us  from  that  agency  of  the 
Church.  And  now  the  treasury  of  the 
Board  is  to  be  used  for  the  assistance  of 
those  who  have  gone  out  and  made  di- 
vision among  us.  Already,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  this  struggle,  appeals  have  gone 
out  from  the  Board  for  enlai-ged  contri- 
butions of  means  for  use  in  the  border 
States.  Let  not  our  faithful  Ministers, 
weakened  by  division,  be  under 
the  necessity  of  abandoning  their 
fields,  whilst  others,  sustained  by  the  am- 
ple resources  of  the  Board,  will  remain  to 
occupy  them.  God  has  given  us  the 
means  sufficient  for  the  supply  of  our 
needs,  if  we  consecrate  them  to  Him. 
Let  your  contributions  be  liberal,  as  He 
has  blessed  you  with  ability. 

5.  We  enjoin  upon  you  a  spirit  of  char- 
ity in  all  your  intercourse  with  brethren 
who  differ  from  us,  and  a  generous  for- 
bearance both  in  such  issues  as  you  may 
find  it  necessai-y  to  maintain,  and  in  such 
adjustments  of  conflicting  claims  as 
Christian  propriety  may  teach  you  ought 
to  be  made.  Avoid  bitterness  and  all 
unnecessary  litigation.  By  your  moder- 
ation and  Christian  temper,  abate,  as 
much  as  may  be  possible,  the  evils  inci- 
dent to  this  great  trial  of  the  faith  of  the 
Church. 

Finally,  we  commend  you  to  the  grace 
of  God,  axhorting  you  to  diligence  in 
all  the  public  and  private  duties  of  re- 
ligion, and  much  prayer,  that  it  may 
abound  unlo  your  comfort  and  sanctifi- 
cation  and  the  glory  of  His  great  name 
in  you. 

Rutherford  Douglass,  Moderator, 

F.  G.  Strahan, 

RoBT.  Morrison 


«. } 


Clerks. 


[The  committee  who  prepared  and  re- 
i^orted  the  foregoing  address  were  Rev. 
Messrs.  R.  L.  Breck,  S.  R.  Wilson,  D.  D., 
J.  T.  Hendrick,  D.  D.,  R.  G.  Brank,  C.  M. 
Hobson,  and  R.  K.  Smoot,  representing 
in  a  remarkable  degree  every  shade  of 
opinion  in  the  Synod.  Yet  the  paper  was 
not  only  unanimously,  but  cordially, 
adopted  both  in  committee  and  in  Synod.] 


MINUTE 


OF    THE 


SYNOD  OF  KENTUCKY, 

TOUCHING}  THE  ACT  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  1867, 


DEfLARINfl     THE 


Presbyteries  and  Sfiipii  of  Keiitity,  i  Lawfal  Prestiyteries  and  Sjiiiirt. 


The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  session  at 
Lexington,  this  28th  June,  18G7,  having 
heard  the  statements  of  the  Commission- 
ers and  other  delegates  from  its  several 
Presbyteries  to  the  General  Assembly, 
which  met  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May  17th, 
1867,  concerning  the  jiroceedings  of  that 
body  in  declaring  this  Synod  and  its 
Presbyteries  to  bo  no  lawful  Synod  and 
Presbyteries,  and  having  duly  considered 
the  same,  doth  now,  in  the  fear  of  God 
and  constrained  by  its  sense  of  obligation 
to  be  faithful  to  the  truth  of  Christ  and 
the  order  by  Him  established  in  His 
church,  make  this  solemn  declaration  of 
the  facts;  of  its  judgment  thereupon,  and 
of  its  purposes  in  regard  to  the  same. 

During  the  past  ecclesiastical  year,  the 
churches  of  this  Synod  have  been  agitat- 
ed and  disturbed  by  certain  factions, 
in  each  of  its  Presbyteries,  and  in  the 
Synod  itself.  Under  the  plea  of  obli- 
gation to  obey  certain  revolutionary  or- 
ders of  the  General  Assembly  of  1866, 


though,  in  many  cases,  transcending 
even  those  orders,  tLese  factions  have 
created  a  schism  in  this  Synod,  here- 
toforeso  united  in  policy  and  in  senti- 
ment. For,  as  is  well  known,  the  parties 
making  this  disturbance  had,  prior  to  the 
Assembly  of  1S6G,  professed  to  concur 
with  the  general  sentiment  of  the  Synod, 
in  opposition  to  the  acts  of  Assembly 
which  have  been  the  cause  of  the  present 
troubles.  With  more  or  less  earnestness 
and  activity,  they  had  combined  with 
their  brethren  of  the  Synod  to  resist,  in 
every  constitutional  way,  the  usurpations 
of  the  Assembly.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  the  attempt  to  execute 
orders  so  unlawful  and  offensive,  and 
even  to  transcend  these  orders,  by  men 
who  themselves  had  taught  the  people 
that  the  fundamental  act  of  the  series, 
the  act  of  1861,  is  "repugnant  to  the  word 
of  God,  as  interpreted  by  our  stand- 
ards," and  that  the  orders  of  1865  are  a 
violation   of  the  constitution,   to   which 


they  cculd  not  submit,  should  lead  to  gen- 
eral loss  of  confidence  and  produce  strife 
and  division.  Secessions  took  place  from 
live  out  of  six  of  the  Presbyteries,  and 
from  the  Synod  itself;  some  of  them  in 
accordance  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
Assembly's  action  in  1S66,  enforcing 
the  action  of  1865 ;  others  of  them,  as  the 
secessions  from  the  Muhlenburg  and 
West  Lexington  Presbyteriess,  and  from 
the  Synod,  without  authority,  even  from 
the  extraordinary  order  of  the  Assembly. 

In  several  distinct  forms,  beside  the  ap- 
peals and  other  matters  referred  to  the 
late  Assembly  Dy  the  Assembly  of  1866: 
and  these  several  forms  involving  a  vari- 
ety of  issues — all  of  them  of  fundamental 
importance— the  diflaculties  existing  with- 
in the  bosom  of  this  Synod  were  brought 
before  the  General  Assembly  of  1867,  and 
that  body  proceeded  to  take  action  there- 
on. 

So  far  from  making  provision  to  hear, 
as  a  high  court  of  appeals,  under  the 
forms  prescribed  in  the  constitution,  any 
one  of  the  numerous  and  fundamentally 
different  questions  presented  severally  in 
these  cases  of  the  eix  Presbyteries  of  the 
Synod,  and  of  certain  individual  office- 
bearers, they  were  all  crowded,  as  consti- 
tuting one  aggregated  whole,  into  the 
bands  of  a  single  special  committee,  to  bo 
made  the  subject  of  a  single  report,  and 
that  report  a  senteneo  already  framed 
for  utterance  by  the  Assembly.  It  aggra- 
vated the  wrong  of  this  proceeding,  also, 
that  the  chairman  of  this  special  commit- 
tee was  himself  a  party  to  one  of  the  ap- 
peals referred  to  the  committee,  and  had 
taken  an  active  part,  as  a  partizan,  in  the 
incipiency  of  the  measures  which  led  to 
these  troubles.  With,  apparently,  a  con- 
temptuous indifference  to  difiaculties  in 
the  border  State  Synods,  and  as  not 
worth  the  trouble  of  detailed  notice,  all 
these  cases  from  Kentucky,  as  one  aggre- 
gated whole,  were  further  merged,  with, 
perhai)S,  as  large  a  number  of  cases  from 
tbo  Presbyteries  and  Synod  of  Mis- 
souri, which  were  afsumed  to  have 
some  analogy  with  the  former,  and  both 
these  aggregated  masses  of  cases  again 
merged  with  several  other  cases  supposed 
to  be  analagous  from  various  parts  of  the 
church,  and  with  another  mass  of  judicial 


cases  referred  from  the  previous  Assem- 
bly to  this  of  1867. 

It  will  at  once  be  perceived  that  it  was 
simply  impossible  to  hear  and  intelligent- 
ly determine  any  one  of  the  many  cases 
of  special  grievance,  any  one  of  the  sev- 
eral judicial  cases  included  in  this  mass, 
or  any  one  of  the  many  great  fundament- 
al questions  involved.  Yet  the  whole 
were  brought  within  the  scope  of  one  en- 
cyclopaedic report,  only  a  single  article 
of  which  was  discussed  before  the  As- 
sembly at  all,  and  all  crowded  in  com- 
mon together  under  one  sweeping  sen- 
tence of  condemnation. 

That  matter  to  which  it  was  assumed  all 
these  cases  had  a  common  relation,  and 
which  was  the  bond  which  should  bind 
them  all  together  for  one  common  sen- 
tence of  condemnation — viz:  that  con- 
cerning the  signers  of  the  "Declaration 
and  Testimony"— was  a  matter  to  which 
the  various  parties  thus  condemned  to- 
gether stood  in  various  and  utterly  oppo- 
site relations,  some  of  them  having  as 
earnestly  repudiated  as  others  had  earn- 
estly endorsed  the  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony. Still  more,  the  case  thus  assumed 
to  have  been  adjudicated,  and  made  the 
basis  of  classification,  was  not  certainly, 
to  say  the  least,  before  the  Assembly. 
For  one  of  the  most  important  of  all  the 
issues  before  that  body  at  the  time  was 
the  question  whether  this  case  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony, 
referred  by  the  previous  Assembly,  could 
be  constitutionally  before  the  present  As- 
sembly at  all.  That  the  consequence  of 
all  this  was  a  gross  practical  injustice, 
is  seen  in  the  outworking  of  this  meth- 
od of  procedure.  For  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  the  case  all  discussion  of  any 
one  of  this  mass  of  cases  on  its  own 
merits  was  precluded;  and  on  none  of  the 
main  issues  involved  could  there  be  any 
hearing  of  the  case,  save  incidentally  in 
the  discussion  between  rival  claimants 
for  seats.  So  that  without  any  possibility 
of  understanding  the  questions,  and,  ap- 
parently, alter  the  manner  of  a  court 
merely  registering  foregone  conclusions, 
were  questions  decided  involving  princi- 
ples fundamental  to  the  freedom  and  the 
very  existence  of  the  church  itself;  and 


sentences  pronounced  judicial  in  their 
nature  and  affecting  the  official  standing 
of  office-bearers  in  the  church. 

And  what  gives  greater  force  to  the  fore- 
going suggestions,  is  the  fact  that  after 
this  sentence  was  prepared  by  the  As- 
sembly's committee,  embracing,  in  one 
judgment,  matters  so  numerous  and  di- 
verse—in part  judicial  sentences  affecting 
ministerial  character— in  part  deliver- 
ances on  questions  of  legislative  authori- 
ty—in part  decisions  between  rival  can- 
didates for  seats  in  the  house— in  part  apol- 
ogetic defense  of  the  previous  Assembly 
and  remedial  measures  for  the  objection- 
able features  of  its  action— in  part  consti- 
tutional questions  of  the  very  highest  im- 
portance— still,  on  coming  to  the  vote,  any 
division  of  the  question  was  prohibited. 
And  thus  the  members  of  the  body  were 
forced,  by  a  single  vote,  to  pronounce  ju- 
dicial sentences  in  cases  which  they  had 
not  tried — to  decide  constitutional  ques- 
tions which  they  could  not  possibly  have 
understood — determine  questions  of  fact, 
about  which,  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
they  could  know  nothing,  and  settle  great 
principles  of  doctrine  and  church  order, 
concerning  which  they  could  not  avoid 
confounding  truth  and  falsehood. 

The  wrongs  done  this  Synod  and  its 
Presbyteries  are  still  more  obvious  when 
the  several  provisions  of  the  act  of  the 
General  Assembly  are  separately  consid- 
ered. Without  even  hearing  the  respectful 
but  earnest  and  solemn  remonstrance  and 
petition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville, 
praying  the  Assembly  to  review  and  an- 
nul certain  unconstitutional  acts  of  pre- 
vious Assemblies,  so  particularly  unjust 
and  injurious  in  their  bearing  upon  that 
Presbytery,  tne  Asisemblyof  1867  formal- 
ly reaffirmed  the  constitutionality  and 
propriety  of  the  acts  specially  complained 
of,  and  also  of  the  acts  of  the  five  previ- 
ous Assemblies,  out  of  which  grew  the 
injurious  action  of  1836.  Nay,  so  far 
from  bearing  the  request  tj  annul,  from 
those  who  had  resisted  the  unconstitu- 
tional acts,  the  Assembly  refused  even 
the  request  to  relao:,  or  even  soften  in  the 
Zeasi,  the  terras  of  the  cruel  orders  of  1865, 
though  coming  from  those  who  had  exe- 
cuted the  Assembly's  orders  against  their 
brethren   in    Kentucky.    It   was    mani- 


festly, therefore,  the  determinate  pur- 
pose of  the  Assembly  of  1867,  in  spite 
alike  of  the  remonstrances  of  opponents 
and  the  entreaties  of  friends,  not  only  to 
reaffirm  all  and  every  act  against  which 
the  churches  of  Kentucky  had  protested 
since  1861,  but  to  force  those  acts  at  all 

hazards  upon  our  churches  as  terms  of 
communion  with  the  Assembly. 

Instead  of  hearing  the  remonstrances 
of  the  Presbyteries  of  this  Synod,  and  re- 
viewing and  condemning  the  various  dis- 
orderly and  unconstitutional  proceeding?!, 
whereby  the  revolutionary  factions  in 
these  Presbyteries  and  this  Synod  have 
created  schisms  disturbing  the  peace  of 
the  church  and  bringing  scandal  upon  re- 
ligion, the  Assembly,  without  even  a 
hearing  of  the  case,  declared  these  fac- 
tions, indiscriminately,  "to  be  the  only 
true  and  lawful  Presbyteries  and  Synod, 
and  to  be  obeyed  as  such," 

Without  any  hearing,  save  incident- 
ally in  connection  with  cases  of  contested 
seats,  and  without  the  possibility  of  hav  • 
ing  the  facts  needful  to  an  intelligent 
judgment  before  the  body,  the  Assembly 
also  pronounced  indiscriminately  that 
this  Synod  and  its  Presbyteries  "are  in  no 
sense  the  true  and  lawful  Synod  and 
Presbyteries"  of  Kentucky;  pretending 
that  this  Synod  and  its  Presbyteries  have 
been  dissolved  by  their  own  acts,  several- 
ly, under  the  order  of  the  Assembly  of 
1866;  whereas,  it  is  notorious  that  the 
several  acts  to  v/hich  reference  is  here 
made,  so  far  from  being  uniform  in  their 
character  and  circumstances,  werB,  in 
some  instances,  .evidently  not  contra- 
ry even  to  the  orders  of  1866;  and 
thus  the  same  sentence  la  pro- 
nounced indiscriminately  upon  those 
who  disregarded  the  action  of  1833 
as  unconstitutional,  and,  therefore, 
null  and  void,  and  those  who  made  every 
possible  endeavor  to  conform  their  pro- 
ceedings to  that  action,  as  though 
it  were  lawful.  It  is  evident  that, 
both  in  pronouncing  the  factions  to 
be  lawful,  and  the  old  Presbyteries 
and  Synod  unlawful,  the  Assembly  of 
1867  assumes  that  the  mere  will  of  the  As- 
sembly, irrespective  of  the  constitution,  is 
sufficient  to  give  validity  to  the  existence 
of  the  lower  courts ;  just  as  the  Assembly 


of  1866  assumed  that  the  mere  will  of  the 
Assembly  could  give  validity  to  the 
election  and  ordination  of  ruling  elders, 
irrespective  of  whether  the  election  and 
ordination  had  been  in  accordance  with 
the  constitution  or  not.  So  that,  under 
these  two  acts  of  Assembly,  if  accepted  as 
lawful,  the  entire  organization  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  its  sessions,  Pres- 
byteries and  Synods,  rests  not  upon  the 
written  constitution,  but  upon  the  mere 
arbitrary  power  of  the  General  Assembly, 
creative,  permissive  or  destructive,  as 
the  Assembly  may  will  to  exercise  that 
power. 

While  thus  declaring  thia  Synod  and 
its  Presbyteries  dissolved  and  the  office- 
bearers thereof  no  longer  office-bearers 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  except  after 
readmission  on  degrading  conditions,  the 
General  Assembly  affirms  the  c:)ntinu- 
ance  of  its  juriadiction  over  them  as  indi- 
viduals, apparently  for  tte  sole  purpose 
of  laying  upon  them  an  insulting  order 
to  appear  before  the  revolutionary  tribu- 
nals whose  members  have  mocked  and 
defied  the  authority  of  this  Synod  and  its 
Presbyteries,  and  m  a  most  disorderly 
manner  disturbed  the  peace  of  its  congre- 
gations. Those  who  have  respected  the 
Constitution  and  Laws  are  commanded  to 
sue  for  admission  into  bodies  which 
they  have  officially  and  solemnly  pro- 
nounced unconstitutional  and  law- 
less. Nothing  can  be  more  just 
in  the  way  of  inference,  from  the  very 
terms  and  conditions  for  the  restoration 
of  harmony  set  forth  in  this  decree,  than 
that  its  purpose  is  rather  to  erect  an 
impassable  barrier  in  the  way  of  a  reunion 
of  the  severed  parts  of  this  Synod  and  to 
render  the  exclusion  of  the  Syood  and  ils 
Presbyteries  perpetual. 

The  disingenuous  attempt,  in  this  de- 
cree of  the  Assembly,  after  atiirming 
the  lawfulness  of  the  order  of  18G3,  sum- 
moning men,  by  class,  dii-ectly  to  the  bar 
of  tl^e  Assembly  for  trial,  to  apologize  for 
that  order  by  a  gratuitous  defamation  of 
the  Synod  and  its  Presbyteries,  may  just- 
ly excite  the  indignation  of  this  Synod. 
The  declaration  of  the  Assembly  of  18G7, 
that  the  ecclesiastical  courts  of  Kentucky 
were  so  corrupt  and  reckless,  in  ISGG,  that 
"ii  would  have  been  nothing  less  than  trifling 


iviUi  sacred  interests,  which  were  greatly  im- 
periled, for  that  General  Assembly  to  have 
remanded  the  cases  of  their  brethren  to  these 
courts,''^  is  a  gratuitous  indignity  from  the 
higher  toward  the  lower  courts,  hardly 
paralelled  in  the  history  of  any  church. 
Nor  is  it  less  than  cruel  mockery  to  pre- 
tend that  the  objections  urged  against  the 
lawfulness  of  the  Assembly's  order  of 
1866  are  now  obviated  by  remanding  those 
cited  to  the  bar  of  the  Assembly  back 
again  for  recantation  and  restoration  to 
the  revolutionary  tribunals  by  which, 
in  defiance  of  the  constitution,  the  As- 
sembly pretends  to  supersede  the  Presby- 
teries and  Synod  of  Kentucky.  So  far 
from  inspiring  confidence,  it  naust  shock 
rather  the  Christian  instincts  of  intelli- 
gent men  to  find  a  decree  so  recklessly  set- 
ting aside  all  law,  and  so  ruthlessly  tear- 
ing the  church  asunder,  garnished  with 
soft  words,  professing  a  desire  "ro  ex- 
tend the  hand  of  fraternal  kindness  and 
%udcome  to  brethren  who  have  erred," 
enjoining  upon  its  anarchical  and  revo- 
lutionary tribunals  "to  sttidy  the  things 
that  make  for  peace  and  harmony,"  pre- 
tending "not  to  require  any  to  renounce 
the  ^jrinciples  of  church  order,  ivhich  they 
affiryn  they  conscientiously  maintain,"  and 
"to  sever  no  one  from  the  church,  but  leave 
the  responsibility  of  final  separation  upon 
those  iuho  fail  to  give  heed  to  these  provis- 
ions, made  for  their  remaining  in  or  return 
to  the  church  of  their  fathers,"  etc. 

This  abuse  of  the  current  language  of 
Christian  kindness  and  affection,  in  a 
decree  of  excommunication  Irom  official 
rights  and  privileges,  for  no  other  offense 
than  manly  protest  against  error  and 
usurpation,  can  tend  only  to  destroy  the 
confidence  of  the  people  in  the  sincerity 
of  the  leaders  of  the  church,  even  when 
vising  the  language  of  religion.  Nothing 
did  more  to  damage  the  cause  of  religion 
practically  than  the  solemn  profession  of 
holy  zeal  andChristian  tenderness  for  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  their  victims,  with 
which  Papal  bulls  of  excommunication 
and  inquisitorial  death  sentences  were 
garnished  in  the  former  days  of  the  perse- 
cution of  God's  faithful  people. 

In  this  deliverance  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, the  attempt  is  made  to  justify 
the  wrong's  done   by  asserting  what,  in- 


the  judgment  of  this  Synod,  is  a  most 
dangerous  doctrine,  and  that  without 
limitation  or  condition,  viz:  that  '■■when  a 
court  of  the  highest  grade  has  moAe  a  de- 
cisio7i  or  issued  an  order,  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  good  and  law-abiding  men  to  yield 
it  obedience  imtil  repealed  by  the  proper 
authority."  A  maxim  which,  while 
it  cannot  with  safety  be  admitted  with- 
out limitation  even  as  applicable  to 
the  external  obedience  due  the  civil 
ruler,  is  simply  preposterous  as  applied 
to  the  obedience  due  to  the  spirit- 
ual ruler,  which  appeals  simply  to  the 
conscience.  It  needs  no  argument  to 
show  that  such  a  dogma  applied  by  a 
General  Assembly  to  its  own  acts  must  as 
effectually  set  aside  the  duty  "to  obey 
Gcd  rather  than  men"  and  destroy  all 
liberty  of  conscience  and  speech  as  the  old 
dogma  which  defined  the  faith  which 
is  unto  salvation,  as  simple  obedience, 
blindly  and  implicitly,  to  the  command 
of  a  superior,  representing  the  holy  infal- 
lible church,  whose  order  may  make 
right  to  be  wrong  and  wrong  to  be  right. 
If  any  principle  of  Protestantism  is 
clearly  settled  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
it  is  the  principle  that  the  constitu- 
tion, and  not  the  mere  decisions  of  a 
majority  of  the  highest  court,  is  the  law; 
that  an  unconstitutional  act  cannot  be 
law,  and  that  every  office-bearer  in  the 
church  is  bound  by  his  ordination  vows 
to  disobey  such  illegal  enactment  and  to 
resist  the  authority  which  attempts  to 
enforce  it.  When  Presbyterianism  ceases 
to  have  a  constitutional  covenant  higher 
than  any  mere  orders  of  Assembly  to 
protect  the  rights  of  minorities  and  per- 
sonal freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of 
conscience,  then  it  ceases  to  be  Presbyte- 
rianism. 

In  the  judgment  of  this  Synod  it  should 
awaken  grave  doubts  of  the  sincerity  of 
the  General  Assembly's  expressed  desire 
for  union  and  harmony,  that  this  body 
should,  by  the  act  excluding  the  Synods 
of  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  cut  off  so 
large  and  confessedly  so  ort  lodox  a  por- 
tion of  its  own  body,  as  preliminary  to 
an  act  adopting  preparatory  steps  for  a 
reunion  with  those  from  whom  our  fath- 
ers, thirty  years  ago,  felt  called,  in  faith- 
fulness to  Christ's  truth,  to  stand  apart. 


And  these  doubts  are  the  more  justifia- 
ble when  it  is  borne  in  mind  how,  in  1S65, 
the  General  Assembly,  while  professing  a 
desire  for  the  organic  union  of  all  that 
hold  the  Presbyterian  faith  and  order, 
assiduously  erected  barriers  to  prevent 
the  reunion  of  the  severed  parts  of  our 
own  church  North  and  South.  Can  that  be 
a  sincere  d'  sira  for  the  union  of  all  who 
hold  the  Presbyterian  faith  and  order, 
which  thus  extends  the  hand  of  invitation 
10  those  who,  in  the  opinion  of  our  fathers, 
have  departed  essentially  from  our  faith 
and  order,  while,  at  the  same  time,  schis- 
matically  excluding  two  of  the  most  or- 
thodox of  the  Assembly's  Synods,  and 
erecting  barriers  to  make  the  exclusion 
perpetual? 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  wliile 
there  is  cause  for  mourning  and  humilia- 
tion at  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution 
and  the  larther  division  of  the  already  di- 
vided and  distracted  forces  of  true  Pres- 
byterianism, it  should  perhaps  be  accept- 
ed as  a  gracious  deliverance  vouchsafed  to 
us  by  the  King  and  Head  of  the  Church, 
that  this  act  of  the  General  Assembly  so 
plainly  relieves  this  Synod  of  all  responsi- 
bility for  the  sin  of  schism, and  leaves  to  the 
Assembly  the  whole  responsibility  of  the 
consequences  of  this  arbitrary  decree 
which  separates  the  Synod  of  Kentucky 
from  the  Northern  portion  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  and  yet  leaves  it  standing 
fast  by  the  constitution  and  the  interpre- 
tations put  upon  the  constitution  by  our 
fathers. 

Nevertheless,  this  Synod,  with  the  Prea- 
Ijyterian  people  of  Kentucky,  still  true  to 
the  native  instincts  of  a  genuine  Pres- 
byterianism, and  unwilling  to  stand  iso- 
lated from  their  brethren,  desire  still  to 
be  in  communion  and  in  organic  union 
with  all  who  maintain  the  princ  pies  of 
church  order  so  dear  to  our  fathers  and  so 
dear  to  us.  While  maintaining,  indeed, 
that  within  the  limits  of  a  Presbytery  or 
of  a  Synod,  thore  exists  all  that  is  essen- 
tial to  the  existence,  though  not  to  the 
perfection,  of  a  pure  Presbyterianism; 
still,  the  plainest  dictates  of  Christian  ex- 
pediency, in  its  higher  and  nobler  sense, 
as  well  as  the  instinctive  yearnings 
of  Presbyterianism,  suggest  the  import- 
ance  not  only  of    co-operstion,  but    of 


organic  union,  with  all  of  like  precious 
faith  with  ua ;  and  it  becomes  a  first  duty 
to  ascertain  whether  such  union  can  be 
formed  and  to  what  extent.  Doubtless 
there  is  scattered  throughout  the  bounds 
of  the  Northern  General  Assembly  it- 
self, a  remnant  which  will,  in  due 
time,  avail  itself  of  the  opportunity 
of  uniting  with  the  excluded  Synods  of 
Kentucky  and  Missouri  in  a  common  al- 
liance with  all  who  maintain  the  non- 
political  sphere  of  the  Church  and  the  su- 
premacy ot  the  constitution  in  the  work 
of  extending  once  more  the  true  Old 
School  Presbyterian  Assembly  over  the 
whole  country. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  this  Synod  re- 
joices in  the  belief  that  the  Southern  Pres- 
byterian Churches  and  church  courts 
have,  in  a  good  degree,  preserved,  pure 
and  unimpaired,  the  constitutional  Prea- 
byterianlsm  of  the  undivided  church  from 
1837  to  1861,  as  appears  from  the  official 
declarations  of  the  Southern  Assembly  in 
1861,  and  ugaiu  in  1865  and  1866,  In  the 
latter  deliverance  proposing  the  very 
prirciples  for  which  this  Synod  has  con- 
tended as  the  platform  upon  which  to 
unite  all  of  like  principles  against  the 
Erastian  tendencies  of  the  Protestantism 
of  these  times. 

In  the  judgment  of  this  Synod,  this 
state  of  facts  suggests  at  once  the  inquiry 
whether  this  large  and  completely  or- 
ganized body  of  Southern  Presbyterians 
does  not  present  the  proper  and  desir- 
able nucleus  around  which  may  rally  all 
the  true  Old-school  Presbyterianism  of 
the  country,  and  whether  immediate 
steps  should  not  be  taken  to  bring  about 
this  general  alliance  of  the  several  por- 
tions of  true  Presbyterians,  if  they  are 
satisfied  that  these  Southern  churches  are 
standing  fast  to  these  great  principles,  as 
speedily  as  their  circumstances  severally 
will  permit. 

In  accordance  with  the  foregoing  views, 
and  as  more  distinctly  declaring  the  juiu- 
ment  and  policy  of  this  body  in  regard  to 
them,  the  Synod  adopts  the  following 
resolutions: 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  acts  above  re- 
hearsed being  in  their  nature  schismati- 
cal,  revolutionary  and   despotic,  and  in 


violation  of  all  the  covenants  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  destructive  of  the  Constitu- 
tion itself,  are  null  and  void,  and  of  no 
binding  force  upon  the  Presbyteries  or 
churches,  nor  can  they  have  any  valid  ef- 
fect in  depriving  those  who  refuse  to  sub- 
mit to  them  of  any  of  their  rights,  either 
ecclesiastical  or  civil,  as  guaranteed  in  the 
Constitution. 

2.  That  from  the  moment  of  the  passage 
by  the  late  Assembly  of  that  act,  by 
which  the  Constitutional  representatives 
of  twelve  Presbyteries,  composing  two 
large  Synods  and  covering  the  whole  of 
the  Stateb  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  em- 
bracing some  150  ministers,  250  churches, 
500  ruling  elders  and  15,000  communi- 
cants, were  excluded  from  their  seats  in 
the  Assembly,  and  certain  persons  ad- 
mitted to  those  seats  coming  from  bodies 
formed  in  a  manner  unknown  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  church,  unprecedented  in 
her  history,  and  under  the  operation  of 
an  act  (the  ipso  facto  order  of  1866)  utterly 
subversive  of  the  fundamental,  princi- 
ples of  Presbyterian  government,  as  laid 
down  in  the  word  of  God ;  and  all  this 
manifestly  and  avowedly  for  the  accom- 
pliahment  of  an  unlawful  and  cruel  pur- 
pose against  certain  ministers  and  elders 
in  the  church,  that  body  csased  any  longer 
to  be  a  Constitutional  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  United 
States,  and  became  a  schismatical  and 
revolutionary  body,  no  longer  gov- 
erned by  or  representative  of  the  Consti- 
tution, but  controlled  simply  by  the  will 
of  the  majority. 

3.  The  General  Assembly  having 
thus  abandoned  the  Constitution  and 
broken  its  covenants,  and  having  as- 
sumed to  itself  the  character  and  powers 
of  an  hierarchical  autocrAcy,  and  having 
thus,  by  its  own  acts,  separated  itself 
from  this  Synod  and  the  Presbyteries 
which  compose  it,  and  those  who,  with  us, 
are  standing  fast  by  the  word  of  God  and 
the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  this  Synod  now  makes  solemn 
declaration  of  this  fact  upon  its  records, 
and  further  declares  that  in  its  future  ac- 
tion it  will  be  governed  by  this  recognized 
sundering  of  all  its  relations  to  the  afore- 
said revolutionary  body,  by  the  acts  of 
that  body  itself. 


4.  This  Synod  cannot,  in  fidelity  lo  the 
trust  which  ia  confided  to  it  by  the  Head 
of  the  church,  surrender,  and  it  does  not 
and  will  not  surrender  its  interest  in  the 
corporate  title  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States,  nor  any  of  its  rights 
in  the  Boards,  Seminaries  and  other  cor- 
porate property,  and  other  francbise,  ec- 
clesiastical and  civil,  hitherto  belonging  to 
it,  and  guaranteed  in  the  covenants  of  the 
constitution ;  but  will  use,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, all  lawful  means  necessary  to  pro- 
tect, preserve  and  secure  the  same. 

5.  That  it  is  our  desire  to  unite  and  co- 
operat«  with  the  Presbyteries  and  Synod 
of  Missouri  in  maintaining  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  church,  and  our  joint  rights 
covenanted  therein,  and  of  perpetuating 
the  Presbyterian  Church  (O.  S.)  in  the 
United  States,  as  that  church  existed 
from  1837  to  1860  inclusive,  and  for  the 
more  effectual  and  speedy  attainment  of 
this  object  delegates  shall  now  be  ap- 
pointed to  attend  upon  the  session  of  the 
Synod  of  Missouri  as  soon  as  that  body 
shall  meet,  and  lay  before  them  this 
action  and  secure  their  co-operation  in 
maintaining  our  position  and  rights  as 
the  true  and  lawful  Synods  of  Missouri 
and  Kentucky. 

6.  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
lake  into  consideration  this  whole  subject, 
and  prepare  and  report  for  the  considera- 
tion of  Synod,  at  its  stated  meeting  in 
October  next,  a  carefully  considered  state- 
ment of  the  doctrines  and  principles  for 


which  this  Synod  and  its  Presbyteries 
have  been  contending  in  the  controversies 
with  the  General  Assembly  during  seven 
years  past — particularly  the  principles 
maintained  by  this  Synod  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  our  standards  touching  the 
spiritual  and  non-political  nature  and 
functions  of  the  Church— the  limitation 
of  the  powers  of  the  General  Assembly — 
and  the  incompetency  of  any  court  of  the 
Church  to  add  to  or  subtract  from  the 
terms  of  ministerial  and  Christian  com- 
munion therein — with  a  view  to  lay  the 
same  before  the  General  Assembly,  to  be 
holden  in  Nashville  in  November  next, 
as  the  basis  of  a  covenant  upon  which  this 
Synod  may  form  an  organic  union  with 
that  body. 

7.  That  at  its  stated  meeting  in  Octo- 
ber next,  this  Synod  will  appoint  dele- 
gates to  attend  upon  the  sessions  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  meet  at  Nashville  in  November 
next,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  to  that 
body  our  fraternal  greetings  and  opening 
with  them  a  correspondence;  and  we  in- 
vite the  Synod  of  Missouri  to  unite  with 
us  in  sending  similar  delegates  from  that 
Synod,  to  the  end  that  the  way  may  be 
prepared  for  an  organic  union  between 
these  Synods  and  that  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States,  at  as  early  a  day  as  such  union  can 
be  effected  without  detriment  to  any  of 
the  interests  of  the  several  parties. 


/^ 


'f^. 


I     ^r-'    , 


ADDRESS 


ON    THE 


ACTS  AND  DELIVERANCES 


OF   THE 


GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 


OF   THE 


OLD  SCHOOL  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 

DURING  THE   PAST  FIVE  YEARS, 

ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

BY 

Rev.   JOSEPH   T.    SMITH,    D.  D. 


Delivered  by  request,  in  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
Baltimore,  on  Thursday  Evening,  June  21,  1866. 


BALTIMORE:  ....  WM.  K.  BOYLE,  PRINTER. 
1866. 


ADDRESS 


It  is  with  great  iiesitation  and  reluctance  I  enter  upon  the  duty 
here  assigned  me.  My  taste  and  temperament  and  habits  and  uniform 
course  of  conduct  with  referenbe  to  the  questions  before  us,  seemed  to 
disqualify  me,  above  all  others,  for  such  a  service  as  this.  Brethren 
and  friends,  however,  to  whose  better  judgment  I  have  yielded  my 
own,  have  thought  that  I  might  be  able  to  remove  some  misappre- 
hensions, relieve  some  minds  of  painful  perplexities,  and  .shed  some 
light  upon  the  path  of  duty,  in  which  we  all  desire  to  walk;  and  with 
the  hope,  however  faint,  of  accomplishing  such  a  result  as  this,  for 
the  good  of  our  Ziou  and  the  glory  of  our  common  Master,  I  dared 
not  refuse  the  service. 

It  is  a  sad  thing,  my  Brethren,  that  we  are  here  at  all  on  such  an 
occasion  as  this.  The  storm  of  war,  which  has  swept  so  wildly  over 
us,  is  now  past.  The  sword  is  sheathed,  the  confused  noise  of  the 
warrior  no  longer  heard,  soldiers  transformed  into  citizens,  have  every- 
where returned  to  the  pursuits  of  peaceful  industry  again,  and  the 
blessed  Sun  of  Peace,  breaking  through  the  dun  clouds  which  so  long 
obscured  it,  again  shines  brightly  upon  us.  During  all  these  terrible 
years  of  passion  and  strife  we  watched  and  wept  and  prayed,  0 !  how 
earnestly,  for  the  Peace  of  Jerusalem.  Prizing  her  above  our  chief 
joy,  it  was  our  heart's  first  desire  that  she  might  be  preserved  amidst 
the  perils  which  threatened  her.  While  all  along  the  border,  where  the 
tempest  broke  in  its  utmost  fury,  churches  were  rent,  pastors  sundered 
from  congregations,  and  congregations  torn  and  scattered,  God  in  his 
boundless  mercy  preserved  us;  and  when  the  storm  was  overpast,  our 
holy  and  our  beautiful  house  still  stood  entire,  and  we,  who  had  so  long 
taken  sweet  counsel  together,  were  still  seen  going  up  to  the  House  of 
God  in  company,  and  sitting  together  around  the  table  of  our  common 


Lord.  It  was  a  beautiful  spectacle;  and  as  we  rejoiced,  we  gave  God 
all  the  glory.  We  felt  as  we  looked  upon  it,  that  Christ's  kingdom 
was  indeed  not  of  this  world,  that  His  people,  whatever  differences 
might  obtain  among  them  as  citizens  of  an  earthly  kingdom,  as  citi- 
zens of  the  heavenly  kingdom  were  all  one — -all  one  in  Christ. 

And  now  that  all  is  over — that  the  questions  which  threatened  us 
are  by  universal  consent  settled — it  cannot  be  that  Peace  shall  bring 
upon  us  all  the  calamities  of  War.  This  blessed  dove,  with  the  green 
olive  branch  in  its  mouth,  which  is  hovering  around  the  open  window 
of  our  storm-tossed  ark,  our  own  hands  cannot  surely  thrust  it  away; — 
not  now,  when  so  great  a  work  awaits  us, — when  so  many  desolations 
are  to  be  repaired — when  the  wounds  left  upon  our  own  spirits  are  to 
be  healed — when  the  cause  of  Christ  in  this  great  city  demands  our 
utmost  care — when  Prophetic  events  so  long  foretold  and  anticipated, 
are  palpably  moving  on  to  their  great  accomplishment.  I  have  no  harsh 
word  to  speak,  not  one  to  awaken  passion  or  inflame  excitement;  I 
would  speak  the  truth,  in  love,  calmly  and  soberly.  Let  me  ask  your 
prayers,  my  Brethren,  that  I  may  be  suffered  to  give  no  wrong  touch 
to  the  Ark  of  God,  and  that  with  hearts  purified  from  all  passion,  and 
minds  emptied  of  all  prejudice,  we  may  rejoice  together  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise,  "To  the  upright  in  heart,  there  arises  Light  out 
of  Darkness." 

The  Subject  which  now  claims  our  attention  is,  what  is  the  duty  of 
those  among  us,  who  may  disapprove  of  any,  or  all  the  Acts  and 
Deliverances  of  the  General  Assembly  of  our  Church,  during  these 
troublous  years  past.  The  single  question  upon  which  it  is  held  the 
Assembly  has  erred,  is  that  of  the  relation  between  Church  and  State, — 
the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  powers, — existing  as  they  do  side  by  side, 
touching  each  other  at  so  many  points,  traversing  each  other's  territories 
in  so  many  directions,  and  often  so  difficult  to  be  discriminated. 

The  Assembly,  it  is  charged,  has  over  and  over  again  left  its  appro- 
priate sphere,  intruded  upon  that  of  the  State,  and  intermeddled  with 
civil  affairs,  which,  by  the  Word  of  God  and  the  standards  of  the 
Church,  it  is  forbidden  to  handle.  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world.  "Synods  and  Councils,"  says  our  Confession  of  Faith,  "are  to 
handle  or  conclude  nothing  but  that  which  is  ecclesiastical,  and  are  not 
to  intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which  concern  the  Commonwealth, 
unless  by  way  of  humble  petition  in  cases  extraordinary;  or  by  way  of 
advice  for  satisfaction  of  conscience,  if  they  be  thereunto  required  by 
the  civil  magistrate." — Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  31,  sec,  4. 


Such  is  the  doctriue  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  it  is  one  dear  to 
us,  for  it  is  one  peculiarly  our  own.  It  is  the  doctrine  of  our  com- 
mon Presbyterianism,  and  as  a  Doctrine  no  Assembly,  or  Synod,  or 
Presbytery,  or  Minister,  or  Member  of  our  Church,  has  ever  called  it 
in  question.  It  belongs  to  no  sect  or  segment  of  our  communion,  it  is 
the  common  inheritance  of  us  all.  You  would  as  soon  expect  to  hear 
an  American  Presbyterian  deny  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  or  His  Atone- 
ment, as  the  Doctrine  here  set  forth.  I  have  never  preached  politics, 
and  I  never  will.  As  a  Minister  1  have  never  intermeddled  with  civil 
affairs,  which  belong  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  I  never  will ;  and  in 
this,  my  Brethren,  I  am  sure,  all  are  agreed  with  me. 

And  now  the  question  recurs  in  what  respects,  and  how  far  has  the 
Assembly  done  violence  to  this  doctriue.  We  begin  with  the  Act  of  1861, 
as  first  in  order,  familiar  to  you  all  as  "the  Spring  Resolutions,"  which 
we  quote  in  full : 

"Gratefully  acknowledging  the  distinguished  bounty  and  care  of 
Almighty  God  toward  this  favored  land,  and  also  recognizing  our  obli- 
gations to  submit  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake,  this 
General  Assembly  adopt  the  following  resolutions  : 

'■'Resolved,  1.  That  in  view  of  the  present  agitated  and  unhappy  condi- 
tion of  this  country,  the  first  day  of  July  next  be  hereby  set  apart  as 
a  day  of  prayer  throughout  our  bounds;  and  that  on  this  day  ministers 
and  people  are  called  on  humbly  to  confess  and  bewail  our  national  sins, 
to  offer  our  thanks  to  the  Father  of  light  for  His  abundant  and  undeserved 
goodness  toward  us  as  a  nation;  to  seek  His  guidance  and  blessing  upon 
our  rulers,  and  their  counsels,  as  well  as  on  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  about  to  assemble;  and  to  implore  Him,  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  great  High  Priest  of  the  Christian  profession,  to  turn  away 
His  anger  from  us,  and  speedily  restore  to  us  the  blessings  of  an  honor- 
able peace. 

"■Resolved,  2.  That  this  General  Assembly,  in  the  spirit  of  that  Chris- 
tian patriotism  which  the  sacred  Scripture  enjoins,  and  which  has 
always  characterized  this  Church,  do  hereby  acknowledge  and  declare 
our  obligation  to  affirm  and  perpetuate,  so  far  as  in  us  lies,  the  integrity 
of  these  United  States,  and  to  strengthen,  uphold  and  encourage  the 
Federal  Government  in  the  exercise  of  all  its  functions  under  our  Con- 
stitution; and  to  this  Constitution  in  all  its  provisions,  requirements  and 
objects,  we  profess  our  unabated  loyalty.  And  to  avoid  all  misconcep- 
tions, the  Assembly  declare,  that  by  the  terms  Federal  Government, 
is  not  meant  any  particular  administration  or  the  peculiar  opinions  of 
any  particular  party,  but  that  central  administration,  which  being  at 


6 

any  time  appoiuted  and  inaugurated  according  to  the  forms  prescribed 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  the  visible  representative  of 
our  national  existence." — Miymtes  of  the  General  Assemhlij,  page  3'29, 
Against  this  action,  the  Commissioners  from  this  Presbytery  voted, 
and  with  fifty-six  others  protested.  I  will  read  from  the  protest  and 
the  answer  of  the  Assembly,  such  extracts  as  will  bring  out  clearly  the 
points  in  controversy. 

Protest  of  Dr.  Hodge  and  others. 

"We,  the  undersigned,  respectfully  protest  against  the  action  of  the 
General  Assembly,  in  adopting  the  minority  report  of  the  Committee  on 
the  State  of  the  Country. 

"We  make  this  protest,  not  because  we  do  not  acknowledge  loyalty 
to  our  country  to  be  a  moral  and  religious  duty,  according  to  the  Word 
of  God,  which  requires  us  to  be  subject  to  the  powers  that  be;  nor  because 
wo  deny  the  right  of  the  Assembly  to  enjoin  that,  and  all  other  like 
duties,  on  the  ministers  and  churches  under  its  care:  but  because  we 
deny  the  right  of  the  General  Assembly  to  decide  the  political  question, 
to  what  government  the  allegiance  of  Presbyterians  as  citizens  is  due, 
and  its  right  to  make  that  decision  a  condition  of  membership  in  our 
Church. 

"That  the  paper  adopted  by  the  Assembly  does  decide  the  political 
question  just  stated,  is  in  our  judgment  undeniable.  It  asserts  not  only 
the  loyalty  of  this  body  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  but  it 
promises  in  the  name  of  all  the  churches  and  ministers  whom  it  repre- 
sents, to  do  all  that  in  them  lies  to  'strengthen,  uphold,  and  encourage  the 
Federal  Government.'  It  is,  however,  a  notorious  fact,  that  many  of 
our  ministers  and  members  conscientiously  believe  that  the  allegiance  of 
the  citizens  of  this  country  is  primarily  due  to  the  States  to  which  they 
respectively  belong;  and,  therefore,  that  when  any  State  renounces  its 
connection  with  the  United  States,  and  its  allegiance  to  the  Constitution, 
the  citizens  of  that  State  are  bound  by  the  laws  of  God  to  continue  loyal 
to  their  State,  and  obedient  to  its  laws.  The  paper  adopted  by  the  As- 
sembly virtually  declares,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  allegiance  of  the 
citizen  is  due  to  the  United  States;  anything  in  the  Constitution,  or  ordi- 
nances, or  laws  of  the  several  States  to  the  conti'ary  notwithstanding. 

"It  is  not  the  loyalty  of  the  members  constituting  this  Assembly,  nor 
of  our  churches  and  ministers  in  any  one  portion  of  our  country  that  is 
thus  asserted,  but  the  loyalty  of  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church,  North 
and  South,  East  and  West. 


"Allegiance  to  the  Federal  Governmeut  is  recognized  or  declared  to 
be  the  duty  of  all  the  churches  and  ministers  represented  in  this  body. 
In  adopting  this  paper,  therefore,  the  Assembly  does  decide  the  great 
political  question  which  agitates  and  divides  the  country.  The  question 
is,  whether  the  allegiance  of  our  citizens  is  primarily  to  the  State  or  to 
the  Union.  However  clear  our  own  convictions  of  the  correctness  of  this 
decision  may  be,  or  however  deeply  we  may  be  impressed  with  its  im- 
portance, yet  it  is  not  a  question  which  this  Assembly  has  the  right  to 
decide. 

"That  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  the  premises  does  not  only 
decide  the  political  question  referred  to,  but  makes  that  decision  a  term 
of  membership  in  our  Church,  is  no  less  clear.  It  is  not  analogous  to 
the  recommendation  of  a  religious  or  benevolent  institution,  which  our 
members  may  regard  or  not  at  pleasure;  but  it  puts  into  the  mouths  of 
all  represented  in  this  body,  a  declaration  of  loyalty  and  allegiance  to 
the  Union  and  to  the  Federal  Government.  But  such  a  declaration, 
made  by  our  members  residing  in  what  is  called  the  seceding  States 
is  treasonable.  Presbyterians  under  the  jurisdiction  of  those  States, 
cannot,  therefore,  make  that  declaration.  They  are  consequently  forced 
to  choose  between  allegiance  to  their  States  and  allegiance  to  the 
Church. 

"The  General  Assembly  in  thus  deciding  a  political  question,  and  in 
making  that  decision  practically  a  condition  of  membership  in  the 
Church,  has,  in  our  judgment,  violated  the  Constitution  of  the  Church, 
and  usurped  the  prerogative  of  its  Divine  Master. 

"We  protest  loudly  against  the  action  of  the  Assembly,  because  it 
is  a  departure  from  all  its  previous  actions. 

"The  General  Assembly  has  always  acted  on  the  principle  that  the 
Church  has  no  right  to  make  anything  a  condition  of  Christian  or  min 
isterial  fellowship,  which  is  not  enjoined  or  required  in  the  Scriptures 
and  the  standards  of  the  Church." — 3finnf.es  of  the  General  Assembly, 
pages  339  and  840. 

In  the  Assembly's  answer  to  this  protest,  they  say: 

"The  first  and  main  ground  of  protest  against  the  adoption  of  this 
resolution,  is,  that  the  General  Assembly  has  no  right  to  decide  purely 
political  questions;  that  the  question  whether  the  allegiance  of  American 
citizens  is  due  primarily  and  eminently  to  the  State,  or  to  the  Union, 
is  purely  political,  of  the  gravest  character,  dependent  upon  constitu- 
tional theories  and  interpretations,  respecting  which,  various  opinions 
prevail  in  different  sections  of  our  country;  that  the  action  of  the 
Assembly   virtually  determines  this   vexed  question,   decides  to  what 


'8 

government  the  allegiance  of  Presbyterians,  as  citizens,  is  due,  and 
makes  that  decision  a  term  of  communion. 

"The  protestants  "deny  the  right  of  the  General  Assembly  to  decide 
to  what  government  the  allegiance  of  Presbyterians,  as  citizens,  is  due." 
Strictly  speaking,  the  Assembly  has  made  no  such  decision.  They 
have  said  nothing  respecting  the  allegiance  of  the  subjects  of  any  foreign 
power,  or  that  of  the  members  of  our  mission  Churches  in  India,  China, 
or  elsewhere,  who  may  hold  connection  with  our  denomination.  The 
action  complained  of  relates  solely  to  American  Presbyterians,  citizens 
of  these  United  States. 

"Even  with  regard  to  them,  the  Assembly  has  not  determined,  as 
between  conflicting  governments,  to  which  our  allegiance  is  due.  We 
are  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  Such  is  the  distinctive  name,  ecclesiastical  and 
legal,  under  which  we  have  chosen  to  be  known  by  our  sister  Churches 
and  by  the  world.  Our  organization  as  a  General  Assembly  was 
cotemporaneous  with  that  of  our  Federal  Government.  In  the  seventy- 
four  years  of  our  existence,  Presbyterians  have  known  but  one  supreme 
government,  one  nationality,  within  our  wide-spread  territory.  We 
know  no  other  now.  History  tells  of  none.  The  Federal  Government 
acknowledges  none.  No  nation  on  earth  recognizes  the  existence  of 
two  independent  sovereignties  within  these  United  States  What  Divine 
Providence  may  intend  for  us  hereafter — what  curse  of  rival  and  hostile 
sovereignties  within  this  broad  heritage  of  our  fathers, — we  presume  not 
to  determine.  Do  these  protestants,  who  so  anxiously  avoid  political 
entanglements,  desire  the  General  Assenbly  to  anticipate  the  dread 
decision  of  impending  battle,  the  action  of  our  own  government,  the 
determination  of  foreign  powers,  and  even  the  ultimate  arbitration  of 
Heaven?  Would  they  have  us  recognize,  as  good  Pr«sbyterians,  men 
whom  our  own  Government,  with  the  approval  of  Christendom,  may 
soon  execute  as  traitors?  May  not  the  highest  Court  of  our  Church, 
speaking  as  the  interpreter  of  that  holy  law  which  says,  'Ye  must  needs 
be  subject,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  also  for  conscience  sake,'  Rom.  xiii. 
5,  warn  her  communicants  against  'resisting  the  ordinance  of  God?' 
Rom.  xiii.  2.  In  the  language  of  the  learned  Reviewer  above  cited, 
'Is  disunion  morally  right?  Does  it  not  involve  a  breach  of  faith,  and 
a  violation  of  the  oaths  by  which  that  faith  was  confirmed?  We  believe, 
under  existing  circumstances,  that  it  does,  and  therefore  it  is  as  dreadful 
a  blow  to  the  Church  as  it  is  to  the  State.  If  a  crime  at  all,  it  is  one 
the  heinousness  of  which  can  only  be  imperfectly  estimated.' 


9 

"In  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  'this  saying  is  true;'  and  there- 
fore the  admission,  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly,  that  Presbyterians  may 
take  up  arms  against  the  Federal  Government,  or  aid  and  comfort  its 
enemies,  and  yet  be  guiltless,  would  exhibit  that  'practical  recognition 
of  the  right  of  secession,'  which,  says  the  Reviewer,  would  'destroy 
our  national  life  ' 

"But  we  deny  that  this  Deliverance  of  the  Assembly  establishes  any 
new  term  of  communion.  The  terms  of  Christian  fellowship  are  laid 
down  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  are  embodied  in  our  standards.  It  is 
competent  to  this  Court  to  interpret  and  apply  the  doctrines  of  the  Word; 
to  warn  men  against  prevailing  sin's;  and  to  urge  the  performance  of 
neglected  duties.  We  regard  the  action,  against  which  these  protests 
are  levelled,  simply  as  a  faithful  declaration  by  the  Assembly,  of 
Christian  duty  towards  those  in  authority  over  us;  which  adds  nothing 
to  the  terms  of  communion  already  recognized.  Surely  the  idea  of  the 
obligation  of  lojalty  to  our  Federal  Government  is  no  new  thing  to 
Presbyterians. 

"And  this  is  a  sufficient  reply,  also,  to  the  second  article  of  this  pro- 
test. Having  established  no  new  term  of  membership,  this  Assembly 
is  not  liable  to  the  charge  of  having  departed  from  the  old  paths." 
Minutes  of  the  General  Assemlly,  pages  342  and  343. 

There  was  no  question  between  the  Assembly  and  the  protestanls 
as  to  the  doctrine  that  the  Church  must  not  handle  political  affairs; 
the  only  question  was  one  of  fact  or  opinion  as  to  whether  the  act  in 
question  was  political.  Both  agreed  upon  the  Princple,  the  differ- 
ence was  as  to  the  application  of  the  principle  to  a  certain  stale  of 
facts.  There  was  no  question  either  as  to  the  judgment  of  the  As- 
sembly, whether  right  or  wrong  in  itself,  but  simply  and  solely 
whether,  as  a  Spiritual  Court,  it  had  a  right  to  pronounce  any  jud""- 
ment  at  all  upon  the  subject.  Let  this  be  borne  distinctly  in 
mind. 

The  decisive  question  was  here  settled,  and  upon  the  Acts  of 
subsequent  years  we  need  but  glance.  In  1862,  [Minutes,  jJ.  624) 
an  elaborate  paper  was  adopted  recognizing  the  fiict  that  the 
Federal  Government  was  the  "powers  that  be"  which  are  ordained 
of  God,  that  loyalty  was  due  to  it,  that  rebellion  against  it  might  be, 
perhaps  was,  sin,  that  it  ought  to  crush  force  by  force,  and  that  the 
Church  should  uphold  it.  A  paper  adopted  with  less  opposition,  as 
the  Southern  Churches  were  unrepresented  and  its  action  respected 
only  those  in  States  connected  with  the  Central  Government. 
2 


10 

In  1S63  a  pfiper  was  adopted  refiisiiig  to  display  a  flag  upon  the 
building  in  which  the  Assembly  met,  and  reiterating  substantidlly 
the  Deliverances  of  previous  Assemblies. 

In  1S64  an  elaborate  paper  was  adopted  on  the  subject  of  Slavery, 
reviewing  the  action  of  the  Church  upon  it,  and  citing  its  Deliver- 
ances through  successive  years  from  1787  onward,  (all  condemn- 
ing the  system,)  reaching  th.is  conclusion,  "that  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Assembly  the  time  has  at  length  come,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
when  it  is  His  will  that  every  vestige  of  human  slavery  among  us 
should  be  effaced,  and  that  every  Christian  man  should  address  him- 
self with  industry  and  earnestness  to  his  appropriate  part  in  the 
performance  of  this  great  duty."  Tliis  action  is  objected  against, 
not  only  because  slavery  is  a  political  institution,  but  became  con- 
tradictory of  previous  testimonies  of  the  Assembly.  Two  Deliv- 
erances bring  out  the  precise  position  of  our  Church  on  this  whole 
subject.  That  of  181S,  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Baxter,  of  Virginia, 
supported  by  all  the  Southern  members  and  adopted  by  the  Assem- 
bly unanimously.  A  few  extracts  will  bring  out  the  main  positions 
taken  in  this  paper  of  1818. 

"The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  having  taken 
into  consideration  the  subject  of  slavery,  think  proper  to  make 
known  their  sentiments  upon  it  to  the  Churches  and  people  under 
their  care. 

"We  consider  the  voluntary  enslaving  of  one  portion  of  the  hu- 
man race  by  another,  as  a  gross  violation  of  the  most  precious  and 
sacred  rights  of  human  nature;  as  uttei-ly  inconsistent  with  the  law 
of  God,  which  requires  us  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  and  as 
totally  irreconcilable  with  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  which  enjoin  that  'all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.'  Slavery  creates  a  para- 
dox in  the  moral  system;  it  exhibits  rational,  accountable,  and  im- 
mortal beings  in  such  circumstances  as  scarcely  to  leave  them  the 
power  of  moral  action.  It  exhibits  them  as  dependent  on  the  will 
of  others,  whether  they  shall  receive  religious  instruction;  whether 
they  shall  know  and  worship  the  true  God;  whether  they  shall 
enjoy  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel;  whether  they  shall  perform  the 
duties  and  cherish  the  endearments  of  husbands  and  wives,  parents 
and  children,  neighbors  and  friends;  whether  they  shall  preserve 
their  chastity  and  purity,  or  regard  the  dictates  of  justice  and  hu- 
manity. Such  are  some  of  the  consequences  of  slavery — conse- 
quences not  Imaginary,  but  whicli   connect  themselves  with  its  very 


11 

existence.  The  evils  to  which  the  slave  is  always  exposed  often 
take  place  in  fact,  and  in  their  very  worst  degree  and  form;  and 
where  all  of  them  do  not  take  place,  as  we  rejoice  to  say  in  many 
instances,  through  the  influence  of  the  principles  of  humanity  and 
religion  on  the  mind  of  masters,  they  do  not — still  the  slave  is  de- 
prived of  his  natural  right,  degraded  as  a  human  being,  and  ex- 
posed to  tha  danger  of  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  master  who  may 
inflict  upon  him  all  the  hardships  and  injuries  which  inhumanity  and 
avarice  may  suggest. 

"From  this  view  of  the  consequences  resulting  from  the  practice 
into  which  Christian  people  have  most  inconsistently  fallen,  of  en- 
slaving a  portion  of  their  brethren  of  mankind — for  'God  hath  made 
of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth' — 
it  is  manifestly  the  duty  of  all  Christians  who  enjoy  the  light  of  the 
present  day,  when  the  inconsistency  of  slavery  both  with  the  dic- 
tates of  humanity  and  religion,  has  been  demonstrated,  and  is  gen- 
erally seen  and  acknowledged,  to  use  their  honest,  earnest,  and  un- 
wearied endeavors  to  correct  the  errors  of  former  times,  and  as 
speedily  as  possible  to  efface  this  blot  on  our  holy  religion,  and  to 
obtain  the  complete  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  Christendom, 
and  if  possible  throughout  the  world." — BaircVs  Digest,  fp.  800-10. 

The  Paper  of  1845,  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  was  drawn  up 
by  Dr.  Rico,  of  New  York.  Of  this  Assembly  I  was  a  member, 
and  for  this  paper  I  voted.     Its  main  features  are  these: 

"The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  the  memorials  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery,  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report  : 

"The  memorialists  may  be  divided  into  three  classes,  viz  : 

"1.  Those  which  represent  the  system  of  slavery,  as  it  exists  in 
these  United  States,  as  a  great  evil,  and  pray  this  General  Assembly 
to  adopt  measures  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  slaves. 

"2.  Those  which  ask  the  Assembly  to  receive  memorials  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  to  allow  a  full  discussion  of  it,  and  to  enjoin  upon 
the  members  of  our  Church,  residing  in  Slates  whose  laws  forbid  the 
slaves  being  taught  to  read,  to  seek  by  all  lawful  means  the  repeal 
of  those  laws. 

"3.  Those  which  represent  slavery  ss  a  moral  evil,  a  heinous  sin 
in  the  sight  of  God,  calculated  to  bring  upon  the  Church  the  curse 
of  God,  and  calling  for  the  exercise  of  discipline  in  the  case  of  those 
\\\iO  persist  in  maintaining  or  justifying  the  relation  of  master  to 
slave. 


12 

"The  question  which  is  now  unhappily  agitating  and  dividing 
other  branches  of  the  Church,  and  which  is  pressed  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Assembly  by  one  of  the  three  classes  of  memorialists  just 
named,  is,  whether  the  holding  of  slaves  is,  under  all  circumstances, 
a  heinous  sin,  calling  for  the  discipline  of  the  Church. 

"The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  spiritual  body,  whose  jurisdiction  ex- 
tends to  the  religious  faith  and  moral  conduct  of  her  members.  She 
cannot  legislate,  where  Christ  has  not  legislated,  nor  make  terms  of 
membership  which  he  has  not  made.  The  question,  therefore,  which 
this  Assembly  is  called  to  decide,  is  this:  Do  the  Scriptures  teach 
that  the  holding  of  slaves,  without  regard  to  circumstances;  is  a  sin, 
the  renunciation  of  which  should  be  made  a  condition  of  member- 
ship in  the  Church  of  Christ  1 

"It  is  impossible  to  answer  this  question  in  the  affirmative,  with- 
out contradicting  some  of  the  plainest  declarations  of  the  Word  of 
God.  That  slavery  existed  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
is  an  admitted  fact.  That  they  did  not  denounce  the  relation  itself 
as  sinful,  as  inconsistent  with  Cliristianity;  that  slaveholders  were 
admitted  to  membership  in  the  Churches  organized  by  the  Apostles; 
that  whilst  they  were  required  to  treat  their  slaves  with  kindness, 
and  as  rational,  accountable,  immortal  beings,  and,  if  Christians,  a& 
brethren  in  the  Lord,  they  were  not  commanded  to  emancipate  them; 
itii at  slaves  were  required  to  be  'obedient  to  their  masters  according 
to  the  flesh,  with  fear  and  trembling,  with  singleness  of  heart  as  unto 
'Christ,'  are  facts  which  meet  the  eye  of  every  reader  of  the  New 
Testament.  This  Assembly  cannot,  therefore,  denounce  tlie  holding 
of  slaves  as  necessarily  a  heinous  and  scandalous  sin,  calculated  to 
bring  upon  the  Church  the  cuise  of  God,  without  charging  the 
Apostles  of  Christ  with  conniving  at  sm,  introducing  into  tlie  Church 
such  sinners,  and  thus  bringing  upon  them  the  curse  of  the 
Almighty. 

"In  so  saying,  however,  the  Assembly  are  not  to  be  understood  as 
denying  that  there  is  evil  connected  with  slavery.  Much  less  do 
thev  a.pprove  those  defective  and  oppressive  laws  by  which,  in  some 
of  the  States,  it  is  regulated.  Nor  would  they  by  any  means  coun- 
tenance the  traffic  in  slaves  for  the  sake  of  gain;  the  separation  of 
husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  children,  for  the  sake  of  'filthy 
lucre,' ov  for  the  convenience  of  the  master;  or  cruel  treatment  of 
slaves,  in -any  respect.  Every  Christian  and  philanthropist  certainly 
seek  by  all  peaceable  and  lawful  means,  the  repeal  of  unjust  and 
oppressive  laws,  and   the  amendment  of  such  as  are  defective,  so  as 


13 

to    proiect  the    slaves   from   cruel   treatment  by   wicked    men,  and 
secure  to  them  the  right  to  receive  religious  instruction. 

"Nor  is  the  Assembly  to  be  understood  as  countenancing  ihe  idea 
that  masters  may  regard  their  servants  as  mere  property,  and  not  as 
human  beings,  rational,  accountable,  immortal.  The  Scriptures 
prescribe  not  only  the  duties  of  servants,  but  of  masters  also,  warn- 
ing the  latter  to  discharge  those  duties,  'knowing  that  their  Master 
is  in  heaven,  neither  is  there  respect  of  persons  with  him. 

"In  view  of  the  above  slated  principles  and  facts: 

^'Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  was  originally  organized,  and  has  since 
continued  the  bond  of  union  in  the  Church,  upon  the  conceded  prin- 
ciple that  the  existence  of  domestic  slavery,  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  is  found  in  the  Southern  portion  of  the  country,  is  no  bar 
to  Christian  communion. 

"2.  That  the  petitions  that  ask  the  Assembly  to  make  the  holding 
of  slaves  in  itself  a  matter  of  discipline,  do  virtually  require  this 
judicatory  to  dissolve  itself,  and  abandon  the  organization,  under 
which,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  it  has  so  long  prospered.  The  ten- 
dency is  evidently  to  separate  the  Northern  fi-om  the  Southern  por- 
tion of  the  Church;  a  result  which  eveiy  good  citizen  must  deplore, 
as  tending  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  of  our  beloved  coun- 
try, and  which  every  enlightened  Christian  will  oppose  as  bring- 
ing about  a  ruinous  and  unnecessary  schism  between  brethren  who 
maintain    a    common  faith." — Baird's  Digest,  p.  813. 

In  1846  the  General  Assembly  affirmed  the  agreement  of  all  its 
Deliverances  on  the  subject  of  Slavery  in  these  words: 

"Our  Church  has,  from  time  to  time,  during  a  period  of  nearly 
sixty  years,  expressed  itsviewson  the  subject  of  slavery.  Duringall 
this  period  it  has  held  and  uttered  substantially  the  same  sentiments. 
.Believing  that  this  uniform  testimony  is  true,  and  capable  of  vindi- 
cation from  the  Word  of  God,  the  Assembly  is  at  the  same  time 
clearly  of  the  opinion  that  it  has  already  deliberately  and  solemnly 
spoken  on  this  subject  with  sufficient  fulness  and  clearness.  There- 
fore, 

'^Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  House,  the  action  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1845  was  not  intended  to  deny  or  rescind  the 
testimony  uttered  often  by  the  Greneral  Assemblies  previous  to  that 
date." — Baird's  Digest,  p.  814. 

The  last  Assembly  affirmed  that  the  actions  of  '64  and  '65  are 
not  contradictory  of  any  previous  actions. 


14 

The  seeming  contradiction  vanishes  when  we  rememher  that  the 
Assembly  held  that  the  mere  relation  of  master  and  slave  was  not 
sinful,  and  could  not  he  made  a  bar  to  communion.  This  is  the  fact 
which  the  paper  of  1845  affirms  and  di-aws  out  to  its  Ici^itimate 
consequences.  The  papers  of  ISIS  and  1864,  on  the  other  hand,  affirm 
that  the  system  of  slavery,  with  all  the  laws,  usages  and  abuses 
which  had  actually  grown  up  within  and  around  it  was  an  evil.  The 
one  condemns  the  system  as  sinful,  the  other  denies  that  every  one 
implicated  in  the  system  is  necessarily  a  sinner. 

We  come  now  to  the  action  of  1865,  which  differs  in  one  essential 
feature  from  all  these.  In  all  former  Deliverances  the  Assembly 
simply  exercised  its  office  of  instruction,  and  propounded  its  opinions 
or  sentiments  as  a  Religious  Teacher.  Here  it  exercises  its  power  of 
Government. 

"I.  The  right  of  every  Presbytery  to  examine  ministers  asking 
admission  into  their  body,  as  to  their  soundness  in  the  faith,  which  has 
been  long  acknowledged  and  practiced  by  our  Presbyteries,  imjilies 
their  right  by  parity  of  reasoning  to  examine  them  on  all  subjects 
which  seriously  affect  the  peace,  purity,  and  unity  of  the  Church. 

"  II.  The  exercise  of  this  right  becomes  an  imperative  duty,  in 
the  present  ciicumstances  of  our  country,  when,  after  the  crushing 
by  military  force  of  an  atrocious  rebeUion  against  the  Government 
of  the  Un'fed  States,  for  the  perpetuation  of  slavery,  many  ministers 
who  have  aided  and  abetted  this  revolt,  may  seek  admission  into 
Presbyteries  located  in  the  loyal  States.      Therefore, 

"111.  It  is  hereby  ordered  that  all  our  Presbyteries  examine  every 
minister  applying  for  admission  from  any  Presbytery  or  other  eccle- 
siastical body  in  the  Southern  States,  on  the  following  points  : 

"1.  Whether  he  has  in  any  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  his  own 
free  will  and  consent,  or  without  external  constramt,  l.een  concerned 
at  any  lime  in  aiding  or  countenancing  the  rebellion  and  the  war 
which  has  been  waged  against  the  United  States;  and  if  it  be  found 
by  his  own  confession  or  from  sufficient  testimony,  that  he  has  been 
so  concerned,  that  he  be  required  to  confess  and  forsake  his  sin  in 
this  regard  before  he  shall  he   received. 

"2.  AVhether  he  holds  that  the  system  of  negro  slavery  in  the  South 
is  a  Divine  institution,  and  that  it  is  'the  peculiar  mission  of  the 
Southern  Church  to  conserve  the  institution  of  slavery  as  there  main- 
tained,' and  if  it  be  found  that  he  holds  either  of  these  doctrines, 
that  he  be  not  received  without  renouncing  and  forsaking  these 
errors. 


15 

"V.  Cliufcli  spssinns  are  also  ordered  to  examine  all  applicants 
for  cliurch  meinliership  by  pt-rsons  from  the  Southern  States,  or  who 
have  been  living  in  the  South  since  the  rebellion,  concerning  their 
conduct  and  principles  on  the  points  above  specified;  and  if  it  be 
found  that  of  their  own  free  will  they  have  taken  up  arms  against  the 
United  States,  or  tliat  tliey  hold  slavery  to  be  an  ordinance  of  God- 
as  above  stated,  such  persons  shall  not  be  admitted  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  Church  till  they  give  evidence  of  repentance  for  their 
sin  and  renounce  their  error. 

"VI.  The  C»eneral  Assembly  gives  counsel  to  the  several  church 
courts  specified  in  these  orders,  that  in  discharging  the  duties  er- 
joined  ihei'eii),  due  regard  be  paid  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
and  that  justice  be  tempered  with  mercy.  Especially  is  this  counsel 
given  to  churches  in  the  border  States,  where  many  impulsive  and 
ardent  young  men,  without  due  consideration,  have  been  led  away 
by  their  superiors,  or  seduced  from  their  loyalty  i)y  their  erroneous 
interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of  State  rights  " — Minutes,  1865,/;.  563. 

The  Assembly  just  adjourned  does  not  properiy  come  under  our 
notice  liere,  f()r  confessedly,  there  was  nothing  political  in  its  Acts 
and  Deliverances,  save -as  these  contained  incidental  ref'ei-ences  to  the 
Acts  of  preceding  Assemblies.  The  "  Declai-ation  and  Testimony'* 
against  wliich,  and  against  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  which 
adopted,  and  the  individual  ministers  and  elders  who  signed  U,  the 
judgment  of  the  Assembly  was  pronounced,  was  a  strictly  ecclesiastical 
paper,  and  contained  nothing  poli  ical.  The  offence  charged  against 
those  who  adopted  and  signed  it,  was  not  political  but  ecclesiastical. 
They  were  condemned  for  what  was  declared  to  be  an  act  of  de- 
fiance and  insubordination  against  the  lawful  authority  of  the  highest 
court  of  the  Church.  It  was  not  for  the  principles  they  avowed,  for 
those  princi|)les  were  mainly  true — nor  for  the  dissent  and  disa[)provai 
they  uttered  against  the  Acts  of  the  Assemi)ly,  for  the  Assembly 
explicitly  recognized  their  right  to  dissent;  nor  for  their  refusal  to 
carry  out  any  supposed  Orders  of  the  Assembly,  for  this  the  As- 
seml)ly  did  not  require,  but  simply  and  solely  because  of  their  ojien 
defiance  of  the  authority  of  a  court  to  which  their  ordination  vows 
and  the  laws  of  Christ's  house  bound  them  to  submit.  I  am  not  say- 
ing now  that  the  process  was  properly  conducted,  for  I  do  not  think 
so,  and  voted  against  i',  at  every  step,  but  simply  that  the  whole  mat- 
ter was  ecclesiastical,  not  political,  and  the  errors,  whatever  they  were, 
were  altogether  errors  in  the  mode  of  conducting  a  process  which  it 
was  confessedly  competent  to  conduct.      And  I  give  it  as  my  honest 


16 

opinion  from  constant  and  large  intercourse  with  mcmliers  of  the  As- 
sembly, and  especially  of  its  leaders,  and  from  careful  observation  of 
tijt'ir  spirit  and  purposes,  that  had  it  nut  been  for  the  lavish  distribution 
through  the  liouse  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  in  printed  form, 
which  they  regarded  as  an  intended  insult  and  defiance  of  their 
authority,  and  for  the  presence  of  some  whom  they  considered  as 
sent  there  in  open  contempt  of  them  as  a  court  of  Christ's  House, 
thei-e  would  have  been  nothing  dom;  at  the  last  Assembly  to  occa- 
sion disquiet  to  any — nothing  butefforts  to  bind  up  what  was  broken. 
That  is  my  honest  and  deliberate  opinion,  which  you  may  take  for 
what  it  is  worth.  I  differed  from  the  jinbcy  pursu<,'d,  but  I  feel 
bound  to  say,  that  in  my  judgment,  it  sprang  from  a  sincere  desire 
to  vindicate  what  was  considered  the  lawful  authority  and  dignity 
of  the  highest  court  of  Christ's  House. 

It  has  been  been  often  repeated  that  the  Commissioners  from  the 
Louisville  Presbytery  were  expelled  from  the  house  without  having 
a  trial.  The  simple  fact  was  that  they  were  suspended  from  their 
privileges  as  membe-s  of  the  body  until  their  case  should  be  taken 
up,  when,  by  express  resolution,  their  right  to  a  full  hearing  was 
recognized.  And  this  suspension  until  their  case  was  taken  up  was 
justified  by  those  who  advocated  it,  on  the  principle  recognized  in 
our  book,  that  where  persons  are  charged  with  grave  offences,  the 
court  which  takes  cognizance  of  the  case  may  suspend  them  from 
their  privileges  until  it  can  Ije  takmi  up. 

It  has  been  charged  that  the  spirit  of  the  Assembly  was  unkind, 
particularly  towards  our  Southern  brethren.  An  answer  may  be 
found  in  the  following  paper,  offered  by  me  and  adopted  almost 
unanimously: 

"  W/icrcas,  The  churches  in  that  portion  of  our  country  lately  in 
rebellion,  whose  names  appear  upon  our  roll,  have  not  been  repre- 
sented in  this  Assembly,  and  still  remain  in  a  state  of  separation 
from  us;  and  whereas,  the  measures  adopted  by  this  Assembly,  if 
not  carried  out  by  the  lower  courts  in  a  spirit  of  great  meekness  and 
forbearance,  may  result  in  perjietuating  and  embittering  divisions 
already  existing,  and  extending  them  over  portions  of  our  Church 
now  at  peace.      Therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  this  Assemldy  greatly  deplores  the  continued 
separation  between  ourselves  and  our  Southern  brethren,  so  long 
united  with  us  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  love  and  ecclesiastical  fel- 
lowship, and  expresses  the  earnest  desire   that  the  way  may  be  soon 


17 

opened  for  a  reunion  on  the  basis  of  our  common  standards,  and  on 
terms  consistent  with  trulh  and  righteousness. 

"Resolied,  That  tlie  lower  courts  who  may  be  called  upon  to 
execute  the  measures  of  ihis  Assembly,  be  enjoined  to  proceed  therein 
with  great  meekness  and  forbearance,  and  in  a  spirit  of  kindness  and 
conciliation,  to  ihe  end  that  strifes  and  dissensions  be  not  multi|'lied 
and  inflamed  and  extended  still  more  widely,  and  that  the  discipline 
of  Christ's  house  may  prove  for  edification  and  not  for  destruction." 
Proceedings,   1S66,  p.  99. 

It  is  a  mistake  that  the  last  Assembly  requires  any  oath  of  any  kind 
from  the  members  of  our  Churches.  It  is  a  mistake  that  it  chiims  or 
holds  Zion  Church,  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  as  its  property — or  that  any 
Assembly  at  any  time  went  in  a  body  to  the  rooms  of  any  Loyal 
League  and  made  political  sjieeches,  or  rose  to  their  f'et  and  sang 
patriotic  songs.  These  arc  little  things,  mentioned  here  only  as 
specimens  of  misappiehensions  extensively  prevailing  and  encoun- 
tered by  us  upon  the  streets. 


And  now  from  this  long  and  tedious  review  we  come  back  to  the 
simple  question  before  us. 

The  Assembly  declares  that  the  Federal  Government  is  that 
ordinance  of  God  which  we  are  bound  to  reverence  and  obey;  and 
that  rebellion  against  it  is  a  sin,  to  be  visited  upon  those  guilty  of  it 
as  other  sins.  These  two  statements  embrace  in  substance  the  whole. 
And  now,  without  any  question  as  to  whether  they  are  are  ti'uo  or 
false  in  themselves,  had  the  Church  as  such  a  right  to  declare  and 
enforce  them  1  If  not,  did  it  intermeddle  with  civil  affaiis  which 
concern  the  Commonwealth  in  such  a  way  and  so  far  as  to  make  it 
an  Apostate  Church? 

In  ie[)ly  we  reoiark:  1st.  These  Acts  are  in  entire  harmony  with  the 
the  Acts  and  Deliverances  of  our  Church  from  its  very  beginning  in 
this  country.  And  if  Apostate  now,  and  because  of  these,  then  has 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  land  heen  always  Apostate.  In  Baird's 
Digest,  under  the  Caption  "Pastoral  Letter  on  occasion  of  the  old 
French  War,"  before  the  Assembly  was  organized,  the  Synod  of  New 
York  says:  "We  look  on  ourselves  bound,  not  only  as  members  cf  the 
community,  but  by  the  duty  of  our  office,  as  those  who  are  entrusted 
with  the  declaration  of  God's  revealed  will,  to  exhort  all  to  implore 
God's  mercy  for  themselves,  their  children,  country  and  nation,  their 
and  our  riglitful  and  gracious  sovereign,  King  George  the  Second,  his 


18 

royal  family,  all  officers  civil  and  military."  The  highest  Cliurch 
court  tlistinctly  recognizes  the  reigning  King,  "the  powers  that  be," 
as  "our  I'ightl'ul  and  gi-acious   sovereign."— Baird's  Digest,  p.  820. 

2.  Again  we  find  "A  Pastoral  Letter  on  the  Repeal  of"  the  Stamp 
Act,"  m  which,  after  speaking  of  the  imposition  of  unusual  taxes, 
the  severe  restrictions  on  trade,  the  almost  total  stagnation  of  busi- 
ness and  the  dansfer  of  beinrr  deprived  of  the  blessingr  of  English 
liberty,  from  all  which  they  had  been  delivered  by  the  clemency  of 
the  Government,  we  find  these  words,  "You  will  not  forget  to  honor 
your  King  and  pay  a  due  submission  to  his  august  Parliament. 
Let  this  fresh  instance  of  royal  clemency  increase  the  ardor  of  your 
affection  to  the  person,  family  and  government  of  our  rightful  and 
gracious  sovereign.  We  most  earnestly  recommend  it  to  you  to 
encoui'age  and  strengfthen  the  hands  of  Government,  to  demonstrate 
on  every  proper  occasion  your  undissembled  love  for  your  mother 
counti-y  and  your  attichment  to  her  true  interest,  so  inseparably 
connected  with  your  own." — Do.  ji.  821. 

Again,  "on  the  Revolutionary  War,"  after  stating  that  in  such  a 
crisis  as  that  of  impendiiig  war,  they  felt  bound  as  the  highest  tribu- 
nal of  the  Church,  to  sneak  to  the  conf^regations  under  their  care, 
and  after  reviewing  the  causes  which  led  to  the  war,  they  go  on  in 
these  words:  "First,  In  carrying  on  this  important  struggle  let 
every  opportunity  be  taken  to  express  your  attachment  and  respect 
to  our  sovereign.  King  George,  and  to  the  revolution  princijiles  by 
which  his  august  family  was  seated  on  the  Brilisli  throne.  Secondly, 
Be  careful  to  maintain  the  union  wh:ch  at  present  subsists  through 
all  the  colonies;  nothing  can  be  more  manifest  than  that  the  success 
of  every  measure  depends  on  its  being  inviolably  preserved.  In 
particular  as  the  Continental  Congress  now  sitting  at  Philadelphia 
consists  of  delegates  chosen  in  the  most  free  and  unbiassed  manner 
by  the  body  of  the  people,  let  tliem  not  onl^  be  treated  with  respect 
and  encouraged  in  their  difficult  service,  but  adhere  firmly  to  their 
resolutions,  and  let  it  be  seen  that  they  are  able  to  bring  out  the 
whole  strength  of  this  vast  country  to  carry  them  into  execution." 
Do.  p.  823. 

What  more  has  any  Assembly  said? 

See  again  ''Address  to  the  French  Minister  on  the  birth  of  the 
Dauphin,"  and  "Address  to  Washington  on  his  election  to  the  Presi- 
dency," "Testimony  against  Persecution  in  Switzerland,"  "Petition 
to  Congress  on  Sabbath  Mail,"  and  report  presented  by  Dr.  Plumer 


19 

and  adopted  in  1853,  from  \vbi«''"  I  quote  the  three  concluding  reso- 
lutions: 

4.  ''Resolved,  That  this  Assernhly  cordially  approves  of  the  pro- 
visions of  a  late  treaty  with  the  Oriental  Republic  of  Uraguay, 
already  cited,  and  trusts  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
will,  by  treaty,  secure  the  acknowledgment  of  the  same  inestimable 
rights  by  all  other  governments  where  it  may  be  practicable. 

5.  "Resolved,  That  the  peo[)le  of  the  congregations  in  our  connec- 
tion be  advised  to  unite  with  their  fellow-citizens  in  urging  upon  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  a  careful  and  earnest  attention  to 
this  matter. 

6.  "Resolved,  That  a  duly  attested  copy  of  these  resolutions  be 
furnished  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  President  of 
the  Senate,  and  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  next  Congress  for  the  consideration  of  each  of  these  branches  of 
the  Government  of  our  country." — Digest,  p.    788. 

And  so  we  submit  the  Presbyterian  Church  from  its  very  origin, 
especially  during  the  Revolution,  the  only  times  parallel  to  our  own, 
has  acted  on  precisely  the  same  principle  as  did  the  Assembly  during 
our  late  civil  convulsions. 

II.  All  Evangelical  Churches,  both  North  and  South,  have  taken 
precisely  the  same  position  and  made  substantially  the  same  Deliver- 
ances as  our  own. 

1.  T/iC  Congregationalists. — The  different  Congregational  Itodies 
in  the  Eastern,  Western  and  Middle  States,  as  ail  know,  with  one 
consent  took  action,  the  same  in  substance,  far  stronger  in  language 
than  our   own. 

2.  Tke  Lutherans. — The  General  Synod  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
in  ISG^,  after  a  preamble  declaring  that  the  rebellion  was  against 
the  lawfully  constituted  Government,  that  that  Government  must  be 
sustained  as  an  ordinance  of  God;  that  they  feel  bound  to  express 
their  convictions  of  truth  and  sustain  the  great  interests  of  law  and 
authority.      Resolved: 

1.  "That  it  is  the  deliberate  judgment  of  this  Synod  that  the  re- 
bellion against  the  Constitutional  Government  of  this  land  is  most 
wicked  in  its  inception,  unjustifiable  in  its  cause,  inhuman  in  its 
prosecution,  and  destructive  in  its  results  to  the  highest  interests  of 
morality  and  religion. 

2.  "That  in  the  suppression  of  this  rebellion  and  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  Constitution  and  Union  by  the  sword,  we  recognize  an 


20 

unavoidable  necessity  and  a  sacred  duty  which  the  Government 
'owes  to  tlio  nation  and  to  the  world,'  and  call  upon  our  people  to 
pray  for  'success  to  the  army  and  navy,  that  our  beloved  land  may 
speedily  be  delivered  from  treason  and  anarchy.'  In  iSGi  the 
Synod  reiterates  and  reaffirms  its  action." — JMcPlicrson,  p.  478. 

3.  The  Gcrmdii  Hrformcd. — The  German  Reformed  Synod  of 
Pennsylvania  in  1S64,  resolved  "that  this  Convention  deems  it  right 
and  proper  to  give  expression  to  the  unfaltering  devotion  with  which 
the  German  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  has  hitherto  sus- 
tained I  he  cause  of  our  common  country,  and  we  earnestly  urge 
upon  our  clergy  and  laity  to  continue  to  labor  and  pray  ft)r  the 
success  of  the  Government  in  its  efforts  to  suppress  the  existing 
rebellion,  and  to  restore  peace  and   union." — Do.  p.   4S2. 

The  General  Synod  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  adopted  still 
stronger  resolutions  in  1863. 

4.  The  Baptists. — At  the  General  Convention  of  the  Baptists  in 
Brooklyn  in  1861,  it  was  resolved  "ihat  the  doctrine  of  secession  is 
foreign  to  our  Constitution,  revolutionary,  suicidal,  setting  out  in 
anarchy  and  finding  its  ultimate  issue  in  despotism.  2.  That  the 
National  Government  deserves  our  loyal  adhesion  and  unstinted 
support  in  its  maintenance  of  the  nationnl  unity  and  life." 

The  New  Yoik  Baplist  Convention  of  1862  resolved  that  "as  a 
religious  body  we  deem  it  our  duty  to  cherish  and  manife:?t  the 
deepest  sympathy  for  the  preservation  and  perpetuity  of  a  Govern- 
ment which  protects  us  in  the  great  walk  of  Christian  civilization." 
Similar  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  Baptist  Conventions  of 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. — Do.  p.  474. 

5.  Metlwdist  Protestant. — The  Methodist  Protestant  Church  at  its 
General  Convention  in  1862  made  a  deliverance  of  a  tenor  precisely 
similar  to  those  of  the  Baptists.  —  Do.  p.  499. 

6.  Methodist  Episcopal. — The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  its 
General  Convention  in  1861,  Resolved,  among  other  things, 

2.  "That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  prosecute  the  war 
with  all  its  resources  of  men  and  money  till  this  wicked  rebellion  shall 
be  subdued,  the  integrity  of  the  nation  shall  be  secured  and  its  legiti- 
mate authority  shall  be  established,  and  that  we  pledge  our  hearty 
support  and  co-operation  to  secure  this  result" 

5.  "That  we  regard  slavery  as  abhorent  to  the  principles  of  our  holy 
religion,  humardty  and  civilization,  and  that  we  are  in  favor  of  such 
measures  as  will    'prohibit  slavery  or   involuntary  servitude,  except  for 


21 

crime,    throughout  all   the    States   and   Territories    of  the    country.'" 
Do.  p.  498. 

7.  Protestant  Episcopal. — The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
Diocese  of  Pennsylvania  in  1864,  Resolved, 

"That  we  hereby  declare  our  unfaltering  allegiance  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  that  we  pledge  it  our  willing  devotion 
and  service,"  and  will  pray  that  our  now  lacerated  country  may  be  so 
reunited,  that  "there  shall  be  but  one  Union,  one  Government,  one  Flag, 
one  Constitution." 

In  the  General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States,  held  in  New  York  in  18G2,  the  Committee  to  whom  had 
been  referred  a  number  of  papers  on  the  state  of  the  country,  preface 
their  Report,  which  was  adopted  as  the  action  of  the  Church  on  the 
subject,  with  the  remark,  that  in  framing  the  resolutions,  "They  have 
designed  to  leave  no  room  for  honest  doubt,  or  even  for  invidious  mis- 
construction as  to  the  hearty  loyalty  of  this  body  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States."  And  further,  "There  could  have  been  no  hesi- 
tation under  any  circumstances  in  expressing  now  and  always  our  ear- 
nest and  abiding  loyalty  and  devotion  to  our  country,  its  Constitution 
and  its  laws,  and  to  all  its  duly  constituted  authorities."  Here  follows 
a  scries  of  resolutions  expressing  their  loyalty  to  the  Government,  their 
condemnation  of  the  rebellion  and  hope  for  the  speedy  restoration  of  our 
beloved  Union,  while  at  the  same  time  they  avoided  entering  upon  "any 
narrow  questions,  which  peculiarly  belong  to  the  domain  of  secular  poli- 
tics." 

In  the  long  letter  of  the  Bishops  to  the  Churches  we  find  the  following: 
"When  St.  Paul,  in  direct  connection  with  the  words  just  cited,  exhorts 
us  to  'render  to  all  their  dues,  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due,  custom  to 
whom  custom,  fear  to  whom  fear,  honor  to  whom  honor,'  and  that  'not 
only  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience  sake,'  we  have  no  hesitation  in  teach- 
ing that  the  claim  to  all  these  duties  and  manifestations  of  allegiance  and 
loyalty  from  us  and  from  all  those  States  so  recently  united  in  render- 
ing them,  is  rightfully  in  that  Government,  which  is  now  by  force  of 
arms  maintaining  such  claim.  The  refusal  of  such  allegiance  we  hold  to 
be  a  sin,  and  when  it  stands  forth  in  armed  rebellion,  it  is  a  great 
crime  before  the  laws  of  God,  as  well  as  man.  This,  Brethren,  your 
Bishops  teach  as  official  expositors  of  the  Word  of  God.  Less  they  believe 
they  could  not  teach  without  unfaithfulness  to  the  Scriptures."  Do.  483. 

8.  All  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church:  the  United  Presbyte- 
rian, the  Cumberland  Presbyterian,  the  New  School  Presbyterian,  took 
precisely  the  same  action,  as  a  specimen  of  all,  I  read  the  Deliverance  of 


22 

the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  of  1863,  '^WJtereas, 
the  Church  is  the  light  of  the  world,  and  cannot  withhold  her  testimony 
upon  great  moral  and  religious  questions;  Resolved,  tliat  loyalty  and 
obedience  to  the  General  Government,  in  the  exercise  of  its  legitimate 
authority,  are  the  imperative  Christian  duties  of  every  citizen,  and  that 
treason  and  rebellion  are  not  mere  political  offences  of  one  section  against 
another,  but  heinous  sins  against  God  and  his  authority." — Do.  p.  473. 

We  come  now  to  the  action  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  in  the 
Southei'n  States,  all  of  which  assumed  the  same  attitude  towards  the 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States  and  expressed  towards  it  the  same 
duties  of  submission,  loyalty  and  devotion  as  an  ordinance  of  God. 
And  I  need  not  say  that  the  principles  in  question  are  the  same  no  mat- 
ter to  what  Government  applied. 

The  Alabama  Baptist  State  Convention  in  November  1860,  before 
war  had  commenced,  or  a  single  State  seceded,  after  declaring  that 
"The  Union  had  failed  in  important  particulars  to  answer  the  end  for 
which  it  was  created,"  continued  in  these  words,  "While  as  yet  no  par- 
ticular mode  of  relief  is  before  us,  we  are  constrained  to  declare  that  we 
hold  ourselves  subject  to  the  call  of  proper  authority  in  defence  of  the  sove- 
reignty and  independence  of  the  State  of  Alabama,  and  of  her  right,  as 
a  sovereignty,  to  withdraw  from  this  Union.  And  in  this  declaration 
we  heartily,  deliberately,  unanimously  and  solemnly  unite." — McPTier- 
son,  p.  513. 

In  the  Georgia  Baptist  Convention  of  1861:  "Whereas  the  State  Con- 
vention of  Georgia,  in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  her  sovereignty,  has 
withdrawn  from  the  confederacy  known  as  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  for  the  better  maintenance  of  her  rights,  honor  and  independence, 
has  united  with  other  States  in  a  new  confederacy  under  the  title  of  the 
Confederate  States  of  America:  and  whereas,  Abraham  Lincoln  is 
attempting  by  force  of  arms  to  subjugate  these  States,  in  violation  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  American  liberty — therefore  Resolved" — 
then  follow  resolutions  to  approve  and  support  the  Government  of  the 
Confederate  States,  urging  the  union  of  all  the  people  of  the  South  in 
defence  of  the  common  cause  at  whatever  cost  of  treasure  or  of  blood. 

Do.p.bVS. 

The  Methodist,  the  Episcopal,  and  I  believe  every  Church  South,  at 
once  recognized  the  legitimacy  of  the  Government  of  the  Confederate 
States,  and  assumed  towards  it  the  same  attitude  of  submission  and 
loyalty  which  the  Churches  North  had  assumed  towards  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States. 


23 

2.  Some  of  the  very  first  notes  of  war,  as  you  are  aware,  issued  from 
the  pulpits  of  the  Old  School  Presbyterian  Church.  Drs.  Thornwell  and 
Palmer  were  universally  recognized  as  the  leaders  of  the  body  and 
their  voice  upon  all  questions  was  most  potential.  On  the  21st  day  of 
November,  1S60,  in  Columbia,  S.  C,  Dr.  Thornwell,  from  the  pulpit, 
discussed  the  theory  of  the  Government,  the  relations  between  the 
States  and  the  Federal  Government,  and  advocated  the  political  doctrine 
of  States  Rights.  Dr.  Palmer,  from  his  pulpit,  in  New  Orleans,  took 
for  his  theme  that  it  was  the  Providential  trust  of  the  South  "to  con- 
serve and  to  perpetuate  the  institution  of  slavery  as  now  existing," 
"with  the  right  unchanged  by  man  to  go  and  root  itself  whci-ever 
Providence  and  nature  may  carry  it;"  and  urges  the  fulfilment  of  this 
trust  "in  the  face  of  the  utmost  possible  peril." — "Should  the  madness  of 
the  hour  appeal  to  the  arbitration  of  the  sword  we  will  not  shrink  even 
from  the  baptism  of  fire."  He  then  reviews  the  condition  of  political 
parties,  and  urges  Secession  as  an  immediate  and  imperative  duty.  I 
allude  to  these  celebrated  sermons  because  they  were  such  potential  agen- 
cies in  precipitating  the  political  catastrophe  which  followed.  They  were 
widely  circulated  as  campaign  documents,  the  religious  papers  of  the 
South,  almost  wiCliout  exception,  echoed  their  call,  and  the  several 
Presbyteries,  one  after  one,  stood  prepared  to  renounce  all  allegiance  to 
the  United  States  and  transfer  it  to  the  Confederate  States. 

On  December  od,  1860,  months  before  the  war  commenced,  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  declared:  "The  Synod  has  no  hesitation, 
therefore,  in  expressing  the  belief  that  the  people  of  South  Carolina  are 
now  called  upon  to  imitate  their  Revolutionary  forefathers  and  stand  up 
for  their  rights.  We  have  an  humble  and  abiding  confidence  that  the 
God  whose  truth  we  represent,  in  this  conflict  will  be  with  us,  and  ex- 
horting our  Churches  and  people  to  put  their  trust  in  God  and  go 
forward  in  the  solemn  path  of  duty  which  His  providence  opens  before 
them,  we.  Ministers  and  Elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  South 
Carolina  Synod  assembled,  would  give  them  our  benediction,  and  the 
assurance  that  we  shall  fervently  and  unceasingly  implore  for  them  the 
care  and  protection  of  Almighty  God." 

In  the  preamble  and  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Charleston,  in  July,  1861,  we  find  the  following  :  "The  relations  of  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  and  ten  other  adjacent  States,  and  of  the  people 
thereof,  with  the  other  States  and  people  previously  composing  the 
United  States  of  America,  have  been  dissolved,  and  the  farmer  united 
in  the  separate  and  independent  Government  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America."    The  United  States  Government  is  spoken  of  as  one  "foreign 


24 

and  hostile  to  our  own — "a  political  power  wbicli  we,  in  common  with 
our  fellow-citizens  of  all  classes  and  all  Churches,  have  disowned  and 
rejected;"  calls  the  Confederate  authorities  "the  rightful  and  legal 
authorities  of  the  land;"  declares  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
"have  violated  the  Constitution  under  which  we  were  originally  con- 
federated, and  broken  the  covenant  entered  into  by  their  fathers  and 
ours;"  and  concludes:  "We  do  most  heartily,  with  the  full  approval  of 
our  consciences  before  our  Lord  God,  unanimously  approve  the  action 
of  the  States  and  people  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America." 

The  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbvterian  Church  in  the 
Confederate  States  met  in  December,  1861.  It  assumed  in  all  its 
proceedings  that  the  political  bonds  which  had  joined  them  to  the 
United  States  were  sundered,  and  that  the  Confederate  Statts  were 
an  independent  government.  Their  action  throughout  implicitly  — 
their  letter  to  all  the  Churches  throughout  the  world  explicitly — recog- 
nize the  Confederate  States  as  an  actual  and  rightful  government, 
thus  deciding  as  a  Church  the  political  question  then  in  dispute  and 
unsettled  between  them  and  the  United  States,  the  decision  of  which 
had  been  committed  by  both  parties  to  the  final  arbitrament  of  the 
sword.  In  the  Narrative  adopted  by  that  Assembly  they  say,  "In 
the  first  place,  we  notice  the  relation  of  our  congregations  to  the 
great  struggle  in  which  we  are  engaged.  All  the  Presbyterial  Nar- 
ratives without  exception  mention  the  fact,  that  their  congregations 
have  evinced  tlie  most  cordial  sympathy  with  the  people  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  in  their  efforts  to  maintain  their  cherished  rights  and 
institutions  against  the  despotic  power  which  is  attempting  to  crush 
them.  Deeply  convinced  that  this  struggle  is  not  alone  for  civil 
rights  and  property  and  home,  but  also  for  religion,  for  the  Church, 
foi  the  Gospel,  for  existence  itself,  the  Churches  in  our  connection 
have  freely  contributed  to  its  prosecution  of  their  substance,  their 
prayers,  and  above  all,  of  their  members  and  the  beloved  youth  of 
their  congregations.  The  Assembly  desire  to  record  with  its  solemn 
approval  this  fact  of  the  unanimity  of  our  people  in  supporting  a 
contest  to  which  Religion,  as  well  as  Patriotism,  now  summons  the 
citizens  of  this  country,  and  to  implore  for  them  the  blessing  of  God 
in  the  course  they  are  now  pursuing." 

It  is  a  singular  instance  of  the  influence  of  times  of  great  excite- 
ment in  swerving  men  from  the  most  cherished  principles  of  their 
lives,  and  one .  which  ought  to  teach  us  charity  for  each  other, 
that  our  Southern  brethren  who  had  so  long  and  loudly  de- 
clared that   slavery  was  a  political  question,  with  which  the  Church 


25 

might  not  intermeddle,  should  proclaim  to  the  world,  as  they  did  in 
1864,  that  "it  is  the  peculiar  mission  of  the  Southern  Church  to  con- 
serve the  institution  of  slavery."  And  we  submit  that  our  affirma- 
tion is  made  good — all  Evangelical  Churches  in  the  country,  both 
North  and  South,  during  the  recent  troubles,  took  precisely  the  same 
ground  as  our  General  Assembly. 

III.  All  Protestant  Churches  throughout  the  world  reject  our 
American  doctrine,  as  to  the  relation  between  the  Church  and  the 
State.  In  the  Church  of  England,  the  King,  by  virtue  of  his  office, 
is  Head  of  the  Church.  He  prepared  its  prayer-book,  ordained  its 
rites  and  ceremonies,  and  by  his  own  authority  set  up  its  whole 
frame-work.  The  Queen  at  this  hour  is  the  supreme  head  of  the 
Church,  the  fountain  of  all  Ecclesiastical  power.  Bishops  sit  in 
Parliament,  and  Parliament  is  the  supreme  arbiter  in  all  questions  of 
Ecclesiastical  law. 

In  all  Presbyterian  Churches  throughout  the  world,  except  our 
own,  there  is  both  theoretically  and  practically  a  most  intimate 
union  of  the  temporal  and   the  spiritual  power. 

The  Westminster  Assembly,  which  composed  our  noble  standards, 
was  convened  by  order  of  Parliament,  dissolved  by  it,  and  all  their 
deliberations  directed  and  controlled  by  it.  The  23d  chapter  of  the 
Westminster  Confession,  as  prepared  by  them  and  held  to  this  day  as 
the  doctrine  of  the  Scotch  and  Irish  Presbyterian  Churches,  declares : 
"The  civil  magistrate  hath  authority  and  it  is  his  duty  to  take  order 
that  unity  and  peace  be  preserved  in  the  Church,  that  the  truth  of  God 
be  kept  pure  and  entire,  'that  all  blasphemies  and  heresies  be  sup- 
pressed, all  corruptions  and  abuses  in  worship  and  discipline  prevented 
or  reformed,  and  all  the  ordinances  of  God  duly  settled,  administered 
and  observed.  For  the  better  affecting  whereof,  he  hath  power  to  call 
Synods  to  be  present  at  them,  and  to  provide  that  whatsoever  is  trans- 
acted in  them  be  according  to  the  mind  of  God."  Think  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  deciding  the  questions  which  occupy 
our  Church  Courts,  pronouncing  upon  what  is  orthodox  in  doctrine  and 
immoral  or  blasphemous  in  practice,  prescribing  the  duties  of  Ministers 
and  Church  Courts,  settling  and  regulating  all  matters  of  worship  and 
discipline,  convoking,  dissolving,  presiding  over  our  General  Assem- 
blies. 

Yet  all  this — it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Westminster  Confession — "he 
hath  authority,  and  it  is  his  duty"  to  do,  and  all  this  the  Queen  of 
England  does  to  this  day  in  the  established  Church  of  Scotland,  and  all 
3 


26 

this  the  Free  Church  confesses  it  is  her  right  and  her  duty  to  do. 
And  yet  alongside  of  such  a  doctrine  as  this  she  holds  fast  to  the  Supreme 
Headship  of  Christ,  and  has  made  such  glorious  sacrifices  and  borne 
such  glorious  testimony  to  Christ's  crown  and  covenant.  Such  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  the  mother  of  us  all. 

And  now,  the  final  conclusion  from  all  this  is: — If  the  acts  of  the 
Assembly  during  the  last  five  years  have  been  in  harmony  with  the  pre- 
vious acts  of  our  highest  Church  Courts  from  the  beginning, — if  they 
have  been  in  harmony  with  those  of  all  other  Evangelical  Churches 
North  and  South,  if  they  have  been  in  harmony,  not  only  with  the 
practice  but  with  the  doctrine  of  all  Presbyterian  and  all  Protestant 
Churches  throughout  the  World  except  our  own, — then  its  error,  what- 
ever it  be,  cannot  be  either  fatal  or  fundamental — then  the  question  as  to 
the  relation  between  Church  and  State  cannot  be  an  essential  one;  and 
error  of  doctrine  or  of  practice  on  such  a  subject  cannot  make  a  Church 
apostate — then  all  the  Doctrines  of  salvation,  and  all  the  Ordinances 
of  the  Church,  its  Ministry  and  its  Sacraments,  may  be  preserved  entire, 
while  it  errs  as  to  a  question  of  only  occasional  importance  and  inferior 
concern.  If  the  General  Assembly  has  become  apostate  because  of  its 
actions  in  the  premises,  then  is  every  Church  on  earth  apostate,  Chris- 
tianity has  vanished  from  the  world,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  has  dis- 
appeared from  among  men.  I  know  how  easy  it  is  in  excited  states  of 
mind  to  magnify  "the  jot  and  tittle"  into  the  "weightier  matters  of  the 
Law,"  but  the  common  sense  of  all  men  recognizes  the  distinction  be- 
tween essential  and  unessential  in  questions  of  Doctrine  and  Duty;  and 
will  not  make  the  question  before  us  "the  Article  of  a  standing  or  ^fall- 
ing Church." 

And  let  me  ask  here,  why,  when  all  are  in  the  same  condemnation, 
should  our  Church  alone  be  singled  out,  as  the  object  of  such  fierce  and 
persistent  assault  ?  And  why,  when  the  same  guilt  must  rest  upon  the 
conscience  of  every  member  of  every  other  Church  in  the  land,  should 
it  drive  us  alone  to  division  and  schism  ? 

The  Truth  corrupted  is  not  fundamental.  The  Error  imputed  is  not 
fatal.  The  whole  question  is  one  which  rises  into  importance  only 
in  times  of  great  political  excitement,  and  leaves  the  doctrines  of  Re- 
demption and  the  ordinances  and  institutions  of  the  Church  entirely 
unaffected,  and  error  with  reference  to  such  a  question  never  can  justify 
Division.     This  is  our  first  position. 


27 

The  second  is,  that  the  General  Assembly  is  not  th?  Church,  and  its 
Acts  and  Deliverances  alone  cannot  make  the  Church  Apostate.     Our 
Constitution  and  laws  are  found  in  the  Bible  and  our  written  Standards. 
The  Tribunals  to  interpret  and  administer  them  are  a  series  of   Courts, 
of  which  the  General  Assembly  is  the  highest.     It  is  a  representative 
body  of  limited  and  carefully  defined  powers.     It  is  the  mere  creature 
of  the  Presbyteries,    subject   to    their  control,  liable  to  be  modified 
or    dissolved   by   them    at    any    time        The    Presbyteries    are    the 
fountain    of    all    power    in     Presbyterianism.        The    Assembly    is 
not  a  permanent  body,  but  created  from  year  to  year,  by  the  Pres- 
byteries, and  when  its  work  is  done,  it  is  not  adjourned  but  dissolved, 
and  ceases  to  be,  and  another  and  altogether  different  body  is  again 
created  by  the  Presbyteries.      The  Assembly  can  make  no  Article 
of  Faith,  ordain  no  Constitutional  rule,  which  has  the  force  of  per- 
manent and  universal  Law — that  belongs  to  the  Presbyteries  alone. 
"Before   any    overtures  or  regulations,  proposed  by   the  Assembly 
to  be  established   as  constitutional  rules,  shall  be  obligatory  on   the 
Churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them    to  all  the  Presby- 
teries, and  to  receive  the  returns  of  at  least  a  majority  of  them,  in 
writing,  approving  thereof." — Form  of  Gov.  chap.  12,  sec.  6. 

The  Assemblies  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  Church  that  the 
Congresses  elected  every  two  years  do  to  the  Government,  and  con- 
stitute, not  the  Government,  but  only  so  many  different  administrations 
of  it,  and  are  changed  in  one  case  by  the  people,  and  in  the  other  by 
the  Presbyteries  at  will.  Their  acts  depend,  from  year  to  year,  on 
casual  majorities,  and  always  concern,  not  the  Doctrines,  or  Order, 
or  Life  of  the  Church  in  themselves,  but  only  the  application  or 
adaptation  of  these  to  the  emergent  exigencies  of  times  and  circum- 
stances. 

The  Assembly  exercises  two  broadly  distinguishable  functions, 
those  of  Teaching  and  of  Government.  As  a  Teacher  it  interprets 
and  declares  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  applies  it  to  actual  circum- 
stances as  they  arise,  just  as  a  Pastor  in  his  pulpit  ministrations  It 
gives  utterance  to  its  interpretations  and  applications  of  the  Word  of 
God,  but  for  these  it  claims  no  infallibility.  Our  Book  expressly 
declares  "that  all  Synods  and  Counsels  may  err,  and  have  erred." 
The  Assembly  has  never  laid  claim  to  infallibility;  always  admit- 
ted its  liability  to  err,  and  one  declares  and  teaches  what  another 
rejects.  Our  Book  expressly  denies  to  the  Assembly  all  power  to 
bind  the  conscience  or  enforce  its  own  Deliverances  as  the  Word  of 


28 

God.  It  expressly  recognizes  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and 
every  member  of  the  Church  not  only  may,  but  is  bound  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  them,  and  decide  for  himself  whether  they  be 
"according  to  the  Word  of  God,  aside  from,  or  contrary  to  it."  "All 
Synods  or  Councils  since  the  Apostles'  time,  whether  general  or 
particular,  may  err,  and  many  have  erred,  therefore  they  are  not  to 
be  made  the  Rules  of  Faith  or  Practice,  but  to  be  used  as  a  help  in 
both." — Con.  cli.  31,  sec.  3.  "God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience, 
sind  hath  left  it  free  from  the  doctrines  or  commandments  of  men, 
which  are  in  any  thing  contrary  to  His  Word  or  beside  it  in  matters 
of  Faith  and  Worship;  and  the  requiring  an  implicit  faith,  and  an 
absolute  and  blind  obedience,  is  to  destroy  liberty  of  conscience  and 
reason  also." — Co7t.  ch.  20,  sec.  2. 

Every  Assembly  recognizes  the  absolute  right  of  protest,  dissent 
and  open  difference  from  its  Acts  and  Deliverances,  and  if  rash 
words  have  been  sometimes  spoken,  and  hasty  actions  sometimes 
taken,  which  seemed  to  infringe  upon  this  right,  no  Assembly  has 
ever  deliberately  called  it  in  question,  and  none  ever  will.  All  the 
Acts  of  Assemblies  preceding  1865  were  in  discharge  of  its  office  of 
Instruction.  They  simply  declared,  as  Helpers  of  your  Faith,  what 
they  believed  to  be  the  truth,  and  you  are  left  free  to  receive  or  re- 
ject their  testimony  as  it  is  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  aside  from 
or  contrary  to  it.  How  can  such  Instructions  bind  the  Faith  or 
wound  the  conscience  ? 

No  Presbyterian  surely  can  regard  any  man,  or  any  body  of  men, 
Synod,  Council  or  Assembly,  as  infallible,  or  accept  their  utter- 
ances as  Oracles.  We  recognize  but  one  infallible  Standard  of  Faith 
and  practice — the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  know  no  infallible  inter- 
preters of  these,  but  using  all  as  "helps  to  our  Faith  and  prac- 
tice," every  one  for  himself,  in  the  exercise  of  his  private  judgment, 
and  upon  his  own  personal  responsibility,  receives  or  rejects.  This 
is  the  glory  of  Protestantism.  It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  Pres- 
byterlanism,  and  we  are  amazed  that  any  should  doubt  or  hesitate 
with   reference  to  it. 

But  the  Assembly  exercises  also  the  power  of  Government.  It 
is  a  court  of  last  appeal,  and  its  judicial  decisions  once  pronounced 
are  peremptory  and  final.  The  Assembly  of  1865  exercised  its  power 
of  Government  when  it  required  the  lower  courts — Sessions  and 
Presbyteries  and  Synods — to  examine  all  applicants  for  admission 
from  the  South  into  the  bodies  under  their  care,  upon  the  subjects  of 
loyalty  and   freedom,  and   to    require   repentance    from  all  who  had 


29 

offended  in  faith  or  in  practice  with  reference  to  either.  Their  De- 
liverance here,  though  not  a  Law  in  the  proper  sense  of  that  word, 
but  only  an  Order,  took  the  form  of  Law,  as  it  prescribed  something 
to  be  done,  and  as  such,  for  our  present  purpose,  we  will  regard  it. 

Let  us  look  here  at  the  Reason  of  this  law — the  conditions  it  im- 
plied and  the  end  it  was  designed  to  reach,  that  we  may  see  what  it 
really  was,  for  a  high  authority  has  told  us,  "He  that  knoweth  not 
the  reason  of  a  law,  knoweth  not  the  law  itself."  It  had  respect  only 
to  those  who  had  been  voluntary  participants  in  the  rebellion,  and  to 
them  only  when  they  made  voluntary  application  for  admission.  It 
did  not  go  out  to  seek  them.  It  was  enacted  just  when  the  war  had 
closed,  just  when  soldiers  from  both  armies  were  returning  to  their 
homes,  and  in  the  Border  States  meeting  in  the  same  congregations. 
It  was  just  after  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  when  the 
public  mind  was  almost  frenzied, — that  time  never  to  be  forgotten  of 
wild  and  terrible  excitement.  In  the  Border  States,  especially  in 
portions  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  where  the  tempest  of  passion  was 
fiercest,  many  churches  were  threatened  with  scenes  of  violence  and 
bloodshed,  on  the  very  floors  of  their  sanctuaries,  by  reason  of  the 
presence  of  these  returned  soldiers.  Members  and  officers  of  the 
churches  from  these  localities  appeared  before  the  Assembly  and  its 
committee  and  plead  that,  for  their  own  protection,  they  must  have 
power  over  their  membership  to  exclude  those  whose  presence 
threatened  to  provoke  violence,  until  passion  should  have  time  to  sub- 
side. To  meet  this  emergency,  and  under  the  impression  of  repre- 
sentations such  as  these,  the  Orders  of  1865  were  passed.  In  their 
very  nature,  as  well  as  in  the  intention  of  the  Assembly,  they  were 
temporary.  They  soon  expired  of  their  own  limitation,  having 
accomplished  all  they  were  intended  to  accomplish,  and  became,  like 
multitudes  of  laws  upon  your  statute  books,  a  dead  letter. 

Such,  beyond  all  question,  the  last  Assembly  regarded  them.  I 
stated  without  question  or  rebuke,  openly  on  the  floor  of  the  Assem- 
bly, that  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  had  not  enforced  them — that 
I  did  not  believe  there  was  a  single  Session  within  its  bounds  which 
had  done  so.  Some  twenty  others  stated  the  same  fact  on  behalf 
of  their  Presbyteries  and  Sessions,  and  no  one  was  called  to  account. 
There  was  not  a  word  said  publicly  or  privately  about  enforcing 
them,  which  ever  came  to  my  ears.  The  Reason  of  the  Law  does 
not  now  apply  to  the  Churches  even  of  the  border,  and  its  reason 
ceasing,  the  law  itself  has  passed  away. 

Not  only   by   silent   acquiescence,  but  by  positive  action  the  last 


30 

Assembly  (leclared  its  judgment  that  the  orders   of  1865  were  not 
now  of  force. 

"It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  this  body  that  some  of  the 
ministers  under  our  care,  not  able  to  subscribe  to  the  recent  Testi- 
monies of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  subjects  of  Loyalty  and 
Freedom,  and  that  some  who  have  not  signed  or  formally  approved 
the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  do,  nevertheless,  hesitate  to  comply 
with  the  requirements  of  the  last  Assembly,  touching  the  reception 
of  members  from  the  South,  known,  or  supposed  to  have  been  in 
sympathy  with  the  rebellion;  therefore, 

^'Resolved,  That  while  we  would  treat  such  ministers  with  kindness 
and  forbearance,  and  would  by  no  means  interfere  with  the  full  and  free 
discussion  on  their  part  of  the  Testimonies  and  requirements  referred 
to,  we  deem  it  a  solemn  duty  which  we  owe  to  them  and  to  the 
Church,  to  guard  them  against  giving  countenance  in  any  way  to  de- 
clarations and  movements  which  are  defiant  of  the  Assembly's  au- 
thority, and  schismatical  in  their  tendency  and  aim,  and  we  do 
earnestly  exhort  them,  in  the  name  and  for  the  sake  of  our  common 
Lord  and  Master,  to  study  and  pursue  the  things  which  make  for 
peace." — Proceedings,  1866,  p.  103. 

This  resolution,  for  I  know  its  history,  was  designed  to  declare 
two  things:  First,  that  lower  courts  who  should  fail  to  carry  out 
the  Orders  of  the  Assembly  of  1865,  were  not  to  be  held  to  account 
for  such  failure.  Second,  that  those  who  refused  in  a  spirit  of  de- 
fiance to  the  Assembly's  authority,  and  expressed  that  refusal  in 
terms  of  defiance,  should  be  held  to  account  not  for  the  refusal  but 
for  the  defiance. 

This  is  expressed  still  more  plainly  in  another  resolution: 
"The  dissatisfaction  and  discontent  consequent  upon  the  Deliver- 
ances of  the  Assembly  of  1865  are  abating  with  increased  knowledge 
of  the  design  and  propriety  of  these  decisions,  and  it  is  confidently 
believed  that  maturer  reflection  will  produce  a  fuller  acquiescence 
in  the  authority  of  the  Church.  It  is  alike  the  past  and  present 
purpose  of  our  Church  to  preserve  within  its  fold  all  who  sin- 
cerely and  earnestly  love  its  order  and  doctrines,  and  to  fan  into 
life  and  energy  every  lingering  spark  of  genuine  attachment  to  our 
faith  and  order,  which  may  exist  in  those  portions  of  our  country 
where  the  spirit  and  unrelenting  power  of  the  rebellion  drove  many 
true  and  loyal  Presbyterians  into  a  hostile  attitude  toward  the 
Church  and  the  Country.  With  this  enlarged  and  Christian  view 
it  is  appropriate  to  declare,  I  hat  whilst  the  testimony  and  authority 


31 

of  our  Church  are  to  be  obeyed,  the  fullest  Christian  liberty  of 
opinion  is  tolerated  and  protected,  and  no  enforcement  of  the  De- 
liverances of  our  Church  is  expected  or  demanded,  except  that 
which  will  debar  from  our  communion  and  Church  courts  all  those 
who  refuse  to  submit  to  "the  powers  that  be,"  and  remain  in 
wilful  antagonism  to  the  manifestations  of  Grod's  providence  and 
the  authoritative  decisions  of  our  Church." — Proceedings,  1866, 
p.    107. 

And  still  again  :  "While  the  last  Assembly  but  fulfilled  its  duty 
in  issuing  these  injunctions,  (those  of  I860,)  it  left  their  appJication 
to  the  persons  concerned  entirely  to  the  lower  courts ^ — Proceedings, 
jj.  100.  This  expressly  recognizes  every  thing  we  have  affirmed  as 
to  the  Order  of  1865. 

But  why,  it  is  asked,  was  not  the  Act  in  question  explicitly  and 
formally  repealed  1  For  two  sufficient  reasons.  First,  because  the 
majority  would  not  consent  to  its  repeal,  in  the  face  of  what  they 
considered  a  s[)irit  of  rebellion  against  its  rightful  authority  in  the 
case.  And  second,  because  many  who  would  have  consented  held 
that  as  each  Assembly  is  independent  in  an  important  sense  of  every 
other,  one  cannot  repeal  the  Acts  of  another. 

And  now  I  affirm  here,  in  presence  of  you  all,  in  my  own  behalf 
and  in  behalf  of  every  Pastor  and  every  Session  in  this  city,  the 
Assembly  has  put  no  burden  upon  our  conscience.  It  has  bound  no 
fetters  upon  our  hands.  We  preach  and  we  administer  the  laws  of 
Christ's  House  just  as  we  have  always  done.  We  exact  no  new 
terms  of  communion,  we  require  nothing  more  than  we  have  always 
required  of  those  in  our  communion,  or  of  those  seeking  admission 
into  it.  Extraordinary  measures  have  passed  away  with  the  extra- 
ordinary times  which  called  them  forth,  and  like  the  soldier  we  leave 
the  field  and  lay  aside  the  harness  for  the  peaceful  walks  in  spiritual 
industry  again. 

As  to  the  past  at  least  our  course  is  clear.  There  is  nothing  there  to 
drive  us  from  the  Church  of  our  fathers.  What  the  future  may  have 
in  store  for  us  is  known  only  to  God.  We  are  told  that  the  spirit  of 
Violence  and  Fanaticism  has  taken  such  thorough  possession  of  those 
we  once  delighted  to  call  our  brethren  in  Christ,  and  of  the  Church 
we  once  so  loved,  that  it  can  never  be  exorcised.  I  cannot  discern 
the  spirits,  I  cannot  foresee  the  future,  but  I  will  wait  at  least  till 
the  evil  come.  We  may  be  told  that  the  New  and  the  Old  School 
Churches  will  unite  in  the  North  as  they  have    already   done    in  the 


32 

South,  and  a  new  flood  of  fanaticism  will  be  let  in  upon  us,  I  do 
not  know  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow,  but,  meantime,  I  will  stand 
in  my  lot  and  wait  till  the  predicted  evil  comes.  "Sufficient  unto  the 
day  is  the  evil  thereof,"  and  Prophets  of  Evil  are  not  always  inspired- 
It  may  be  that  Truth  has  somehow  lost  its  old  Omnipotence,  and 
error  has  seized  upon  its  power — but  I  do  not  believe  it.  And  how- 
ever Truth  may  be  obscured  and  buried  for  the  time  in  the  dust  of 
the  arena  where  she  struggles,  she  will  rise  again.  "The  immortal 
years  of  God  are  hers."  And  I  will  toil,  and  pray,  and  wait,  and 
watch  for  her  hour  of  triumph — for  come  it  will,  however  long  de- 
layed. Great  truths  always  make  their  way  slowly  and  work  them- 
selves by  almost  imperceptible  degrees  into  the  life  of  the  Church. 
It  was  through  the  lapse  of  ages  and  alternate  victories  and  defeats 
often  repeated,  we  have  at  last  acquired  the  glorious  trophies  we 
possess  to-night.  It  was  reserved  for  the  Presbyterians  of  this  land 
to  discover  and  propound  to  the  Churches  all  over  Christendom  the 
true  theory  of  the  relations  between  Church  and  State.  Not  one  of 
them  all  has  yet  attained  to  that  theory,  though  they  are  slowly 
making  their  way  towards  it  And  what  if  we  do  not  always  clearly 
discern  and  unfalteringly  carry  it  out  to  all  its  practical  conclusions, 
every  fresli  failure  serves  but  for  a  new  Warning  and  a  new  Incite- 
ment for  the  future,  and  so  helps  on  the  final  triumph. 


And   now,  since  our  consciences  and   our  hands  are  left  free,  we 
are  at  liberty  to  look  at  the  practical  evils  of  separation. 

1.   The  law  of  love  is   the  fundamental    law    of  Christ's  house. 
Sins  against  Truth,  as  against  every  other  Doctrine  and  every  other 
Grace  are  but  sins  against  the  Statutes  of  the  Kingdom;  sins  against 
Charity  are  sins  against  its  very  Constitution.     Do  violence   to   any 
other  law  of  the  House  and  you  only  rend  away  a  pillar  from  its  por- 
tico or  a  stone  from  its    walls;  do  violence  to  the  law  of  Love  and 
you  tear  up  its  very  foundation  and  make  the  whole  building  a  ruin. 
•'The  greatest  of  these  is  Charity."    "God  is  love,  and  he  that  loveth 
not,  knoweth  not   God."     "A  new  Commandment,"  said   the    great 
Founder  and  Legislator  of  the  Kingdom,  "I  give  unto  you,  that  ye 
love  one  another."     "Hereby  shall  all    men   know   that  ye   are  my 
disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."     "Love  one  to   another," 
that  I  appoint  as  youi'  badge  and  your  rallying  cry.       That  I  give 
unto  you  with   these   bleeding    hands,   starred    with    my    tears    and 
striped    with   my   blood,  as   your  consecrated    banner-flag,  ever  to 


33 

wave  before  your  ranks  and  distinguish  you  amidst  the  gatherings  of 
the  Hosts.  We  may  err  as  to  our  duty  in  what  belongs  to  us  as 
members  of  the  Church  and  what  as  citizens  of  the  State.  We  may 
not  always  discern  the  dim  boundary  line  which  separates  the  secu- 
lar from  the  spiritual,  and  sometimes  may  transgress  upon  the  one 
side  or  the  other;  and  the  error  may  be  recovered  and  forgiven,  and 
work  no  fatal  injury  to  our  souls.  But  if  we  have  lost  "love  one  to 
another,"  we  have  lost  our  badge,  we  have  lost  our  banner,  we  have 
lost  everything,  and  neither  God  or  man  can  know  us  as  Christ's 
Disciples.  "A  new  Commandment  give  I  unto  you,  that  ye  love 
one  another.  Hereby  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if 
ye  have  love  one  to  another."  Strange,  my  brethren,  when  we 
speak  so  often  of  our  zeal  for  Truth  and  tell  so  often  of  our  sacrifiec 
for  Principle,  we  should  speak  so  little  of  our  zeal  for  Charity  and 
tell  so  little  of  our  sacrifice  for  Love.  "Above  all  things  put  on 
Charity." 

If  it  be  indeed  true  that  Christians  of  the  North  and  Christians  of 
the  South  "hate  each  other  with  such  a  cruel  hatred"  that  they  can- 
not dwell  together — if  it  be  indeed  true  that  those  who  once  loved 
and  trusted  each  other,  and  went  up  to  the  House  of  Grod  in  com- 
pany, can  love  and  trust  each  other  no  longer,  then  is  the  glory 
departed.  If  passion  and  hatred  be  the  only  ground  of  separation, 
then  indeed  are  we  no  longer  Christ's  disciples.  And  should  these 
impel  us  still  further  to  break  the  bonds  of  external  unity  and  rend 
asunder  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  His  Church,  then  are  we  guilty 
of  the  sin  of  Schism.  It  is  no  small  sin  to  rend  and  separate  what 
Christ  has  made  one, — no  small  sin  to  make  a  fresh  wound  in  that 
scarred  body  of  His, — no  small  sin  to  introduce  division  and  strife 
into  the  household  of  Faith,  and  plant  the  seeds  of  discord  and 
contentions  among  those  who  are  called  to  dwell  together  in  love — 
to  charm  by  fell  incantations  the  serpent  into  the  bowers  of  our 
only  earthly  Paradise.  We  pray  God  that  the  guilt  of  Schism  may 
never  rest  upon  your  soul  or  upon  mine. 

2.  Whither  shall  we  go,  if  we  go  out  self-exiled  from  the  house 
of  our  Fathers'?  Where  but  Cain-like  to  wander  as  fugitives  and 
vagabonds  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  houseless  and  homeless? 
We  can  find  no  Church  North  or  South  to  shelter  us,  for  the  same 
leprous  spot  is  upon  all  alike.  Independency — A  Presbyterian 
without  Presbyterianism?  The  house  is  too  small,  and  it  rests  upon 
a  foundation  of  narrow  and  shifting  sands.  In  a  little  time  the 
4 


34 

questions  which  now  absorb  us,  and  to  our  excited  feelings  loom 
up  so  largely  as  to  fill  the  whole  spiritual  heavens,  will  be  altogether 
forgotten  or  dwarfed  and  dwindled  down  to  their  true  dimensions. 
When  these  political  feelings,  heated  as  they  have  become,  in  the  fires 
of  this  fierce  controversy,  shall  have  cooled  down — when  new  parties 
shall  have  arisen,  and  new  issues  been  joined,  confounding  all  the 
lines  and  landmarks  of  the  present,  and  ranging  us  in  new  ranks, 
we  will  look  back  upon  the  passions  of  the  hour  as  but  the  distorted 
visions  of  a  distempered  dream.  No!  the  passions  and  excitements 
of  the  passing  day,  dignify  and  baptize  them  by  wliHtever  hallowed 
name  of  Truth  or  Principle  we  may,  are  not  bioad  enough  or  firm 
enough  to  furnish  a  foundation  on  which  a  Church  of  God  may  rest. 
The  world  is  covered  all  over  with  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  such, 
built  as  they  were  upon  the  sands,  "and  daubed  with  untempered 
mortar  " 

3.  The  wounds  inflicted  by  these  last  terrible  years  are  not  yet 
healed — thall  we  open  them  all  afresh]  Through  oui-  families  and 
our  congregations  shall  we  plough  fresh  furrows  of  discord  and 
division,  before  the  marks  of  the  old  are  effaced?  Shall  we  present 
to  the  world  the  spectacle  of  strifes  and  debatings  in  the  house  of 
G-od — the  home  of  Love  and  the  sanctuary  of  Peace?  Shall  we 
bring  upon  ourselves  the  shame  of  wrangling  with  each  other  in  secu- 
lar courts  for  the  Temples  of  our  God?  Shall  we  lay  u'p  for  ourselves 
a  heritage  of  alienations  and  antipathies  to  spoil  our  future  peace,  and 
soil  and  sear  our  souls?  Shall  we  transmit  to  our  children  a  legacy 
of  discords  and  divisions,  and  poison  their  opening  minds  with  the 
deadly  night-shade  of  our  strifes?  Shall  we  plant  in  this  commu 
nity  the  seeds  of  a  hereditary  hate,  which  shall  spring  up  and  ripen 
into  their  fearful  harvest  long  after  we  are  slumbering  in  our  graves? 
Shall  we  embody  and  make  perpetual  the  passions  of  the  hour 
which  have  brought  upon  us  such  a  terrible  baptism  of  blood? 
Would  we  embalm  and  transmit  them  as  Monuments  and  Memorials 
of  these  evil  days  ?  Would  we  vivify  and  leave  them  behind  us  to 
scatter  among  our  children  poisoned  arrows  and  death?  No,  my 
Brethren;  let  us  extinguish  them  in  our  own  hearts.  Let  us  destroy 
every  monument  and  every  memorial  of  them  which  we  had  thought 
to  leave  behind.  Let  us  repair  with  united  hands  the  desolation  they 
have  already  wrought;  and  be  careful  that  we  do  not  transmit  them 
as  a  legacy  of  strife  and  blood  to  our  children  and  our  children's 
children.  It  is  easy  to  plant  the  seeds  of  hereditary  strife,  for  our 
children  catch  our  spirit,  inherit  our   passions,  and  prolong  our  con- 


35 

flicts.  And  here,  upon  the  Border,  with  those  passions  which  lately 
burned  so  fiercely,  still  smouldering,  let  us  be  careful  that  our 
breath  fan  them  not  into  a  fiercer  flame.  God  is  calling  us — loudly 
calling  us  to  ministries  of  love.  Whose  hands  shall  be  busied  in 
binding  up  these  bleeding  wounds  if  not  ours?  If  the  Church  be 
not  found  at  this  hour  engaged  in  the  blessed  work,  by  whom  shall 
it  be  done? 

As  for  me,  1  cannot  leave  the  Church  of  my  Fathers.  As  soon 
would  I  think  of  forsaking  the  mother  who  bore  me,  for  a  rash  act 
or  a  hasty  word.  She  received  me  into  her  sheltering  arms  in 
infancy;  sprinkled  the  waters  of  baptism  upon  my  brow;  cherished 
my  childhood;  led  my  tottering  steps  to  her  sanctuaries,  and 
surrounded  me  all  my  life  long  with  her  blessed  ministries  of 
Instruction  and  of  Love.  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her,  for  I  have  seen 
His  glory  and  felt  His  presence,  and  as  I  trust,  experienced  His  grace 
in  her  temples.  The  provisions  of  her  house  have  been  sweet  to  my 
taste,  and  under  her  shadow  havo  I  sat  these  many  years  with  great 
delight.  Kindred  and  friends,  one  after  one,  have  I  seen  them  ascend 
from  her  courts  in  the  chariots  of  fire,  to  join  the  ransomed  Church 
above,  and  their  memories  still  hallow  her  sanctuaries.  And  with 
these  memories  of  all  she  has  been,  and  all  she  has  done  for  me  and 
those  most  dear  to  me,  still  fresh  and  warm  in  my  heart,  I  cannot, 
no,  I  cannot  forsake  her  now. 

Times  of  trial  and  conflict  may  come.  But  such  were  no  new 
thing  in  her  history,  baptised  as  she  was  in  the  blood  of  persecution 
and  nurtured  amidst  the  storms  of  revolution.  She  bears  to-day  the 
scars  of  many  a  conflict,  but  from  each  in  turn  she  came  forth  victo- 
rious. The  smell  of  many  a  furnace  is  upon  her  to-day,  but  the  flames 
of  each  kindled  upon  her  not  to  destroy,  but  only  to  purify  and  pre- 
serve. We  glory  in  her  past  history.  We  bless  God  for  all  she 
has  been  permitted  to  do  for  His  Truth  and  His  Worship,  and  for  the 
Salvation  of  men.  And  to-day  she  still  stands  amidst  the  tribes  of 
Israel,  her  glorious  banner  streaming,  as  of  old,  in  the  front  rank 
of  the  Sacramental  Host.  What  though  confusion  may  happen  for 
the  moment  to  a  little  portion  of  her  ranks,  the  mighty  host  is  still 
moving  onward,  for  her  God  is  with  her — her  Glory  and  her  Defence. 
And  never,  perhaps,  has  He  given  such  abundant  tokens  of  His 
p'-esence  and  His  power  in  her  sanctuaries  as  during  the  past  year. 
Never,  perhaps   was  His   spirit  more  largely  poured  out  or  more 


36 

numerous  converts  gathered  into  her  bosom.  Ah,  my  Brethren, 
this  is  what  we  want, — to  have  our  minds  turned  away  from  these 
ephemeral  questions  to  the  great  things  which  pertain  to  the  King. 
A  revival  of  religion,  an  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  our 
Churches,  and  our  own  souls — how  soon  this  would  hush  all  these 
agitations  and  unite  all  our  hearts  in  the  Unity  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
bonds  of  Peace. 


THE 


GENERAL    ASSEMBLY 


1866. 


BY 

IIENRY  A.  BOARDMAlSr,  D.D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT   &   CO. 

1861 


INTRODUCTION. 


Theiue  are  very  few  among  our  Ministers  or  people  who  are 
satisfied  with  the  present  condition  of  the  Church.  At  a  period 
when  several  of  the  Evangelical  denominations  are  reuniting 
their  dissevered  fragments,  and  one  of  them  is  raising  a  fund 
of  three  millions  of  dollars  in  aid  of  its  Institutions ;  when  the 
Romish  Hierarchy  is  putting  forth  unprecedented  efforts  for  the 
control  of  the  country;  when  error  and  iniquity  abound  on 
every  side,  and  our  population  of  both  races  stand  in  greater 
need  than  ever  of  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel;  our  own  com- 
munion, from  whatever  causes,  is  enervated  by  internal  strife; 
our  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  is  pleading  pathetically  for 
funds,  and  the  Boards  of  Education  and  of  Foreign  Missions 
for  men — and  all  pleading  in  vain ;  in  the  chief  centres  of  in- 
fluence Presbyterianism  is  relatively,  if  not  positively,  losing 
ground;  and,  to  crown  all,  we  are  threatened  with  large  seces- 
sions, not  to  say  with  actual  division.  Calm  and  thoughtful 
men,  not  only  in  the  ministry,  but  in  the  other  learned  profes- 
sions— men  who  stood  firmly  by  the  Government  during  the 
late  war — are  noting  with  deep  solicitude  the  incestuous  com- 
merce between  the  Church  and  the  politics  of  the  country.  In 
every  quarter  there  are  tokens  which,  however  they  may  be  de- 
rided by  superficial  and  vindictive  polemics,  are  filling  the  true 
friends  of  our  Church  with  sad  apprehensions. 

These  statements  are  not  made  at  random.  The  proofs  which 
substantiate  them  are  multiplying  daily.  And  these  testimonies 
connect  the  facts  in  question  irresistibly  with  the  proceedings  of 
the  last  General  Assembly.  The  whole  interest  of  that  Assem- 
bly centred  in  what  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  Louisville 
case.  This  case  was  allowed  to  overshadow  everything  else,  and 
virtually  to  absorb  the  entire  Sessions  of  the  body.  The  present 
writer  was  placed  in  a  situation  which  obliged  him  to  study  this 
subject,  in  its  principles  and  facts,  more  thoroughly  than  he  has 


4  Introduction. 

ever  investigated  any  other  question  of  ecclesiastical  discipline. 
The  conclusions  forced  upon  him  at  the  time  have  been  con- 
firmed by  a  still  more  careful  stud}'^  of  our  Constitution  and  His- 
tory during  the  last  seven  months.  He  is  deeply  convinced,  not 
only  of  the  wrong  which  was  done  to  the  Louisville  brethren, 
but  of  the  permanent  and  wide-spread  evils  which  must  result 
to  our  denomination  at  large,  should  the  proceedings  of  that 
Assembly  come  to  be  accepted  as  the  final  policy  of  the  Church. 
In  these  circumstances,  he  could  not  remain  silent.  Fidelity  to 
his  own  conscience  compelled  him  to  put  forth  a  single  humble 
eflbrt  on  behalf  of  the  Church  of  which  he  has  been  for  so  many 
years  an  unworthy  minister.  And  he  now  ventures  respectfully 
to  submit  the  following  Essays  to  the  consideration  of  the  intelli- 
gent laity  of  our  communion,  and  especially  of  our  Pastors  and 
Ruling  Elders. 

Should  an  appeal  of  this  kind  require  an  apology,  it  may  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  most  strenuous  and  successful  exer- 
tions have  been  made  to  mask  the  real  issues  between  the  ma- 
jority and  the  minority  of  the  late  General  Assembly.  The  cheap 
device  for  this  purpose  consists  in  representing  the  minority  and 
all  who  agree  with  them,  as  "Declaration  and  Testimony  Sym- 
pathizers:" and  this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  the  minority  embraced 
such  men  as  Drs.  Humphrey  and  W.  L.  Breckinridge  and 
others,  who  had  resisted  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  move- 
ment from  the  beginning.  If  some  of  these  brethren  now  think 
it  best  to  acquiesce  in  decisions  which  they  withstood  to  the  last 
as  unwise,  unjust,  and  unconstitutional,  their  example  can  impose 
no  similar  obligation  upon  men  whose  consciences  forbid  them 
to  remain  passive  while  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  is  (in 
their  view)  treated  as  so  much  waste  paper.  There  are  many  of 
our  Pastors  and  Elders  in  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  other  districts, 
who  have  been  placed,  by  no  agency  of  their  own,  in  a  position 
in  which  they  have  to  choose  between  loyalty  to  the  General 
Assembly  and  loyalty  to  God.  The  Assembly  has  commanded 
them  to  do  what  (as  they  believe)  they  cannot  do  without  sin. 
See  this  point  stated  and  argued  with  singular  clearness  in  the 
"Address  to  the  Presbyterian  People  of  Kentucky,"  and  the 
"Reply  of  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Breck  to  Dr.  W.  L.  Breckinridge," 
quoted  elsewhere  in  this  i3amphlet.  The  two  documents  here 
mentioned,  probably  represent  the  views  of  a  majority  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  men  who  are  neither  with  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony  nor  with  the  General  Assembly,  but  who  love 


Introduction.  6 

and  cherish  our  Constitution  and  the  Presbyterianism  of  the 
fathers.  The  position  they  occupy  is  one  which  entitles  them 
to  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  true  men  in  the  Church. 

As  it  is  one  part  of  the  policy  adopted  by  the  leaders  on  the 
side  of  the  majority,  to  oppose  to  all  adverse  arguments  the  con- 
venient and  effective  reply,  "A  sympathizer,"  so  it  is  another  to 
hold  up  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  to  general 
reprehension,  as  a  set  of  unprincipled  men,  bent  upon  the  ruin  of 
the  Church.  The  author  of  these  Essays  has  never  hesitated  to 
express  his  conviction  of  the  serious  errors  into  which  these 
brethren  have  fallen,  and  of  the  wrong  which  they  did  to  them- 
selves, to  the  cause  they  had  at  heart,  and  to  the  Church,  by  the 
tone  and  terms  of  their  paper.  Nor  has  he  for  one  moment 
doubted  that  if  they  had  been  dealt  with  after  the  methods  of 
our  Book,  and  according  to  the  uniform  practice  of  the  Church, 
they  would  have  been  convinced  of  their  errors,  and  frankly 
have  corrected  them.  This  conviction  is  founded  upon  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  a  few  of  the  brethren  in  question.  The  ears 
which  have  been  filled  for  months  with  such  philippics  against 
them  as  have  garnished  the  columns  of  several  of  our  religious 
journals,  will  hear  with  amazement  that  among  the  signers  of 
the  obnoxious  paper,  are  some  of  the  purest  and  best  men  of  the 
Church — men  who,  in  affixing  their  names  to  that  too  vehement 
protest,  had  as  little  thought  of  "defying  the  General  Assembly" 
or  "corrupting  the  Church,"  as  they  had  of  plotting  war  against 
the  Government.  Will  it  be  deemed  invidious  or  indelicate  if 
this  remark  be  illustrated  by  two  examples  ?  Let  one  of  them 
be  that  venerable  father,  the  R^v.  R.  L.  McAfee,  of  Missouri,  a 
man  whose  silvery  locks  and  tremulous  voice  and  apostolic  de- 
meanor and  modest  allusions  to  his  own  labors,  gave  additional 
pathos  to  his  touching  and  earnest  speech  before  the  Assembly, 
and  might  well  have  averted  those  harsh  censures  from  the  head 
of  one  grown  old  in  cultivating  the  Mission  fields  of  the 
Church.  For  the  other,  we  may  take  a  much  younger  man,  a 
few  years  only  in  the  ministry,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brookes,  of  St. 
Louis.  Dr.  Brookes  is  one  whom  the  Pastors  of  the  Church 
ought  to  honor.  The  congregation  over  which  he  presides  is 
not  only  one  of  the  largest,  most  cultivated,  and  most  influential 
in  our  connexion,  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  congregation 
more  thoroughly  organized  or  trained  to  a  higher  degree  of 
efficiency.  The  Pastor  devotes  himself  to  the  proper  work  of 
the  ministry, — the  cure  of  souls.     Nor  does  he  labor  ift  vain. 


6  Introduction. 

Of  his  fidrairable  little  book,  "How  to  be  Saved,"  40,000  copies 
have  been  circulated.  The  statistics  of  the  Assembly  show  that 
there  must  have  been  something  akin  to  a  gentle  revival  of  reli- 
gion in  his  church,  from  the  date  of  his  settlement  nntil  now. 
Even  during  the  war,  from  1861  to  1866  inclusive,  the  additions 
by  profession  amounted  to  considerably  over  two  hundred,  and 
his  people  have  contril)uted  on  a  munificent  scale  to  the  objects 
of  Christian  benevolence.*  Now  the  bare  suggestion  that  men 
like  these,  absorbed  with  the  great  interests  of  Christ's  King- 
dom, and  crowned  with  a  perpetual  Divine  benediction  in  their 
work,  could  deliberately  engage  in  concocting  a  scheme  for 
blasting  and  dismembering  the  Church  of  their  affections,  must 
stamp  itself  with  absurdity,  if  it  do  not  also  reveal  a  taint  of  ma- 
levolence. Certain  it  is,  that  among  the  most  conspicuous  and 
caustic  of  their  accusers,  are  some  whose  well-known  record  of 
grievous  pastoral  inefficiency  and  disrepute,  gives  them  slight 
color  of  authority  to  take  the  lead  in  maligning  the  faithful 
vvoRKiNG-iMEN  of  our  communiou.  If  it  be  manifest  that  these 
brethren  in  their  jealous  concern  for  the  spiritual  jurisdiction 
of  the  Church,  have  done  things  "worthy  of  death  or  of  bonds," 
it  is  no  less  apparent  that  it  is  not  ever}'^  man  in  the  Church 
who  can  afford  to  be  their  prosecutor.     The  recoil  of  a  piece  of 


*  Several  weeks  after  this  passage  was  written,  the  author  met  with  the  fol- 
lowing statement: 

Walnut  Street  Church,  St.  Louis. — The  pastor  of  this  church,  Rev.  J.  H. 
Brookes,  D.D.,  on  Sabbath  last  made  the  usual  annual  statement  relative  to  the 
pastoral  work  of  the  church  for  the  previous  year.  It  was  gratifying  to  the 
Christian  heart  to  learn  that  there  had  been  one  hundred  and  five  additions  to 
the  church  during  the  year  1866;  seventy-two  on  examination,  and  thirty-three 
by  letter.  All  this  notwithstanding  the  excitement  consequent  upon  the  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Assembly  and  Conventions,  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera, 
which  widely  dispersed  the  membership,  and  the  protracted  absence  of  the  pas- 
tor, and,  in  addition  thereto,  his  ill  health  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
year. 

During  that  time  the  church  has  been  called  to  mourn  the  loss  of  fifteen  of  its 
members  by  death  :  honored  by  the  church  and  community,  and  now  that  they 
are  gone,  because  of  their  godly  lives,  remembered  with  pleasant  associations. 
Deeply  sorrowed  for,  only  because  they  were  deeply  loved. 

2505  pastoral  visits  were  made  by  the  pastor  and  his  earnest  working  session 
during  1866. 

Reviewing  the  past  year,  we  feel  that  the  Church  has  great  cause  for  rejoicing. 
Though  greatly  afflicted,  and  for  which  it  should  deeply  humble  itself  before 
God.  yet  of  a  truth  it  can  be  said,  God  has  been  with  her  in  her  sorrows,  blessing 
her,  and  multiplying  her  numbers. — Missouri  Presbyterian. 


Introduction.  7 

ordnance  is  gometimes  more  fatal  tlian  the  projectile.  Tlie  late 
practice  has  already  occasioned  one  or  two  accidents  of  this 
kind,  and  more  may  follow. 

This  is  not  saying  that  error  and  wrong-doing  can  be  atoned 
either  by  honest  zeal  or  by  pastoral  fidelity.  No  such  thought 
is  entertained,  nor  has  it  been  hinted.  But  the  Church  should 
be  able  to  put  a  proper  estimate  upon  the  current  wholesale 
denunciation  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony. 
To  get  at  this,  it  must  first  look  at  these  brethren  in  some  lights 
not  supplied  by  their  adversaries.  And  it  must  then  inquire 
whether  certain  of  the  leading  plaiutiifs  are  entitled  to  come 
into  court  and  move  this  summary  judgment  upon  the  defend- 
ants, 

"  Quis  tulerit  Gracchos  de  seditione  qusereotes  ?" 

These  remarks  have  no  reference  whatever  to  the  great  body 
of  our  ministers  and  people  who  accept  the  St.  Louis  decrees; 
save  only  that  those  among  them  who  have  imbibed  mistaken 
notions  as  to  the  characters  of  certain  of  the  arraigned  breth- 
ren, will  no  doubt  be  glad  to  learn  the  truth  concerning  them. 

The  ground,  however,  taken  in  these  Essays,  is  simply  this. 
Let  the  errors  and  ofl^ences  of  those  brethren  be  what  they  may, 
they  have  their  inalienable  rights.  One  of  these  is  the  right  of 
being  dealt  with  according  to  the  compact  which  binds  u8»to- 
gether  in  an  organized  society.  It  is  no  right  either  of  theirs 
or  of  ours  to  violate  that  charter.  If  they  are  charged  with  the 
violation  of  it,  the  charter  itself  prescribes  every  minute  step  of 
the  process  to  be  pursued  in  investigating  the  charges.  An  in- 
llexible  adherence  to  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  is  as  obliga- 
tory upon  the  Courts  of  the  Church,  as  submission  to  constitu- 
tional authority  is  upon  the  individuals  of  our  communion. 
These  forms,  it  is  contended,  have  been  set  at  nought  by  the 
General  Assembly.  The  fundamental  principles  of  our  juris- 
prudence have  been  infringed,  and  every  minister  and  member 
of  the  Church  is  personally  concerned  in  having  these  wrongs 
redressed.  The  case  on  trial,  then,  is  not  merely  that  of  certain 
"Louisville  men."  It  is  the  case  of  every  one  who  has  sought 
truth  and  righteousness,  security  and  peace,  within  the  shadow 
of  our  wise,  beneficent,  and  Scriptural  Constitution.  It  was 
thought  that  a  calm  appeal  to  the  reason,  the  justice,  and  the 
Christian  kindness  of  the  Church,  on  a  foundation  like  this, 
might,  by  God's  blessing,  lead  to  some  beneficial  result.  Such, 
was  the  origin  of  these  Essays. 


8  Introduction. 

The  first  six  of  them  were  published  under  the  signature  of 
"A  Minority  Man,"  in  the  Presbyterian.  The  MS.  of  No.  VIl. 
was  returned  to  the  author  with  the  following  note : 

Office  of  the  Presbyterian. 
Rev.  Dr.  Boardman  : 

Dear  Sir : — We  must  respectfully  decline  publishing  the  en- 
closed. The  controversy  in  this  paper  has  changed  into  a  defence 
of  the  men  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  and  this  we  can- 
not admit  into  our  columns.  They  have  an  organ  of  their  own 
for  their  defence.  Further,  the  animadversions  upon  the  animus 
of  the  General  Assembly  are  not  such  as  we  think  we  ought 
to  publish ;  a  discussion  of  its  acts  we  are  willing  to  admit. 
Yours  sincerely, 

Editors  of  the  Presbyterian. 

November  24,  1866. 

The  author  is  happy  to  believe  that  this  note  will  invite 
special  attention  to  the  rejected  Essay.  If  he  is  not  mistaken, 
just  men  will  find  in  its  analysis  of  the  Assembly's  measures, 
matter  for  grave  reflection.  As  regards  the  strictures  contained 
in  the  above  note  (1)  It  will  be  clearly  seen  that  the  Essay  in  ques- 
tion is,  and  is  meant  to  be,  "a  defence  of  the  men  of  the  Decla- 
ration and  Testimony,"  in  precisely  the  same  sense  as  the  six 
preceding  Essays.  Not  one  of  the  Essays  defends  the  errors  of 
these  brethren.  Every  one  of  them  defends,  or  was  designed  to 
defend,  their  indefeasible  rights;  and  through  them,  the  rights 
of  every  minister  and  member  of  our  communion.  If  the 
seventh  does  this  more  effectively  than  the  others,  all  the  better 
for  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness.  (2)  It  is  a  novel  idea, 
that  the  animus  of  a  Legislative  or  Judicial  body  is  not  a  legiti- 
mate topic  of  argument  in  discussing  its  acts.  The  files  of  the 
Presbi/terian  wiW  show  that  it  has  never  hesitated  to  "animad- 
vert" alike  upon  the  acts  and  the  spirit  of  the  General  Assembly, 
whenever  in  its  judgment,  there  was  occasion  for  it.  And  how, 
on  the  maxim  it  now  puts  forth,  will  it  vindicate  the  extremely 
uncharitable  censures  upon  the  aims  and  motives  of  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  men  and  those  who  espouse  their  rights, 
which  have  so  copiously  illustrated  its  editorial  columns  during 
the  last  eight  months?  That  paper  for  "Nov.  24,"  the  very 
date  of  the  above  note,  contains  an  article  of  this  kind  (possibly 
from  the  same  pen  that  wrote  the  note)  as  unjust,  if  not  quite  bo 
bitter,  as  some  of  the  circulars  and  letters  which  have  emanated 


Introduction.  9 

« 
from  the  office  of  our  Board  of  Domestic  Missions.  This  is 
human  nature  the  world  over;  the  judgments  of  men  are  enslaved 
to  their  sympathies  and  prejudices.  For  the  rest,  the  reader 
will  decide  whether  anything  could  he  more  pertinent  to  the 
argument  in  hand  than  the  extraordinary  facts  mentioned  in 
No.  VII.  as  exhibiting  the  animus  of  the  Assembly  toward  the 
Louisville  men.  (3)  As  the  active  editor  of  the  Presbyterian 
voted  with  the  majority  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  1865, 
that  the  controverted  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  that  year 
were  "unconstitutional  and  void,"  the  Church  had  no  reason  to 
expect  that  he  would  defend  as  constitutional  the  far  more 
questionable  measures  of  the  Assembly  of  'QQ.  (4)  The  advo- 
cacy of  the  high-prerogative  theory  on  the  part  of  that  Journal 
is  in  palpable  conflict  with  its  own  teachings.  The  views  of 
constitutional  law  laid  down  in  these  pages,  are  the  identical 
views  maintained  by  the  Presbyterian  for  thirty-four  out  of  the 
thirty-six  years  of  its  existence.  It  would  argue  little  for  its 
influence  with  its  readers,  if  they  should  show  themselves  ready 
to  repudiate  these  doctrines  on  the  first  challenge,  even  though 
the  challenge  come  from  itself.  We,  at  least,  who  have  been 
reading  the  paper  under  its  various  editors  since  1830,  must  be 
allowed  a  little  time  before  we  can  turn  quite  so  squarely  around 
in  our  interpretation  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Church. 
The  reader  will  see  on  referring  to  Nos.  1. 11.  and  III.  (for  an 
answer  to  the  first  three  articles  of  "  S.  J.  B.,"  see  addendum  to  No. 
II.,  and  for  some  remarks  on  the  recent  circular  of  "R.  J.  B.,"  see 
P.S.  to  No.  X.)  that  in  opposing  the  new  consolidation  theory, 
we  are  in  tolerably  good  company.  If  such  names  as  Archi- 
bald Alexander,  Samuel  G.  "Winchester,  Robert  J.  Breckinridge, 
and  William  M.  Engles,  and  such  titles  as  the  Biblical  Pejyertory, 
the  Presbyterian,  the  "Act  and  Testimony,"  and  the  General 
Assemblies  of  '35  and  '37,  have  lost  all  authority  on  questions 
touching  the  nature  of  our  Constitution;  then,  indeed,  while 
men  slept,  a  mighty  revolution  must  have  passed  over  the 
Chuch.  We  need  not  dissemble  our  fears  on  this  point.  The 
whirlwind  which  has  devastated  the  land,  has  driven  the  Church 
from  the  moorings  which  had  held  her  fast  through  the  storms 
of  seventy  years.  We  see  no  ground  to  hope  that  she  will 
return  soon  to  her  quiet  anchorage;  for  falling  upon  a  place 
where  two  seas  met,  her  pilots  have  run  the  ship  aground;  and 
all  the  indications  point  to  her  remaining  there  for  a  consider- 
able time.     In  other  words,  the  policy  which  has  brought  the 


10  Introduction. 

Churcli  into  its  present  condition  is  to  be  persisted  in.  The 
next  Assembly  Avill,  in  all  probability,  follow  in  the  wake  of  the 
last;  enforcing  the  stern  discipline  decreed  against  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  men;  and  recognizing  the  small  minorities 
of  the  '■^  ijpso-facioed"  Presbyteries  as  the  true  succession  of  those 
Presbyteries.  As  a  ihatter  of  course,  the  Church  will  lose  the 
greater  part  of  the  Sj'nods  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  and  pos- 
sibly important  congregations  in  other  quarters,  besides  suffer- 
ing in  various  ways  from  prolonged  agitation.  It  is  for  our 
ministers  and  people  to  consider  whether  we  can  aftord  this. 
Faithful  as  om-  Church  was  to  the  National  Constitution  and 
the  Union  during  the  war,  can  our  older  pastors  and  elders  look 
with  indiflerenee  upon  the  renewal  of  controversies  which  should 
have  been  buried  Avith  the  war,  and  upon  the  process  of  disin- 
tegration which  is  going  on  before  their  eyes?  The  common 
taunt:  "These  people  were  always  in  sympathy  with  the  South, 
let  them  go,"  does  not  rise  to  the  dignity  of  an  argument  and 
carries  no  conviction  with  it.  Is  it  a  matter  of  no  moment 
whether  we  lose  or  retain  one  or  two  hundred  of  our  ministers 
and  churches?  Is  there  not  wisdom  enough  in  the  Church  to 
devise  some  plan  by  which  we  can  avert  this  blow  without  sac- 
rificing discipline?  ^S'o  one  charges  these  congregaiions  with  any 
offence.  Is  it  worth  while  to  drive  them  from  our  fold?  Minis- 
ters die.     Churches  live.     Are  we  not  to  look  to  the  future? 

There  is  one  other  aspect  of  our  affairs  too  delicate,  perhaps, 
for  general  discussion,  but  too  profoundly  important  to  be  passed 
over.  Is  the  Church  in  our  country  to  be  what  its  Divine  Head 
appointed  it  to  be,  or  the  vassal  of  political  parties?  Is  it  to 
know  no  man  after  the  flesh — to  invite  to  its  altars,  indifferently, 
people  of  all  ranks,  and  creeds,  and  principles,  and  complexions, 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  alike,  or  is  it  to  set  up  an  inquisition 
into  men's  views  of  j)urely  party  questions,  and  frown  away  from 
its  ministrations  those  who  accept  or  reject,  as  may  be,  this  or 
that  line  of  public  policy  ?  Questions  no  less  grave  than  these  are 
emerging  out  of  the  chaos  of  the  war.  The  issues  involved  are 
not  those  of  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  but  such 
as  divide  people  wherever  there  is  civil  liberty.  Sects  could  be 
named,  which  are  quite  as  homogeneous  in  their  polities  as  in 
their  faith:  they  wished  to  have  it  so,  and  they  knew  how  to 
effect  it.  If  this  is  to  go  on,  if  our  own  Church,  hitherto  one  of 
the  great  conservative  elements  of  the  country,  one  of  its  sheet- 
anchors  in  turbulent  times,  is  to  lend  itself  to  this  fatal  divorce 


Introduction.     ,  11 

between  Christianity  and  tlie  nation  as  snch,  no  pen  may  attempt 
to  depict  the  calamities  it  mnst  entail  both  upon  the  conntry 
and  the  cause  of  Christ.  Let  it  once  come  to  be  understood 
that  the  religious  denominations  are  to  be  allied  with  the  politi- 
cal parties  of  the  land;  that  we  are  to  have  "  Whig  Churches,^' 
and  "  Union  C/uirches,"  and  '^  liepublican  Churches,"'  and  '■'■Demo- 
cratic Churches,"  and  the  like;  and  it  will  take  but  astride  or 
two  more  to  carry  the  nation  on  to  the  atheism,  the  anarchy, 
and  the  atrocities,  of  the  French  Revolution.  To  this  com- 
plexion hundreds  of  so-called  Evangelical  Churches  have  already 
come,  so  far,  at  least,  that  men  of  only  one  political  party  can 
worship  with  them  in  comfort.  And  if  the  warning  be  not 
heeded,  the  evil  may  increase  and  expand  until  the  entire  Chris- 
tianity of  the  land  shall  be  drawn  into  the  seething  vortex. 
From  a  eatastro[)he  like  this,  involving  so  much  of  criminality, 
of  disgrace,  and  of  unimaginable  misery,  and  from  the  infatua- 
tion which  legitimately  leads  to  it,  may  a  merciful  Providence 
deliver  us. 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  1866, 


I. 

The  consolidation  theory — The  true  issues — Doctrine  of  the  Biblical 
Repertory — Argument  from  the  Church  of  Scotland — From  ike 
Neiv-school  controversy. 

Messrs.  Editors — If  the  greatness  of  a  task  may  be  inferred 
from  the  efforts  put  forth  to  accomplish  it,  the  sponsors  of  the 
late  General  Assembly  have  found  themselves  engaged  in  a 
work  of  considerable  difficulty.  Not  to  look  beyond  the  Pres- 
byterian, you  have,  I  think,  some  four  or  five  correspondents, 
each  of  whom  has  occupied  four  or  five  columns  in  attempting 
to  establish  the  consolidation  theory  of  our  system.  Every  week 
we  are  treated  to  elaborate  arguments,  resting,  for  the  most 
part,  upon /ore^^/i  authorities,  designed  to  show  that  our  General 
Assembly  is  invested  with  the  plenary  power  of  the  Church,  and 
may,  at  its  own  discretion,  exercise  any  and  all  the  functions  of  the 
inferior  Judicatories.  These  dissertations  are  not  unfrequently 
garnished  with  sharp  censures  upon  the  minority  of  the  last 
Assembly,  and  those  who  concur  with  them  in  sentiment,  as 
men  who  have  repudiated  the  settled  doctrine  of  the  Church, 
and  "adopted  the  identical  views  maintained  b}'  the  ISTew-school 
party  in  our  controversy  with  them."  The  Princeton  Review, 
while  justifying  the  minority  in  .their  votes,  by  declaring  that 
the  acts  of  the  Assembly  were  "uncalled  for,"  "needlessly 
severe,"  "adapted  to  foment  strife  and  division,"  and  "to  put 
in  jeopardy  important  interests,"  affirms  the  above  theory  with 
a  confidence  which  would  seem  to  defy  all  dissent.  With  those 
who  do  not  examine  for  themselves,  these  voluminous  and 
plausible  authorities  will  no  doubt  be  conclusive.  But,  happily, 
there  are  men  living  who  can  remember  the  time  when  this  doc- 
trine met  with  no  favor  in  our  communion;  and  Avho  are  too 
jealous  for  the  liberties  of  the  Church,  to  stand  by  without 

(13) 


14  The  General  Assembly  op  1866. 

remonstrance,  and  see  it  incorporated  with  our  polity.  The 
danger  of  this  has  become  imminent,  by  reason  of  the  sanction 
given  to  the  theory  in  question  by  the  last  two  Assemblies. 
"Whatever  respect  may  be  due  to  the  formal  deliverances  of  our 
Supreme  Judicatory,  no  one  will  deny  that,  like  other  Synods- 
and  Councils,  the  Assembly  may  err,  and  often  has  erred.  Nor 
will  .there  be  any  dissent  from  these  two  propositions,  (1)  That 
"an  unconstitutional  enactment  is,"  as  Dr.  Hodge  affirms,  "void 
ah  initio.'''  And  (2)  That  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  our  min- 
isters and  people  to  use  all  proper  means  to  bring  about  a  repeal 
of  such  acts  of  our  Judicatories  as  they  believe  to  be  unwise  and 
oppressive,  even  though  they  may  not  challenge  their  constitu- 
tionality. 

The  issues,  then,  before  the  Church'  are  these: — (1)  Were 
the  acts  of  the  late  General  Assembly  warranted  by  the  Consti- 
tution? And  (2)  Were  they  wise  and  just,  and  suited  to  the 
condition  of  the  Church?  As  to  both  issues,  the  majority  of  the 
Assembly  affirmed,  and  the  minority  denied.  The  Princeton 
Review  affirms  as  to  the  first,  and  denies  as  to  the  second.  Very 
few  of  the  newspaper  writers  on  the  side  of  the  majority  grapple, 
in  applying  their  principles,  with  the  real  difficulties  involved  in 
the  proceedings  at  St.  Louis,  as  will  be  clearly  shown  before 
this  discussion  is  completed.  Had  they  even  succeeded  in 
proving  the  constitutionality  of  those  proceedings,  the  still 
harder  task  would  remain  of  vindicating  their  wisdom  and 
equity. 

The  argument  of  the  Bcpertory  and  other  writers  is  this.  All 
Church  power  is  derived  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
resides  in  the  whole  body  of  believers.  Therefore,  inasmuch 
as  the  several  judicatories  are  representative  bodies,  they  are 
clothed  with  the  same  power  which  pertains  to  their  respective 
constituencies ;  the  session  has  all  the  power  of  the  congregation ; 
and  the  General  Assembly  all  the  power  which  inheres  in  the 
entire  Church.  We  admit  the  premises,  and  deny  the  conclu- 
sion. Whether  the  General  Assembly  of  any  particular  denom- 
ination is  invested  with  the  plenary  power  of  the  denomination, 
and  can  exercise  all  the  functions  of  the  inferior  courts,  depends 
altogether  upon  the  Constitution  the  Church  may  have  adopted. 
Take  an  analogous  case.  All  political  power  is  derived  from 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  resides  in  the  body  of  the  people. 
Does  it  follow  that  the  Legislature  of  a  State  may  assume  all 
the  powers  and  functions  of  the  several  municipal  and  private 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  15 

corporations  within  its  territorial  area?  And  especially  under 
a  government  like  ours,  can  the  national  Legislature  do  what- 
ever the  State,  county,  and  city  authorities  may  do?  The  gov- 
ernment might  have  been  organized  upon  this  principle;  but  it 
was  not.  ISTeither  was  our  Church  organized  upon  this  principle. 
In  both  cases  the  Constitutions  actually  adopted,  provide  for  a  ■ 
certain  distribution  of  these  various  powers  and  duties ;  and 
these  Constitutions  are  as  binding  upon  the  supreme  as  upon 
the  subordinate  legislatures.  This  will  be  made  clear  to  demon- 
stration, when  it  is  considered  that  the  Presbyteries  might  now 
abridge  indefinitely  the  powers  of  the  General  Assembly.  This 
has  been  repeatedly  proposed  by  some  of  the  wisest  men  of  the 
Church.  These  changes  might  include  prohibitory  clauses, /or- 
hidding  the  General  Assembly  to  exercise  certain  of  the  powers 
it  now  has.  Would  such  a  Constitution  be  invalid?  And  if 
not,  what  becomes  of  the  theory  that  to  the  General  Assembly 
belong,  ex  necessitate  rei,  all  the  prerogatives  and  functions  of  the 
lower  courts?  The  Assembly,  it  is  manifest,  is  invested  with 
the  powers  assigned  to  it  by  the  Constitution — no  more,  no  less. 
By  that  compact  w^e  are  all  bound.  To  attempt  to  supersede  it 
by  the  dictum  that  the  supreme  judicatory,  simply  because  it  is 
supreme,  may  assume,  at  its  own  discretion,  all  the  powers  of  the 
other  courts,  is  to  substitute  the  will  of  the  majority  for  a  well- 
defined,  written  charter.  Constitutions  are  made  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  weak  against  the  strong.  This*  theory  turns  our 
Constitution  into  a  wall  of  sand. 

This  argument  from  "the  nature  of  Church  power,"  is  but- 
tressed by  others  even  more  fallacious,  derived  from  the  history 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  A  false  and  deceptive  analogy.  To 
what  purpose  are  the  passages  cited  in  every  quarter  from  Scotch 
authors?  They  prove  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  has  this  right  of  eminent  jurisdiction.  Of  course  it 
has.  It  had  it  from  the  beginning.  It  is  interwoven  with  its 
whole  Constitution  and  history.  What  is  that  to  us?  The 
Church  of  Scotland  began  with  a  General  Assembly,  from  which 
its  Presbyteries  derived  their  being.  Our  Church  began  with 
a  Presbytery.  In  process  of  time  the  Presbyteries  created  a 
General  Assembly,  and  agreed  among  themselves  as  to  what 
prerogatives  they  would  confer  upon  it,  and  what  they  would 
reserve  to  themselves.  He  would  be  a  bold  man  wbo  should 
deny  the  proposition  just  laid  down,  that  the  Presbyteries  can 
now,  at   their   option,  augment  or   abridge   the   powers  thus 


16  The  General  Assembly  op  1866. 

assigned  to  the  Assembly.  And  yet  we  are  referred  to  the 
Church  of  Scothmd,  and  gravely  told  that  our  Assembly  came 
into  being  like  Minerva,  full  armed;  that  its  very  birth  carried 
with  it  all,  and  more  than  all  the  attributes  and  rights  of  the 
constituencies  that  created  it — the  entire  power,  in  fact,  inherent 
4  in  the  whole  body  of  our  communion.  Let  us  be  consistent, 
then,  England  lias  no  written  Constitution,  and  needs  none; 
for  its  Parliament  is  omnipotent.  If  our  General  Assembly  is 
omnipotent,  let  us  put  our  Constitution  in  the  fire. 

From  the  Church  of  Scotland  these  brethren  turn  to  the 
records  of  our  jSTew-school  controversy.  They  have  shown  that 
eminent  men  in  the  Assembly  of  1837  maintained  the  compe- 
tency of  the  body  to  do  what  was  actually  done  in  respect  to  the 
New-school  Synods  —  a  widely  different  case  from  that  pre- 
sented at  St.  Louis.  But  since  the  prime  question  before  that 
Assembly  was,  "What  is  the  true  theory  of  our  Constitution? 
what  powers  pertain  to  the  General  Assembly?" — why  do  they 
not  quote  and  expound,  not  particular  speeches,  but  the  well- 
weighed,  official  deliverance  of  the  entire  majority  on  this  fun- 
damental subject?  Here  it  is: — "1.  The  Constitution  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  like  that  of  our  National  Union,  is  a  Con- 
stitution of  specific  powers  granted  by  the  Presbj'teries,  the 
fountains  of  power,  to  the  Synods  and  the  General  Assembly. 
2.  No  powers  not  specifically  granted  can  lawfully  be  inferred 
and  assumed  by  the  General  Assembly,  but  only  such  as  are 
indispensably  necessary  to  carry  into  eflect  those  specifically 
granted."  One  of  the  names  appended  to  this  paper  is  that  of 
Samuel  C.  Anderson,  Esq.,  of  Virginia.  Every  one  who  was 
present  will  remember  that  his  great  speech  on  the  constitu- 
tional question  was,  by  common  consent,  pronounced  the  speech 
of  the  session;  and  that  it  did  more  to  decide  the  wavering  minds 
in  the  house  than  any  other.  It  may  do  to  contemn  the  authority 
of  this  profound  jurist  now.  In  those  days  he  was  thought  by 
the  Greens,  the  Alexanders,  the  Witherspoous,  the  Phillipses, 
and  the  Elliots  of  the  Church,  to  know  something  of  our  Con- 
stitution, 

Wliether  that  Assembly  or  any  other  may,  or  may  not  have 
done  things  which,  as  seen  through  the  vista  of  thirty  years, 
were  not  quite  compatible  with  the  theory  thus  avowed,  is  not 
the  question  before  us.  Enough  for  us  that  we  have  their 
solemn,  official,  and  (as  to  the  majority)  united  exposition  of 
the  nature  of  our  Constitution,  in  respect  to  the  fundamental 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  17 

point  upon  which  the  present  controversy  hinges.  The  attempt 
of  the  JRepertory  to  neutralize  the  force  of  this  deliverance,  which, 
as  it  frankly  confessses,  lies  directly  athwart  its  track,  will  not 
be  likely  to  satisfy  any  of  its  readers  who  consider — 1st,  the 
sort  of  men  who  composed  the  Assembly  of  1837 ;  and  2dly,  the 
absorbing  interest  and  pre-eminent  ability  with  which  they 
entered  into  the  investigation  of  this  specific  question. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  we  rest  the  case  upon 
this  single  authority,  decisive  as  it  is.  The  minority  of  'QQ  claim 
to  stand  where  their  fathers  stood  in  that  great  conflict,  so  often 
and  so  fruitlessly  appealed  to  by. our  brethren  of  the  majority. 
It  is  the  only  safe  ground  for  ministers,  churches,  and  Presby- 
teries. And  those  who,  in  these  unquiet  times,  repudiate  it  for 
a  purpose,  may  live  to  see  the  day  when  they  would  give  their 
right  hands  for  the  shelter  of  a  strong  Constitution  against  the 
tyranny,  the  caprice,  or  the  misguided  zeal  of  a  transient 
majority  in  the  General  Assembly. 

I  propose,  with  your  leave,  Messrs.  Editors,  to  show  that  the 
doctrine  asserted  by  the  minority  at  St.  Louis  was  distinctly 
recognized  during  the  J^ew-school  controversy,  by  the  Old- 
school  party,  by  the  Biblical  Repertory,  aud  by  the  Presbyterian, 
as  the  true  theory  of  our  system. 


II. 

The  consolidation  theory  vs.  the  true  theory — The  '•^Presbyterian'' — 
Dr.  Winchester — Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge — General  Assembly  of 
1834 — ^^Act  and  Testimony'' — Rev.  Archibald  Alexander,  D.D. — 
Biblical  Repertory — Addendum — '^S.  J.  B." 

"  The  General  Assembly  is  invested  with  the  plenary  power 
of  the  entire  Church,  and  may,  at  its  discretion,  assume  and  exer- 
cise all  the  functions  of  the  several  subordinate  judicatories." 
This  is  the  theory  held  by  the  majority  in  the  late  Assembly,  and 
since  maintained  by  the  Biblical  Repertory  and  numerous  writers 
in  our  religious  journals.  A  doctrine  which  thus  substitutes  the 
will  of  a  casual  majority  in  the  Assembly  for  a  written  Consti- 

2 


18  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

tution,  may  answer  very  well  for  majorities.  But  the  majority 
of  to-day  may  become  the  minority  of  to-morrow :  and  what 
then?  We  need  not  speculate  upon,  "What  then?"  We  all 
know  enough  of  human  nature  to  understand  how  men's  views 
of  abstract  questions  are  warped  by  the  passions  and  conflicts  of 
the  hour.  And  those  who  prefer  history  to  reasoning  or  con- 
jecture, may  see  this  principle  amply  illustrated  in  respect  to 
the  very  question  now  under  debate,  by  reviewing  the  annals  of 
the  ISTew-school  controversy.  To  that  controversy  the  advocates 
of  the  high-prerogative  theory  are  fond  of  appealing:  and  it  is 
readily  conceded  that  there  are  transactions  on  record  which 
lend  a  certain  plausible  coloring  to  their  favorite  hypothesis. 
Yet  the  very  men  who  were  foremost  in  carrying  out  the 
Old-school  policy  in  that  memorable  contest,  explicitly  repudiated 
the  dangerous  tlieoiy  which  we  are  now  asked  to  accept  as  the 
settled  doctrine  of  the  Church.  In  every  practicable  form  they 
maintained,  that  our  "  Constitution  is  a  Constitution  of  specific 
powers,  granted  by  the  Presbyteries  to  the  Synods  and  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly ;  and  that  no  powers  not  specifically  granted  by 
the  Presbyteries  can  be  lawfully  inferred  and  assumed  by  the 
General  Assembly,  but  only  such  as  are  indispensably  necessary 
to  carry  into  effect  those  which  are  specifically  granted." 
Whether  successfully  or  not,  they  contended  that  the  stringent 
measures  of  '37  involved  no  violation  of  this  principle.  How 
far  they  warrant  the  adoption  of  the  revolutionary  minute  of 
Dr.  Gurleyby  the  recent  Assembly,  will  be  considered  hereafter. 
For  the  present,  we  are  concerned  with  the  theory  of  our  Con- 
stitution held  by  the  Old-school  party  thirty  years  ago. 

I  have  quoted  above  the  true  doctrine  as  formally  affirmed  by 
the  Assembly  of  '37.  In  the  Assembly  of  1834,  the  late  Rev. 
Samuel  G.  Winchester  delivered  a  speech  on  the  powers  of  the 
General  Assembly,  which  was  pronounced  by  the  Old-school 
party  an  "  unanswerable"  exposition  of  our  Constitution.  No 
one  who  listened  to  it  can  forget  the  impression  it  made.  Of  so 
much  value  was  it  deemed  to  the  cause  of  sound  Presbyterian- 
ism,  that  a  formal  request  for  its  publication  was  presented  to 
Mr.  Winchester,  emanating  from  a  public  meetiitg,  of  which 
the  late  venerable  Dr.  Magraw  was  chairman,  and  the  Rev. 
David  McKinney,  D.D.,  secretary.  The  Presbyterian  published 
the  speech,  first  from  the  reporter's  notes,  and  afterward  from 
the  revised  pamphlet  edition,  with  warm  editorjal  commenda- 
tion, as  follows: 


The   GrENERAL   ASSEMBLY   OF   1866.  19 

"We  think  any  one  who  loves  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
or  who  can  be  interested  in  sound,  logical  reasoning,  will  find  himself  deeply 
interested  in  the  perusal  of  this  speech.  "We  believe  it  was  aclcnowledged  by 
all  who  heard  it  (whatever  may  have  been  their  views  of  the  question  at  issue) 
to  contain  a  very  able  and  lucid  exposition  of  the  Constitution  of  our  Church." 
{Presbyterian,  June  26,  1834.) 

These  endorsements  remove  the  speech  from  the  category  of 
mere  private  opinion  into  a  much  broader  fornm  :  they  stamp  it 
with  at  least  a  semi-official  character.  The  following  extracts 
will  show  the  type  of  Presbyterianism  that  prevailed  in  those 
days: 

"The  Constitution  and  the  Assembly  are  creatures  of  the  Presbyteries,  who 
may,  by  a  competent  majority,  alter  or  abolish  them  at  pleasure.  The  Presby- 
teries are  the  source  of  constitutional  authority  and  power.  The  Assembly  is  a 
body  of  defined  and  delegated  powers,  subject  to  restriction  or  enlargement  by 
the  Presbyteries.  The  Presbyteries  may  interpret,  modify,  enlarge,  diminish  or 
entirely  destroy  the  powers  of  the  Assembly.  As,  therefore,  its  powers  are 
d^ned  and  limited,  it  cannot  go  beyond,  but  must  act  within  them.  The  powers 
not  expressly  nor  impliedly  delegated  to  are  not  possessed  by  the  Assembly. 
The  Assembly  is  the  recipient,  not  the  fountain  of  power.  It  is  an  agent  with 
created  trusts  and  acquired  prerogatives,  not  an  ultimate  Lord  with  inherent 
omnipotence It  is  a  well-known  and  acknowledged  rule  that  the  delega- 
tion of  powers  is  always  evidence  against  the  possession  of  those  not  delegated." 

"  Presbyteries  should  be  jealous  of  their  rights,  especially  when  a  mode  of 
construction  is  adopted  and  applied,  which  tends  to  deprive  inferior  judicatories 
of  all  power,  and  to  make  them  mere  cyphers.  Inferior  judicatories  should  in- 
sist upon  their  rights,  and  upon  a  maintenance  of  the  Constitution.  This  book 
is  a  mutual  compact  between  ministers  and  judicatories.  We  promise  subjection 
to  one  another  in  the  Lord.  This  book  defines  the  method  in  which  that  subjec- 
tion is  to  be  rendered.  To  exact  subjection  contrary  to  its  provisions  is  tyranny 
and  oppression.  This  book  is  a  mutual  bond  and  pledge  which  each  has  given 
to  the  other,  and  to  violate  its  provisions,  is  to  break  faith  with  those  with  whom 
you  have  covenanted.  It  is  an  invasion  of  personal  ministerial  rights  and  priv- 
ileges, and  deserves  to  be  sternly  rebuked  and  indignantly  repelled.  To  violate 
this  pledge  is  to  absolve  us  from  the  obligation  created  by  the  promise  of  sub- 
jection. The  Constitution  of  our  Church  is  the  bond  of  its  union,  and  if  this  be 
intrenched  upon,  mutual  confidence  is  destroyed,  and  that  which  professes  to 
unite  us,  becomes  itself  the  subject  of  protracted  and  angry  discord.  It  is  there- 
fore with  the  utmost  caution  and  delicacy  that  new  and  questionable  construc- 
tions should  be  pressed  upon  the  churches.  There  is  a  point  beyond  which  sub- 
mission to  such  adjudications  becomes  acquiescence  in  the  guilt  of  misrule  and 
maladministration.  To  such  a  deprecated  crisis  we  fear  our  Church  is  hasten- 
ing." "Let  us  beware  how  we  explain  away  the  rights  of  one  another;  let  us 
take  warning  by  the  results  of  similar  invasions." 

"The  supremacy  of  the  General  Assembly  is  relied  on  with  much  confidence 
as  an  argument  for  the  power  now  claimed.  It  is  argued  that,  being  the  supreme 
judicatory,  it  is  iavested  with  all  the  powers  of  the  inferior  judicatories.  If  the 
Assembly,  and  not  the  Presbyteries,  were  the  source  of  power,  and  had  not 


20  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

expressly  granted  it  away,  there  might  be  some  plausibility  in  this  position. 
But  this  is  not  the  case.  It  is  a  body  of  limited  and  defined  authority.  It  has 
indeed  a  general  supervision  of  the  whole  Church,  but  that  supervision  must  be 
exercised  agreeably  to  rule,  and  not  in  violation  of  express  provisions."  "If 
the  fact  that  the  General  Assembly  is  the  supreme  court,  does,  per  se,  invest  it 
with  all  the  powers  of  the  inferior  judicatories,  then  any  restriction  of  the  powers 
of  the  Assembly,  by  the  Presbyteries,  would  be  iaconsistent  with  such  suprem- 
acy. Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  superiority  of  the  General  Assembly  was 
the  principal  argument  relied  on  by  the  Assembly  in  the  assumption  of  the 
power  in  question.  Then  it  is  not  competent  to  the  Presbyteries  to  deline  and 
restrict  the  powers  of  the  supreme  judicatory. 

"But  is  it  a  fact  that  the  Presbyteries,  in  their  act  creating  the  General  As- 
sembly, did  forever  divest  themselves  of  the  right  to  modify  and  restrict  the 
powers  of  the  body  thus  created  ?  Did  the  act  of  the  Presbyteries,  creating  the 
supreme  court,  per  se,  invest  that  court  with  all  the  powers  of  the  inferior  judi- 
catories? Unquestionably  not.  For  example  :  The  Presbytery  has  power  'to 
examine  and  license  candidates  for  the  ministry ;  to  ordain,  install,  remove,  and 
judge  ministers.'  Now,  does  the  supremacy  of  the  General  Assembly  invest  it 
with  these  powers  ?  Can  the  General  Assembly  come  into  a  Presbytery  and 
remove  a  minister?  Can  it  arraign  and  judge  a  minister?  What  miuistei^r 
Presbytery  would  submit  to  such  an  exercise  of  usurped  power  ?  To  do  these 
things,  I  contend,  belongs  exclusively  to  Presbyteries.  The  matter  may,  indeed, 
be  brought  up  and  issued  in  the  Assembly  by  appeal  or  complaint,  but  this  is 
in  virtue  of  a  special  provision  to  that  effect.  Again,  if  the  mere  fact  of  su- 
premacy invests  the  Assembly  with  all  the  powers  of  inferior  judicatories,  why 
has  the  Book  gravely  and  particularly  entered  into  a  specification  of  the  powers 
of  the  Assembly?  The  framers  of  the  Constitution  considered  such  a  specifi- 
cation necessary,  because,  unlike  the  modern  interpreters  of  the  Book,  they  did 
not  suppose  that  the  fact  of  supremacy,  per  se,  invested  the  Assembly  with  all 
the  powers  of  inferior  judicatories,  or  was  any  evidence  that  such  powers  were 
possessed.  The  specification  of  powers  is  evidence  against  the  delegation  of 
powers  not  specified.  The  fact,  then,  that  the  General  Assembly  is  the  supreme 
court,  can  have  no  weight  in  the  present  controversy." 

As  iu  full  accord  with  these  views  of  Mr.  Winchester,  the 
Presbi/terian  of  July  3,  1834  (referring  to  the  same  measures), 
says: 

"They  (the  New-school  party)  now  demand  submission  to  the  exercise  of  an 
authority  which  the  Constitution  never  contemplated.  Acquiescence  in  such 
circumstances  would  be  connivance  at  injustice,  and  quiet  submission  would  be 
a  desertion  of  principle." 

I  cite  as  another  authority  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  D.D. 

"  The  General  Assembly  is  a  purely  delegated  body  ;  possessing  powers  limited 
and  strictly  defined,  intended  to  answer  purposes  plainly  declared,  and  capable 
of  being  destroyed  without  infringing  upon  one  single  principle  of  real  Presby- 
terianism.  It  is  created  by  the  Presbyteries,  a  certain  proportion  of  which  may 
enlarge,  curtail,  or  abolish  it,  and  all  its  powers,  at  will We  have 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  21 

appealed  to  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  as  the  creators  and  advisers,  under  our 
Constitution,  of  this  Assembly,  whose  satellites  claim  for  it  omnipotent  power 
to  do  wrong."     {Presbyterian,  December  4,  1834.) 

Still  more  to  the  purpose,  because  denouncing  the  mischiev- 
ous interpretation  put  upon  a  certain  clause  of  our  Constitution 
by  the  majority  of  1866,  as  by  that  of  1834,  is  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  protest  signed  by  about  forty  of  the  Old-school 
members  of  the  Assembly  of  1834: 

"  The  principle  assumed  by  the  majority  in  this  body,  and  recognized  by  the 
Assembly  in  the  above  decision,  and  on  which  the  appellants  rest  their  plea, 
that  the  duty  'of  superintending  the  concerns  of  the  whole  Church'  (Form  of 
Government,  xii.  5),  invests  the  Assembly  with  all  powers  necessary  to  accom- 
plish that  object,  at  her  own  discretion,  tends  to  abolish  the  constitutional  rights 
of  Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  Church  sessions ;  to  confound  and  contravene 
those,  original  and  essential  principles  of  ecclesiastical  government  and  order 
which  constitute  and  characterize  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

Those  who  listened  to  the  debates  at  St.  Louis  last  May,  will 
readily  recall  the  sweeping  use  which  was  made  of  the  clause  of 
the  Constitution  quoted  above;  and  how  fatally  it  was  employed 
to  subvert  the  rights  of  individuals  and  Presbyteries.  History 
is  perpetually  repeating  itself. 

If  further  testimony  be  needed  as  to  the  true  doctrine  of  our 
Church  respecting  the  powers  of  the  General  Assembly,  it  is 
supplied  to  our  hand  by  the  '■'■  Act  and  Jestimony.'^  Among  the 
grave  violations  of  "  Church  order"  specified  in  this  celebrated 
paper,  we  read  as  follows : 

"  We  most  particularly  testify  against  the  exercise  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  any  power  not  clearly  delegated  to  it ;  and  the  exercise  even  of  its  delegated 
powers  for  purposes  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  its  creation."' 

That  this  was  the  doctrine  not  only  of  the  extreme  right  of  the 
Old-school  party,  but  of  the  other  wing  also,  can  be  shown  by 
two  or  three  quotations  from  the  Biblical  Repertory.  In  that 
quarterly  for  January,  1832,  may  be  found  an  article  from  the 
pen  of  the  late  venerable  Dr.  Alexander,  which  attracted  great 
attention  at  the  time.  It  is  nothing  less  than  a  plan  for  the 
entire  reorganization  of  our  judicatories.  Its  design,  as  stated 
by  the  writer,  is  "to  show  that  the  present  organization  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United  States  is  not  essential;  but 
that  in  many  respects  there  might  be  a  new  modelling  of  the 
body,  without  the  least  interference  with  the  radical  principles 
of  Presbyterianism."      The  plan  proposed  is   "to  divide  the 


22  The  General  Assembly  op  1866. 

Church  into  six  Synods,  each  of  which  shall  meet  annually,  and 
possess  all  the  judicial  and  superintending  powers  which  now 
belong  to  the  General  Assembly."  "The  General  Assembly 
to  be  no  longer  a  High  Court  of  Appeals,  as  it  now  is;  nor  a 
judicial  body  at  all ;  but  simply  a  bond  of  union,  and  an  advisory 
Council  to  the  whole  Church,"  These  brief  sentences  make  it 
evident  enough  that  Dr.  Alexander  saw  no  such  self-contained, 
autocratic  power  in  the  General  Assembly  as  our  late  expositors 
have  found  there. 

Again,  says  the  Repertory  for  July,  1835  (and  the  words  are 
worthy  to  be  written  in  gold): 

"  The  Presbyteries  are  the  trxLe  fountain  of  all  ecclesiastical  power.  They 
are  independent  bodies,  except  so  far  as  they  have  chosen  to  unite  with  other 
Presbyteries,  and  cede  part  of  their  original  rights.  The  original  powers  and 
rights  of  contracting  bodies  should  not  be  reasoned  away ;  if  they  no  longer 
exist,  clear  evidence  of  their  having  been  knowingly  and  voluntarily  relinquished 
must  be  produced.  It  had  been  argued  that  because  the  Church  is  one,  there- 
fore the  several  parts  or  separate  Presbyteries  have  no  right  to  judge  in  this 
matter  for  themselves.  This  argument,  however,  is  invalid,  because  their  union 
is  by  compact,  and  cannot  be  pressed  beyond  the  terms  of  the  compact.  The 
Presbyteries  and  churches  are  one,  for  the  purposes  and  to  the  extent  declared 
in  the  Constitution,  and  no  farther.  To  insist  that  the  union  was  such  as  to 
destroy  the  separate  existence  and  unconceded  rights  of  the  constituent  parts 
of  the  body,  is  to  maintain  that  the  Church  is  consolidated,  and  to  establish  a 

COMPLETE  SPIRITUAL  DESPOTISM." 

This  passage  occurs  in  a  summary  of  the  arguments  adduced 
in  the  General  Assembly  in  favor  of  the  inherent  right  of  a 
Presbytery  to  examine  ministers  knocking  at  its  door  for  admis- 
sion,' It  bears  the  express  endorsement  of  "Dr,  Hoge,  Dr. 
Miller,  Dr,  Elliot,  Mr.  "VYiuchester,  and  others,"  It  appears  to 
have  the  sanction  of  the  author  of  the  article  in  the  JRepertoi^ — 
the  more  so,  as  he  adds  at  the  close  of  the  review: — "There  is 
hardly  a  single  principle  affirmed  by  this  Assembly,  which  has 
not  from  the  beginning  been  current  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,"  In  any  event  the  theory  of  our  system  here  set  forth 
80  lucidly,  and  affirmed  by  the  Assembly  of  '35  (an  Assembly 
distinguished  alike  for  its  numbers  and  its  ability),  has  not  been 
successfully  impugned  by  the  advocates  of  the  new  consolida- 
tion scheme.  Should  they  ultimately  succeed  in  revolutionizing 
our  system,  it  will  not  be  a  mere  handful  of  men  who,  sooner 
than  submit  to  so  "complete a  spiritual  despotism,"  will  seek  for 
Christian  liberty  in  some  freer  fold. 


The  G-eneral  Assembly  of  1866.  23 

Reserving  for  a  future  number  the  further  consideration  of 
these  principles,  I  close  with  a  brief  citation  from  the  Repertory 
for  January  of  the  same  year  ('35) : 

"Let  us  not  expect  the  General  Assembly  to  ^ra^isgrj-ess  all  constitutional 
principles,  and  to  commence  process  against  men  suspected  of  holding  erroneous 
opinions,  over  the  heads  of  their  Presbyteries,  when  these  Presbyteries  them- 
selves (consisting  perhaps  of  a  decided  majority  of  Old-school  men)  have  not 
thought  proper  to  act  in  the  case.  .  .  .  It  really  seems  to  be  forgotten  by 
some  that  our  Constitution  declares  that  '  all  process  against  a  gospel  minister 
shall  be  entered  in  the  Presbytery  of  which  he  is  a  member.'" 

No  ingenuity  can  bring  this  passage  into  coalescence  with  the 
consolidation  theory.  And  I  shall  show,  before  closing  the 
discussion,  that  even  the  acts  of  '37  lend  no  support  to  the  op- 
pressive edicts  of  '66,  in  ^Hpso  fadoing"  Presbyteries,  and  ^^  com- 
mencing process"  against  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men. 


ADDENDUM. 


Since  these  Essays  were  published  in  the  Presbyterian,  my 
friend  "  S.  J.  B."  [Dr.  Baird]  has  controverted  in  that  paper 
the  hereditary  doctrine  of  our  Church,  respecting  the  powers 
and  functions  of  the  General  Assembly.  As  he  boldly  contends 
that  many  of  the  St.  Louis  measures  were  in  flagrant  violation 
of  the  Constitution,  I  see  no  occasion  for  an  extended  reply  to 
his  argument.  But  I  deem  it  proper  to  preface  the  remarks  I 
have  to  make  on  his  abstract  theory,  with  a  paragraph  or  two 
from  a  letter  of  my  own,  addressed  in  August  last  to  the  editors 
of  fhe  Presbyterian,  deprecatingtheir  ungracious  reflections  upon 
the  "minority  men"  of  the  General  Assembly.  While  we  are 
perfectly  clear  as  to  the  incompetency  of  the  Assembly  (under 
our  Constitution)  to  do  what  was  done  at  St.  Louis,  we  would 
guard  against  the  mischievous  mistake,  that  the  question  of 
power  is  the  only  matter  of  moment  involved  in  those  pro- 
ceedings. 

"Your  remarks  on  the  adverse  judgment  pronounced  upon  the  Assembly's 
measures  by  the  Repertory,  will  find  their  corrective  in  that  judgment  itself, 
which  you  candidly  cite  in  an  adjacent  column.  You  laud  the  article  as  main- 
taining the  naked  right  of  the  Assembly  to  do  what  it  did.  Is  this  the  sole 
question  with  which  we  have  to  do  in  estimating  the  acts  of  public  bodies  ? 


24  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

Does  the  country  ask  merely  whether  Congress  has  the  abstract  right  to  enact 
such  and  such  laws  ?  Will  the  Church  limit  its  inquiries  to  the  power  of  ita 
supreme  judicatory  to  adopt  certain  measures  ?  Or  will  it  ask,  '  Are  these 
measures  wise?  Are  they  just?  Are  they  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the 
Church  ?  Are  they  likely  to  promote  peace,  and  order,  and  charity,  or  discord 
and  alienation  ?'  And  is  it  high  praise  to  say  of  the  acts  of  a  certain  Assembly, 
'  The  Assembly  had  a  right  to  pass  them,  but  they  were  *'  unduly  severe." ' 
'There  was  no  important  object  to  be  gained  by  them.'  'The  Assembly  itself 
admitted  that  signing  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  was  not  a  sufficient  reason 
for  exclusion  from  our  Church  courts.'  'This  action,  instead  of  tending  to  allay 
strife  and  division  in  the  Border  States,  had  a  directly  opposite  tendency.'  'And 
it  places,  or  would  place  if  carried  out,  many  ministers  and  churches  in  anoma- 
lous positions,  and  put  in  jeopardy  important  interests.' 

"  This  is  what  Dr.  Hodge  says  of  the  late  Assembly.  And  if  you,  or  others, 
who  approve  of  the  doings  of  that  body,  can  find  any  comfort  in  the  reflection 
that,  possessing  power,  it  put  it  forth,  'he  being  judge,'  in  this  most  uncalled-for 
and  pernicious  way ;  we  '  minority  men'  would  not  deprive  you  of  it.  We  have 
plenary  evidence  in  this  article,  that  if  the  venerable  editor  of  the  Repertory 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  he  would  have  stood  with  us  in  opposing 
both  the  bold,  outspoken  report  of  the  committee,  and  the  less  manly  substitute 
of  Dr.  Gurley ;  that  while  recognizing  the  power  claimed  by  the  Assembly,  he 
would  have  remonstrated  against  the  proposed  methods  of  exerting  it  as  unneces- 
sary, and  calculated  to  do  irreparable  injury  to  the  Church;  and  that  his  name 
vwuld  have  been  enrolled  with  those  of  Humphrey,  Breckinridge,  Backus,  Smith, 
Van  Dyke,  Jones,  and  their  associates  of  the  minority,  on  every  important  vote 
of  the  session." 

To  return  to  "S.  J.  B."  He  has  undoubtedly  framed  the  best 
argument  which  the  case  admits  of,  in  favor  of  the  high-prerog- 
ative theor}^  But  after  a  careful  examination  of  his  articles,  I 
am  not  able  to  see  that  he  has  made  the  slightest  impression 
upon  the  main  doctrine  of  this  pamphlet.  He  has  pointed  out 
the  error  involved  in  the  inadvertent  statement,  that  our  Geiieral 
Assembly  was  actually  organized  by  the  Presbyteries.  But  he 
has,  I  think,  utterly  failed  in  invalidating  the  only  essential 
position,  viz.,  that,  from  the  period  of  its  formation,  the  General 
Assembly  has  been  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  Presbyte- 
ries. According  to  his  peculiar  theory  of  the  jure  divinb  origin 
of  ecclesiastical  courts,  the  supreme  judicatory  of  a  Presby- 
terian Church  is  of  necessity  (within  certain  limitations  which 
it  is  not  important  to  cite  just  here)  clothed  with  the  plenary 
power  of  the  whole  body.  This  power  is  indefeasible.  Our 
General  Assembly  still  retains,  and  at  its  pleasure  exercises  even 
those  powers  which  the  lower  courts  are  allowed  to  exercise  in 
common  with,  though  in  subordination  to,  itself,  ISTay,  further 
still,  "since  the  powers  of  the  Assembly  were  not  derived  from 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  25 

the  Presbyteries,  tlaey  can  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  by 
them." 

•  With  great  respect,  I  beg  leave  to  say,  that  this  looks  very 
like  one  of  Lord  Bacon's  "idols  of  the  market,"  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  the  illusive  tyranny  of  words.  The  General  As- 
sembly is  the  siqyreme  judicator}'-  of  the  Church,  therefore  all  the 
power  which  Christ  has  given  the  Church  rests,  indefeasibly,  in 
the  General  Assembly.  The  chasm  between  the  premise  and 
the  conclusion  is  too  broad  aud  deep  to  be  spanned  by  a  simple 
"therefore."  It  is  not  bridged  over  by  saying  that  "the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  represents  the  entire  Church."  The  Municipal 
Councils  of  Philadelphia  "represent  the  entire  city."  Are  they 
therefore  clothed  with  the  whole  political  power  of  the  city  ? 
Congress  "represents  the  entire  people  of  the  United  States." 
Can  it  therefore  legislate  on  all  manner  of  subjects  for  every 
part  of  the  country?  The  difficulty  is'not  relieved  by  appealing 
to  the  admitted  fact,  that  all  Church  power  emanates  from  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  call  for  the  ordinance  bearing  His  sign- 
manual,  which  forbid^a  Church  to  lodge  any  portion  of  its  pre- 
rogative elsewhere  than  in  the  hands  of  a  single  representative 
tribunal.  To  our  ears,  this  savors  of  Judaizing.  We  protest 
against  it  as  an  attempt  to  bring  the  Church  again  into  a  bond- 
age which  was  forever  dissolved  at  the  Day  of  Pentecost.  We 
insist  upon  it,  that,  under  the  Dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  it  is  of 
the  essence  of  the  liberty  Christ  has  given  His  Church,  that  it 
should  have  some  discretion  as  to  the  agents  and  methods 
through  which  its  power  shall  be  exercised,  some  freedom  in 
framing  the  canons  of  its  distribution  and  administration.  Sup- 
pose the  Church  chooses  to  enact  that  for  certain  specific  func- 
tions, the  plenary  power  it  has  received  from  above,  shall  vest  in 
its  Presbyteries  or  its  Synods,  is  it  forbidden  to  make  this  ar- 
rangement? Or,  would  the  acts  thus  performed  be  any  the  less 
an  exertion  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Church — the  power 
of  the  entire  body — than  if  proceeding  from  a  General  As- 
sembly ? 

If  I  understand  "S.  J.  B.,"  he  contends  that  the  attribute  of 
eminent  jurisdiction,  is  incorporated  with  the  very  being  of  our 
General  Assembly;  that  to  divest  it  of  this  prerogative  in  any 
one  particular,  would  be  a  mutilation  no  less  radical  than  that 
of  amputating  one's  leg  or  arm.  This  is  very  different  from  the 
common  doctrine  (which  we  all  hold)  of  the  jure  dwino  warrant 
of  ecclesiastical  courts.     It  creates  a  stereotype  mould  in  which 


26  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

the  constitntion  of  every  (Presbyterian?)  church  7mi.si  he  run. 
And  it  stamps  any  material  departure  from  tlie  supposed  pattern, 
as  a  sin.  When  the  venerable  Dr.  Alexander  penned  his  article* 
alluded  to  in  the  text,  on  arresting  appeals  at  the  Sj^iods;  he 
little  imagined  that  he  was  inciting  the  Church  to  violate  a  fun- 
dainental  law  of  Christ's  house.  With  equal  Ingenuousness 
some  other  patriarchal  man  might  now  propose  to  introduce 
into  the  Constitution,  a  clause  explicitly  prohibiting  (what  is  in 
fact  prohibited  already)  the  General  Assembly  from  exercising 
original  jurisdiction  in  any  judicial  case  whatever.  On  the  new 
theory,  the  good  father  should  be  admonished  that  he  was  strik- 
ing his  axe  into  one  of  the  very  pillars  of  the  tabernacle.  All 
legitimate  ecclesiastical  powers  (he  should  be  told)  so  inhere  in 
the  Assembly,  and  all  ecclesiastical  functions  so  appertain  to  it, 
that  it  still  retains  those  which  it  consents  to  share  with  the 
inferior  courts,  and  can,  at  its  discretion,  do  any  and  all  the 
things  wdiich  they  can,  do. 

Our  people  will  liear  with  mingled  amazement  and  incredulity 
that  they  have  been  living  under  a  go'^ernment  like  this  for 
seventy  j^ears.  It  will  astonish  them  to  learn,  that  the  divine 
right  of  eminent  jurisdiction  so  attaches  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly', that  should  the  Presbyteries  attempt  to  transfer  any  one 
function  of  this  all-comprehensive  authority  to  another  court, 
they  would  infringe  the  prerogative  of  the  Master  him  self.  They 
know  that  the  Church  has  never  recognized  this  principle.  They 
knoiv  that  no  proposed  alteration  of  the  Constitution  was  ever 
resisted  on  this  ground.  They  Iniow  that  the  doctrine  is  at 
variance  with  our  fundamental  law  as  expounded  bj^  our  various 
judicatories  in  their  current  transactions  from  year  to  year.  A 
cloudless,  noon-day  sun  is  not  more  apparent  than  is  the  fact, 
that  up  to  the  present  time  it  has  been  the  hereditary,  abiding, 
unchallenged  sentiment  of  the  Church,  that  the  Presbyteries 
have  a  potential  voice  in  the  affairs  of  our  communion,  and  can 
at  their  pleasure  prescribe  and  limit  the  functions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  Of  all  the  writers  (and  speakers)  on  this  sub- 
ject, "S.  J.  B."  is  the  only  one  who  has  had  the  courage  to  join 
issue  on  this  point  with  the  sponsors  of  our  old-time  Presby- 
terianism.  The  Repertory  of  Jul}^  the  Presbyterian  under  its  new 
inspiration,  the  late  General  Assembly,  the  Synods  and  Presby- 
teries which  have  endorsed  the  action  at  St.  Louis,  and  all  and 
singular  the  individual  advocates  of  those  measures,  have  failed 
to  meet  the  naked  question: — Hare  the  Presbyteries  (subject  to 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  27 

their  ultimate  responsibility  to  the  Head  of  the  Church)  the 
authority  so  to  alter  our  Constitution  as  to  enlarge  or  abridge  the  powers 
of  the  General  Assembly?  My  brother  sees  that  the  hinge  of  the 
controversy  lies  here :  and  that  unless  the  negative  of  this  propo- 
sition can  be  established,  his  symmetrical  and  beautiful  fabric 
comes  to  the  ground.  I  have  used  the  word  "courage,"  for  it 
certainly  requires  some  nerve  to  attack  a  position  defended  by 
all  the  leading  authorities  of  the  Church  since  the  organization 
of  the  Assembly  (see  Nos.  I.  and  II.  of  these  Essays),  and  which 
every  Presbytery  in  our  connexion  is  in  the  habit  of  recognizing 
whenever  it  wishes  .to  propose  an  amendment  io  the  Constitu- 
tion. The  grounds  upon  which  he  rests  his  dissent,  are  chiefly 
the  Jwre  dicino  argument  already  considered,  and  the  clause  of 
the  Constitution  which  provides,  that  any  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  must,  after  its  approval  by  the  Presbyteries,  "be 
agreed  to  and  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly."  Therefore 
(he  maintains)  the  Assembly  is  not  under  the  control  of  the 
Presbyteries.  But  this  logic  clearly  will  not  hold.  The  obvious 
design  of  the  provision  just  quoted,  is,  to  secure  a  uniform  and 
orderly  method  of  altering  the  Constitution.  It  has  never  been 
understood  by  the  Church  as  carrying  with  it  that  imperial  veto 
power  which  he  has  descried  in  its  simple  words.  The  language 
employed  by  the  General  Assembly  on  the  most  memorable 
occasion  of  a  change  in  our  Constitution,  precludes  that  con- 
struction. The  new  Constitution  was  submitted  to  the  Presby- 
teries in  1820.  Their  reports  having  been  referred  in  1821  to  a 
Committee  of  the  Assembly,  that  Committee  presented  to  the 
House  a  report  which,  after  describing  and  classifying  the  returns, 
concludes  as  follows: — "Therefore  the  whole  of  the  proposed 
amendments  sent  down  by  the  last  Assembly  to  the  Presby- 
teries, is  [are]  ratified,  and  becomes  [become]  a  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution.'' {Minutes,  1821,  p.  9.)  This  report,  which  was  adopted 
by  the  House,. distinctly  recognizes  the  control  of  the  Presby- 
teries over  the  Constitution.  What  they  have  sanctioned, 
^^  becomes  a  part  of  the  Constitution."  Will  it  be  said — I^ot  so, 
until  it  is  "adopted  by  the  General  Assembly?"  But  does  this 
affect  the  result?  Can  the  Assembly  frustrate  a  purpose  of  the 
Presbyteries  to  amend  the  Constitution?  Suppose  this  were 
attempted  by  one  Assembly,  could  not  the  Presbyteries  insure  its. 
accomplishment  by  another?  Would  they  not  see  to  it  that 
Commissioners  were  appointed  who  should  do  their  bidding, 
and  ratify  in  the  Assembly  what  they  had  already  done  as  Pres- 


28  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

bjterles?  It  follows,  inevitablj^,  that  the  Presbyteries  have,  sub 
Deo,  the  ultimate  control  of  the  Constitution.  The  General 
Assembly  is  the  creature  of  the  Constitution,  and  is,  equally 
with  the  Constitution,  in  the  hands  of  the  Presbyteries.  "We 
conclude,  then,  that  however  the  plausible  theory  of  our  breth- 
ren may  require  such  a  Constitution  as  they  have  developed, 
the  Constitution  we  happen  to  have,  was  framed  upon  no  such 
principles.  Whatever  autocratic  powers  the  Assembly  (in  har- 
mony with  these  speculations)  oiight  to  have,  no  such  powers 
have  hitherto  been  claimed  for  it ;  nor  can  the  assumption  be 
vindicated  noW,  without  first  expunging  a  large  portion  of  the 
records  of  our  Assemblies,  Synods,  and  Presbyteries. 

That  this  theory  of  our  Constitution  is  of  recent  origin,  has 
been  shown  by  cumulative  testimonies  in  the  text  and  elsewhere. 
ISTo  doubt  it  may  have  been  always  held  by  individuals  among 
us,  especially  by  ministers  who  have  come  to  us  from  the  Scotch 
churches;  but  never  until  recently  has  it  presumed  to  solicit  for 
itself  the  suffrages  of  our  body.  We  brand  it  as  a  novelty  not 
only,  but  as  a  very  pernicious  novelty.  My  brother  repels  the  ' 
idea  that  it  can  be  fraught  with  any  "  danger"  to  the  Church. 
On  this  point  it  may  suffice,  in  the  first  place,  to  refer  to  the 
proceedings  which  have  occasioned  the  present  discussion. 
Throughout  these  Essays,  the  St.  Louis  decrees  have  been  con- 
sidered in  their  bearings  upon  the  rights  of  individuals  and  the 
general  liberties  of  the  Church.  I  think  it  has  been  demon- 
strated, that  in  each  of  these  relations,  great  wrong  has  been 
done,  and  the  way  prepared  for  still  greater  wrongs,  should  those 
measures  be  acquiesced  in  by  the  Church.  All  these  evils  lie 
at  the  door  of  consolidation.  Is  it  quite  the  harmless  thing  its 
admirers  affirm  it  to  be? 

But  there  is  another  piece  of  history  which  tells  upon  this 
point  with  irresistible  eftect.  The  venerable  Dr.  George  Jun- 
kin,  in  writing  (  December  1)  to  the  North -IVcsf em  Presbyterian 
respecting  the  late  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  makes 
the  following  important  remarks  : 

"  In  all  these  cases  it  is  assumed  that  the  General  Assembly  is  the  fountain  of 
power  in  our  Church,  and  may,  at  its  option,  exercise  original  jurisdiction  in  all 
cases.  Whereas,  we  maintain  that  the  Presbyteries  are  the  fountains  of  power ; 
that  no  court  has  original  jurisdiction  over  a  minister  but  his  own  Presbytery; 
and  thus  the  powers  vested  by  the  King  in  the  body  of  the  Church,  rise  up  to 
the  Synod  and  to  the  General  Assembly  ! 

"You  will  see,  sir,  that  my  object  in  the  wording  of  this  offered  substitute 
was  to  avoid  all  discussion  of  the  Louisville  business ;  and  simply  to  raise  my 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  29 

feeble  voice  against  these  mojistrous  assumptions  of  power  by  the  General  As- 
sembly. Had  this  doctrine  been  held  in  1837,  we  should  have  been  ruined ;  for 
then  the  New  School  would  have  held  us  rigidly  and  justly  to  the  Plan  of  Union 
of  1801.  But  we  denied  the  omnipotence  of  the  Assembly,  and  proved  that  it 
had  no  power  to  adopt  the  said  Plan.  We  declared  it  null  and  void  ab  initio, 
because  the  Assembly  transcended  their  powers,  and  never  referred  the  Plan  of 
Union  to  the  Presbyteries,  the  only  true  fountains.  Had  the  Assembly  of  1801 
exercised  rightly — constitutionally,  the  high  Church  principles  assumed  by  the 
last,  then  the  Plan  of  Union  must  have  stood,  and  the  Old  School  must  have 
abandoned  the  whole  cause,  and  the  New  would  have  entered  into  possession  of 
all  the  property,  the  funds,  the  seminaries,  Princeton  and  Allegheny,  and  old 
Calvinism  must  have  sought  a  refuge  elsewhere.  I  have  yet  remaining  some 
recollections  of  those  days,  and  have  some  acquaintance  with  the  answer  to  Dr. 
Peters'  protest." 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  our  consolidation  friends  can  elude 
this  fatal  snare.  The  powers  exercised  by  the  Assembly  of 
1801  in  forming  the  Plan  of  Union,  conflict  with  none  of  the 
seven  "limitations"  laid  down  by  "S.  J.  B."  in  his  second  dis- 
sertation. K  the  Assembly  be  clothed  with  the  powers  he  chal- 
lenges for  it,  that  compact  might  have  withstood  the  assaults  of 
'37,  and  passed  unscathed  through  the  fiery  ordeal  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania courts.  In  that  event  (observes  the  editor  of  the  Digest, 
p.  791), "  the  ^ew-school  party  would  not  only  have  gained  control 
over  the  two  seminaries  of  Princeton  and  Allegheny,  but  have 
come  in  possession  of  funds,  buildings,  libraries,  and  other  prop- 
erty held  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly  and  of  the  Semina- 
ries, amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  not  far  from  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  to  which,  they  themselves  being  judges,  they 
had  no  color  of  right,  other  than  by  intendment  of  law." 
Surely  it  was  an  auspicious  circumstance,  that  this  theory  of 
consolidation  and  omnipotence  was  not  in  vogue  with  our 
Church  and  with  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  thirty 
years  ago.  And  if  it  is  to  prevail  now,  what  shall  hinder  any 
future  General  Assembly  from  re-enacting  a  fresh  "Plan  of 
Union,"  or  some  other  scheme  equally  surcharged  with  trouble 
to  the  Church? 

With  increased  tenacity,  then,  do  we  cling  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  fathers,  as  laid  down  by  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  to  wit:  that 
"the  General  Assembly  is  a  purely  delegated  body,  possessing 
powers  limited  and  strictly  defined,  intended  to  answer  purposes 
plainly  declared,  and  capable  of  being  destroyed  without  infring- 
ing upon  one  single  principle  of  real  Presbyterianism."  (See 
foregoing  Essay.)     With  renewed  confidence  do  we  reject  the 


30  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

prerogative  of  original  jnrisdictiori,  as  again  asserted  on  belialf 
of  the  General  Assembly.  Let  it  be  understood,  however,  that 
while  "  S.  J.  B."  concedes  this  prerogative  in  the  abstract,  he 
strenuously  insists  that  it  can  be  lawfully  exercised  only  after 
the  prescribed  forms  and  methods  of  our  discipline.  With  the 
minority  he  maintains  that  these  sacred  rules  were  disregarded  by 
the  late  Assembly,  and  the  greatest  injustice  done  to  the  signers 
of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony.  In  his  later  Essays,  he  has 
pointed  out  the  unwarrantable  and  oppressive  nature  of  the  St. 
Louis  decrees,  with  a  candor  and  force  which  should  commend 
his  views  to  tlrose  especially  who  concur  witli  him  in  his  inter- 
pretation of  our  Constitution.  Standing  among  the  advocates 
of  the  extreme  high-prerogative  theory,  he  nevertheless  protests 
against  certain  of  those  measures,  as  placing  "all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  ministers  and  people,  and  the  peace  and  integrity 
of  the  Church,  at  the  mercy  of  the  Assembh''s  mere  will,  in 
contempt  of  all  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution."  Will  those 
who  laud  his  theory,  accept  his  conclusions  ? 


III. 

Further  testimordcs  agamst  consolidation — No  jneccdent  supplied  by 
the  acts  of  '37 — The  Declaration  and  Testimony  movement  con- 
trasted with  the  New-school  conmdsion. 

I  THINK  it  has  been  conclusively  shown  that  the  consolidation 
theory  of  our  system  was  expressly  rejected  by  the  leading  peri- 
odicals of  the  Church,  and  by  the  entire  Old-school  party,  thirty 
years  ago.  There  was  then  a  wholesome  jealousy  abroad 
through  our  communion  for  the  rights  of  Presbyteries  and 
Synods.  jSTot  only  so,  but  the  right  of  private  judgnient,  so 
obsequiously  surrendered  by  some  of  the  speakers  in  the  last 
Assembly,  was  as  boldly  asserted  on  every  side,  as  it  is  in  our 
Form  of  Government,  and  as  it  has  been  by  the  Princeton  Review 
and  some  other  authorities  in  the  present  controversy.  Mr. 
Winchester,  as  we  have  seen,  distinctly  took  the  ground  that  to 
exact  subjection  to  unconstitutional  enactments  of  the  General 
Assembly,  "is  tyranny  and  oppression."     And  the  Presbyterian, 


1 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  31 

in  one  of  the  most  elaborate  editorial  articles  that  ever  appeared 
in  its  columns,  carried  out  the  doctrine  to  the  point  of  positive 
resistance  to  such  decrees. 

"  Conscience  binds  to  obedience  to  the  Constitution  in  its  obvious  sense,  in 
its  generally  accepted  sense,  in  its  hitherto  undisputed  sense;  and  when  it  is 
made  to  appear  that  any  agent,  created  by  that  Constitution  for  worldly  or  car- 
nal purposes,  subverts  its  authority  and  resists  its  healthful  operation,  conscience 
is  still  bound  to  an  obedience;  but  it  is  obviously  an  obedience  to  the  law,  and 
not  to  the  unfaithful  agent  of  that  law.  In  the  present  case  the  violation  of 
engagement  is  in  the  Assembly,  which  has  set  at  naught  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution,  and  not  in  those  who  adhere  to  it  with  unbroken  faith.  But  it  is 
demanded,  '  Has  an  individual  a  right  to  interpret  the  Constitution  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Supreme  Judicatory?'  We  answer,  every  man  living  under  that 
Constitution,  and  every  Presbytery  and  Synod  has  a  right  to  judge  whether  the 
temporary  or  delegated  body  which  composes  the  Assembly,  interprets  the  law 
according  to  its  obvious  import;  and  when  it  is  made  clear  that  the  supreme 
law  has  been  infringed,  ^i  is  their  right  and  duty  to  resist.  How  can  the  pledge 
of  obedience  which  was  made  to  the  Constitution  be  transferred  to  any  act 
which  does  it  open  violence?  We  are  aware  that  this  resistance  may  be  stig- 
matized as  incipient  rebellion,  but  it  may  be  more  correctly  denominated  a 
sacred  defence  of  our  ecclesiastical  charter.'"     [Presbyterian,  Oct.  23,  1834.) 

These  principles  are  not  yet  extirpated  from  our  communion — 
at  least  there  were  some  traces  of  them  a  twelvemonth  ago. 
The  Synods  of  ISTew  Jersey  and  Philadelphia,  various  Presby- 
teries, and  numerous  ministers  and  laymen  publicly  pronounced 
the  Assembly's  measures  of  1865  to  be  "unconstitutional  and 
void,"  and  the  late  Assembly  did  not  molest  them.  The  "De- 
claratio]!  and  Testimony  men"  did  the  same  thing,  only  carrying 
the  same  principles  a  little  farther — (in  the  judgment  of  the 
present  writer,  too  far) — and  they  were  virtually  cast  out  of  the 
Church.  What  sort  of  justice  was  this?  But  of  this  question 
hereafter. 

As  a  counterpoise  to  the  authorities  adduced  in  support  of  the 
true  theory  of  our  system,  our  consolidation  brethren  point  to 
certain  of  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  of  1837.  On  these  alleged 
precedents,  the  following  observations  are  submitted. 

The  formal,  deliberate  exposition  of  the  Constitution  on  the 
part  of  the  General  Assemblj^,  and  of  all  who  adherM  to  it,  can- 
not be  invalidated  by  the  subsequent  acts  of  the  body.  Different 
Assemblies,  including  that  of  1837,  reafiirmed  the  doctrine  that 
the  powers  entrusted  to  our  supreme  judicatory  are  delegated, 
specific,  and  limited;  and  that  it  has  no  warrant  to  assume'  at 
will  the  rights  and  functions  of  the  inferior  courts.     If  this  doc- 


32  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

trine  was  sometimes  contravened  in  the  course  of  the  I^ew-school 
controversy,  an  explanation  may  be  found  in  the  circunistances 
of  the  times.  The  good  men  who  shaped  the  policy  of  the 
Church  in  those  da^'s,  were  neither  better  nor  worse  than  good 
men  usually  are  in  kindred  circunistances.  W^hen  they  were  in 
a  minority,  as  in  the  Assemblies  of  '34  and  '36,  they  insisted 
upon  the  literal  and  established  interpretation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. There  being  no  iemptaiion  to  adopt  any  other  view,  they 
held  that  "the  power  of  the  whole  is,  not  over  every  part,  but 
over  the  power  of  every  part."  When  they  were  in  a  majority, 
as  in  '35  and  '37,  while  still  affirming  in  exjyress  terms  {vide  ]^os. 
I.  and  II.  of  this  series)  the  true  theory  of  our  system,  they 
found  a  supposed  warrant  for  the  high-prerogative  doctrine  in 
the  clauses  of  the  Constitution  conferring  upon  the  General 
Assembly  a  "  superintendence  over  the  concerns  of  the  whole 
Church,"  and  "the  power  of  suppressing  schismatical  conten- 
tions and  disputations."  They  did  indeed  argue  that  the  rigor- 
ous measures  of  '37  were  no  way  incompatible  with  their  well- 
known  doctrines  of  constitutional  law.  Bat  there  were  two  other 
grounds  upon  which  they  rested  the  validity  of  those  measures, 
and  which  future  historians  will  be  likely  to  regard  as  supplying 
their  chief,  if  not  their  exclusive,  justification.  The  first  was  the 
admitted  unconstitutionality  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  in  virtue  of 
which,  on  its  abrogation,  the  Synods  built  upon  it  fell  with  it. 
This  principle  was  recognized  and  affirmed  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania.  The  other  ground  was,  the  necessity  of 
the  case.  This  feeling,  more  or  less  disclosed,  pervades  the  entire 
proceedings  of  the  Old-school  party.  A  crisis  was  upon  them. 
The  exigencies  of  the  Church  demanded  extreme  measures.  If 
they, failed  now  to  secure  a  permanent  ascendency  in  its  councils, 
the  golden  opportunity  would  be  lost,  and  another  year  might 
see  the  Church  pass  finally  into  the  hands  of  a  party  regarded  as 
hostile  to  its  faith  and  order,  and  alien  from  all  its  traditions. 
"There  are  difficulties  connected  with  the  plan,"  said  Dr.  R.  J. 
Breckinridge,  in  the  debate  upon  citing  inferior  judicatories, 
"  but  the  best  course  is  the  shortest  one.  You  should  go  right 
onward  and  directly  to  the  cure  of  the  present  evils.  The 
Church  is  tired  of  controversy,  and  longs  for  peace.  We  main- 
tain the  Standards;  and  the  power  we  now  have  to  preserve 
them  we  may  never  have  again.  Two  years  ago  the  orthodox  had 
the  majority,  and  if  they  had  properly  used  it,  not  only  would 
much  subsequent  contention  have  been  avoided,  but  the  Church 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  33 

would  have  approved  your  course.  JVoia  is  our  time.  We  must 
reform,  or  be  dissoloed.  To  live  together  is  impossible.  We 
should,  therefore,  say  to  the  opposing  party,  'Gentlemen,  there 
is  the  door;  the  highway  is  yours.'  And  if  they  will  not  go,  we 
should  kindly,  but  hrmly  help  them  out.'' 

This  was  the  prevalent  feeling.  It  inrlicates  a  period  of  mighty 
conflict  and  of  revolution.  I  do  not  impugn  either  the  motives 
or  the  measures  of  the  spirit  that  reigned  then.  That  it  was 
guided  by  a  lofty  conscientiousness,  an  ardent  love  for  the 
Church,  and  a  profound  sense  of  obligation  to  its  Divine  Head, 
is  sufficiently  apparent  from  the  eminent  names  which  grace 
the  records  of  that  Assembly.     But  the  point  I  make  is  this : 

Transactions  like  those  of  '37  are  not  to  be  drawn  into  prece- 
dent, except  in  revolutionary  times ;  and  it  is  a  paltry,  deceptive  helit- 
tling  of  the  Neiu-school  controversy,  to  compare  it  with  this  Louisville 
business.  Let  any  candid  man  look  at  the  two  cases  side  by  side. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  interests  at  stake  (according  to  the  "Act 
and  Testimony,'"  the  "Pittsburg  Memorial,"  and  the  "Debates 
in  the  Assembly")  were  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  AVestmin- 
ster  Confession,  the  Government  and  Discipline  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  the  entire  trust  confided  to  her  as  a  Mis- 
sionary organization  for  the  evangelizing  of  the  world.  The 
controversy  had  been  of  seven  years'  duration.  It  had  spread 
over  the  whole  Church.  It  filled  our  religious  periodicals.  It 
inflamed  our  pulpits.  There  was  not  a  Synod,  not  a  single 
Presbytery,  whicli  was  not  convulsed  by  it.  Year  after  year  the 
two  parties  struggled  for  the  control  of  the  General  Assembly. 
There  the}'^  marshalled  their  forces  in  hostile  array.  With  vary- 
ing fortunes,  they  renewed  the  conflict  every  Spring,  until  at 
length  the  end  came  in  a  mighty  disruption,  which  clove  the 
Church  into  two  unequal  halves,  even  the  smaller  of  which 
embraced  eight  hundred  ministers  and  one  thousand  churches. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  existing  controversy  was,  in  May  last, 
just  eight  months  old.  Its  roots  may  be  traced  back  a  little  fur- 
ther, to  the  bold  protest  drawn  up  by  Drs.  R.  J.  Breckinridge 
and  Humphrey,  and  sanctioned  by  the  whole  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
against  the  "unconstitutional  action"  of  the  Assembly  of  '61. 
But  the  "Declaration  and  Testimony"  bears  date  September, 
1865.  Whatever  "heresy"  there  may  be  in  it,  lies  in  an 
extreme  view  of  the  line  of  separation  which  divides  the  secular 
from  the  spiritual  jurisdiction — an  error,  no  doubt,  but  one 
which  never  yet  ruined  a  Church,  and  never  will.     Instructed 

3 


34  The  General  Assembly  op  1866. 

by  the  leading  men  of  their  own  Synod,  that  the  Assembly  had 
usurped  powers  not  belonging  to  it;  and  taught  by  the  fathers 
of  the  Church  in  1834-7,  that  "it  was  their  right  and  duty  to  resist 
unconstitutional  decrees,"  they  put  forth  their  remonstrance 
against  what  they  regarded  as  the  growing  corruption  of  the 
Church.  In  preparing  this  paper,  they  fell  into  the  common 
mistake  of  men  who  are  called  to  act  in  times  of  excitement. 
Sound  principles  were  carried  to  an  extreme;  and  terms  were 
used,  and  measures  proposed,  which  were  derogatory  to  the 
Assembly,  and  of  schism atical  tendency.  Still,  this  obnoxious 
paper  was  only  once  before  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  (in  October, 
'65),  and  never  before  the  Assembly  until  May.  There  had 
been  neither  time  nor  opportunity  for  a  proper  consideration  of 
its  purport  and  bearings.  It  bore  but  a  few  signatures;  and 
many  of  these  were  the  names  of  excellent  pastors  and  ruling 
elders,  who  might,  of  course,  err  in  their  measures  for  reforming 
the  Church,  but  whose  motives  were  above  suspicion.  How 
few  these  names  were,  is  just  one  of  the  points  which  show  the 
absurdity  of  attempting  to  assimilate  this  case  to  the  I^ew-school 
contest.  The  editor  of  the  Western  Presbyterian  (Louisville), 
who  sustains  the  acts  of  the  late  Assembly,  has  supplied  the 
facts  in  his  paper  of  October  4,  'QQ.  His  object  is  to  exhibit  the 
trivial  and  abortive  character  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony 
movement — not  perceiving,  evidently,  that  he  has  levelled  his 
rifled  gun  point  blank  at  the  St.  Louis  Assembly.  For  what 
possible  apology  can  be  made  for  that  Assembly,  in  attributing 
such  amazing  importance  to  so  insignificant  a  paper?  How 
will  the  majority  answer  it  to  the  Church,  that  they  could  con- 
sume nearly  the  entire  session,  and  rekindle  the  embers  of  eccle- 
siastical contention  throughout  our  whole  communion,  over  a 
document  of  which  one  of  their  own  public  advocates  gives  the 
following  account : 

•'The  Declaration  and  Testimony  was  '  adopted  by  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville, at  Bardstown,  September  2d,  a.d.  1865.'  It  was  published  to  the  world 
a  few  weeks  afterward.  It  called  for  a  convention  of  all  who  sympathized  in  its 
views  and  purposes,  to  be  held  at  blank  on  the  blank  day  of  blank,  some  time 
during  the  current  year;  which  convention — like  some  western  towns — never 
had  any  existence,  except  in  somebody's  imagination,  or  at  most  on  paper.  It 
also  called  on  '  Those  Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders  who  concur  in  this  Testi- 
mony' to  send  in  their  names  as  signers;  and  on  all  Presbyteries  and  Synods, 
who  adopted  it,  to  send  up  a  copy  of  their  '  adhering  act.'  One  whole  year  has 
since  elapsed.  The  whole  matter  has  been  pretty  thoroughly  discussed.  But 
not  a  single  Presbytery  or  Synod  has  since  adopted  it.     The  Synod  of  Ken- 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  35 

lucky,  out  of  the  bosom  of  which  it  was  given  to  the  world,  formally  condemned 
it  ia  emphatic  terms.  Even  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  after  carefully  considering 
it,  declined  to  adopt  it;  although  a  decided  majority  of  that  body  are  supposed 
to  sympathize  with  the  views  and  feelings  of  its  signers. 

"We  have  before  us  the  second  (pamphlet)  edition  of  this  document.  It  has 
the  names  of  forty-one  ministers  and  seventy-eight  ruling  elders  attached  to  it. 
We  believe  the  names  of  perhaps  a  dozen  others  have  since  been  added.  Since 
its  first  issue,  not  a  single  prominent  minister  or  elder  in  the  Church  has  sub- 
scribed it.  On  the  contrary,  most  of  them,  even  among  its  apologists,  have  con- 
demned it.  Even  Dr.  Boardman,  in  the  paper  offered  to  the  Assembly,  as  a 
substitute  for  the  Gurley  paper,  felt  constrained  to  condemn  it  as  schismatical. 
(If  schismatical,  of  course,  to  that  extent  it  is  sinful.)  At  the  end  of  a  whole 
year,  there  it  stands  before  the  world  with  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  names, 
out  of  ten  thousand  or  more  office-bearers,  to  whom  it  appeals  for  their 
approval." 

If  any  heavier  blow  than  this  has  been  dealt  the  late  Assem- 
bly, it  has  not  been  my  fortune  to  see  it.  It  would  be  severe 
from  an  enemy.  From  an  avowed  and  zealous  friend,  it  is  cruel 
beyond  expression.  Is  it  really  so  that  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  was  such  a  still-born  atfair  ?  that  it  evoked  no  sym- 
pathy? elicited  no  support?  made  no  impression?  and  "at  the 
end  of  a  whole  year"  is  demonstrated  to  be  ready  to  die  of  inani- 
tion? And  did  an  Assembly  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  mem- 
bers, convened  at  a  period  when  the  unexampled  sorrows  and 
spiritual  desolations  of  the  land  demanded  the  generous  and 
efficient/ aid  of  everj^  Christian  and  every  patriot,  allow  a  matter 
like  this  to  overshadow  its  entire  deliberations,  and  give  tone 
and  direction  to  all  its  leading  measures?  Is  this  the  portentous 
cloud  which  threatened  the  Church  with  calamities  no  less  dire 
than  those  embosomed  in  the  New-school  heresy?  And  are  the 
costly,  though  albeit  needful,  expedients  of  '87  to  be  invoked 
for  the  suppression  of  an  evil  which  was  making  no  progress, 
and,  if  let  alone,  would  have  died  of  itself?  Such  is  manifestly 
the  judgment  of  the  "  Western  Presbi/terian."  And  so  far  as  this, 
his  estimate  of  the  case  will  meet  with  large  approval: — The 
Declaration  and  Testimony  was  essentially  a  local  affair.  The 
issues  *it  presented  were  of  admitted  importance.  The  ability 
of  some  of  its  chief  sponsors  was  not  disputed.  But  the  stir  it 
occasioned  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri  was  owing,  in  no  small 
measure,  to  personal,  and  still  more,  to  political  diiferences.. 
The  vigorous  eiforts  made  to  alarm  and  excite  the  Church  orb 
the  subject,  had  not  created  even  a  ripple  upon  the  surface  of 
the  waters.  Nine-tenths  of  our  ministers  and  people  had  proba- 
bly never  seen  the  Declaration  and  Testimony;  and  did  not  care 


36  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

to  see  it.  They  would  have  been  content  to  leave  the  Louis- 
ville Presbytery  in  the  hands  of  its  own  Synod — at  least  until 
that  Synod  had  discharged,  or  refused  to  discharge,  its  duty  in 
the  premises.  Prior  to  the  meeting  of  that  secret  Convention  at 
St.  Louis,  there  was  no  demand  for  the  Assembly's  interference 
in  the  matter  at  that  session  (save  as  involved  in  the  judicial 
case,  hereafter  to  be  noticed),  which  might  not  have  been  ignored 
without  disturbing  the  general  quiet  of  the  Church.  And  yet 
we  are  told  of  the  "deadly  peril"  to  which  the  Church  was 
exposed;  and  asked  to  recognize  in  the  legislation  of  '37  a  legiti- 
mate precedent  for  the  radical  measures  of  '6Q.  We  cannot  do 
it.  It  is  by  fallacious  analogical  reasoning  like  this,  constitutions 
are  destroyed,  and  civil  and  religious  liberty  subverted.  This 
will  be  made  still  more  apparent  as  we  proceed. 


IV. 

Dr.  Gurley^s^^Beasons" — Acts  of  ^QQ  without  a  solitary  j^receclent — 
71ie  safeguards  throirn  around  j^crsojml  rights  by  the  Constitution 
overthrown — Declaration  and  Testimony  men  pron'ounced  guilty  and 
then  remanded  for  trial — Signdl  injustice  toward  one  of  these  men. 

It  has  been  my  aim  to  prove  that  the  "consolidation  theory" 
of  our  Constitution  is  entirely  at  variance  with  the  doctrine  laid 
down  by  numerous  General  Assemblies,  and  recognized  by  the 
entire  Old-school  part}"  thirty  years  ago.  I  think  it  has  also 
been  shown  that  the  essential  conditions  are  wanting  which 
alone  could  legitimate  an  appeal  to  the  acts  of  '37  as  a  prece- 
dent for  the  acts  of  'Q>Q.  I  now  advance  a  step  farther,  and 
assert  that  the  precedent  in  question  will  not  apply,  even  if  the 
preposterous  claim  be  conceded,  that  the  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony men  had  actually  brought  the  Church  to  the  verge  of  a 
great  revolution,  as  the  ISTew-school  party  had  in  '37.  It  seems 
to  be  taken  for  granted  that  if  the  acts  of  '37  were  lawful,  a 
fortiori,  those  of  'QQ  were  within  the  scope  of  the  Constitution. 
But  this  is  a  fallacy.  The  late  Assembly  arrogated  powers 
never  assumed  by  any  previous  Assembly. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  37 

Among  the  "Reasons"  assigned  by  Dr.  Gurley  for  the  adop- 
tion of  his  memorable  "z'pso  facto"  decree,  and  which  the  As- 
sembly formally  accepted  and  incorporated  with  the  edict  itself, 
is  one  which  many,  who  entertain  the  highest  respect  for  its 
excellent  author,  are  compelled  to  regard  as  bordering  npon  the 
hidicrous.  It  is  as  follows: — "Because  it  saves  us  from  even 
the  appearance  of  taking  action  in  this  case,  which  is  too  sum- 
mary and  severe  (!),  Though  we  might  lawfully  dissolve  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville  at  this  time,  no  such  great  or  perilous 
exigency  has  arrived  as  makes  such  an  extraordinary  proceeding 
necessary — nor  is  it  expedient.  It  is  better  for  the  Assembly, 
better  for  the  "Church,  and  better  for  all  the  interests  in  anyway 
concerned  in  this  case,  that  justice  should  be  secured  and  admin- 
istered in  the  ordinary  way  and  hy  the  ordinary  methods.''  These 
italics,  from  the  original  (Minutes  General  Assembly,  p.  61), 
give  the  grave  reflection  a  peculiar  gusto  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  what  is  here  so  complacently  set  forth  as  a  measure  of  signal 
clemency,  in  full  accord  with  the  '■^ordinary  methods'"  of  our 
Church,  \s  .loiihont  a  solitary  precedent  from  the  organization  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  1789  to  the  jyreserit  day.  As  regards  the  ipso 
facto  style  of  capital  punishment,  no  one  will  pretend  that  it  was 
ever  heard  of  before  in  our  Church,  or  in  any  other  Church,  or 
in  any  respectable  civil  legislature — of  this,  in  the  abstract,  and 
iu  its  fatal  working,  hereafter.  For  the  present,  let  it  suffice 
.  that  this  is  the  first  Assembly  to  set  up  the  dangerous  preroga- 
tive of  citing  individuals  to  its  bar  (or  to  the  bar  of  its  successor) 
for  trial.  That  this  is  the  object  is  distinctly, avowed.  The  As- 
sembly, according  to  "Reason  No.  3,"  is  to  "consider  and  adju- 
dicate the  case,"  and,  in  the  report  of  the  Committee,  the  "cita- 
tion" of  these  men  is  (justly)  represented  as  the  first  step  of  a 
judicial  process.  This  is  going  far  beyond  the  Assembly  of  '37. 
Not  to  lay  the  least  stress  upon  the  fact  that  the  "citation" 
scheme  which  was  initiated  on  a  Friday  was  abandoned  the  fol- 
lowing Tuesday,  and  so  came  to  nothing,  that  Assembly  p^opos^c? 
to  citfe  only  "Judicatories."    {Book  of  Discijjline,  chap,  vii,  sec.  6.) 

Neither  on  this  occasion,  nor  on  any  other,  did  they  claim  the 
authority  to  cite  indlolduals  before  them  for  trial.  I  have  care- 
fully examined  the  records  of  the  Church  within  my  reach  with- 
out finding  an  instance  of  this  kind  since  1789,  the  only  case 
remotely  approximating  to  it  being  one  in  which  an  heretical 
creed  was,  after  protracted  litigation  with  its  author,  refe7red  by  a 
Synod  to  the  Assembly,  and  the  Assembly  required  the  author 


38  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

to  recant  his  sentiments.  No  such  case  was  adduced  at  St. 
Louis.  N^one  has  ever  been  presented  in  the  pages  of  the  Re- 
pertory. If  Dr.  Baird  had  discovered  one,  he  would  have  given 
it  to  us  in  his  Digest.  The  instances  are  innumerable  where 
the  Assembly  has  either  censured  Synods  and  Presbyteries  for 
neglecting  discipline,  or  directed  them  to  consider  of  it,  or  or- 
dered them  to  do  this  and  that.  But  never  until  now  has  this 
power  of  arraigning  men,  and  commencing  process  against 
them,  been  usurped  by  a  General  Assembly.  So  far  from  it, 
the  Assembly  has,  on  repeated  occasions  (see  Digest  jpassim),  re- 
affirmed the  broad  principle  that  no  man  can  lawfully  be  tried 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church  except  by  his  Session  %v  Presbytery. 

It  may  suffice  to  refer  to  one  example  out  of  many.  In  the 
case  of  the  Rev.  William  C.  Davis,  the  Assembly  of  1810  (and 
its  action  was  ratified  by  the  Assembly  of  1811)  decided  that 
the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  while  displaying  a  laudable  zeal  for 
the  purity  of  the  Church,  violated  the  Constitution  in  claiming 
a  Tight  to  try  Mr.  Davis  ^^ivhen  there  was  no  reference  nor  appeal  in 
his  case  before  them.''  So  utterly  baseless  is  the  assumption,  that 
this  procedure  at  St.  Louis  was  in  keeping  with  the  "ordinary 
methods"  of  administering  justice  in  our  Church. 

It  well  behooves  our  ministers  and  people  to  consider  whether 
they  are  prepared  to  sanction  these  encroachments  upon  the 
Constitution.  Every  page  of  our  Book  of  Discipline  reveals 
the  jealous  care  of  itsframers  for  the  personal  rights  of  all  em- 
braced in  our  communion.  No  man  can  be  tried  except  by  his 
peers.  He  must  be  tried  at  home — not  a  thousand  miles  away. 
He  must  have  full  notice  as  to  charges,  prosecutors,  time  and 
place,  witnesses.  He  has  the  right  of  appeal  to  Presbytery, 
Synod,  General  Assembly.  He  is  not  to  be  finally  condemned 
until  three  (or  if  a  layman,  four)  difierent  courts  have  passed 
upon  his  case,  before  every  one  of  which  he  is  entitled  to  a  can- 
did and  patient  hearing.  Such  are  the  safeguards  the  Constitu- 
tion has  thrown  around  the  humblest  individuals  in  the  Church. 
Does  any  man  among  us  feel  that  these  i*amparts  are  too  many, 
or  too  strong?  What,  then,  must  be  thought  of  an  Assembly 
which  sought  to  annul  all  these  indispensable  provisions  re- 
specting the  forms  and  modes  of  trial;  which  set  aside  Presby- 
teries and  Synods  as  having  no  rights  in  the  trial  of  their  mem- 
bers; which  denied  the  right  of  appeal  by  malnng  an  appeal 
impossible;  and  superseded  the  three  tribunals  of  our  Constitu- 
tion, clothed  with  specific  and  separate  powers,  by  a  single  an- 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  39 

tocratic  court  invested  with  absolute  power  over  any  minister 
it  might  choose  to  cite  to  its  bar? 

Even  this  is  not  the  whole  truth,  nor  j^nything  approaching 
to  the  whole  truth.  These  Declaration  and  Testimony  men  are 
not  simply  refused  a  trial,  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Consti- 
tution. They  are  not  simply  required  to  plead  at  the  bar  of  a 
court,  to  which  the  Constitution  has  denied  all  original  jurisdic- 
tion in  judicial  cases,  and  which  in  seventy-seven  years  never 
arrogated  this  power  before.  The  Assembly,  as  if  apprehend- 
ing that  its  successor  might  falter  in  carrying  out  the  rough  dis- 
cipline designed  for  the  offenders,  prejudges  their  case,  and 
sends  them  to  the  following  Assembly  with  its  oiScial  brand 
upon  their  foreheads.  It  stigmatizes  them  as  men  so  steeped  in 
rebellion,  that  the  Presbytery  which  tolerates  the  j^resence  of  any 
one  of  them  dies,  as  by  a  sudden  visitation  of  God.  It  refers 
the  cause  for  trial  to  the  next  Assembly,  after  putting  upon  the 
indictment  the  ominous  endorsement,  that  one  of  the  parties 
implicated  "  ought,  as  there  is  the  strongest  ground  for  believ- 
ing, to  have  been  suspended  from  the  functions  of  the  gospel 
ministry."  (Minutes,  p.  12.)  In  other  words,  they  pronounce 
a  man  "guilty,"  and  then  hand  him  over  for  trial!  What  would 
the  lawyers,  who  voted  with  the  majority  at  St.  Louis,  think, 
not  of  a  Grand  Jury,  but  of  a  criminal  court,  which,  in  remit- 
ting a  cause  to  its  next  term,  or  to  another  court  of  co-ordinate 
jurisdiction,  should  write  upon  the  indictment,  "We  believe  the 
accused  to  be  guilty?"  Yet  to  this  style  of  jurisprudence  have 
we  come  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  reply  to  this,  often  uttered  in  private  conversation  at  St. 
Louis  and  elsewhere,  and  virtually  embodied  in  the  McLean 
resolutions,  is,  that  the  commissioner  alluded  to  "was  believed 
to  have  been  an  active  friend  of  secession  and  the  rebellion." 
This  is  deemed  a  sufficient  reason,  not  only  for  the  summary 
judgment  visited  upon  himself  and  his  Presbytery,  but  for  de- 
nouncing the  "minority  men"  of  the  Assembly  as  sharing  in 
his  alleged  "disloyalty."  With  the  political  sentiments  imputed 
to  the  commissioner  referred  to,  the  present  writer  has  no  sym- 
pathy. But  "  doth  our  law  judge  cmy  man  before  it  hear  him, 
and  know  what  he  doeth?"  What  license  is  there  in  the  word 
of  God  for  condemning  any  man  unheard?  or  for  observing  a 
commodious  silence  when  others  in  our  presence  condemn  men 
unheard  ?  We  have  had  quite  enough  of  this  during  the  war. 
Character  has  been  made  a  foot-ball   for   ignorance  and  ma- 


40  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

levolence  all  over  the  land,  and  within  the  Church,  as  well  as 
out  of  it.  This  minister's  case  is  not  peculiar.  Undoubtedly 
the  prevalent  feeling  about  him,  in  large  portions  of  our 
Church,  is  such,  that  even  to  speak  of  him  as  a  man  entitled 
to  a  candid  hearing,  is  to  put  one's  good  name  in  peril ;  and 
it  must  in  candor  be  admitted,  that  while  this  is  the  current 
style  of  talking  and  writing  about  him,  he  has,  in  a  measure, 
retaliated  the  treatment  by  his  unfortunate  facility  in  saying 
harsh  things  about  his  brethren.  This,  however,  is  not  the 
question  at' issue.  The  General  Assembly,  in  holding  him  up 
as  a  man  who  ought  to  be  "  suspended  froyi  the  functions  of 
the  gospel  ministry,"  gave  their  solemn  sanction  to  the  worst 
charges  alleged  against  him.  Whenever  he  is  fairly  tried,  and 
those  charges  are  p-oiwZ,  he  will  find  as  little  support  among  the 
minority,  as  among  the  majority  of  that  Assembly.  But  the 
minority  protested,  and  will  protest  (however  ^^disrespectful"  it 
may  be  to  oiier  "protests"  couched  in  plain  words,  where  there 
is  a  majority  of  "four  to  one")  against  the  summary  condemna- 
tion of  this  man  without  even  a  pretended  observance  of  the  pre- 
scribed forms  of  trial.  It  has  some  little  weight  with  them — it 
will  have  with  all,  except  bitter  partizans — that  he  has,  in  every 
way,  denied  the  truth  of  those  charges,  and  avowed  his  readi- 
ness to  meet  them  before  any  proper  tribunal. 

As  regards  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men  generally,  the 
minority  could  not  perceive  how  their  political  views  were,  on 
that  opening  day  of  the  session,  in  any  proper  shape  or  form  be- 
fore the  Assembly.  They  resisted  the  McLean  minute  as  they 
would  have  resisted  a  proposition  for  the  instant  exclusion  of  a 
duly  enrolled  commissioner  upon  the  ground  of  rumored  finan- 
cial shortcomings,  or  for  any  similar  reason.  They  could  see 
nothing  but  injustice  to  individuals,  and  the  utmost  peril  to  the 
Church,  iu  a  procedure  which  any  casual  majority  in  future 
Assemblies  might  cite  as  a  precedent  for  suspending  from  their 
seats  without  a  hearing,  and  upon  whatever  pretext,  members' 
whom  they  may  wish  to  get  rid  of.  This  is  a  dangerous  lesson 
even  for  good  men  to  learn.  It  will  be  well  if  its  inventors  do 
not  yet  see  it  enforced,  in  some  of  our  judicatories,  against  men 
who  happen  to  be  obnoxious  to  a  majority  on  other  than  politi- 
cal grounds.  In  those  periods  of  conflict  which  recur  with  every 
Church  at  irregular  intervals,  it  may  prove  too  convenient  an 
instrument  for  perpetuating  power  in  the  hands  of  an  ascendant 
party,  to  be  dispensed  with. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  Al 


V. 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  repudiating  its  hereditary  'principles — Ar- 
gument of  Messrs.  Spilman  and  Marshall — The  Constitution  a  bet- 
ter guide  than  '■^military  necessity.'' 

While  concluding  the  preceding  number  of  this  series  the 
writer,  detained  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  by  sickness, 
was  visited  by  an  esteemed  brother,  who  informed  him  that  the 
Synod,  in  framing  an  answer  to  a  protest,  had  formally,  and  by 
a  large  majority,  adopted  the  ^'•consolidation  theory''  of  our  govern- 
ment in  its  broadest  terms — recognizing  and  affirming  the  right 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  exercise,  at  its  discretion,  all  the 
powers  and  functions  of  the  three  inferior  judicatories.*  This 
is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  controlling  influence  of  events  in 
moulding  men's  opinions  even  upon  constitutional  law.  It  is 
safe  to  assert  that  thirty  years  ago,  when  such  names  as  Ashbel 
Green,  William  ISTeill,  C.  C.  Cuyler,  John  McDowell,  Samuel 
G.  Winchester,  Samuel  Martin,  Henry  K.  Wilson,  James  S. 
Woods,  James  Linn,  William  M.  Engles,  John  and  Robert  J. 
Breckinridge,  were  conspicuous  at  the  meetings  of  this  vener- 
able body,  this  theory  could  not -have  commanded  five  votes 
among  the  two  hundred  ministers  embraced  in  the  Synod.  It 
has  been  proved  in  these  Essays,  that  the  theory  in  question  was 
repudiated  by  the  Presbyterian,  the  Biblical  Repertory,  the  Act  and 
Testimony,  and,  in  tine,  by  the  entire  Old-school  party  (as  it  also 
is  in  our  own  day,  most  emphatically,  by  the  New-school  branch 
of  the  Cliurch).  That  the  whole  Church  of  that  period  should 
have  been  at  fault  in  respect  to  the  radical  principles  of  our  Con- 
stitution, is  a  proposition  which  it  may  require  some  assurance 
to  affirm.  ITevertheless  it  is  affirmed  by  this  action  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  (if  correctly  reported);  and  we  can  only 
lament  that  our  fathers  were  so  grievously  mistaken  as  to  the 
essential  nature  of  an  instrument  which  some  of  them  had  an 
important  agency  in  moulding  to  its  present  fashion.    One  thing 

*  This  "  Answer"  has  since  been  published.  It  abounds  with  references  to 
the  ''Digest."  Several  of  these,  upon  which  the  argument  chiefly  hinges,  do  not 
at  all  sustain  the  positions  in  support  of  which  they  are  cited.  This  was  a  char- 
acteristic feature  of  many  of  the  Reports  and  Speeches  before  the  last  Assembly. 


42  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

is  apparent.  Either  they  were  thus  mistaken,  or  a  bold  eflbrt 
is  making  to  change  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Church,  and 
that  in  contempt  of  the  prescribed  routine  for  amending  the 
Constitution.  Consciously  or  unconsciously,  the  dominant 
party  are  steadily  working  toward  this  result.  They  are  chal- 
lenging for  the  General  Assembly  powers  never  claimed  for  it 
prior  to  last  May,  and  which,  if  conceded,  must  revolutionize  our 
whole  system.  A  consolidated  government  like  that  now  advo- 
cated, would  have  the  great  advantage  of  simplicity.  It  would 
be  intelligible  to  the  humblest  capacity.  It  would  be  effective  in 
administration.  Disencumbered  of  the  complex  forms  which 
attach  to  our  traditionary  discipline,  it  could  wield  the  iron 
sceptre  of  authority  with  a  celerity  and  an  energy  unknown  to 
the  cautious  movements  of  constitutional  jurisprudence.  But 
before  the  Church  bows  her  neck  to  the  proffered  yoke,  it  may 
be  worth  her  while  to  consider  whether  she  can  afford  to  dis- 
pense with  all  the  safeguards  which  the  Constitution,  as  here- 
tofore interpreted,  throws  around  the  rights  and  liberties  of  her 
people. 

The  solicitude  implied  in  remarks  like  these  has  been  derided 
as  puerile.  The  Church  has  been  assured,  through  her  news- 
papers, that  the  new  doctrine  is  perfectly  harmless,  and  that  the 
strenuous  opposition  it  encounters,  is  put  forth  in  the  interest  of 
disloyal  men,  who  would  set  the  General  Assembly  at  defiance. 
This  is  the  stereotype  method  of  innovators.  It  is  easier  to 
excite  odium  against  individuals  than  to  repel  arguments  and 
subvert  principles.  It  may  suffice  to  tell  the  ignorant  and  un- 
reflecting that  the  outcry  against  the  theory  set  up  at  St.  Louis, 
is  "a  bugbear  to  frighten  the  timid."  [Preshjtcrian,  Oct.  20.) 
Those  who  can  appreciate  principles  and  constitutions,  and  who 
have  traced  such  germs  as  this  to  their  mature  fruitage,  will  not 
so  regard  it.  Since  there  seems  to  be  a  necessity  for  some  fur- 
ther exposition  of  this  point,  let  me  quote  a  brief  and  masterly 
argument  upon  the  claim  of  the  late  Assembly  to  original  juris- 
diction in  judicial  cases,  and  the  pretended -right  to  destroy 
Presbyteries  and  Synods  by  the  hitherto  unheard-of  ij^so  facto 
process.  It  is  from  an  official  report  laid  before  the  Presbytery 
of  Ebenezer  in  Kentucky,  by  the  Eev.  B.  F.  Spilman  and 
Charles  A.  Marshall,  Esq.,  two  of  the  steadfast  opposers  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  movement.  After  a  luminous  expla- 
nation of  various  clauses  of  our  Constitution,  they  proceed  as 
follows : 


The  G-eneral  Assembly  of  1866.  43 

"  The  assumption  of  right  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly  to  deal  with  Presby- 
teries, and  with  ministers  and  elders,  by  original  summons,  trial,  and  judgment, 
is,  in  effect,  to  deny  to  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  and  even  to  Sessions,  any  rights 
whatever  exclusive  of  the  Assembly.  It  is  virtually  to  affirm  that  these  bodies 
exercise  all  the  functions  of  government  by  mere  sufferance,  as  so  many  parts  of 
the  pliant  machine'ry  of  the  Assembly  ;  directly,  as  it  seems  to  us,  in  the  face  of 
all  just  interpretations  of  the  law,  and  contrary  to  the  uniform  practice  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

"The  practical  effect  of  the  establishment  of  this  high  claim  of  power  on  the 
part  of  the  Assembly,  would  be  to  confer  upon  that  body  not  only  concurrent, 
hut  paramount  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  whatever.  To  permit  it  to  stretch  out 
its  great  arm  over  the  Synod  to  the  Presbytery,  and  over  both  these  to  the  Ses- 
sion;  to  substitute  its  own  process  for  that  of  the  inferior  courts;  and  without 
being  invoked  thereto  by  appeal  or  other  regular  procedure,  to  arrest,  modify, 
or  annul  their  proceedings — in  short,  actually  to  absorb  all  their  powers  and 
prerogatives,  virtually  setting  them  aside  altogether.  We  cannot  but  regard 
this  as  a  most  akirming  stretch  of  prerogative,  which,  if  practically  carried  out, 
would  convert  the  Assembly  into  an  '  overshadowing  ecclesiastical  despotism.' 

"  We  are  aware,  that  these  high  prerogatives  are  claimed  in  virtue  of  the  gen- 
eral powers  conferred  on  the  Assembly  in  chapter  xii.,  fourth  and  fifth  para- 
graphs, of  the  Form  of  Government.  But,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  reasonable 
and  right,  will  any  intelligent  man,  on  due  reflection,  afBrm  that  when  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  undertakes  to  exercise  any  of  these  powers  by  a,  judicial  process, 
it  is  not  to  be  restrained  and  controlled  in  the  whole  procedure  by  the  specific 
rules  prescribed  in  the  Form  of  Government  and  Book  of  Discipline  ?  We  ven- 
ture TO  AFFIRM  THAT  THERE  IS  NOT  IN  THE  CIVILIZED  WORLD,  A  COURT  AUTHOR- 
IZED TO  SIT  IN  JUDGMENT  UPON  THE  RIGHTS  AND  LIBERTIES  OF  PERSONS  OR 
BODIES  CORPORATE  OR  ECCLESIASTICAL,  THAT  IS  LEFT  WHOLLY  TO  ITS  OWN 
CAPRICES  AS  TO  ITS  MODE  OF  PROCEEDING;  THAT  IS  NOT  BOUND  BY  SOME  CODE 
OF  PRACTICE — SOME  RULES  AND  FORMS  SPECIALLY  LAID  DOWN  AS  OF  BINDING 
AUTHORITY,  BEHIND  WHICH  THE  PARTY  UNDER  PROSECUTION  MIGHT  ENTRENCH 
HIMSELF,  AND  THUS  SECDRE  A  FAIR  AND  IMPARTIAL  TRIAL  BEFORE  THE  PROPER 
TRIBUNAL.  A  COURT  WITHOUT  SUCH  RESTRAINTS  AND  LIMITATIONS  WOULD  BE  A 
REPROACH    TO    CIVILIZATION. 

"It  is  our  solemn  conviction  that  the  constitutional  principles  which  seem  to 
us  to  have  been  so  palpably  violated  in  these  proceedings,  are  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  Presbyterian  Church  government  and  order,  pillars  and  foundation 
stones  upon  which  the.  whole  structure  rests ;  principles  essential  to  the  very 
life  of  the  Church  ;  such,  therefore,  as  cannot  be  surrendered  without  the  greatest 
danger  to  Christian  liberty,  and  the  utter  overthroiv  of  pure  Preshyterianism," 

These  are  weighty  words.  They  are  full  of  warning  to  the 
Church.  They  show,  as  plainly  as  language  can,  that  the  late 
Assembly,  in  its  zeal  to  rebuke  an  alleged  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution, has  forced  upon  that  sacred  charter  an  interpretation 
which  will  not  consort  with  the  liberties  of  the  Church.  It  is 
the  very  doctrine  against  which  the  Biblical  Repertory  of  1835 
protested,  as  involving  '■'■  a  consolidation  of  the  Church,  and  the 


44  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

establishment  of  a  complete  spiritual  despotism.^'    Is  the  old  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  prepared  for  this? 

The  only  answer  made  in  some  cases  to  these  constitutional 
arguments,  has  been  a  declamatory  flourish  to  the  cfFect  that 
"the  minority  men  would  leave  the  Church  powerless  in  the 
presence  of  an  active  rebellion."  We  can  afford  to  smile  at  a 
taunt  which  is  inspired  by  mere  ignorance  or  passion.  We  are 
as  much  the  friends  of  order  and  discipline  as  our  brethren  who 
say  such  things  of  us.  We  are  for  suppressing  heresy  and 
insubordination  wherever  they  appear.  But  we  honor  our  Con- 
stitution. We  have  more  faith  than  our  brethren  seem  to  have, 
in  its  adaptation  to  all  emergencies.  We  are  for  exhausting  its 
remedies  before  invoking  the  dangerous  principle  of  "  military 
necessity."  We  are  satisfied  that  the  "ordinary  method"  of 
procedure,  the  method  sanctioned  by  the  uniform  practice  of  the 
Church,  the  only  constitutional  method,  was  the  true,  safe,  and 
healthful  method  for  dealing  with  this  Louisville  trouble.  We 
utterly  deny  that  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  movement  was 
of  such  proportions  as  to  demand  a  radical  deviation  from  our 
■established  judicial  forms.  This  is  now  distinctly  proved  by 
writers  on  the  other  side.  (See  JSTo.  III.)  J^ay,  however  incau- 
tiously, it  was  explicitly  affirmed  by  the  Assembly  itself  in 
"E"o.  6"  of  the  Gurley  "Reasons."  And  thus  the  most  specious 
apology  for  the  proceedings  at  St.  Louis  falls  to  the  ground.* 


*  On  the  very  day  that  the  proof-sheets  of  this  Essay  have  come  into  the 
author's  hands  (too  late  for  a  foot-note  to  No.  IV.),  the  newspapers  announce 
that  "  Sanford  Conover  was  yesterday  convicted  of  perjury  at  Washington, 
for  his  false  swearing  on  the  assassination  trials."  This  man  was  the  chief 
witness  who  attempted  to  implicate  Dr.  Stuart  Robinson  in  the  infamous 
poison  and  yellow-fever  plots,  alleged  to  have  been  concocted  during  the  war. 
Another  of  these  perjurers,  "Hyams,"  published  his  "recantation,"  under  his 
own  signature,  in  the  Toronto  papers  of  May,  1865.  In  a  public  address  at  St. 
Louis,  June  4,  '66,  Dr.  R.,  referring  to  the  former  of  these  impostors,  observed, 
among  other  things:  "This  barefaced  liar  swore  to  seeing  me  in  Montreal  in 
January  to  March,  1865.  associating  with  Thompson  and  Blackburn,  and  assent- 
ing to  schemes  of  murder,  though  a  thousand  people  knew  I  could  not  have 
been  in  Montreal  after  June,  1864."  [Missouri  Republican.) 

It  is  one  of  the  bitter  fruits  of  the  war,  that  political  animosities  should  ex- 
clude, even  from  church  newspapers,  statements  of  such  vital  moment  to  the 
reputation  of -one  of  our  ministers,  and  therefore  of  moment  to  the  Church  itself. 
Dr.  Johnson  was  a  good  hater,  but  he  said  one  day  to  Boswell :  "I  hate  Lord 
George  Gordon,  but  I  am  glad  he  was  not  convicted  of  this  constructive  treason: 
for  though  I  hate  him,  I  love  my  country  and  myself." 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  45 


VI.    , 

The  majority  eluding  a  Judicial  investigation — Anomalous  proceedings 
— A  new  case  exiemjoorized — An  ^'Appeal"  issued  without  being 
tried — Sgnod  of  Kentucky  grossly  wronged — Speeches  of  Drs.  W. 
L.  Breckinridge  and  Humphrey —  The  blow  struck,  and  the  Church 
the  sufferer.  •   . 

Our  brethren  should  be  careful  how  they  use  a  weapon  which 
can  be  turned  with  great  effect  against  themselves.  In  so  far 
as  the  present  writer  is  informed,  no  objection  has  ever  been 
made  by  any  one  of  the  minority,  to  a  proper  judicial  inquiry 
into  the  imputed  errors  and  delinquencies  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  men.  Had  such  an  inquiry  been  proposed  at  St. 
Louis,  the  opposition  to  it  must  have  come  from  the  other  side 
of  the  House.  In  fact,  it  did  come  from  that  quarter.  So  bold 
an  assertion  demands  proof.  And  the  proving  of  it  brings  us 
face  to  face  with  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  a  case 
rejjlete  with  anomalies — a  feature  scarcely  glanced  at  hitherto  in 
any  quarter,  but  of  profound  significance. 

Let  the  fact  be  considered,  then,  that  a  judicial  investigation 
into  the  conduct  of  the  Louisville  men  icas  in  progress  v:hen  the 
Assembly  convened;  and  that,  by  the  adoption  of  the  McLean 
paper  and  the  subsequent  resolutions,  the  majority  abruptly 
broke  in  upon  the  due  course  of  this  investigation,  and  gave  a 
new  direction  to  the  entire  business.  It  was  known  to  the  whole 
House  that  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  and  others,  had  appealed  to 
the  Assembly  against  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  for  refusing  to 
disfranchise  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men.  Dr.  Breckin- 
ridge had  offered  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  signing  of 
that  paper  "  had  rendered  each  and  every  one  of  them  unqual- 
ified, unfit,  and  incompetent  to  sit  and  act  as  a  member  of  this 
or  any  other  court  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  The  Synod 
rejected  the  resolution  by  the  decisive  vote  of  107  to  22.  From 
this  decision  an  appeal  was  taken  to  the  General  Assembly.  It 
was  to  come  up  in  its  due  place.  Had  the  majority  of  the 
Assembly  been  content  with  "the  ordinary  methods"  of  our 
Discipline,  the  opportunity  was  in  prospect  of  a  full  judicial 
inquiry  into  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  Declaration  and 


46  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

Testimony  movement.  But,  for  reasons  not  yet  assigned,  these 
"methods"  were  deemed  unsuitable.  The  "ordinary  way" 
must  give  place  to  a  very  extraordinary  wa3\  A  case  duly 
entered  for  trial  must  be  wrested  from  the  judicial  docket,  taken 
altogether  out  of  that  sphere  which  the  Constitution  has  stamped 
with  the  highest  sacredness,  and  guarded  by  the  most  solemn 
sanctions,  and  dealt  with  as  a  matter  of  common  legislation. 
I^Tay,  worse  still — the  Assembl}^  having  a  bona  fide  Judicial 
case  before  them,  construct  a  new  case  out  of  the  same  materials — 
originate  jwoccedings  against  the  ajfpellces,  altogether  outside  of  the 
existing  case — vote  (by  implication)  these  proceedings  to  be  ^\judi- 
cial"  in  their  character — condemn  the  individuals  thus  tmexpectedly 
arraigned — impose  a  severe  penalty  upon  them — and  loind  up  by  send- 
ing them  to  the  next  Assembly  for  trial!  Meanwhile  the  real  Judi- 
cial case,  thus  superseded  by  its  rival  extemporized  for  the  occa- 
sion, on  reappearing  in  the  House,  collapses  like  a  Presbytery 
on  the  entrance  of  a  Declaration  and  Testimony  man.  Why 
should  it  not  collapse?  A  shorter  way  had  been  contrived  for 
efi'ecting  its  purpose — a  purpose,  possibly,  which  might  have 
miscarried  in  adhering  to  the  legitimate  judicial  process.  It 
has  been  too  much  overlooked  that  the  punitive  decree  of  the 
Committee's  report  and  the  Gurley  minute,  involved  the  iden- 
tical question  which  was  before  the  Synod  of  Iventuck3^  The 
Breckinridge  appeal  brought  that  Synod  before  the  Assembly 
for  refusing  to  exclude  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men  from 
the  Church  courts.  That  decision  was  in  force  when  the 
Assembly  met.  In  so  far  as  the  Constitution  is  concerned,  the 
question  has  well  been  asked.  Why  is  it  not  in  force  still?  For 
the  appeal  was  not  issued.  And  it  is  for  the  majority  to  show 
how  a  decision  of  one  of  our  courts,  which  has  been  carried  up 
by  formal  appeal  and  complaint,  can  be  set  aside  by  the  Appellate 
Court  without  issuing  the  appeal  and  complaint.  The  dilemma  in 
which  the  Assembly  is  involved  is  this: — Its  proceedings  in  the 
Louisville  case  were  judicial,  or  they  were  not.  If  they  were,  then 
the  Assembly  not  only  assumed  original  jurisdiction,  in  deroga- 
tion of  the  Constitution,  but  dispensed  with  all  the  carefully 
prescribed  forms  for  conducting  judicial  process,  which  was  a 
further  violation  of  the  Constitution.  If  they  were  not,  then  (1) 
they  are  barred  from  pleading  the  only  clause  of  the  Book  of 
Discipline  which  warrants  a  court  to  suspend  a  member's  right 
to  his  seat  (chap.  vii.  sec.  5) ;  and  (2)  they  undertook  to  issue, 
by  a  mere  legislative  decree,  a  cause  which  was  pending  before 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  47 

them  on  a  regular  complaint  and  appeal,  in  direct  contempt  of 
chapter  vii.  sec.  4  of  our  Discipline,  It  is  quite  immaterial 
which  horn  of  the  dilemma  may  be  chosen. 

If  the  true  object  had  been  to  hold  these  men  amenable  to  the 
lawful  authorities  of  the  Church,  and  according  to  the  forms  of 
the  Constitution,  why  were  they  not  left  unmolested  until  the 
case  in  which  they  were  concerned  could  be  taken  up  and  issued? 
The  Assembly  met  on  Thursday.  This  case  was  reported  from 
the  Judicial  Committee,  as  in  order  and  ready  for  trial,  on  the 
following  Monday  morning.  The  appellants  were  present,  Dr. 
R.  J.  Breckinridge,  Dr.  Stanton,  Dr.  Landis,  and  one  other — 
names  which  gave  full  assurance  that  the  cause  the  majority  had 
so  much  at  heart  would  be  ably  presented.  Whence  the  impa- 
tience betrayed  by  the  adoption  of  the  McLean  paper?  Whence 
the  undissemblied  preference  for  an  "original"  judicial  process 
hampered  with  such  palpable  irregularities,  over  the  issuing  of 
a  formal  appeal,  according  to  the  sober  and  safe  "ordinary 
methods?"  After  the  appeal  had  been  deliberately  postponed 
for  a  w^eek,  to  give  the  McLean  Committee  time  to  report,  and 
their  report  had  already  been  several  days  under  discussion,  it 
would  liave  been  proper  enough  for  the  Assembly  to  decide  to 
go  on  with  it,  as  was  proposed.  But  why  any  such  postpone- 
ment? Why  any  such  report?  Why  any  such  Committee? 
When  the  entire  substance  of  the  case  was  embraced  in  the 
Appeal  which  came  there  (it  is  presumable)  of  right,  and  which 
the  Assembly  would  have  been  compelled  to  hear.  With  the 
motives  which  inspired  this  remarkable  course  of  action,  we 
have  nothing  to  do.  That  it  should  be  without  a  parallel  in  the 
whole  history  of  our  Church,  only  homologates  it  with  the  other 
features  of  the  Assembly's  procedure.  And  whose  character  is 
safe  in  our  communion  if  these  measures,  themselves  without 
precedent,  are  hereafter  to  be  drawn  into  precedent?  In  any 
event,  is  it  for  those  who  countenanced  these  acts  to  reproach 
the  mhioriiy  with  resisting  2i  judicial  inquiry  into  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony  movement? 

If  the  appellants  should  decline  to  prosecute  their  appeal,  or 
if  the  majority,  on  examining  the  case  appealed,  should,  for  what- 
ever reasons,  have  deemed  some  further  steps  expedient,  there 
was  a  method  open  to  the  house,  wise,  equitable,  and  suited  to 
the  emergency — the  method,  too,  demanded  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. This  was  to  refer  the  whole  matter  to  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, with  proper  instructions.     This  was  proposed  and  urged 


48  The  General  Assembly  of  18G6. 

bj  various  members,  and  especially  by  some  of  the  "loyal"  men 
of  that  Synod.  It  was  resisted,  on  the  ground  that  the  S^-nod 
might  refuse  to  execute  discipline  upon  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  men.  This  argument  was  of  no  account.  For  (1) 
It  was  the  undoubted  constitutional  right  of  the  Synod  to  have 
this  case  referred  to  them;. and  not  to  do  it,  was  to  invade  their 
rights.  See  this  principle  affirmed  by  numerous  cases  in  the 
Digest.  (2)  It  was  putting  a  stigma  upon  one  of  our  oldest  and 
soundest  Synods,  to  assume  that  it  would  not  enforce  righteous 
discipline  in  any  case  which  really  called  for  it.  Conceding  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  had  erred,  what  had  this  time-hon- 
ored Synod  done  to  forfeit  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
Church?  Could  not  the  Assembly  wait  to  see  whether  it  would 
prove  refractory,  before  appropriating  its  functions,  and  pro- 
claiming it  faithless  to  its  trust?  (3)  The  presumption,  from 
what  had  already  occurred,  was  that  the  Synod  would  do  its 
whole  duty  in  the  premises.  It  is  true,  that  at  its  meeting  in 
October,  1865,  the  Synod  had  very  properly  refused  to  disfran- 
chise the  Louisville  men.  But  it  had  passed  a  resolution  express- 
ing its  strong  disapprobation  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony. 
And  the  whole  matter  was,  in  effect,  still  before  it.  Let  candid 
and  impartial  men  read  the  following  extracts  from  the  speeches 
of  Dr.  William  L.  Breckinridge  and  Dr.  Ilumphre}^  at  St.  Louis, 
and  say  whether  the  Assembly  had  the  slightest  pretext  for 
treating  that  venerable  court  as  a  ^^  rebellious  Synod" — the  modest 
epithet  applied  to  it  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Preshjierian,  and 
naturally  enough,  if  he  looked  no  further  than  the  Assembly's 
Minutes. 

"The  proper  course  was  to  remand  the  whole  matter  to  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky. If  the  Synod  has  been  negligent,  give  it  to  understand  that  the  Assem- 
bly regard  it  as  having  been  negligent,  and  demand  that  it  shall  do  its  duty. 
In  that  way  the  General  Assembly  would  set  itself  right  before  the  Church  and 
the  whole  world,  in  that  it  was  proceeding  according  to  law.  If,  after  that,  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  should  not  do  its  duty,  it  could  justly  be  called  to  account 
for  not  doing  its  duty.  He  thought  this  would  be  the  wisest  and  best  method  of 
dealing  with  thi,s  matter,  and  would  have  been  from  the  beginning.  He  denied 
the  assumption  of  the  report  that  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  had  been  cited 
to  this  Assembly.  The  records  were  not  here ;  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky  were  not  here  when  this  report  was  made.  He  questioned  whether 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  had  been  guilty  of  negligence  in  this  matter.  The 
meeting  of  the  Louisville  Pi-esbytery  happened  in  September,  and  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky  met  toward  the  middle  of  October — -some  five  weeks  afterward — 
and  this  paper  was  not  made  public  till  some  time  after  the  meeting  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville.     He  himself  never  saw  the  paper  until  he  saw  it  at  the 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  49 

meeting  of  the  Synod.  Had  this  Assembly  no  charity  for  men  who  hesitate 
what  to  do — who  want  to  take  time  to  consider  what  should  be  done  in  an  ex- 
tremely difficult  case  on  which  very  many  results  hang?  The  Synod  would  have 
acted  hastily  to  have  proceeded  at  that  time.  Admitting  that  the  Synod  was 
wholly  wrong,  it  should  be  rebuked,  and  required  to  do  its  duty;  but  the  As- 
sembly ought  not  to  do  it  in  an  unconstitutional  and  irregular  way,  in  order  to 
make  up  for  the  neglect  of  the  Synod.  Had  the  proper  time  come,  and  were 
the  cause  a  sufficient  one,  the  Synod  ought  to  have  cited  the  Presbytery ;  but 
that  rule  applies  equally  to  the  Assembly,  and  it  ought  not  to  proceed  without 
citation. 

"  He  denied  the  statement  that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  had  ever  '  refused'  to 
try  these  men,  but  stated  that  it  was  impossible  to  say  whether  they  would 
neglect  or  fail  to  do  it,  if  it  was  required  of  them  by  the  Assembly.  The  Synod 
of  Kentucky  had  never  '  declined,'  because  to  say  they  had  declined,  supposes 
that  they  had  been  asked  to  do  something.  They  had  been  asked  to  do  some- 
thing which  they  wouldn't  do  ;  and  although  it  may  appear  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Assembly  and  the  Church  that  the  Synod  did  wrong  therein,  it  didn't  ap- 
pear wrong  to  the  speaker  yet.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky  was  asked  to  exclude 
these  men  from  the  Synod,  disfranchising  them  as  ministers,  to  exclude  them 
from  the  whole  Presbyterian  body;  declare  them  incompetent,  unfit  for  sitting 
in  that,  or  any  other  Court  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  to  declare  all  that 
by  a  simple  resolution  on  making  up  the  roll  before  even  the  Moderator  was 
chosen.  That  was  what  the  Synod  would  not  do,  and  most  properly.  That  was 
the  head  and  front  of  the  offending  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  that  was 
what  the  report  of  the  Committee  condemned,  and  asked  the  Assembly  to  con- 
demn. It  might  come  out  that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  would  take  this  matter 
up  for  itself,  and  no  man  had  a  right  to  affirm  the  opposite,  and  doubly  had  no 
man  the  right  to  assume  such  a  thing  as  that  for  the  purpose  of  doing  anything 
that  was  clearly  unconstitutional.  The  Presbyterian  Church  could  stand  a 
great  deal.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky  could  stand  a  great  deal ;  but  to  stand 
this,  that  to  the  General  Assembly  belongs  the  power  to  do  all,  everything,  be- 
cause it  is  the  General  Assembly,  is  more  than  they  could  stand." 

Listen  also  to  Dr.  Humphrey : 

"The  scheme  proposed  by  the  Committee"  (and  the  Gurley  substitute  is  iden- 
tical in  principle)  "  is  simply  one  of  Church  power.  It  is  a  hrutum  fulmen  in 
every  aspect.  It  says  to  these  men  : — '  We  have  concentrated  in  our  hands  all 
the  power  which  Christ  has  given  to  his  Church.  We  have  you  in  our  hands, 
and  will  hold  you  there,  in  the  exercise  of  this  concentrated  power.'  The 
amendment  proposes  that  our  proceedings  shall  be  in  the  legitimate  exercise  of 
the  power  of  all  the  bodies,  among  which  the  power  of  the  Church  is  distributed. 
We  urge  a  trial.  We  urge  that  the  question  may  come  up  by  a  reference  to 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  I  believe  that  Synod  would  issue  the  matter  in  accord- 
ance with  truth  and  righteousness,  and  I  do  not  object  to  the  insertion  of  such 
an  injunction." 

"  The  forms  embodied  the  spirit  of  justice,  and  they  could  not  trample  down 
the  forms  of  justice  without  trampling  down  justice  itself.  But  the  plan  pro- 
posed by  the  Committee  was  anomalous,  unprecedented.  The  dissolution  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  had  been  cited,  but  they  would  observe  that  the  un- 


50  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

constitutionality  of  the  proceedings  whereby  that  Presbytery  was  established 
was  the  ground  of  its  dissolution.  It  was  dissolved  because  it  never  had  a  legal 
existence.  He  contended  that  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  Church  had  a 
Presbytery  been  dissolved  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was  proposed  to  dissolve 
the  Louisville  Presbytery.  In  the  dissolution  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
there  was  a  clause  in  the  ordinance  which  saved  the  ecclesiastical  position  of 
every  minister  in  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery,  but  here  the  contrivance  was  to 
shut  brethren  out  of  the  Church,  and  there  was  no  precedent  for  it.  He  wished 
it  to  be  remembered  that  these  brethren  were  to  be  turned  out  of  the  Church  with- 
out a  hearing.  It  might  be  said  they  had  a  right  to  come  here  and  be  heard. 
But  they  were  turned  out  in  the  beginning  and  regarded  themselves — he  would 
not  say  justly — as  precluded  from  returning  until  they  received  instructions  from 
their  Presbytery.  He  next  referred  to  the  provision  in  the  Book  of  Discipline 
in  reference  to  citation,  which  requires  that,  although  the  accused  may  declare 
he  will  not  ap])ear  on  the  first  citation,  yet  the  second  citation  must  by  no  means 
be  omitted.  These  brethren  had  been  cited  to  appear,  but  under  circumstances 
which  they  think  they  are  not  authorized  to  respond  to  ;  and  the  Assembly  could 
not  proceed  to  the  extent  of  administering  severe  justice  in  the  case,  which  they 
might  do  if  they  had  given  these  brethren  a  fair  chance.  He  deprecated  hasty 
action  in  the  premises.  This  Declaration  and  Testimony  was  only  issued  in  Sep- 
tember last,  and  he  hoped  no  such  summary  action  would  be  taken  as  proposed, 
but  that  one  year  more  might  be  allowed,  so  that  these  brethren,  if  they  could 
find  it  possible,  might  have  an  opportunity  to  return  to  the  allegiance  of  the 
Church.  He  desired  also  that  the  matter  might  be  put  on  such  a  footing  as  that  a 
judicial  trial  of  the  case  could  take  place.  The  speaker  closed  with  an  eloquent 
plea  in  behalf  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Kentucky. 

"  Mr.  McKnight  desired  to  know  of  the  speaker  whether  he  had  any  hope  or 
faith,  even  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  that  if  this  Assembly  should  forego  the 
action  now  proposed,  and  which,  to  his  mind,  was  so  justly  merited  by  that 
Presbytery,  whether  he  thought  there  was  any  probability  whatever  that  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  or  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  would  review  its  action  and 
come  back  to  the  Church. 

"  Dr.  Humphrey  said  he  would  answer  frankly.  He  thought  the  measure  he 
proposed  was  far  more  likely  to  accomplish  that  object  than  the  measure  of  the 
Committee,  and  further,  that  if  they  would  adopt  some  such  measure  as  he  pro- 
posed, coupled  with  kindness  and  affection,  to  their  erring  Southern  brethren — 
if  they  would  open  their  hearts  to  them  in  some  way,  he  believed  this  agitation 
would  be  suppressed,  and  that  they  would  come  together  in  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  bond  of  peace." 

Such  were  the  counsels  offered  to  the  Assembly  by  two 
brethren,  whose  age,  ability,  experience,  and  "loyalty,"  entitled 
them  to  a  most  respectful  hearing.  'Nor  this  alone.  They  were 
on  the  ground.  They  had  seen  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  demonstration.  They  had  resisted 
it  at  every  stage.  If  they  had  no!  been  superior  to  mere  local 
and  personal  influences,  the  atmosphere  the}^  had  been  breath- 
ing might  have  made  thebi  foremost  in  demanding  of  the  As- 
sembly the  prompt  punishment  of  all  engaged  in  the  move- 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  61 

ment.  The^^,  of  all  men  on  that  floor,  might  have  been  expected 
(for  such  is  the  usual  effect  of  earnest  controversy  upon  men) 
to  urge  the  passage  of  the  McLean  resolutions,  or  others  like 
them.  But  they  could  rise  above  the  passions  of  the  hour,  and 
not  only  consider  the  rights  of  individuals,  but  look  calmly  at 
the  disastrous  consequences  to  the  Church,  which  such  revolu^ 
tionary  measures  must  draw  after  them.  And  so  they  threw 
themselves  into  the  breach,  not  to  palliate  the  errors  of  the 
brethren  with  whom  they  had  been  waging  a  violent  contest; 
but  to  implore  the  Assembly  not  to  strike  a  blow  at  these 
brethren,  which,  besides  being  unjust  to  them,  must  inevitably 
fall  with  crushing  eflfect  upon  the  Church  of  their  common  affec- 
tions. Their  eloquent  pleadings  brought  tears  to  many  ej-es, 
but  did  not  avert  the  blow.  Let  the  discord  and  desolation  spread 
through  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  to-day,  "attest  whether  the 
Assembly  did  well  to  close  its  ears  against  these  faithful  coun- 
sellors. 

Of  course,  no  inference  to  the  prejudice  of  these  views  can  be 
drawn  from  the  proceedings  of  that  Synod  at  its  recent  sessions. 
For  the  question  now  before  them  was,  whether  they  would 
obey  a  mandate  of  the  Assembly,  whicli  the  great  majority  of 
them  regained  as  unconstitutional  and  oppressive.  Of  this  here- 
after. 


VII.* 


Analysis  of  the  McLean  resolutions — Injustice  of  excluding  the  Louis- 
ville men -^  Condemned  unheard — Minutes  surcharged  with  accu- 
sations against  thein —  Their  Letter  refused  a  place — Synod  of  Ohio 
and  Dr.  Archibcdd  Alexander — Severity  and,  moderation. 

The  summary  exclusion  of  the  Louisville  commissioners  from 
the  Assembly,  has  been  defended  on  two  grounds,  to  wit:  (1) 
that  "  our  Book  authorizes  a  court  to  suspend  from  their  right  to 
a  seat,  any  of  its  members  against  whom  judicial  proceedings 
have  been  commenced;  and  these  men  were  already  under  pro- 

*  This  Essay  has  been  enlarged,  and,  in  a  few  passages,  modified,  since  the 
publication  of  it  was  declined  by  the  Presbyterian.  But  if  the  two  objection* 
stated  by  the  editors  in  their  note  were  tenable  then,  they  are  much  more 
valid  now. 


52  The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  •    < 

cess  as  representing  a  Presbytery  which  had  openly  defied  the 
Assembly."  And  (2)  that  "every  deliberative  body  has  the 
inherent  right  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its  own  members." 
As  regards  the  first  point,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  plea  is 
without  foundation.  Up  to  the  day  that  these  four  brethren  left 
.Kentucky  for  St.  Louis,  no  one,  not  even  the  sternest  of  their 
opponents  in  that  S-ynod,  had  so  much  as  hinted  that  they  were 
"  under  process."  The  suggestion  would  have  excited  universal 
derision.  The  only  method,  then,  by  which  they  could  have 
been  brought  into  this  untoward  condition,  was,  through  some 
vote  of  the  Assembly  itself,  declaring  them  to  be  "under  pro- 
cess." This  vote  must  of  necessity  have  been  that  on  the 
McLean  paper.  But  the  McLean  paper  bore  no  such  ominous 
announcement  on  its  face.  And  if  it  had,  whence  came  the 
authority, of  the  Assembly  to  originate  a  judicial  process  at  all; 
and  still  more,  to  originate  such  a  process  in  this  unheard-of 
way — and  without  notice  to  either  party  that  it  was  the  "com- 
mencement of  process?"  And  how  happened  it  that  the  Moder- 
ator, whose  feeling  toward  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men 
was  well  understood, forgot  to  admonish  the  Assembly  that  "they 
were  about  to  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  Judicial  business?" 
In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  concerning' this  novel 
method  of  conducting  judicial  investigations  in  our  Church,  let 
it  be  well  considered  how  tremendous  a  prerogative  is  here  chal- 
lenged for  the  General  Assembly.  It  is  nothing  less,  than  the 
authority  to  declare  any  of  its  members  "under  process"  (and 
thereupon  to  sequestrate  their  seats)  who  may  happen  to  be 
obnoxious  to  a  casual  majority  of  the  body.  Some  years  ago 
the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  resolved  not  to  support  the  Board  of 
Domestic  Missions,  but  to  do  its  own  missionary  work.  The 
Presbytery  of  Baltimore  and  various  other  Presbyteries  have,  at 
difl:erent  periods,  done  the  same  thing.  It  was  stated  on  the 
floor  of  the  Assembly,  that  the  Moderator's  own  Presbytery, 
Chilicothe,  once  resolved  to  have  nothing  to  do  even  with  the 
General  Assembly  itself.  According  to  the  principle  recog- 
nized at  St.  Louis,  the  Assembly  might  (1)  have  suspended  the 
delegates  of  these  several  Presbyteries  from  their  seats  until 
"the  conduct  of  their  Presbyteries  could  be  decided  upon." 
(2)  It  might  have  ordained  this  to  be  the  "commencement  of 
process"  against  the  said  commissioners.  And  (3)  it  might 
have  done  all  this,  without  allowing  those  commissioners  to  say 
one  word  upon  the  subject.    Is  this  Presbyterianism,  or  Popery  ? 


The  General  Assembly  op  1866.  53 

The  second  ground  of  defence  is  equally  precarious.  "  The 
right  of  a  deliberative  body  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its 
members,"  does  not  include  the  right  to  expel  or  suspend  them 
from  their  seats  without  a  hearing.  As  having  some  possible 
bearing  upon  this  point,  it  maybe  well  to  quote  here  one  of  the 
provisions  of  our  Book,  which  illustrates  the  extreme  solicitude 
of  the  Church  in  respect  to  the  commencement  of  discipline. 
"  Great  caution  ought  to  be  exercised  in  receiving  accusations 
from  any  person  who  is  known  to  indulge  a  malignant  spirit 
toward  the  accused;  who  is  not  of  good  character;  who  is  him- 
self under  censure  or  process ;  who  is  deeply  interested  in  any 
respect  in  the  conviction  of  the  accused;  or  who  is  known  to 
be  litigious,  rash,  or  highly  imprudent."  (Ch.  IV.)  Leaving 
this  wise  prescription  to  speak  for  itself,  the  right  to  be  heard 
before  condemnation,  is  no  franchise  conferred  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  Church  nor  by  any  other  Constitution. 
It  is  inherent  and  inalienable.  It  is  the  principle  upon  which 
rests  that  great  bulwark  of  civil  liberty,  the  writ  of  Habeas  Cor- 
pus. And  this  indefeasible  right  was  violated  by  the  Assembly 
in  the  adoption  of  the  McLean  paper. 

The  principles  which  underlie  the  entire  case,  have  been 
repeatedly  stated:  but  we  cannot  recur  to  them  too  frequently. 
They  are  to  civil  and  religious  liberty,  what  the  atmosphere  is 
to  vegetable  and  animal  life.  It  is  the  boast  of  every  American 
citizen,  that  our  constitutions  and  laws  extend  their  protection 
to  men  of  all  classes  and  conditions:  that  no  man  can  be  tried 
except  by  his  peers ;  and  that  whatever  his  imputed  or  apparent 
guilt,  he  shall  be  presumed  innocent  until  duly  convicted  of 
crime.  This  is  an  authority  which  binds  alike  the  highest  and 
the  lowest:  no  less  Courts  and  Congresses,  than  peasants  and 
workinff-men. 


"£> 


"  For  here  before  the  almighty  Law 
High  birth,  high  place,  with  pious  awe, 

In  reverend  homage  bend  : 
Here  man's  free  spirit,  unconstrained, 
Exults,  in  man's  best  rights  maintained, 
Eights,  which  by  ancient  valor  gained, 

From  age  to  age  descend." 

There  is  no  Presbyterian  who  would  not  scorn  to  claim  less 
for  his  Church  than  for  his  country.  Our  Constitution  and  laws 
are  the  palladium  of  every,  even  the  very  humblest,  member  of 
our  communion.     They  rear   their   sacred  muniments  around 


54  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

every  man's  character;  and  will  shield  him  from  all  penal  inflic- 
tions unless  after  fair  trial  and  conviction.  Applying  these 
principles  to  the  case  in  hand,  the  General  Assembly  ahrogated, 
for  the  time  being,  the  whole  hody  of  our  judicial,  code,  and  con- 
stituted itself  the  accuser  and  prosecutor  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  men.  Under  the  plea  of  a  "  State  necessity,"  all  the 
usual  forms  were  dfspensed  with ;  and,  in  place  thereof,  pro- 
ceedings instituted  which  began  with  a  terrible  penally,  and  by 
implication  pronounced  them  deserving  of  further  penalties  by 
another  Assembly.  Even  conceding,  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
the  high-prerogative  theory,  was  it  either  wise  or  just  for  the 
Assembly  thus  to  arrogate  the  control  of  this  case,  and  rush  to 
a  conclusion  without  a  thorough  and  impartial,  not  a  mere 
ex  parte,  investigation?  The  most  illustrious  advocate  known  to 
the  English  Bar,  commenting  on  a  remarkable  deliverance  of 
Lord  Hale  upon  the  pernicious  doctrine  of  "constructive 
treason,"  observes,  that  "honorable  men,  feeling  as  they  ought 
for  the  safety  of  the  government  and  the  tranquillity  of  the  coun- 
try, and  naturally  indignant  against  those  who  are  supposed  to 
have  brought  them  into  peril,  ought,  for  that  very  cause,  to  pro- 
ceed with  more  abundant  cai^tion,  lest  they  should  be  surprised 
by  their  resentments  or  their  fears.  They  ought  to  advance  in  the 
judgments  they  form  by  slow  and  trembling  steps;  they  ought 
even  to  t\xll  back  and  look  at  everything  again,  lest  a  false  light 
should  deceive  them  ;  admitting  no  fact  but  upon  the  founda- 
tion of  clear  and  precise  evidence,  and  deciding  upon  wo  intention 
that  does  not  result  with  equal  clearness  from  the  fact.  This  is 
the  universal  demand  of  justice  in  every  case,  criminal  or  civil. 
How  much  more  then  in  this,  where  the  judgment  is  every 
moment  in  danger  of  being  swept  away"  by  the  confusion  and 
excitement  of  the  times.  If  these  sentiments  are  applicable  to 
a  State-trial,  with  what  cogency  may  we  insist  upon  the  due 
recognition  of  them  in  an  ecclesiastical  court?  Nor  is  this  pre- 
cluded by  the  facile  reference  to  the  printed  pamphlet  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  men',  as  superseding  all  occasion  for 
more  deliberate  action.  There  were  probably  before  the  Court' 
of  King's  Bench,  a  dozen  of  Hardy's  pamphlets  and  letters, 
couched  in  quite  as  plain  English  as  the  Louisville  Protest. 
"What  need,  then,  of  a  trial  ?  Why  did  not  Chief  Justice  Eyre, 
hostile  as  he  was  to  the  prisoner,  rise  and  say,  "  This  case  is  too 
plain  for  inquiry  or  argument.  The  treason  of  the  prisoner  is 
apparent  from  every  page  of  these  publications.     Let  him  be 


The  General  Assembly  op  1866.  55 

remanded  for  sentence."  Had  he  said  this,  all  England  would 
have  been  convulsed;  and  the  Judge  would  have  gone  to  the 
scaffold  sooner  than  the  prisoner.  As  it  was,  Lord  Erskine  had 
his  reward,  and  British  justice  its  triumph,  in  the  acquittal  of 
Hardy. 

Not  less  futile  is  another  of  the  stereotype  answers  to  this 
reasoning,  to  wit:-  that  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men 
"were  not  expelled  from  the  Assembly."  Expelled  or  not,  the 
resolutions  charged  them  with  grave  offences,  and  inflicted  upon 
them  an  ignominious  punishment.  The  vote  of  disfranchise- 
ment was  clearly  of  the  nature  of  penalty.  It  sent  them  out  of 
the  house  branded  as  men  who  were  unfit  to  hold  seats  there, 
"the  accusation  and  the  sentence  following  one  another  as  the 
thunder  pursues  tlie  flash."  "Writers  who  aftect  euphemisms, 
may  fan'-y  they  change  the  essential  character  of  this  act,  by 
styling  it  a  "  preliminary  proceeding."  "  Preliminary"  or  final, 
it  was  a  vote  of  censure,  founded  upon  allegations,  the  gravity  of 
which,  and  the  source  from  which  they  emanated,  all  the  more 
forbade  that  they  should  be  sanctioned  by  the  Assembly  without 
permitting  the  accused  to  open  their  lips. 

The  force  of  this  will  be  felt  when  it  is  considered,  that  in  their 
written  communication  to  the  Assembly  on  the  ensuing  Monday, 
the  suspended  members  denied  the  alleged  facts  upon  which 
the  resolutions  proceeded — denied  that  their  Presbytery  had 
either  "defied  the  Assembly,"  or  sent  a  commissioner  there  who 
"  even  under  the  act  of  '65  could  have  been  suspended  from  the 
ministry."  It  is  not  the  "ordinary  way,"  either  of  courts  of 
justice  or  parliamentary  bodies,  to  take  for  granted  the  criminal- 
ity of  parties,  however  "  public"  the  delinquencies  imputed  to 
them.  ISTo  court  that  should  do  this  would  be  tolerated  in  a  free 
country.  In  the  present  case,  the  arbitrary  character  of  the  pro- 
ceedings becomes  still  more  palpable,  when  the  precise  terms  of 
the  resolutions  are  weighed.  In  one  of  the  resolutions,  the 
four  commissioners  are  denied  their  seats  in  the  body  "until  the 
Assembly  shall  have  examined  and  decided  upon  the  conduct  of  their 
Presbytery.''  In  the  other,  the  Committee  is  directed  to  '■^examine 
into  the  alleged  acts  and  proceedings  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery, 
and  whether  it  is  entitled  to  rejnesentation  in  the  General  Assembly, 
and  to  recommend  what  action  the  Assembly  should  take  in 
regard  to  said  Presbytery."  Here  is  an  investigation  ordered 
of  the  most  vital  character;  one  which  may  involve  th^  very 
existence  of  a  large  Presbytery  of  fifty  years'  growth,  and  the 


56  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

personal  reputation  of  three-fourths  of  its  members.  And  yet 
the  commissioners  of  this  Presbytery,  with  a  far  deeper  concern 
in  the  inquiry  than  any  other  delegation  on  the  floor,  are  not 
only  denied  all  opportunity  of  taking  part  in  the  investigation, 
not  only  shut  out  from  the  House  until  this  Committee  shall 
have  done  their  own  pleasure  with  their  Presbytery,  and  reported 
upon  the  entire  merits  of  the  case,  but  actually  prohibited  from 
uttering  one  word  by  way  of  showing  that  they  and  their  Pres- 
bytery deserve  some  better  treatment  than  this  at  the  hands  of 
the  Assembly.  After  the  Committee  (a  Committee  drawn,  in 
derogation  of  all  parliamentary  laws  and  customs,  exclusively 
from  one  extreme  wing  of  the  House*)  have  finished  their  inves- 
tigation, have  spent  six  days  in  "examining  into  the  proceed- 
ings" of  the  obnoxious  Presbytery,  and  deciding  "whether  it  is 
entitled  to  representation,"  and  have  solemnly  advised  the  Assem- 
bly that  the  Presbytery  ought  to  be  "  dissolved,"  and  that  the  De- 
claration and  Testimony  pastors,  on  refusing  to  join  other  Presby- 
teries, should  ipso  facto  be  dismissed  from  their  congregations  ;  then, 
forsooth,  these  ostracised  commissioners  may  come  back  into  the 
House  and  plead  to  this  grim  indictment.  "Castigat  auditque.'" 
And  in  this  extraordinary  procedure,  the  Church  is  gravely 
asked  to  see  nothing  beyond  the  familiar  principle,  of  a  deliber- 
ative body  deciding  upon  the  qualifications  of  its  own  members  ! 
"We  have  asked  in  vain  for  precedent  or  parallel  to  this  trans- 
action. The  challenge  was  repeatedly  thrown  out  in  the  As- 
sembly, and  the  ruling  party,  though  allowed  the  whole  range 
of  civil  legislation,  failed  in  citing  a  solitary-  example  in  which 
a  duly  ac(jredited  representative  had  (unless  for  some  flagitious 
violation  of  the  rules  of  order  at  the  moment)  been  ousted  from 
his  seat  without  being  heard  either  in  person  or  by  counsel.  It 
was  no  less  in  violation  of  the  settled  principle  a-nd  practice  of 
the  courts  of  law.  It  so  happens,  that  while  writing  these  Essays, 
the  author  has  received  a  note,  unsolicited  and  unexpected,  from 
an  eminent  jurist,  who  now  adorns  the  bench  of  a  very  High 
Court  of  Judicature,  in  which,  referring  to  one  of  the  chief 
legal  arguments  at  St.  Louis,  he  says:  "I  have  just  been  read- 
ing the  speech  of .  l!^ot  one  principle  of  parliamen- 
tary law  or  practice  was  correctly  stated  by  him.     He  might  be 


*  Alim'sters.—'D.  V.  McLean,  D.D.,  Thomas  E.  Thomas,  D.D.,  Thomas  W. 
Hynes,^D.  J.  Waller.  Ruling  Elders. — H.  K.  Clarke,  Samuel  Galloway,  E.  P. 
Davidson. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  57 

excused  for  want  of  experience,  perhaps,  [the  orator  would 
hardly  thank  him  for  this]  but  if  he  ever  attended  courts,  as  I 
presume  he  has,  his  representation  of  the  practice  was  unpar- 
donable if  meant  to  be  serious.  Courts  ahocujs  summon  and 
hear  the  offender  before  they  punish."  Did  the  adoption  of  the 
McLean  resolutions  carry  no  "punishment"  with  it? 

When  the  preceding  remarks  were  penned,  the  writer  had 
not  seen  the  minute  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  covering 
the  same  ground.  It  is  copied  here  as  a  matter  of  justice  to  that 
Presbytery. 

"This  Presbytery  further  declares,  that  it  is  with  profound  sorrow  and  shame 
that  they  find  the  Highest  Court  of  the  church  by  a  majority  of  201  to  50  adopt- 
ing, and  that  under  the  operation  of  rules  which  shows  that  this  majority  con- 
sidered the  paper  before  them  too  plain  to  need  discussion  and  too  perfect  to 
admit  of  amendment,  a  resolution  excluding  Louisville  Presbytery  from  seats  in 
the  body 'until  the  Assembly  shall  have  examined  and  decided  on  the  conduct 
of  said  Presbytery'— as  though  a  Presbytery  had  no  right  to  be  present  by  com- 
missioners when  its '  conduct'  was  being '  examined  and  decided  upon,' — ^s  though 
even  if  its  commissioners  were  in  their  seats,  a  Presbytery,  according  to  our  con- 
stitution, could  have  its  '  conduct  examined  and  decided  upon,'  by  a  superior 
court,  and  yet  the  Presbytery  know  nothing  of  the  whole  thing  until  the  'exam- 
ination' is  over  and  the  'decision'  rendered — as  though  in  so  vital  and  funda- 
mental a  matter  as  the  right  of  representation,  any  'examination  and  decision' 
with  no  commissioners  on  the  floor,  no  Presbytery  cited  to  appear,  and  no  record 
before  the  court,  could  be  anything  but  a  mockery  of  right  and  justice." 

The  analysis  we  are  engaged  in  becomes  still  more  damaging 
when  it  is  considered,  that  the  two  elders  sent  in  this  ignomin- 
ious way  out  of  the  House,  were  venerable  men,  upwards  of 
eighty  years  of  age,  Ex-Governor  Wicklifte  and  Mr.  Mark  Har- 
din :  and  further,  that  the  latter  had  no  more  to  do  with  the  De- 
claration and  Testimony  than  Mr.  Galloway,  Mr.  H.  K.  Clarke, 
or  any  other  elder  who  voted  for  his  disfranchisement.  Had 
Mr.  Hardin,  after  his  forty  years  of  faithful  service  in  the  Elder- 
ship, no  rights  which  the  Assembly  was  bound  to  respect? 

It  is  not  surprising  that  writers  on  the  other  side  wish  to  slur 
over  this  whole  proceeding  as  of  no  essential  importance.  We 
insist  that  it  is  of  the  very  highest  moment;  that  it  was  the  first 
link  of  a  most  portentous  chain;  and  that  but  for  this  link,  the 
entire  series  of  sequences  might  have  been,  and  probably  would 
have  been,  wanting.  In  any  event,  no  man  has  any  right  to 
assume,  that  if  the  Louisville  delegation  had  been  heard  upon 
the  McLean  paper,  the  Assemblj^  would  have  taken  the  various 
steps  that  followed.     The  presumption  is,  that  in  view  of  the 


58  The  General  Assembly  of  1866, 

facts  and  arguments,  the  explanations  and  concessions,  which 
might  reasonably  have  been  expected  from  those  commissioners, 
a  new  aspect  would  have  been  given  to  the  whole  business,  term- 
inating in  a  deliverance  of  very  different  purport.  Certain  it 
is,  that  the  obnoxious  pamphlet  was  now  in  the  hands  of  many 
of  the  members  for  the  first  time.  What  they  knew  of  it  before 
they  left  their  homes,  had  come  to  them  through  hostile  news- 
papers. Of  four-fifths  of  the  signers  they  jDrobubly  knew  no- 
thing at  all.  What  appeared  on  the  surface  was,  that  here  was 
a  remonstrance  against  the  alleged  "political  deliverances"  of 
previous  Assemblies,  and  a  corresponding  appeal  to  our  Minis- 
ters and  people,  couched  rather  in  the  dialect  of  Martin  Luther 
and  John  Knox,  than  that  of  ^^colampadius  and  Melancthon. 
Had  the  merits  of  this  pamphlet  been  discussed  under  the  reso- 
lution of  disfranchisement,  even  the  majority  might,  pcradven- 
ture,  have  been  convinced  of  the  integrity  of  the  brethren  who 
issued  it. 

The  morality  of  an  action  lies  in  its  motive.  It  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  even  good  men  who  had  been  long  separated  by 
bitter  political  (and  even  personal)  feuds,  would  do  ready  jus- 
tice to  each  other's  motives.  But  it  w^ere  unpardonable  to  sup- 
pose that  if  Dr.  Brookes'  powerful  speech  had  been  made  two 
weeks  sooner,  upon  the  first  McLean  paper,  it  would  have  pro- 
duced no  impression  upon  the  mass  of  the  Assembly.  They 
could  notw^ell  have  resisted  the  conviction,  that  whatever  might 
be  the  mistakes  and  delinquencies  of  those  men,  they  w^ere 
honest  in  their  intentions,  and  sought  only  the  reformation  of  the 
Church.  They  must  have  conceded  this,  or  branded  Dr.  Brookes 
and  his  immediate  coadjutors  as  gross  hypocrites, — wliich  is  a 
little  further  than  any  one  has  yet  ventured  to  go. 

It  would,  also,  have  been  proved  to  the  satisfaction  (or  other- 
wise) of  the  majority,  that  "violent"  as  is  the  language  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony,  it  is  only  a  trifle  more  "disrespect- 
ful" to  the  Assembly  than  that  employed  by  several  of  our  ju- 
dicatories. For  example,  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  '61,  by  a 
unanimous  vote,  declared  the  political  action  of  the  Assembly 
of  that  year  to  be  '■'■repugnant  to  the  word  of  God,  and  of  no  bind- 
ing obligation."  And  even  so  late  as  October,  '65,  the  same 
Synod  passed  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  certain  of  the  acts 
of  the  preceding  Assembly  were  "  unwise,  as  tending  to  destroy 
the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Church,  and  in  some  of  their  provi- 
sions unconstitutional  and  unscriptural."     The  Tormer   of  these 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  59 

resolutions,  if  not  the  latter  also,  received  the  votes  of  "loyal" 
men  who  came  to  St.  Louis  to  aid  in  extruding  from  the  Church 
the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men  for  saying  similar  things  in 
plainer  words,  and  proposing  to  carry  them  out  into  action. 
Had  these  facts  been  brought  out  early  in  the  session,  before 
the  party  lines  had  been  inflexibly  drawn,  would  it  have  been 
possible  for  those  members  of  the  Assembly  who  were  untram- 
meled  by  the  compacts  of  the  secret  Convention,  to  treat  them, 
as  nullities?  Could  any  artifice  or  sophistry  have  blinded  such 
jurors  to  the  injustice  of  heaping  ignominy  upon  one  set  of  men 
for  "reviling  the  Church  courts,"  and  loading  with  caresses  an- 
other set,  who,  without  going' quite  so  far,  had  virtually  done  the 
same  thing? 

There  was  still  another  consideration  in  favor  of  a  discussion 
of  the  McLean  paper.  It  would  have  presented  the  Assembly 
in  a  much  better  aspect  before  the  world.  When  the  question 
came  before  the  National  Convention,  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
disposing  of  Louis  XVL,  Robespierre  objected  to  a  formal  trial, 
and  proposed  to  put  him  immediately  to  death,  on  the  ground 
that  "to  doubt  the  guilt  of  the  King  would  be  to  doubt  of  the 
innocence  of  the  Convention."  There  was  no  man  in  that  As- 
sembly at  St.  Louis  whose  whole  soul  (had  he  been  in  Paris  at 
the  time)  would  not  have  loathed  the  atrocious  proposal  and  the, 
monster  who  suggested  it.  The  incident  is  cited  here  simply 
to  illustrate  the  principle,  that  no  human  tribunal  can  assume 
the  guilt  of  an  accused  part}'  without  prejudice  to  its  own  repu- 
tation. Our  General  Assembly,  in  character,  aims,  spirit,  every- 
thing, was  as  far  removed  from  that  conclave  of  assassins  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine,  as  light  from  darkness.  But  it  will  not  do 
even  for  such  a  body  to  lay  the  weight  of  its  little  finger  upon 
an  accused  man,  without  first  giving  him  a  hearing.  It  does  not 
befit  the  dignity  of  so  venerable  a  court  (to  say  nothing  of  its 
spiritual  functions)  to  exert  its  authority  in  this  way.  The 
clearer  its  sense  of  the  probable  criminality  of  the  parties  at  its 
bar,  the  more  scrupulous  should  it  be  in  extending  to  them  every 
possible  indulgence,  and  supplying  them  with  plenary  opportu- 
nities for  vindicating  or  extenuating  their  conduct.  If  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  are  what  the  majority 
adjudged  them  to  be,  the  Assembly  might  well  have  given  them 
full  liberty  of  defence  before  excluding  them  from  its  presence. 
It  was  easy  enough,  at  that  opening  scene  of  the  drama,  to  bran- 
dish the  naked  sceptre  of  power  over  their  heads.     And  it  did 


60  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

execution  upon  the  men  wlio  were  aimed  at.  But  it  convinced 
no  one.  It  inspired  no  respect.  It  made  its  friends  turn  paler 
than  its  victims.  It  unloosed  a  thousand  tongues  in  bold  pro- 
testation, that  had  otherwise  been  silent.  How  much  better  to 
have  heard  the  accused — to  have  listened  to  them  for  hours,  yea 
for  days  together;  to  have  allowed  them  such  license  of  debate 
that  the  whole  world  should  have  said,  "It  is  enough."  And  if 
after  this,  the  McLean  paper  had  been  sanctioned,  what  moral 
force  the  vote  would  have  carried  with  it;  what  sympathy  it 
would  have  won;  and  how  different  the  atmosphere  it  would 
have  thrown  around  the  Assembly  from  that  which  enfolds  and 
deforms  it  to-day!     This  topic  will  recur  again. 

On  the  Monday  after  the  Louisville  men  were  disfranchised, 
a  motion  was  made  that  "the  Committee  (above  named)  be  in- 
structed to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  re-admitting  them  to 
their  seats,  until  the  case  of  their  Presbytery  shall  have  been 
finally  disposed  of."  This  would  partially,  and  only  partially, 
have  retrieved  the  wrong  done  them  by  the  previous  votes.  It 
would  have  allowed  them  an  opportunity  of  participating  in  the 
general  business  of  the  Session,  and  of  presenting  matters  which 
they  might  have  deemed  vital  to  their  characters  and  rights 
prior  to  the  report  of  the  Committee.  But  this  mere  resolution 
of  inquiry,  though  advocated  by  the  Hon.  Lincoln  Clarke  and 
others  of  the  majority,  was,  after  two  days'  debate,  laid  upon  the 
table  by  a  decisive  vote.  The  noticeable  and  mortifying  incident 
about  this  vote,  was,  that  the  motion  should  have  been  offered 
by  a  member  of  that  Profession  which  has  inscribed  upon  its 
roll  such  names  as  those  of  John  Hampden,  Thomas  Erskine, 
and  Patrick  Henry.  When  driven  from  every  other  fastness. 
Constitutional  liberty  has  found  a  Sanctuary  at  the  Bar ;  and  no 
Profession  has  displayed  such  fidelity  in  guarding  or  such  intre- 
pidity in  defending  it.  There  were  lawyers  in  the  last  Assembly 
who  nobly  sustained  the  hereditar}^  character  of  the  Profession; 
as  there  were  others,  unhappily,  who  could  lend  their  sanction 
to  the  disfranchisement  of  men  whose  lips  were  sealed.  It  were 
worth  while  to  know  how  it  would  fare  in  any  reputable  civil 
court,  with  a  motion  akin  to  the  one  here  alluded  to:  or,  rather, 
whether  it  would  be  possible  to  find  a  member  of  the  Bar  with 
sutficient  nerve  to  offer  a  motion  of  that  sort  before  such  a  tribu- 
nal. Be  that  as  it  may,  the  banished  commissioners  felt  that 
after  this  treatment,  neither  duty  to  their  Presbytery  nor  self- 
respect,  would  permit  them  to  come  back  to  the  House  and  dis- 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  61 

cuss  the  Committee's  report.  For  this  decision  they  have  been 
censured.  "The  Assembly  gave  them  full  opportunity  to  meet 
the  charges  [so  the  Church  has  been  told  a  hundred  times],  and 
they  declined  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  What  cause  of  com- 
plaint have  they?"  In  dealing  with  questions  of  this  sort,  every- 
thing depends  upon  men's  instincts  and  training.  It  is  not  a 
case  for  argument.  One  class  of  men  can  review  the  facts  of 
this  narrative,  and  maintain  that  the  Louisville  delegation,  after 
being  sent  out  of  the  House  without  a  hearing,  and  kept  out  for 
the  six  days  that  the  Committee  were  engaged  in  concocting 
their  indictment,  ought  to  have  rushed  in  the  moment  the  door 
was  left  ajar  for  their  accommodation.  Another  class,  on  re- 
viewing the  facts,  will  insist  that  neither  reason  nor  religion  re- 
quired them  to  go  back,  unless  the  Assembly  would  first  assure 
them  of  their  readiness  to  rescind  their  disciplinary  measures, 
and  restore  the  status  quo  of  the  first  day  of  the  session.  The 
former  would  doubtless  have  said,  had  they  been  living  at  Phil- 
ippi,  that  Paul  and  Silas  stood  too  much  upon  their  dignity  in 
not  walking  meekly  out  of  the  prison,  as  soon  as  the  sergeants 
opened  the  doors  and  bade  them  depart.  The  latter,  that  the 
two  preachers  were  right  in  the  somewhat  energetic  message 
they  sent  to  the  magistrates: — "They  have  beaten  us  openly 
uncondcmned,  being  Romans,  and  have  cast  us  into  prison ;  and 
now  do  they  thrust  us  out  privily?  Nay,  verily,  but  let  them 
come  themselves  and  fetch  us  out."  As  between  these  two 
orders  of  arbitrators,  the  difference  is  not  casual  but  generic. 
It  would  be  a  waste  of  words  to  try  to  make  either  see  with  the 
others'  eyes.  In  ethics,  still  more  than  in  physics,  there  are  things 
which,  if  not  seen  at  the  first  glance,  can  never  be  seen  at  all. 
And  to  this  category  belongs  the  transaction  of  which  we  are 
speaking.  But,  however  seen  or  not  seen,  it  is  confidently  be- 
lieved that  as  to  the  exiled  delegations  returning  to  the  House 
in  existing  circumstances,  there  was  neither  man,  woman,  nor 
child  in  all  St.  Louis,  that  had  the  slightest  expectation  of  it.  In 
their  brief  response  to  the  Assembly's  proposal,  the  commis- 
sioners decline  "to  appear  and  be  heard  before  a  court  which 
has  already  condemned  them  unheard." 

In  saying  this,  they  simply  repeated  what  was  said  on  every 
side.  Those  principles  of  right  and  justice  which  God  has  im- 
planted in  the  human  breast,  and  which  charters  and  constitu- 
tions can  neither  confer  nor  annul,  had  been  outraged.  And  the 
common  feeling  among  people  of  all  sects  and  all  political  par- 


62  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

ties  (extreme  radicals  only  excepted)  was,  that  these  men  had 
been  "  condemned  unheard."  It  were  some  relief  if  the  adoption 
of  the  McLean  paper  conld  he  ascribed  to  one  of  those  gusts  of 
passion  to  which  all  deliberative  bodies  are  liable.  Unfortu- 
nately it  was  adopted  (Previous  Question  and  all)  after  a  night's 
reflection:  and  was  followed,  not  without  full  discussion,  by  the 
rejection  of  the  resolution  of  inquir}^  just  mentioned.  Do  these 
pr^oceedings  indicate  just  that  calm,  clear,  impartial,  charitable 
spirit  which  should  control  every  tribunal,  and  especially  a  court 
of  Jesus  Christ,  in  dealing  with  men's  characters  and  rights? 

But  there  is  another  circumstance  illustrative  oi  the  anbnus  of 
the  Assembl}^  towards  these  men,  so  untoward  in  its  aspect  that 
one  would  gladly  pass  it  by,  if  justice  did  not  demand  some 
reference  to  it.  On  the  Monday  folloAving  their  "suspension," 
the  four  commissioners  addressed  a  Letter  to  the  Assembly 
remonstrating  against  their  exclusion  from  the  House.  This 
Letter  was  as  respectful  in  its  tone  as  it  was  forcible  in  its  facts 
and  reasonings.  It  carried  on  its  face  in  the  opening  sentence, 
that  it  was  sent  "/or  record  on  the  31imites  of  the  Assembly.'"  This 
was  manifestly  of  the  greatest  importance  to  themselves  and 
their  Presbytery.  The  commonest  equity  required,  that  Minutes 
which  fairly  bristled  with  criminal  charges  against  them,  should 
at  least  include  their  formal  plea  to  the  indictment, — all  the 
more  so,  as  they  had  been  virtually  denied  the  right  of  address- 
ing the  Court  in  person.  Yet  even  this  piece  of  sheer  justice 
was  refused  them !  Look  through  those  Minutes,  and  see  how 
ehoparral-Y\\^Q  they  are  with  materials  inculpating  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  men.  We  have  (1)  the  primary  McLean 
paper,  adopted,  after  a  speech  by  himself,  under  his  inexorable 
demand  for  the  Previous  Question.  (2)  His  resolution  for  the 
appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Investigation,  carried  after  an 
impassioned  speech  by  Dr.  Thomas,  which  was  wound  up,  ot 
course,  with  the  Previous  Question.  (An  appeal  was  made  to 
each  of  these  gentlemen  to  withdraw  the  call  for  the  Previous 
Question:  they  curtly  refused.)  (3)  The  Report  in  extenso  of  this 
Committee,  largely  made  up  of  excerpts  from  the  "Declaration 
and  Testimony"  torn  from  their  proper  connection,  and  in  some 
instances  amounting  to  a  gross  travesty  of  the  real  sentiments 
expressed  by  the  writers.  (4)  The  substitute  of  Dr.  Gurley, 
finally  adopted  in  place  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Committee.  (5) 
Dr.  Gurley's  written  speech,  or  "Reasons,"  in  support  of  his 
paper,  also  adopted  by  the  Assembly.     (6)  The  "Pastoral  Let- 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  63 

ter"  (so-called)  in  which  all  the  current  allegations  against  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  men  are  recapitulated  and  empha- 
sized in  a  formula  designed,  from  its  very  nature,  to  be  intro- 
duced into  every  family  of  our  communion.  And  (7)  the  extrava- 
gant and  minatory  "Memorial"  of  the  secret  Convention  at 
St.  Louis,  "approved"  by  the  Assembl}^ 

Of  these  last  two  papers  it  may  be  observed  (in  a  parenthesis) 
that  what  they  say,  is  not  more  remarkable  than  what  they  leave 
unsaid.  They  treat  mainly  of  the  Southern  Churches  and  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony.  Are  these  the.  only  quarters  from 
which  "the  peace  and  purity  of  the  Church"  are  threatened? 
Even  as  witliin  their  chosen  sphere  of  religion  and  politics,  how 
happened  both  the  "Pastoral"  and  the  "Memorial"  to  overlook 
the  wide-spread  prostitution  of  the  pulpit  to  political  purposes; 
the  partizan  political  character  of  a  large  portion  of  the  religious 
press:  the  intolerance,  approximating  in  numerous  cases  to  per- 
secution, displayed  towards  Pastors  who  have  had  the  manliness 
to  form  their  own  opinions  on  public  afiairs,  and  to  preach  only 
Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified:  and,  generally,  the  opening  of 
the  sluices  of  party  politics  into  the  Church,  and  flooding  it  with 
a  poison  as  virulent  as  infidelity,  and  far  more  contagious?  "Was 
there  nothing  in  these  glaring  abuses,  the  talk  of  every  commu- 
nity, the  opprobrium  of  the  Church  and  of  the  State,  to  call  for 
animadversion?  Do  our  brethren  seriously  believe,  that  if  the 
Master  should  come  again  with  His  scourge  of  small  cords,  He 
would  restrict  His  visitation  to  the  "schismatics"  of  the  South, 
and  the  "malcontents"  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony?  But 
this  is  a  digression. 

A\;hat  we  are  now  concerned  with  is  the  fact,  that  the  seven 
documents  specified  above,  every  one  of  them  bearing  with  a 
sort  of  Draconian  rigor  upon  the  Declaration  and  Testimony 
men,  and  holding  them  up  to  the  reprobation  of  the  Church,  are 
all  paraded  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly:  and  yet  the  Let- 
ter   OF  ,  THE     FOUR     LOUISVILLE     COMMISSIONERS     IS     EXCLUDED  ! 

With  the  exception  of  the  brief  note  comprised  in  a  single  sen- 
tence already  quoted,  not  one  word  from  these  men  appears  on 
the  record!  If  this  be  "justice"  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
learned  casuists  of  other  communions  will  be  curious  to  inquire 
into  the  sources  from  which  we  have  drawn  our  penal  code.  To 
attempt  to  vindicate  or  even  palliate  such  proceedings,  by  talking 
of  the  "rebellious  and  schismatical  conduct  of  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony  men,"  of  their  "secession  proclivities,"  of  their 


64  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

disposition  to  "agitate  and  disturb  the  Church,"  and  the  like; 
what  has  this  to  do  with  the  question?  The  present  writer  has 
uniformly  declared  his  conviction  of  the  serious  errors  of  these 
brethren,  and  the  hurtful  tendency  of  certain  of  their  measures. 
But  what  then?  If  they  were  the  veriest  caitiiis  that  walk  the 
streets,  they  would  still  have  their  rights.  Had  they  applied 
to  the  General  Assembly  epithets  far  more  opprobrious  than  any 
which  occur  in  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  or  which  are 
applied  to  the  signers  of  that  paper  by  the  "Memorial"  above 
mentioned,  they  would  still  have  been  entitled  to  a  hearing 
before  sentence.  The  minority  would  have  contended  for  this, 
had  they  even  gone  to  the  scandalous  extreme  of  Dr.  Thomas  E. 
Thomas'  3Iagazme  of  Sept.  1845,  and  talked  of  the  "falsehood, 
ABSURDITY,  and  moral  filth,"  of  a  deliverance  of  the  General 
Assembly,  with  much  more  vituperation  of  the  same  sort.*  Had 
the  P]-esb3'tery  of  Oxford  (now  become  famous  for  its  attack, 
last  Spring,  on  Dr.  Hodge  and  the  great  Protestant  principle  of 
the  liberty  of  the  press),  formally  adopted  the  gross  libel  in 
which  this  language  occurs,  it  would  have  been  a  tlagitious 
wrong  for  the  Assembly  of  '46  to  exclude  the  commissioners  of 
that  Presb^'tery  from  their  seats,  without  first  aflbrding  them  an 
opportunity  for  explanation  and  retraction.  The  minority 
asked,  on  behalf  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men,  neither 
more  nor  less  than  they  would  have'  asked  for  any  of  the  men 
who,  on  so  many  occasions,  have  said  unseemly  and  schismatical 
things  about  the  Courts  of  the  Church.  They  invoked,  indeed, 
much  less  forbearance  than  a  former  Assembly  extended,  unso- 
licited, to  the  Synod  of  Ohio  which  iiad  attempted  by  a  deliber- 
ate vote  to  nullify  a  decision  of  the  Assembly.  Here  \vas  a 
Sj'uod,  so  far  forth,  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Supreme  Judi- 
catory. What  did  the  Assembly  say?  Adopting  the  report  of  a 
committee  of  which  the  Rev.  Archibald  Alexander,  D.D.,  was  the 
chairman,  they  tell  the  Synod,  that  they  have  been  "wanting  in 
respect  to  the  Assembly,"  and  that  their  action  was  "repugnant 
to  the  radical  principles  of  the  government  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church."  "The  Assembly  are  willing  to  believe,  however,  that 
the  Synod  of  Ohio  did  not  mean  to  set  themselves  in  opposition 
to  the  highest  Judicatory  of  the  Church;  and  that  when  they 
have  reconsidered  the  matt.er,  they  will  rescind  what  is  so  mani- 
festly inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  which 

*  See  Dr.  Brookes'  speech. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  65 

tliey  have  bound  themselves  to  support."  Such  was  the  wise, 
dignified,  decided,  and  considerate  course  pursued  by  a  former 
Assembl}^  at  the  suggestion  of  the  revered  Alexander,  in  dealing 
with  a  recusant  Sjaiod.  It  has  been  the  "ordinary  method"  in 
our  Church.  Can  it  be  doubted  that  if  a  similar  course  had-  been 
taken  with  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony ;  if  they 
had  been  faithfully  but  kindly  admonished  of  their  errors,  and 
told  to  "reconsider"  what  they  had  said  and  done,  this  whole 
difficulty  might  have  been  adjjisted  without  disturbing  the  gen- 
eral tranquillity  of  the  Church?  True,  "the  Assembly  did  give 
them  a  year  of  grace."  And  was  it  burdened  with  no  degrading 
penalties?  Were  they  not  suspended  without  trial  from  some 
of  their  most  sacred  franchises?  Were  they  not  branded  as  such 
apostates  that  the  bare  presence  of  one  of  them  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  blast  the  reputation  and  extinguish  the  life  of  any,  the 
most  ancient  and  "loyal,"  of  our  Presbyteries?  Is  this  the  sort 
of  "grace"  we,  day  by  day,  supplicate  of  the  God  of  mercy  for 
ourselves  ? 


VIII. 

The  General  Assembly  turned  Prosecutor — Anomalous  sentence  pro- 
nounced upon  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men — ^^ Ipso  facto" — 
Summary  destruction  of  Presbyteries — Dr.  Humphrey' s  Speech — 
Pregnant  bearing  of  these  measures  upon  the  next  Assembly. 

The  first  of  the  two  penal  enactments  of  the  Assembly's 
minute,  '■'■summons"  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony "to  appear  and  answer  for  their  conduct  before  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  the  body  against  whom  they  have  offended,  and 
the  only  body  which,  in  the  present  circumstances  of  the  case, 
can  properly  and  without  embarrassment  consider  and  adjudicate 
the  case:"  and  meanwhile  it  forbids  their  "sitting  in  any  Church 
court  higher  than  the  Session."  The  General  Assembly  is  our 
High  Court  of  Appeal.  The  fact  and  the  philosophy  of  it  are 
lucidly  set  forth  in  the  introduction  to  Chapter  VII.  of  our  Dis- 
cipline. 1 

"  In  all  governments  conducted  by  men,  wrong  may  be  done  from  ignorance, 
from  prejudice,  from  malice,  or  from  other  causes.     To  prevent  the  continued 

5 


*66  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

existence  of  this  wrong,  is  one  great  design  of  superior  Judicatories.  And 
although  there  must  be  a  last  resort  bej'ond  which  there  is  no  appeal ;  yet  the 
security  against  permanent  wrong  will  be  as  great  as  the  nature  of  the  case  ad- 
mits, when  those  who  had  no  concern  in  the  origin  of  the  proceedings  are 
brought  to  review  them,  and  to  annul  or  confirm  them  as  they  see  cause ; 
when  a  greater  number  of  counsellors  are  made  to  sanction  the  judgments  or 
to  correct  the  errors  of  a  smaller ;  and  finally,  when  the  whole  Church  is  called 
to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  acts  of  a  part." 

These  wise  and  equitable  principles  must  commaud  instant 
and  universal  approval.  Every  society  requires  kindred  safe- 
guards against  error  and  oppression.  But  are  not  these  safe- 
guards annulled  when  the  General  Assembly  assumes  a  direct 
and  controlling  "concern  in  originating  judicial  proceedings;" 
and  when  "the  whole  Church,"  whose  high  function  it  is  "to 
sit  in  judgment  on  the  acts  of  a  part,"  becomes  a  prosecutor? 
Avowedly  on  the  ground  that  the  Assembly  was  the  body 
against  whom  they  had  offended,  the  late  Assembly  assumed, 
for  itself  and  its  successor,  the  ungracious  task  of  commencing 
and  conducting  i^enal  j)roceedings  against  the  Declaration  and  Tes- 
timony men.  Complainant,  Prosecutor,  Witness,  Jury,  and 
absolute  (not  Appellate)  Judge,  combined  in  one  corporate  per- 
son! A  most  unequal  contest,  certainly.  And  suppose  (for  it 
is  quite  supposable)  the  case  goes  against  the  defendants:  what 
resource  is  left  them?  Before  a  Session,  a  Presbytery,  or  a 
Synod,  they  might  appeal.  But  here  the  court  of  last  resort 
has  "originated  the  proceedings,"  and,  for  aught  that  appears 
to  the  contrary,  means  to  conclude  them.  Unless  it  be  infallible, 
it  may  "from  ignorance,  from  prejudice,  from  malice,  or  from 
other  causes,"  do  the  defendants  great  wrong.  And  if  it  should, 
they  have  no  redress.  Is  there  a  single  State  in  our  Union 
where  any  counterfeiter,  forger,  incendiary,  robber,  pirate,  or 
murderer,  is  tried  by  a  court  whose  decisions  cannot  be  reviewed 
and  rectified  by  a  superior  tribunal?  And  has  our  Church  judi- 
cial forms  which  no  Christian  Commonwealth  would  tolerate  on 
its  statute-book? 

Just  as  this  sentence  was  finished,  the  writer  happened  to 
light  upon  the  following  coincident  passage  from  the  pen  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  McPheeters : 

"There  is  something  shocking  to  every  conception  of  justice  in  the  last  and 
highest  Court  of  Appeals,  setting  aside  law  and  constitution,  and  striding  over 
Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  Church  Sessions,  to  make  itself  an  'original  party' 
against  individual  Ministers  and  Elders !  If  wrong  is  done  to  the  feeble  party, 
who  shall  interpose  to  correct  it  when  the  very  highest  Court  which  the  Church 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866,  67 

has  promised  to  be  his  shield,  drops  the  character  of  umpire  and  volunteers  to 
become  Prosecutor?  Nor  is  the  difficulty  removed,  but  rather  aggravated,  by 
the  fact  that  the  General  Assembly  declares  itself  to  be  'the  body  against  whom 
they  (the  Louisville  Presbytery)  have  offended  :'  for  every  generous  mind  will 
at  once  perceive  the  glaring  impropriety  of  a  body  so  offended,  adjudicating  its 
own  case." 

These  views,  it  may  be  added,  supply  a  satisfactory  answer  to 
a  very  plausible  plea  on  the  other  side,  to  this  elFect:  "The  ex- 
ercise of  original  jurisdiction  by  the  (xcneral  Assembly,  can  in  no 
way  imperil  the  rights  of  individuals.  If  those  rights  are  safe  in 
the  hands  of  Sessions  and  Presbyteries,  much  more  may  the 
Assembly  be  intrusted  with  them.  To  suppose  that  the  As- 
sembly might  be  disposed  to  use  this  power  in  an  arbitrary  way, 
is  to  assume  that  the  whole  Church  may  become  corrupt. 
Whenever  that  contingency  occurs,  the  subordinate  Courts  will 
cease  to  afford  protection  equally  with  the  highest."  Referring 
to  the  preceding  pages  for  an  answer  to  this  argument,  it  may 
further  be  observed,  that  the  St.  Louis  Assembly  not  only 
challenged  original  jurisdiction  over  the  Louisville  case,  but 
asserted  in  dealing  with  it  a  discretionary  authority  over  the 
forms  and  methods  of  our  Constitution.  Constitutional  govern- 
ment is  one  thing:  the  discretion  of  princes  and  magistrates 
quite  a  different  thing.  Constitutions  assume  that  the  best  men, 
in  common  with  the  worst,  need  to  be  restrained  and  controlled. 
The  more  perfect  the  charter,  the  less  will  its  eflicacy  be  sus- 
pended upon  the  personal  character  of  the  men  who  are  to  admin- 
ister it.  "  To  allow  of  any  man's  discretion  that  sits  in  the  seat  of 
justice,"  says  Lord  Coke,  "would  bring  forth  a  monstrous  con- 
fusion." The  men  who  usually  compose  our  General  Assembly 
are  as  good  as  good  men  ordinarily  are.  But  if  their  goodness 
be  our  only  defence,  we  were  as  well  ofl'  in  Holland  with  dykes 
of  willow  and  shell-work.  Dr.  George  Junkin  has  shown  this 
with  graphic  effect,  in  one  of  his  recent  able  Essays  in  the 
North-  Western  Presbyterian. 

"A  minister,  if  the  Assembly  choose  to  try  him  on  its  original  jurisdiction, 
may  be  dragged  a  thousand  miles  from  his  residence,  and  be  tried,  not  by  his 
peers  of  the  vicinage,  but  by  a  body  almost  entirely  strange  to  him  ;  and  instead 
of  having  two  opportunities  to  appeal,  he  is  entirely  cut  off— the  Assembly's  de- 
cision is  final.  Tlius  an  omnipotent  Assembly  may  become  a  terrible  power,  a 
fearful  tyranny.  Nor  need  we  travel  far  back  for  illustration  of  the  way  in 
which  so  large  a  body  may  be  worked  up  to  the  boiling  point  of  a  heated  and 
fanatical  frenzy. 

"The  Low-Church  scheme  puts  the  trial  and  suspension,  or  deposition,  of 


68  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

ministers  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbyteries  ;  the  High  Church  avers  that  this 
power  is  at  the  option  of  the  Assembly  to  exercise  it  all — yea,  by  example,  to  dis- 
pense with  trial  altogether,  and  to  thrust  out  members  of  the  Assembly  itself;  and 
to  suspend  others,  not  a  few,  from  all  their  Ecclesiastical  functions  above  those 
of  the  Session.  Now,  put  this  power  into  the  hands  of  a  misguided,  but  even 
honest,  Assembly,  or  into  the  hands  of  an  incidental  majority  of  corrupt  men,  and 
they  can  suspend,  without  citation  or  trial,  a  number  sufficient  to  insure  the 
perpetuation  of  their  oM-n  power.  If  they  can  suspend  a  hundred,  and  can  dis- 
solve one,  two,  or  three  Presbyteries,  conditionally,  they  can  suspend  a  thousand 
ministers,  and  dissolve  a  hundred  Presbyteries.  We  may  be  told,  Oh  !  you  are 
uncharitable;  you  suppose  a  majority  of  the  Ministers  and  Elders  to  be,  or  be- 
come, ignorant  or  corrupt  men.  Very  true,  I  believe  in  native  depravity.  I  have 
been  a  member  of  ten  General  Assemblies,  all,  in  the  main,  sound  ;  but  several 
of  whom,  nevertheless,  permitted  men  to  sit,  deliberate,  and  vote,  who  had  never 
professed  to  be  Presbyterians,  who  had  never  acknowledged  our  Standards  ;  and 
I  have  been  a  lobby  member  at  half  that  number,  who  seemed  to  prefer  Taylor- 
ism,  and  Bemanism,  and  Hopkinsianism,  to  Presbyterian  orthodoxy.  Lead  us 
not  into  temptation.  It  is  safer  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  men  to  do  wrong, 
than  to  give  them  a  power,  which  there  is  a  high  probability,  or  even  possibility, 
they  will  abuse.  Our  Book  puts  the  making  and  the  unmaking  of  ministers  and 
congregations  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbyteries.  There  it  is  so  dispersed,  and 
so  near  the  people  to  whom  the  King  has  given  the  power  of  ruliqg,  that  it  is 
much  more  likely  to  be  safely  and  wisely  exercised,  than  it  is  possible,  for  me,  E»t 
least,  to  believe,  it  would  be  in  the  hands  of  any  one  body  on  earth.  I,  there- 
fore, never  shall  cease  to  defend  the  Constitution  as  it  is;  and  to  remonstrate 
against  the  Assembly  being  clothed  with  an  omnipotence  whose  exercise  pre- 
vents its  attention  to  its  leading  function,  as  a  court  of  Appeals."  ■ 

To  return  to  the  St.  Louis  Assembly,  look  again  at  the 
penalty  inflicted  upon  these  as  yet  untried  and  even  unheard 
nlen.  The}'  are  forbidden  "to  sit  in  any  Church  court  higher 
than  the  Session."  The  right  to  sit  in  the  Church  courts,  is  in- 
herent in  the  respective  offices  of  Ruling  Elder  and  Minister. 
The  moment  a  Presbyterian  is  ordained  to  the  ministry,  he  be- 
comes a  member  of  some  Presbytery.  He  not  only  may,  but 
must  belong  to  a  Presbytery.  He  must  attend  its  meetings. 
He  must  take  his  part  in  fulfilling  the  various  trusts  which  the 
Constitution  commits  to  his  Presbytery  and  Synod.  Not  to  do 
these  things,  would  be  to  violate  his  ordination  vows.  They  are 
not  simply  privileges,  but  rights:  not  only  rights,  but  duties. 
They  are  obligations  from  which  he  can  be  absolved,  rights  of 
which  he  can  be  divested,  onl}^  in  one  way,  viz.,  by  regular  trial 
according  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  Book  of  Discipline.  The 
St.  Louis  Assembly  undertakes  to  nullify  all  these  provisions. 
It  arrogates  the  authority  not  merely  to  dispense  from  these  ob- 
ligations certain  men  not  "  under  process "  (unless  it  can  at 
pleasure  vote  men  "  under  process"),  but  actually  to  forbid  their 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  69 

performing  these  duties.  By  a  naked  sic  juheo  it  attempts  to 
strip  them  of  rights  which  the  Constitution  makes  indefeasible 
except  through  due  process  of  law. 

Let  us  advert  for  a  moment  to  the  principles  involved  in  this 
edict.  The  clause  of  the  Constitution  upon  which  it  claims  to 
be  based  is  the  following: — ""When  a  member  of  a  Church 
Judicatory  is  under  process,  it  shall  be  discretionary  with  the 
Judicatory  whether  his  privileges  of  deliberating  and  voting  as 
a  member,  in  other  matters,  shall  be  suspended  until  the  process 
is  finally  issued  or  not."  [Disc.  v.  9.)  (1)  This  provision  applies 
only  to  persons  "  under  process."  Certain  proceedings  in  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  had  given  rise  to  an  "  appeal,"  which,  duly 
prosecuted,  would  have  brought  out  the  merits  of  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  mfvement.  But  the  Assembly  decided  by 
formal  vote,  that  the  "original  parties"  to  that  case  were  "the 
Appellants  (Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  and  others)  and  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky."  As  in  perfect  accordance  with  this  decision,  it 
has  been  demonstrated  that  these  men  were  not  "  under  pro- 
cess," in  .any  sense  of  that  phrase  known  to  our  Constitution. 
In  affirming  the  contrary,  as  the  Assembly  impliedly  does  by 
quoting  the  above  clause,  it  involves  itself  in  all  the  perplexities 
and  wrongs  incident  to  its  new  method  of  trying  men,  irrespec- 
tive of  the  forms  of  our  Discipline.  (2)  This  provision  can  only 
be  enforced  by  a  Judicatory  against  one  of  its  own  "members." 
(3)  Tlie  extent  to  which  he  may  suffer  a  deprivation  of  his  rights 
is  clearly  restricted  to  a  temporary  suspension  of  "his  privileges 
of  deliberating  and  voting  as  a  member  in  other  matters."  The 
whole  case  is  that  of  a  Judicatory  dealing  with  one  of  its  own 
members  under  process,  and  having  respect  to  its  own  sessions. 
In  a  former  Essay  (III.)  it  has  been  shown  that  the  broad  interpre- 
tation given  to  certain  clauses  of  our  Constitution  by  the  Assembly 
of  '37,  is  precluded  by  the  dissimilar  circumstances  of  the  Church 
in  'Q6.  But  this  plea  may  be  waived.  The  high  prerogative 
asserted  by  the  late  Assembly  undex  this  clause,  was  that  of  ex- 
cluding ministers  and  elders  not  "  under  process"  (except  as  it 
made  itself  their  prosecutor)  "from  any  Church  court  higher 
than  the  Session."  No  one  condescended  to  explain  this  curious 
exception.  Like  the  decree  itself,  it  seems  to  be  perfectly  arbi- 
trary. For  on  the  one  hand,  the  qualifications  for  a  seat  in  the 
Presbyter}^  and  Synod,  and  for  eligibility  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, are  identical  with  those  for  the  Session.  The -right  to  a 
place  in  each  of  these  bodies  follows  ordination.     Has  any  one 


70  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

discovered  in  our  Constitution  tlie  shadou'  of  either  warrant  oi- 
recipe  for  decomposing  the  right  by  which  a  pastor  holds  his 
seat  in  these  courts,  and  divesting  him  of  three-fourths  of  it 
while  leaving  him  in  the  plenary  enjoymentof  the  other  fourth? 
On  the  other  hand,  how  patent  is  it  that  if  a  man  he  unlit  to  sit 
in  the  higher  courts,  he  must  be  even  more  unlit  for  the  lowest? 
Whether  the  sentence  of  exclusion  be  based  upon  imputed 
heresy,  immorality,  or  rebellion,  the  first  care  of  the  Assembly, 
it  might  seem,  should  be  to  protect  the  peojjle  from  his  perni- 
cious teachings.  The  Presbyteries,  Synods,  and  General  As- 
sembly should  be  able  to  take  care  of  themselves.  It  is  passing 
strange,  that  these  men,  whom  it  was  deemed  perilous  to  admit 
into  Judicatories  composed  of  their  peers,  should  be  allowed  to 
conduct  the  discipline  of  their  own  Sea^jions,  and  to  have  free 
access  to  our  congregations  for  a  twelvemonth.  Are  unsound 
men  less  dangerous  to  the  cause  of  God's  faith  and  order  in  the 
pulpit  than  in  a  Presbytery  or  Assembly?  And  if  the  late  As- 
sembly could  tolerate  the  presence  of  certain  of  these  men  (as 
it  did  by  formal  vote,  on  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Monfort, 
immediately  after  the  adoption  of  the  Gurley  minute),  what  be- 
comes of  the  allegation  that  they  were  unfit  to  sit  in  Presbytery 
or  Synod  or  in  another  General  Assembly?  This  reasoning, 
conclusive  as  to  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men,  becomes 
unanswerable  when  applied  to  the  ministers  and  elders  who 
might,  afterward,  simply  refuse  to  cast  those  men  out  of  their 
Presbyteries.  ISo  one  has  yet  ventured  to  suggest  that  the)/ 
were  "under  process"  last  Spring.  Whence,  then,  came  the  au- 
thority to  sequester,  without  even  a  pretended  trial  or  so  much 
as  an  arraignment,  three-fourths  of  their  sacred,  inherent,  eccle- 
siastical rights  ? 

Leaving  these  tangled  incongruities  to  be  reduced  and  har- 
monized by  those  to  whom  it  belongs,  it  deeply  concerns  the 
Church  to  ponder  this  extraordinary  assumption  of  power  on  the 
part  of  the  General  Assenibly.  If  the  Assembly  may,  at  its 
discretion,  divest  ministers  and  elders  not  "under  process,"  of 
one  class  of  their  rights,  it  may  of  any  other.  If  it  can,  without 
trial,  forbid  a  minister  to  sit  in  Presbytery  or  Synod,  it  can  for- 
bid him  to  ^[fft'each  the  Gospel;  it  can  annul  his  pastoral  relation; 
it  can  depose  him  from  the  ministry;  it  can  dissolve  Sessions 
and  Churches.  In  fact,  the  Committee  on  the  Louisville  Pres- 
bytery explicitly  claim  for  the  Assembly  the  right  of  dismiss- 
ing the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men  from  their  charges,  and 


The  General  Assembly  op  1866.  71 

gravely  recommend  that  it  be  done  if  they  fail  to  obey  its  orders. 
{Minutes,  p.  39.)  If  this  sort  of  "omnipotence"  has  ever  been 
challenged  for  our  General  Assembly  before,  let  the  record  be 
produced.  Or,  if  the  doctrine  is  now  to  be  incorporated  with 
our  system,  let  some  of  its  advocates  show  wherein  our  Constitu- 
tion is  worth  more  than  the  "safe-conduct"  given  to  John  IIuss 
and  Jerome  of  Prague.  For,  under  a  regimen  like  this,  no 
Minister  or  Ruling  Elder,  who  becomes  obnoxious  to  an  in- 
censed majority,  can  be  secure  against  summary  suspensionor 
deposition,  without  trial,  arraignment,  or  even  citation.  So 
certainly  are  we  drifting  toward  what  the  Repertory  calls  '■'■a con- 
solidated Church  and  a  complete  spiritual  despotis^n.'" 

The  second  penal  enactment  of  the  Assembly  is  that  which 
dooms  a  Presbytery  to  instant  dissolution,  on  its  admitting  to 
a  seat  any  signer  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony.  Here, 
again,  we  have  a  striking  illustration  of  the  Assembly's  style  of 
"  administering  justice  in  the  ordinary  way  and  by  the  ordinary 
methods."  This  "ordinary  way"  is  a  way  never  heard  of  be- 
fore in  our  Church,  nor,  as  it  is  firmly  believed,  in  any  Civil 
Court,  Legislature,  or  Christian  Society.  It  was  invented  at 
St.  Louis;  and,  tested  by  its  fruits,  it  is  not  likely  to  be  in  much 
request  outside  of  our  own  fold.  It  has  generally  been  supposed 
among  Presbyterians,  that  a  Presbytery  had  something  of  the  vis 
vitcE  about  it.  Wherever  Presbyterianism  is,  there  the  Presbytery 
stands  forth,  not  as  a  mere  symbol,  like  a  banner  on  a  flag-staff, 
but  as  the  essential  embodiment  of  the  Church,  its  organized 
manifestation,  its  official  agent,  and  its  indispensable  protector. 
In  our  own  communion,  the  Presbyteries  are  even  more  than 
this.  They  are  the  accredited  fountain  of  ecclesiastical  power 
(subject,  of  course,  to  its  ultimate  derivation  from  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church).  The  Constitution  and  the  General  As- 
sembly are  in  their  hands.  And  they  can  remodel  or  abolish 
both  Assembly  and  Constitution  at  their  pleasure.  There  is  no 
part  of  our  system  to  which  the  Presbytery  is  not  vital,  no  Judica- 
tory which  is  clothed  with  such  important  powers,  or  exercises 
functions  so  various  and  beneficent.  And  yet  the  late  Assembly 
would  have  us  believe  that  the  life  of  a  Presbytery  is  so  fugitive 
a  thing,  that  it  can  be  pufted  out  by  the  bare  presence  of  a 
Declaration  and  Testimony  man.  Nay,  an  established  Presby- 
tery, founded  in  the  last  century,  comprising  19  ministers  and 
33  churches,  devoted  from  its  origin  to  tlie  firiith  and  order  of 
our  Confession,  embracing  in  its  fellowship  but  a  single  signer 


72  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

of  the  obuoxious  paper,  and  be  honorably  and  purposely  absent 
from  the  State,  that  his  presence  at  the  meeting  might  give  no 
pretext  for  disorganizing  schemes — such  a  Presbytery,  on  the 
mere  utterance  of  this  man's  name  at  the  roll-call,  instantly, 
immedicably,  mortally,  swoons  away! 

"  Eheu  !  quam  brcvibus  pereunt  iDf>-eutia  causis  !" 

The  mysterious,  awful  potency  of  ipso  facto!  There  is  no  ci- 
tation. No  trial.  No  room  for  an  'appeal  to  Synod  or  Assem- 
bly. No  opportunity  for  showing  what  is  apparent  on  the  face 
of  the  record,  that  there  was  really  no  ivfrmgement  of  the  Assem- 
bly's order.  That  order  runs — "if  any  Presbytery  shall  enroll, 
as  entitled  to  a  seat  or  seats  in  the  body,  one  or  more"  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  men.  The  course  of  the  Presbytery 
would  have  been  amply  justified,  had  the  order  been  left  in  this 
naked  form.  But  the  Assembly  itself  interpreted  it  in  adopting 
No.  5  of- Dr.  Gurley's  "Reasons."  "Because  in  the  meantime 
\t  forbids  their  sitting  in  any  Church  court  higher  than  the  Session." 
The  Presbytery  did  not  violate  this  direction.  In  conformity 
with  the  usual  rule,  the  roll  was  called  at  the  opening  of  the 
meeting,  Mr.  Scott's  name  with  the  rest.  This  roll  was  their 
only  guide  for  organizing  the  body ;  the  only  means  of  ascertaining 
who  were  present.  The  executive  ofiicers  had  no  discretion  in 
the  case.  They  were  bound  to  call  the  entire  roll.  Should  the 
Clerk  refuse,  it  was  the  Moderator's  place  to  call  it.  If  any 
member  was  to  be  "cast out,"  it  could  not  be  done  at  that  stage 
of  the  proceedings.  The  Presbytery  did  perfectly  right  to  in- 
sist upon  having  every  one  called  who  belonged  to  the  body  when 
they  last  adjourned.  After  the  formal  preliminaries  of  an  or- 
ganization w^ere  over,  and  the  House  was  "ready  for  business," 
it  would  have  been  competent  for  any  member,  had  Mr.  Scott 
been  present  and  claiming  his  seat,  to  move  that  his  request  be 
denied.  It  was  unparliamentary  and  disorderly  for  any  one  to 
offer  such  a  motion  before.  But  of  what  avail  to  plead  funda- 
mental rules  of  order,  as  old  as  free  parliaments  or  kirks,  and  co- 
extensive with  Christian  civilization?  The  die  was  cast.  All  de- 
fence— all  argiTinent — all  explanation — is  barred.  The  ancient 
Presbytery  of  West  Lexington  dies  a  malefactor's  death.  And 
two  pastors,  two  sine  titido  ministers,  a-nd  two  elders,  meet  in  a 
neighboring  hotel,  and  schismatically  vote  themselves  to  be  the 
true  Presbytery -of  West  Lexington!  This  is  the  published  his- 
tory.    And  if  it  do  not  cover  many  a  cheek  with  a  blush  of 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  73 

sliame,  it  will  be  because  the  Presbyterianism  of  the  fathers  has 
disappeared  from  among  us.  Alas!  that  our  sister  Churches 
should  see  what  has  come  to  be  called  "Discipline"  in  a  great 
Church,  famed  hitherto,  the  world  over,  for  its  sacred  regard  for 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  its  people,  and  its  scrupulous  adher- 
ence to  Constitutional  forms  in  the  administration  of  justice  !* 

A  single  case  of  this  sort  would  be  sufficiently  humiliating. 
But  another  Presbytery  has  been  ipsofactoed  under  circumstances 


*  The  statements  in  this  narrative  will  be  received  with  a  pardonable  incre- 
dulity. The  official  minute  of  the  Presbytery  (Sept.  18,  '66)  is  therefore  an- 
nexed, that  the  Church  may  see  the  sort  of  revolutionary  proceedings  which  the 
coming  Assembly  will  be  expected  to  sanction. 

"Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge;  D.D.,  appeared  in  Presbytery,  and  after  giving  his 
reasons  for  tardiness,  stated  that  he  did  not  recognize  this  as  the  true  Presby- 
tery of  West  Lexington,  and  gave  notice  in  his  own  behalf,  and  in  behalf  of 
Rev.  S.  Yerkes,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  J.  K.  Lyle,  that  they  renounced  its  jurisdiction, 
and  that  they  would  at  the  hotel,  that  day,  organize  another  Presbytery,  and  im- 
mediately adjourn  to  meet  in  Lexington  soon  afterward. 

"The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  action  of  Rev.  R.  J».  Breckinridge,  D.D., 
in  behalf  of  himself  and  others,  was  received  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  Whereas,  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  D.D.,  did  in  his  own  behalf,  and  in  behalf 
of  Rev.  S.  Yerkes,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  J.  K.  Lyle,  notify  Presbytery  that  they  re- 
nounce its  jurisdiction ;  and,  whereas,  Dr.  Breckinridge  stated  as  a  reason  for 
so  doing,  that  the  Presbytery  has  violated  the  order  of  the  late  General  Assem- 
bly (see  Minutes  of  Assembly,  page  61),  which  reads  as  follows:  ' 'J'hat  if  any 
Presbytery  shall  disregard  this  action  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  at  any 
meeting  shall  enroll,  as  entitled  to  a  seat  or  seats  in  the  body,  one  or  more  of 
the  persons  designated  in  the  preceding  resolution,  and  summoned  to  appear  be- 
fore the  next  General  Assembly,  then  that  Presbytery  shall  ipso  facto  be  dis- 
solved:' therefore  » 

"Besolvcd,  That  without  expressing  any  opinion  upon  the  wisdom  or  constitu- 
tionality of  the  above  order  of  the  Assembly,  this  Presbytery  declares  that  it 
has  done  nothing  that  was  in  fact  or  designed  to  be  a  violation  of  said  order. 
This  will  clearly  appear  from  the  language  of  the  order  itself,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows :  '  That  until  their  case  {i.e.  that  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony)  is  decided,  they  shall  not  be  permitted  to  sit  as  members  of  any 
church  court  higher  than  the  Session.'  Now  this  Presbytery  has  not  done  what 
is  here  forbidden — but  the  Stated  , Clerk  was  simply  required  to  call  the  roll  in 
the  customary  manner.  Nor  did  the  Stated  Clerk  refuse  to  do  so,  but  distinctly 
stated  that  such  a  course  would  not,  in  his  judgment,  be  a  violation  of  the  As- 
sembly's order;  and  furthermore  declared  that  he  had  been  so  advised  by  one 
now  renouncing  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Presbytery.  No  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony  was  present — nor  was  anything  said  as  to  whether  any  such 
was  or  was  not  entitled  to  be  enrolled  as  a  member  of  Presbytery.  And, 
tiually,  it  was  a  fact  well  known  to  the  members  of  Presbytery,  that  the  only 
member  who  is  supposed  to  be  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  was 
out  of  the  State." 


7-1-  Thk  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

yet  more  farcical.  The  Presbytery  of  Muhlon]>ur2:held  its  regu- 
lar meeting  on  the  6th  of  October,  '66.  The  attendance  of 
Ministers  and  Elders  was  unusually  large.  The  name  of  a 
Declaration  and  Testimony  man,  not  present  and  not  expected 
to  be,  was  called  by  the  clerk.  Whereupon  the  Rev.  Alexander 
Rankin,  who  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  only  six  months 
before  by  this  very  Presbytery,  arose,  and  pronounced  the  Pres- 
bytery dissolved,  and  withdrew  from  the  House.  It  is  proper 
to  add,  that  this  young  man  attempered  the  announcement  by 
saying,  that  he  "considered  the  action  of  the  Assembly  to  be 
wrong  and  harsh,  but  felt  himself  compelled  to  obey  it."  The 
only  Declaration  and  Testimony  man  (a  Ruling  Elder)  who  was 
on  the  ground,  had  determined  for  the  sake  of  peace  to  remain 
out  of  the  Presb3^tery  for  the  time,  and  did  not  claim  his  seat 
until  this  performance  was  over.  Thus  died  a  Presbytery 
established  probably  thirty  years  before  Mr.  Rankin  was  born ; 
— that  is,  if  it  did  "  die  !" 

In  one  view,  such  proceedings  savor  of  the  ridiculous.  But 
in  another,  they' are  fraught  with  consequences  the  gravity  of 
which  cannot  well  be  exaggerated.  Could  anything  be  more 
certain  to  bring  the  discipline  of  the  Church  into  contempt? 
"Was  it  ever  heard  of  before  that  discipline  proceeded  upon 
principles  like  these?  that  in  an  ancient  Church,  under  a  Con- 
stitution well  matured,  comprehensive,  supplying  a  remedy  for 
every  wrong,  and  guarding  with  jealous  care  all  personal  rights 
and  liberties,  a  self-executing  peiial  law  should  be  enacted ;  a  law 
not  simply  dispensing  with  judge,  jury,  indictment,  counsel, 
witnesses,  pleadings,  and  sentence  on  con\iction,  but  precluding 
any  and  all  of  these;  and  visiting  its  irreversible  penalty,  not  of 
rebuke,  not  of  suspension,  but  of  ecclesiastical  death  upon 
venerable  and  honored  courts  of  the  Church;  these  Courts,  too, 
made  up,  as  to  nine-tenths  of  their  membership,  of  godly  minis- 
ters and  elders  nnimpeaclied  and  nnimpeachable,  paying  faith- 
ful and  true  allegiance,  up  to  that  moment,  to  the  authority 
issuing  the  decree,  and  even  steadfastly  withstanding  the  par- 
ties whose  alleged  misconduct  had  given  occasion  to  it?  Are 
these  our  "  ordinar37- metliods?"  Is  this  to  pass  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  under  the  sacred  name  of  Justice?  Had  that 
majority  at  St.  Louis  never  read  the  history  of  Presbyterianism, 
in  Piedmont,  in  France,  in  Ireland,  in  Scotland?  Could  the}' 
seriously  believe  that  our  Presbyteries  would  tamely  submit  to 
this  indiscriminate  confiscation   of  their  dearest  personal   and 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  75 

official  rights?  Could  tliey  imagine  that  the  entire  Church 
would  stand  quietly  by,  and  witness  this  wholesale  destruction 
of  its  Presbyteries  ? 

And  yet,  with  marvellous  assurance,  tlie  reigning  party  are 
even  now  denouncing  the  men  who  raise  their  voices  against 
these  aggressions,  as  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the  Church! 
"The  Church  needs  rest,  and  it  is  wrong  to  keep  up  this  con- 
troversy." Yes,  the  Church  does  need  rest.  The  "Minority- 
men"  have  not  made  this  discovery  to-day.  The^^  did  their 
utmost  to  convince  the  Assembly  of  it  in  May  last.  They 
implored  them  to  desist  from  the  fatal  policy  they  were  inaugu- 
rating. They  admonished  them  that  instead  of  rest,  it  coukl 
only  bring  upon  the  Church  a  year  of  agitation  and  con- 
flict; that  it  was  idle  to  expect  peace,  from  measures  which 
must  inevitably  divide  Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  scores  if  not 
hundreds  of  congregations.  While  others  pressed  these  views, 
they  were  urged  with  equal  abilit}'  and  pathos  by  those  two 
distinguished  Kentucky  brethren,  Drs.  W.  L.  Breckinridge 
and  Humphrey.  These  brethren,  as  already  observed,  had 
been  in  the  very  thick  of  the  controversy.  But  they  plainly 
saw  that  the  adoption  of  the  McLean  report  or  the  Gur- 
ley  substitute,  would  entail  ineiiably  greater  calamities  upon 
their  churches,  than  any  which  could  ensue  from  postponing 
direct  action  upon  that  subject.  "I  tell  you  (said  Dr.  Hum- 
phrey) these  Kentuckians  are  a  great  people.  Kentucky  has 
been  the  cradle  of  Presbyterianism  for  all  these  Western  and 
South  Western  States.  She  has  had  a  bloody  and  troubled  his- 
tory, and  a  troubled  experience  in  religious  matters.  .  .  Our 
cause  has  triumphed  there  in  three  trying  conflicts.  We  are 
now  in  the  midst  of  a  fourth;  and  b}'  God's  blessing  and  your 
assistance,  we  will  meet  it  successfully.  But  do  not  lay  upon 
us  burdens  which  we  cannot  bear.  Kentucky  has  always  had 
an  able  and  godly  ministry ;  men  of  ardent  zeal  and  untiring 
labor:  yet  to-day  the  Presbj'terian  Church  within  her  bounds 
numbers  but  ten  thousand  communicants.  Kentucky  Presby- 
terianism has  emptied  itself  all  over  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
and  Tennessee,  and  been  a  fountain  of  light  and  salvation  all 
over  this  land.  Yet  few  as  we  are  in  numbers,  we  have  done 
some  things  for  Christ  and  for  his  Church.  We  have  estab- 
lished two  noble  Institutions.  Danville  College  and  Danville 
Seminary,  stand  to-day  as  monuments  of  the  piety  and  liberality 
of  Kentucky  Presbyterianism.     Of  our  own  one  hundred  and 


76  The  Genekal  Assembly  of  1866. 

fifty  clmrclics,  but  one-third  are  self-sustaining.  If  you  drive  a 
plough-share  throu/jh  these  churches,  ivhat  can  be  the  result  but  to  ruin 
all  this  work  of  years,  and  spread  division  and,  desolation  through  all 
our  hounds?  Kow,  unless  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  lay  not  on 
us  tliis  severe  affliction.  Spare  us  one  j^ear  more  to  go  back  to 
our  brethren  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimon}^  and  beseech 
them  to  cease  from  this  work  of  strife.  Let  our  Kentucky 
Church  alone  one  year  more,  I  entreat  you.  Then,  if  you  must 
cut  it  down,  well.  We  will  submit;  and  though  with  bleeding 
hearts,  we  will  go  home  and  labor  to  repair  our  desolations. 
But  spare  us  this  blow,  spare  us  this  blow.  Do  not  destroy  for- 
ever OUR  hopes  of  a  united  Church." 

Such  were  the  eloquent  and  affecting  tones  in  which  this 
eminent  divine  warned  the  Assembly  of  the  strife  and  desolation 
that  must  follow  their  proposed  action,  and  interceded  for  the 
noble,  suffering  Church  in  Kentucky.  How  bootless  were  his 
appeals,  is  known  to  the  whole  world.  And,  not  less,  how  sadly 
his  predictions  have  been  fulfilled.  The  '■''ijlough-share'^  is  doing 
its  fatal  work.  We  will  not  inquire  too  carefully  whose  hands  are 
guiding  it.  But  the  devastation  that  defines  its  furrows,  fittests 
the  real  character  of  the  ipso  facto  mandate,  and  will  help  to  fix 
the  responsibility  of  this  continued  controversy  where  it  belongs. 

For  the  reasons  which  suggested  this  unheard-of  style  of  legis- 
lation, we  are  left  mainly  to  conjecture.  The  cunning  device  is 
not  credited  to  any  one  having  a  seat  in  the  Assembly.  It  was 
acquiesced  in  by  the  House  with  less  debate  or  explanation  than 
it  merited.  Other  topics  so  clamored  for  a  hearing,  that  this 
curious  piece  of  ipso  facto  mechanism  escaped  the  thorough  dis- 
section to  which  it  was  justly  entitled.  Beyond  a  question  there 
must  have  been  many  on  the  side  of  the  majority,  who  could 
not  have  voted  for  it  had  its  destructive  character  been  fullj' 
comprehended.  With  whatever  rigor  these  brethren  might 
have  been  prepared  to  visit  the  alleged  offences  of  the  Dec- 
laration and  Testimony  men,  they  would  not  deliberately 
have  branded  with  "rebellion,"  scores  of  Ministers  and  Elders 
who  were  as  much  opposed  to  that  demonstration  as  them- 
selves, and  whose  standing  in  the  Church,  up  to  that  mo- 
ment, was  as  good  as  their  own.  They  would  not  inten- 
tionally have  thrust  into  this  already  complicated  case,  a  new 
and  entirel}''  extraneous  issue  which  might  compel  irreproach- 
iihle  men,  anxious  to  defer  to  the  lawful  authorities  of  the 
Church,  either  to  disobey  the  Assembly,  or  to  violate  their  con- 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  77 

sciences.  It  was  not  nntil  the  ferment  and  confusion  of  the  ses- 
sion were  over,  and  the  smoke  of  the  contest  had  cleared  off, 
that  the  fatal  significance  of  this  device  was  revealed.  'No  one 
is  in  the  dark  ahout  it  now.  Majority-men  and  minority-men 
(some  of  the  former,-  doubtless,  with  amazement  and  regret) 
perceive  its  bearing  upon  the  composition  of  the  next  Assembly.  A 
resolution  for  the  summary  dissolution  of  the  fourteen  Presby- 
teries of  Kentucky  and  ]\Iissouri,  could  not  have  been  carried. 
!N"or  would  it  have  answered  the  purpose  :  for  tlie  members  must 
have  been  organized  into  new  Presbyteries,  which  would  have 
been  entitled  to  their  representation  in  the  Assembly.  Again, 
a  reference  of  the  matter  to  the  two  Synods,  instructing  them 
contingently  to  dissolve  certain  Presbyteries  for  cause  shown, 
woulS  have  been  abortive.  For  if  the  Synods  had  carried  this 
order  into  effect,  the  inevitable  "Appeal"  of  the  Presbyteries 
would  have  arrested  the  decree  until  the  coming  May,  and  saved 
their  representation.  In  a  word,  there  is  no  form  of  trial  to  be 
conceived  of  which  could  have  excluded  the  majorities  of  the 
ministers  and  churches  in  the  obnoxious  Presbyteries,  from  their 
constitutional  rights  in  the  next  Assembly.  How  to  exclude 
them  without  a  trial,  might  have  seemed  a  somewhat  abstruse 
problem.  But  "  where  there's  a  will,  there's  a  way,"  Behold 
the  marvellous  ingenuity  of  the  solution.  In  place  of  a  trial,  or 
au}^  other  legitimate  process  known  to  the  history  of  Christian 
jurisprudence,  these  majorities  are  dexterously  put  hors  da  com- 
bat. They  are  placed  in  a  position  in  which  they  must  either 
perpetrate  what  they  believe  to  be  a  moral  wrong,  or  commit 
suicide.  They  must  deprive  their  yet  untried  brethren  of  their 
seats  in  Presbytery,  or,  ipso  facto,  be  disfranchised  themselves. 
By  this  self-acting  decree  they  turn  themselves  out  of  doors. 
Of  this  we  have  an  edifying  illustration  in  the  Muhlenburg  affair, 
wherein  the  whole  Presbytery  oust  themselves,  and  leave  a  soli- 
tary youth  as  the  sole  trustee  of  all  their  corporate  rights,  chat- 
tels, franchises,  and  hereditaments !  These  Presbyteries,  let  it 
be  specially  noted,  were  not  "dissolved."  In  that  case,  the 
minorities  could  not  have  been  represented  in  the  Assembly; 
which  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  ISTor,  again,  were  the  men  con- 
stituting the  majorities  thus  cast  adrift,  attached  to  other  neigh- 
boring Presbyteries.  Here  is  a  most  extraordinary  feature  of 
the  case.  When  the  Assembly  of  '37  dissolved  the  Third  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  its  "  Ministers,  Churches,  and  Licentiates 
Avere  directed  to  apply  without  delay  to  the  Presbj^teries  to  which 


78  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

they  most  naturally  belong,  for  admission  into  them."  When 
a  Synod  dissolves  a  Presbytery,  provision  is  always  made  (of  late 
years,  in  the  above  form)  for  attaching  its  ministers  and  churches 
to  other  Presbyteries.  ISTo  example,  it  is  believed,  to  the  con- 
trary can  be  produced  from  the  entire  annals  of  our  Church, 
commencing  with  the  organization  of  the  Presbvtery  of  Phila- 
delphia in  1705.  Every  one  conversant  with  our  system,  notices 
the  omission  in  the  proceedings  at  St.  Louis.  "How  happened 
the  Assembly  to  pass  an  order  cutting  these  men  loose  from 
their  Presbyteries,  without  instructing  them  to  seek  admission 
into  other  Presbyteries?  Is  it  compatible  with  the  elementary 
principles  of  Presbyterianism,  that  there  should  be  ministers, 
even  pastors,  in  our  connexion,  who  belong  to  no  Presbytery?" 
These  questions  come  up  spontaneousl}^  And  the  tacit  answer 
they  receive  is,  that  it  was  "an  inadvertence;  strange  and  unac- 
countable, but  still  an  inadvertence."  The  charity  we  all  need 
ourselves,  bids  us  put  this  construction  upon  the  omission,  cer- 
tainly as  to  the  great  mass  of  the  Assembly;  not  one  of  whom, 
it  is  presumed,  would  to-day  contend  that  the  Assembly  had  any 
constitutional  right  to  leave  a  large  body  of  our  ministers  in  this 
anomalous  predicament.  But  it  is  one  of  those  awkward  facts 
which  are  ever  apt  to  mix  themselves  up  with  a  policy  of  this 
kind,  that  if  all  these  ministers  and  churches  had  been  annexed 
to  other  neighboring  Presbyteries,  they  would  have  had  a  pre- 
ponderating voice  in  electing  the  delegations  of  those  Presby- 
teries to  the  next  Assembl3\  Possibly  this  was  not  thought  of 
by  the  author  of  the  device,  nor  by  a  single  one  even  of  the 
recognized  leaders  of  the  House.  But  if  not  a  motive  to  the 
ipso  facto  contrivance,  it  promises,  none  the  less,  to  be  a  potential 
result.  We  are  informed  by  Dr.  P.  J.  Breckinridge  in  his  recent 
Circular,  that  the  anticipated  "contest  for  seats"  in  the  coming 
Assembly,  "from  opposing  Presbyteries,"  will  involve  "a  dif- 
ference from  Kentucky  and  Missouri  alone,  of  at  least  twenty- 
four  members,  that  is,  a  difi'erence  of  nearly  fifty  votes  in  the 
relative  strength  of  parties."  In  other  w^ords,  it  will  make  a 
difference  of  fifty  votes,  whether  the  majorities  or  the  meagre 
minorities  of  the  ipso  factoed  Presbyteries,  are  allowed  a  repre- 
sentation at  Cincinnati.  So  far  as  is  known,  no  one  else  has 
felt  interest  enough  in  this  particular  question,  to  cypher  out  the 
sum.  Assuming  the  correctness  of  the  figures,  the  singular  effi- 
ciency of  that  clever  apparatus  becomes  transparent.  The  re- 
gret is,  that  it  should  have  occuri-ed  to  no  one  at  St.  Louis  to 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  79 

throw  open  tlie  interior  of  this  Grecian  horse,  and  let  the  As- 
sembly see  its  mailed  tenantry.  As  this  was  not  done,  and  the 
steed  is  now  within  the  walls,  it  will  no  doubt  fare  with  the 
next  Assembly  as  it  did  with  ancient  Ilium. 


IX. 

Specious  defence  of  Assembly  s  measures — Examined  and  refuted — 
Position  of  Conservative  men  in  Synod  of  Kentucky — ^'Address  to 
Presbyterians''' — Per.  P.  Ij.  Prcck's  convincing  Letter — Doctrine 
of  schism — Danville  Peview. 

The  reply  which  will  be  made  to  the  general  course  of  argu- 
ment in  these  Essays  respecting  the  summary  condemnation  of 
the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men,  is  this:  "The  offence  of 
these  men  was  open  and  avowed.  They  had  published  their 
pamphlet;  they  were  already  in  a  state  of  rebellion  against  the 
authority  of  the  Church.  What  occasion  for  a  trial  in  the  usual 
way  when  the  facts  were  before  the  world  ?"  deferring  to  pre- 
vious observations  on  this  subject,  I  answer  (1)  We  live  under  a 
Constitution.  That  Constitution  secures  to  every  person  in  our 
communion  charged  with  an  "  offence  "  a  fair  and  impartial  trial. 
It  knows  nothing  of  any  trial  except  "in  the  usual  way."  And 
it  has  given  the  General  Assembly  no  discretionary  power  for 
trying  men  except  "in  the  usual  way,"  still  less  for  convicting 
and  punishing  them  without  trial.  (2)  The  principle  here  as- 
sumed, that  the  pu]>lic  nature  of  the  alleged  offence  absolved 
the  Assembly  from  the  necessity  of  adhering  to  the  forms  of 
the  Constitution  in  dealing  with  it,  is  not  recognized  by  any  civil 
court  in  any  country  of  Christendom.  !No  State  would  endure  such 
a  court.  Liberty  could  not  live  within  its  shadow.  And  is  a 
court  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  sustained  in  attempting  to  base 
pretended  judicial  proceedings  of  the  most  sweeping  char- 
acter upon  this  anarchical  principle?  (3)  It  was  without 
warrant  or  reason  for  the  Assembly  to  "take  for  granted" 
that  the  whole  case  of  the  defei5dants  was  before  them.  The 
Criminal  Court  of  Philadelphia  refused  to  assume  this  in  the 
case  of  the  monster  1  robsi  (the  murderer  of  eight  persons) 
even  after  his  plea  of  "Guilty;"  they  still  went  on  hearing 
witnesses  and  listening  to  his  counsel.     Had  the  Declaration 


80  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

and  Testimony  been  as  bad  as  the  skilfully  culled  excerpts  of 
the  Committee  represent  it,  or  even  worse,  its  authors  were 
entitled  to  the  inalienable  right  of  a  full  and  impartial  hearing 
before  the  whole  case  had  been  "examined  into"  and  virtually 
decided  by  that  Committee.  Could  any  one  but  Omniscience 
know  that  they  might  not  have  been  able  to  explain  away  some 
of  the  offensive  things  in  the  pamphlet;  to  justify  others;  and  to 
convince  their  bitterest  opposers  of  the  purity  of  their  m.otives? 
Could  any  one  know  whether  they  might  not  modify  or  retract 
menacing  expressions,  disclaim  the  ultimate  designs  imputed  to 
them,  and,  in  the  end,  be  reconciled  to  the  Church  and  the 
Church  to  them?  Had  the  Assembly  a  right  to  assume  that 
this  was  impossible,  and  upon  that  assumption  to  deny  them  a 
proper  hearing  at  the  proper  time?  Such  is  the  answer  (already 
given  in  substance)  to  the  specious  plea  cited  above;  and  that 
it  is  not  at  all  met  by  the  allegation  that  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  men  "were  offered  a  hearing  when  the  report  of  the 
Committee  came  up  for  discussion,"  has,  I  think,  been  clearly 
shown  in  former  Essays. 

By  way  of  parrying  the  criticisms  elicited  in  so  many  quar- 
ters by  the  unique  ipso  facto  decree,  we  shall  hear  something  to 
the  following  effect:  "We  concede  that  this  particular  style  of 
penal  jurisprudence  is  not  much  in  vogue;  but  it  nevertheless 
involves  the  principle  of  subordination  as  truly  as  if  a  different 
test  had  been  employed.  The  Assembly  issued  a  certain  order 
to  the  Presbyteries.  This  order  maybe  turned  into  ridicule,  as 
it  has  been ;  but  it  raises  the  question  of  submission  to  the  su- 
preme authority  in  the  ^Church,  and  the  Presbj'tery  that  dis- 
obeys it,  puts  itself  in  a  posture  of  rebellion  against  the  General 
Assembly,  and  must  bear  the  penalty." 

This  statement,  like  so  many  others  on  behalf  of  the  major- 
ity, derives  its  whole  force  and  pertinency  from  Si  iJetiUo  principii. 
It  assumes  that  the  order  in  question  was  within  the  legal  com- 
petency of  the  Assembly,  which  is  absolutely  denied.  That  Dr. 
W.  L.  Breckinridge  and  others,  who  opposed  it  at  St.  Louis  as 
"unconstitutional,"  and  hold  to  this  opinion  still,  should  never- 
theless deem  it  best  to  submit  to  it  for  the  present,  can  neither 
invalidate  the  settled  principle  that  "an  unconstitutional  law  is 
void  ah  initio,"  nor  constitute  a  rule  for  the  government  of  others. 
If  authorities  enough  have  not  been  cited  on  this  point,  take 
the  following  additional  one  from  the  General  Assembly  of  1837: 

"We  believe  that  our  powers  as  a  Judicatory  are  limited  and 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  81 

prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Whatever  any  Assembly  may  do,  which  it  is  not  authorized  by 
the  Constitution  to  do,  is  not  binding  on  any  inferior  Judica- 
tory, nor  any  subsequent  Assembly." — {Minutes,  1837,  p.  450.) 

The  Kentucky  and  Missouri  Presbyteries,  which  have  been 
^^  ipso-fadoed,"  maintain  that  the  last  Assembly,  in  issuing  this 
edict,  committed  a  gross  usurpation  upon  the  Constitution.  On 
their  responsibility  to  the  Head  of  the  Church,  they  contend 
that  they  are  no  more  bound  by  this  order  than  they  would  have 
been  by  an  order  of  the  Assembly  requiring  them  to  dissolve 
the  Sessions  of  every  one  of  their  Churches  without  citation  or 
inquiry.  They  remonstrate  no  less  against  the  untimely  and 
needless  severity  of  the  decree — its  unkindness  to  them  and 
their  shattered  congregations,  just  emerging  from  the  horrors 
of  a  desolating  war.  In  an  "Address  to  the  Presbyterian 
People  of  Kentucky"  (Aug.  1866),  signed  by  fifty-five  of  our 
Ministers  and  Elders  in  that  State  who  had  stood  aloof  from 
the  Declaration  and  Testimony  movement,  this  subject  was  dis- 
cussed Avith  singular  ability  and  in  a  truly  Christian  spirit.  Dr. 
W.  L.  Breckinridge  having  attempted  to  turn  the  positions  laid 
down  in  this  "Address,"  was  answered  by  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Breck 
in  an  extremely  forcible  letter,  the  conclusions  of  which  cannot 
be  invalidated.  If  these  two  documents  were  disseminated 
through  our  Church,  they  could  not  fail  to  work  conviction  in 
many  minds  as  to  the  unwarranted  character  and  hurtful  tend- 
ency of  the  St.  Louis  measures.  A  few  extracts  may  exhibit 
the  grounds  of  this  remark. 

The  "unconstitutional"  orders  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1865,  it  is  well  known,  were,  and  are  still,  treated  as  a  "  dead 
letter,"  throughout  large  portions  of  the  Church.  In  the  "Ad- 
dress" above  mentioned,  these  are  eflectively  compared  with 
the  orders  of  1866,  as  follows  : 

"A  comparison  of  the  two  orders,  we  believe,  will  show  that  the  one  of  1866 
is  both  more  offensive  in  its  terms  and  more  injurious  in  its  operation  than  that 
of  1865.  The  order  of  1865  requires  us  to  refuse  admission  to  parties  who  are 
already,  by  their  own  act,  beyond  the  pale  of  our  Church  organization,  and  have 
no  legal  right  to' seats  in  our  judicatories.  That  of  1866  requires  us  to  put  out 
men  who  have  long  lived  and  labored  in  full  fellowship  with  us;  against  whom 
their  Presbyteries  have  preferred  no  charge;  and  whose  ecclesiastical  fitness  the 
Synod  has  by  an  overwhelming  majority  affirmed,  in  its  refusal  to  exclude  them. 
The  order  of  1865  requires  us  to  refuse  admittance  to  ministers  who  have  not 
only  condemned  the  course  of  the  Assembly,  but  have  repudiated  its  authority ; 
and  who,  in  the  judgment  of  that  body,  are  already  guilty  of  fully  accomplished 

6 


82  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

schism.  That  of  1866  enjoins  upon  us  to  suspend  from  our  Courts  men  whose 
chief  crime  is,  that  they  have  uttered  with  too  much  boldness  and  severity,  a 
condemnation  of  the  Assembly  which  the  Synod  itself  has  repeatedly  expressed; 
and  whose  conduct,  in  the  severest  possible  construction  of  it,  does  not  amount 
to  actual  schism,  but  is  onl;f  schismatical  in  its  tendency.  The  order  of  1865 
forbids  us  to  increase  the  roll' of  our  Presbyteries  by  the  admission  of  a  certain 
class  of  ministers  from  the  Southern  States,  but  leaves  the  integrity  of  our 
Synod  unimpaired.  That  of  1866  requires  us  to  weaken  and  diminish  our  Pres- 
byteries by  the  exclusion  of  its  rightful  members,  and  by  inevitable  consequence, 
to  introduce  strife  and  division  into  every  congregation  in  the  bounds  of  the 
Synod." 

A  further  extract  from  tliis  "Address,"  will  commend  itself 
to  all  unprejudiced  minds. 

"The  order  comes  to  us  at  a  time  when,  unhappily,  the  tie  binding  to  the 
General  Assembly,  with  many  of  our  people  and  Churches,  has  been  greatly 
weakened  by  the  agitations  to  which,  for  five  years  past,  we  have  been  subjected 
by  our  connection  with  it;  when  the  attempt  to  enforce  the  measure,  were  it 
otherwise  proper,  would  inevitably  make  great  division.  It  is  marked  with 
great  severity  to  brethren  with  whom,  we  have  refused  to  go  into  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony,  but  whose  offence,  however  judged,  we  think  could  scarcely 
justify  such  a  procedure.  It  is  wanting-  in  kindness  to  us ;  regardless  of  the 
difRculties  of  our  situation,  plunging  us,  without  help,  into  confusion  and  dis- 
tress; presenting  a  painful  alternative  of  courses,  either  of  which  is  full  of  em- 
barrassment and  evil;  of  putting  out  those  upon  whom  none  of  us,  in  view  of 
the  record  of  the  past,  are  in  condition  to  pronounce  a  severe  judgment,  with 
all  the  alienation,  division  and  strife  that  must  follow;  or  of  ourselves  being 
cast  out  and  cut  off.  Its  constitutionality  cannot  be  successfully  defended, 
either  as  to  the  requirement,  or  as  to  the  penalty.  The  Presbytery  is  the  maker 
and  judge  of  its  ministers ;  the  constitutional  guardian  of  their  rights  and  their 
character;  to  whom  it  is  as  the  jury  of  twelve  men  in  civil  justice,  and  who 
come  as  individuals  under  the  judgment  of  the  higher  Courts,  only  as  they  are 
brought  before  them  by  processes  provided  for  in  our  organic  law;  and  there  is 
not  conferred  on  the  Assembly  the  power  of  original  jurisdiction  to  order  us  to 
suspend  members  of  our  Presbyteries  with  a  peremptoriness  that  allows  us  no 
option  or  liberty  of  judging  their  disqualifications.  The  wholesale  dissolution 
of  Presbyteries  is  equally  without  justification  in  our  standards." 

"But  the  manner  of  dissolving  them  gives  to  the  procedure  an  aspect  of  still 
greater  violence.  We  are  sure  that  an  attempt  to  construct  a  constitutional  argu- 
ment to  sustain  it,  by  the  ablest  of  its  defenders,  will  be  judged  futile  and  un- 
reasonable. Our  Standards  out  of  view,  it  is  inconceivable  that  it  should  con- 
sist with  any  constitutional  compact  among  men.  A  law  that  executes  itself, 
is  without  precedent  iu  ecclesiastical  or  civil  legislation,  and  would  not  be 
tolerated  in  any  civilized  and  free  community.  When  the  State  proclaims  a 
law  and  affixes  a  penalty,  a  judge  or  jury  is  always  interposed  between  the 
offence  and  the  penalty,  to  ascertain  the  fact  of  transgression,  to  determine 
whether  the  circumstances  rendered  the  act  unavoidable,  and  to  pronounce 
judgment.  But  the  Assembly  declares  all  our  Presbyteries,  ipso  facto,  dis- 
solved— without  a  hearing  concerning  our  design  or  the  necessities  of  our  case 


The  General  Assemb£.y  of  1866.  83 

— if  our  brethren,  who  are  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimoni/  and  mem- 
bers of  these  Courts,  are  allowed  to  retain  their  seats.  This  is  surely  out  of  the 
province  of  constitutional  argument.  It  is  a  measure  altogether  unconstitu- 
tional, violent,  and  oppressive.  Especially  taken  in  connection  with  the  whole 
spirit  and  temper  of  the  late  General  Assembly,  with  the  proposition  to  remove 
from  us  the  Theological  Seminary,  endowed  by  us  only  a  few  years  since  with 
large  means,  because  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  sustain  it  among  us  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  views  of  the  Assembly,  upon  matters  judged  by  us  out  of  the 
province  of  ecclesiastical  legislation  ;  and  other  acts  not  so  vitally  affecting  us, 
but  not  less  repugnant  to  common  views  of  right  and  justice  ;  it  is  sd  repugnant 
to  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  people  of  all  our  communities,  in  and  out  of  the 
Church,  that  its  execution  would  impose  a  burden  of  popular  odium,  under 
which  the  Church  in  Kentucky  could  not  maintain  itself  or  its  institutions.  The 
order,  therefore,  we  are  constrained  to  regard  as  unwise ;  impracticable,  without 
division  and  ruin  of  many  of  our  Churches;  unconstitutional;  severe  to  brethren, 
•whose  offending  does  not  equal  the  judgment;  unkind  to  ourselves,  who  are  re- 
quired to  execute  it;  in  its  peremptoriness  an  infringement  of  our  liberty  as 
Christian  freemen ;  and  in  its  aspect  to  the  people,  within  and  without  the 
Church,  such  that  its  execution  must  destroy  their  confidence  in  our  moderation 
and  justice,  and  alienate  popular  favor  from  the  Church  ;  which  an  Assembly  of 
less  passion,  if  requested  properly  and  especially  with  unanimity,  surely  will  not 
refuse  to  reconsider;  and  which,  if  there  shall  be  found  no  disposition  to  recall, 
must  greatly  reduce  or  destroy  the  hope  that  our  Kentucky  Churches  can  live 
in  peace  or  comfort  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly." 

There  are  probably  those  in  our  Chui'ch  with  whom  appeals 
like  these  will  go  for  naught.  They  will  recognize  nothing  but 
the  naked  order  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  refusal  of  the 
Presbyteries  concerned,  to  obey  it.  In  his  masterly  reply  to 
Dr.  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  Mr.  Breck  has  defined  the  ground 
on  which  the}-  stand.  It  is  precisely  the  ground  upon  which 
confessors  and  martyrs  have  gone  to  the  stake.  In  their  de- 
liberate judgment,  the  Assembly  requires  them  to  do  wliat  they 
believe  would  be  a  moral  wrong.  It  has  issued  an  unconstitu- 
tional order;  and  commands  them  to  carry  it  out  in  excluding 
from  the  Courts  of  the  Church,  men  whose  right  to  a  seat  in 
those  Courts  is  as  good  as  their  own.  As  conscientious  men, 
they  cannot  do  it.  For  this  refusal,  Mr.  Breck  and  his  brethren 
have  been  liberally  censured  in  the  Church  newspapers;  but  his 
reasoning  has  not  been  answered,  and'  is  not  likely  to  be.  It 
would  be  refreshing  to  see,  in  place  of  blind  tirades  against 
these  conscientious  men,  some  attempt  to  argue  the  issues  pre- 
sented in  the  following  passages  from  Mr,  Breck's  letter: 

"How  you  are  able  to  reconcile  your  personal  convictions  of  the  unconstitu- 
tionality of  the  order,  which  do  not  yield  or  abate  from  renewed  and  continued 


84  The  General  Afsembly  of  186G. 

study  and  the  most  deferential  consideration  of  the  opinions  of  others,  with  the 
course  you  purpose  to  pursue,  I  still  cannot  see.  I  know  that  you  have  some 
method  of  reconciliation  satisfactory  to  yourself.  What  you  have  written  does 
not  make  it  plain  to  us.  No  deliverance  of  the  Assembly  can  be  of  superior 
authority  to  the  Constitution  ;  for  that  would  be  to  exalt  the  Assembly  above 
its  own  Constitution.  And  while  a  subject  may  submit  for  conscience'  sake,  to 
what  is  even  plainly  unconstitutional  in  a  constituted  authority,  yet  a  member 
of  the  Court  of  Christ,  in  acting  as  such,  it  seems  to  me,  is  bound  to  follow  his 
deliberate  and  immovable  convictions  of  the  demands  of  a  Constitution  he  be- 
lieves founded  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  which  he  has  covenanted  to  obey.  If 
his  personal  convictions  will  not  yield,  he  becomes  particeps  criminis  in  the 
infraction,  if  under  any  order  whatever  he  joins  in  an  act  that  breaks  it.  Any 
order  requiring  such  an  act  is  in  fact  null  and  void,  and  there  is  no  rightful 
authority  to  make  it,  nor  moral  obligation  to  obey  it.  For  the  consequences  of 
disobeying  it  he  is  not  responsible,  but  the  party  imposing  it.  It  matters  not 
that  others  differ  with  him  in  opinion,  he  is  bound  to  allow  the  opinions  of 
others  a  fair  influence  upon  his  judgment,  but  if  they  have  not  the  inhering 
force  of  truth  to  contract  or  modify  his  own,  and  his  convictions  remain  uu- 
•shaken  and  obstinate,  he  must  follow  them.  In  questions  of  mere  propriety  or 
expediency,  where  only  the  taste  or  the  judgment  is  appealed  to,  a  man  may 
very  properly  defer  to  the  opinions  of  others,  to  the  absolute  abandonment  of 
his  own;  but  not  so  iu  questions  of  morals  and  constitutions,  when  the  appeal  is 
to  the  conscience,  and  when  sitting  in  a  Court  of  Christ's  Church,  and  judging, 
under  covenant  of  fidelity  to  the  Constitution,  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his 
brethren.     This^  my  dear  brother,  is  our  ethics  in  these  matters. 

"  There  is  another  view  to  which  I  ask  your  attention.  An  unconsittutwnal 
deprivation  of  a  member  of  any  society,  of  any  of  the  privileges  of  the  society,  is 
a  wrong.  An  unconstitutional  ejection  of  an  officer  of  the  Church  from  his  place 
in  the  Court  of  which  he  is  a  member,  is  aflagrant  ivrung.  As  you  believe  the 
order  recpiiring  us  to  put  brethren  out  of  our  next  meetings  of  Presbyteries,  is 
unconstitutional,  you  must  believe  that  it  is  a  wrong.  Now,  can  an  act  of  the 
Assembly,  or  of  any  other  body  of  men,  which  does  not  remove  your  convictions 
of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  act,  make  that  act  obligatory,  or  justify  you  in 
doing  a  wrong? 

"It  does  not  avail,  I  think,  to  say  that  the  act  and  the  wrong  have  already 
been  done  by  the  General  Assembly,  for  you  and  I  will  ere  long,  at  Presbytery 
or  Synod,  be  called  to  vote  directly  for  or  against  the  exclusion  of  brethren 
under  this  order,  which  we  both  believe  to  be  unconstitutional.  You  say  you 
must  sustain  the  order,  though,  in  your  judgment,  unconstitutional,  and  of  neces- 
sity a  wrong,  and  vote  the  exclusion.  I  am  in  conscience  bound  to  act  differ- 
ently. Believing  the  order  unconstitutional  and  a  wrong,  I  must  vote  against 
the  taking  of  their  seats  from  my  brethren,  if  they  desire  them. 

"  Nor  does  it  avail  to  say  that  the  suspension  of  our  brethren  required,  is 
merely  temporary,  until  their  case  shall  have  been  decided  by  the  Assembly; 
for  were  the  infliction  upon  them  as  light  as  it  is  sought  to  represent  it,  still  it 
is  unconstitutional ;  if  the  principle  is  unconstitutional,  the  incident  is  unconsti- 
tutional ;  and  if  unconstitutional,  it  is  wrong.  But  is  it  a  light  infliction  ?  Would 
you,  my  dear  brother,  esteem  it  such,  to  be  put  out  as  a  ruler  in  God's  house 
from  its  Courts,  as  unworthy  of  being  associated  with  your  brethren  in  their 
counsels  ?     The  principles  involved,  you  will  concede,  are  of  great  magnitude. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  85 

You  have  yourself  shown  with  marked  ability,  in  your  remarks  in  the  Assembly, 
how  the  assumption  of  the  Assembly  thus  to  lay  its  hands  upon  Presbyteries 
and  Ministers,  strikes  at  the  very  arterial  principles  of  our  system :  which  you 
thought  the  Church  in  Kentucky  could  not  stand." 

"Nor  do  I  see  how  your  convictions  are  at  all  relieved  by  affirming  that  the 
temper  and  acts  of  these  brethren  have  been  the  occasion  of  bringing  on  the 
painful  crisis.  I  might  urge  a  very  different  view  of  facts.  In  the  judgment 
of  our  Synod,  the  acts  and  ordinances  of  the  Assembly  were  an  occasion  prior 
to  the  appearance  of  the  Z>ec/a?-a<?on  and  Testimon y, -which.  ^gIs  and  ordinances 
it  condemned,  and  some  of  which  it  practically  refused  to  obey.  And  in  your 
own  judgment,  the  unconstitutional  and  unprecedented  order  of  the  Assembly 
must  be  held  to  be  a  subsequent  and  the  last  occasion.  It  might  be  shown, 
also,  that  a  small  and  violent  minority  in  the  Church  in  Kentucky,  unable  to 
rule  the  Church,  and  failing  in  their  effort  to  divide  the  Church  in  the  Synod 
of  Louisville — whom  you  there  resisted,  and  whom  you  went  to  the  Assembly 
to  resist — have,  by  invoking  the  aid  of  an  Assembly  under  the  strongest  sec- 
tional bias  and  of  the  most  radical  composition,  made  much  of  the  occasion  of 
this  crisis — obtaining  from  the  Assembly  an  order  framed  with  singular  ingenuity 
for  producing  the  utmost  confusion,  embarrassing  such  good  men  as  yourself 
who  have  hitherto  stood  on  other  ground,  and  forcing  you,  as  you  think,  to  go 
against  your  personal  convictions  of  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution,  to 
uphold  it.  But  without  urging  further  this  view  of  the  facts,  it  still  remains 
that  the  order  is,  by  your  own  candid  admission,  unconstitutional ;  it  is  therefore 
a  wrong. 

"Nor  yet  again,  can  I  think  it  frees  you  and  myself  from  the  obligations  to 
obey  our  personal  convictions  of  what  is  the  teaching  of  the  Constitution,  that 
the  neglect,  disobedience  if  you  prefer,  of  the  order,  will  immediately  work  the 
dissolution  of  our  Presbyteries.  I  question  very  much  whether  that  is  the  ne- 
cessary result.  The  order  being  unconstitutional,  is  of  necessity  void,  and  it  is 
not  for  us  to  say  that  another  Assembly,  with  a  year's  observation  of  its  evils, 
will  not  reconsider  and  revoke  it.  Perfectly  sure  am  I  that  if  you  and  all  others 
who  think  it  unconstitutional  and  mischievous  in  its  inevitable  results,  would 
stand  firmly  together  in  omitting  all  action  under  it,  and  respectfully  presenting 
our  difficulties  to  the  next  Assembly,  that  body  would  be  inclined  to  hear  us  and 
give  us  some  relief.  But  admitting  your  view  of  the  results,  who  would  work 
and  be  responsible  for  the  dissolution?  Not,  certainly,  we  who  are  acting  in 
obedience  to  the  Constitution.  Must  it  not  be  those  who  have  issued  this  re- 
markable order,  such  as  never  before  issued  from  any  human  tribunal:  or  those  • 
who  in  our  own  courts  press  it  upon  us  ?  But  are  we  at  liberty  to  regard  conse- 
quences when  possessed  by  convictions  so  clear  and  strong  as  ours,  and  so  clear 
and  strong  as  yours  appear  ?  Especially,  must  we  submit  because  the  Assem- 
bly holds  over  us  so  tremendous  a  judgment,  to  constrain  us  to  do  that  which 
from  our  past  actions  it  had  reason  to  believe,  and  which  the  judgment  indicates 
it  did  believe,  we  would  think  wrong?  That  would  be  to  convert  the  Assembly 
into  an  engine  of  insufferable  despotism. 

"  The  doctrine  that  every  act  of  the  Assembly  is  a  law,  which,  good  or  bad, 
must  be  obeyed  by  all  in  the  Church  until  it  shall  be  revoked,  appears  to  me  so 
monstrous  that  I  have  thought  I  must  have  misapprehended  you  in  my  reading 
of  your  letter.  Surely  you  cannot  seriously  mean  to  teach  it,  or  expect  it  to  be 
received  by  intelligent  Presbyterians.    And  yet  on  careful  re-examination  of  the 


86  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

letter,  I  can  make  nothing  else  out  of  it.  It  is  true,  you  leave  us  the  alternative 
of  schism  in  going  out  of  the  Church,  which  you  decide  for  yourself  to  be  worse 
than  submission  to  unconstitutional  orders.  Excuse  me,  my  brother,  for  saying 
that  this  is  plainly  to  my  mind  not  only  unreasonable,  but  immoral.  It  could  be 
true  only  on  the  supposition  that  the  Assembly  is  infallible.  It  requires  only  the 
statement  of  an  extreme  case — not  likely  to  occur,  but  supposable — to  demon- 
strate its  immorality  and  its  absurdity.  If  the  Assembly  had  required  us  to 
burn  these  brethren  whom  it  requires  us  to  put  out  of  our  courts,  as  the  Church 
used  heretics  some  centuries  since,  or  to  suspend  from  their  functions  your  min- 
isterial colleagues  in  the  College  because  they  do  not  wear  white  cravats,  you 
would  not  have  thought  the  order  entitled  to  any  respect,  nor  would  you  have 
felt  it  incumbent  upon  you  to  go  out  of  the  Church.  If  this  is  an  improbable  case, 
still  it  shows  the  right  and  duty  of  private  judgment  of  individual  Christians, 
and  especially  of  those  who  bear  rule  in  the  Church,  and  that  somewhere  there 
must  be  a  point  where  the  duty  of  obedience  ceases.  Where  shall  this  line  be 
drawn,  if  not  where  I  have  located  it — where  the  acts  of  the  superior  tribunal 
are  found  to  be  opposed  by  clear  and  strong  convictions  of  a  moral  or  constitu- 
tional nature,  which  yield  to  no  efforts  to  remove  them? 

"We  may  distinguish  between  an  unconstitutional  act  of  the  Assembly,  and 
its  requirement  of  an  unconstitutional  act  of  others — though  such  a  requirement 
would  be  unconstitutional  in  the  tribunal  making  it.  To  the  one  it  may  be 
proper  sometimes  to  yield  submission— to  the  other,  I  conceive,  never.  A  father 
may  do  many  things  which  are  very  unbecoming  in  the  eyes  of  a  sou,  which  will 
not  justify  the  son  in  abandoning  the  parent  and  renouncing  his  authority;  .but 
if  the  father  require  of  the  son  criminal  and  dishonorable  acts  on  pain  of  being 
disowned  and  disinherited,  there  can  be  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  would 
be  the  course  of  duty;  that  is,  to  do  right,  let  the  father  do  as  he  may.  When 
the  Assembly  so  frames  its  unconstitutional  acts,  in  the  judgment  of  an  inferior 
tribunal,  or  any  members  of  it,  as  to  require  their  complicity,  by  making  them 
the  instruments  in  the  infraction  of  the  Constitution,  on  pain  of  dissolution  or 
exclusion,  the  case  appears  to  me  so  plain  that  I  cannot  see  how  there  can  be  a 
difference  of  opinion  about  it.  Can  they  as  honest  men  submit  themselves  to 
such  a  use  ?  Is  their  firm  refusal  a  going  out  of  the  Church?  Or  are  they 
bound  to  secede  from  the  Church,  when  their  faithful  adherence  to  the  Constitu- 
tion most  entitles  them  to  remain  in  it?  Rather  should  those  go  out  who  can- 
not accomplish  under  our  Constitution  ends  upon  which  they  are  firmly  set,  and 
which  they  will  not  abandon. 

'  "  Of  this  nature  is  the  order  of  the  late  Assembly,  which  is  producing  such 
confusion.  For  five  years  the  Assembly,  in  the  judgment  of  our  Synod,  has 
been  passing  unconstitutional  acts.  Since  they  did  not  press  anything  uncon- 
stitutional on  us,  with  sorrow  and  regret  we  have  yet  submitted  under  protest. — 
But  now  the  nature  of  the  Assembly's  action  is  changed.  It  requires  us  to  be- 
come its  instruments  and  executioners  in  what  to  our  minds  is  flagrantly  uncon- 
stitutional, unkind,  unjust,  and  essentially  wrong.  What  can  we  do,  but  in  our 
places  in  the  Church  firmly  but  respectfully  decline  the  agency  it  has  imposed 
on  us  with  such  heavy  penalty — leaving  the  whole  responsibility  to  the  As- 
sembly ? 

"This  you  say  destroys  all  government.  It  should  be  remembered  that  this 
fundamental  right  of  private  judgment,  if  it  appear  unfavorable  in  its  influence 
as  to  the  external  organic  unity  of  the  Church,  is  a  part  of  the  very  genius  of 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  87 

Protestantism,  which,  as  far  as  it  is  a  necessary  evil,  is  compensated  by  bene- 
fits of  incalculable  value ;  and  it  should  impress  upon  all  ecclesiastical  tri- 
bunals the  necessity  of  carefully  confining  their  acts  clearly  within  the  limits 
of  their  Constitutions.  But  let  me  ask,  is  not  usurpation  and  disregard  of 
the  Constitution  by  tribunals,  rather  than  the  right  of  private  judgment,  the 
destruction  of  government  ?  And  is  not  resistance  to  usurpation  and  infrac- 
tions of  the  Constitution,  the  means  of  preserving  government  ?  When  the 
usurpation  is  in  an  inferior  tribunal,  it  may  be  remedied  by  appeal  to  the  superior; 
if  it  is  in  the  supreme  tribunal,  and  amounts  to  a  radical  change,  then  there  comes 
the  alternative  of  allowing  a  revolution  of  the  government  by  the  tribunal  or  re- 
volution in  resistance.  I  need  not  refresh  your  mind  with  the  sufferings  to 
which  God's  people  in  other  ages  have  submitted  rather  than  submit  to  criminal 
usurpations  by  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  Church ;  they  are  familiar  to 
you.  I  will  only  ask  you  further,  in  reference  to  this  particular  point,  what  in- 
terest have  we  in  preserving  a  government  which  is  to  be  taken  off  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  that  Constitution,  we  believe  founded  in  the  word  of  God, 
and  which  we  have  subscribed — so  altered  as  to  be  no  longer,  if  these  changes 
are  allowed,  the  government  we  have  covenanted  to  obey  ?" 

This  is  not  declamation,  but  reasoning,  calm  and  conclusive. 
Fair-minded  men  will  appreciate  it.  There  is  nothing  here  that 
savors  of  contempt  for  lawful  authority.  It  is  gross  defamation 
to  hold  those  brethren  up  as  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the 
Church.  They  are  men  Avho  love  the  Church.  They  desire  its 
purity  and  prosperity.  They  would  make  any  reasonable  sacri- 
fice to  be  able  to  defer  to  its  requirements  and  preserve  their 
cherished  relations  to  it.  In  a  matter  of  speculative  opinion,  or 
a  matter  of  feeling,  they  might  give  way ;  but  they  cannot  sur- 
render principle  even  for  the  sake  of  the  General  Assembly. 
They  must  keep  a  good  conscience  at  whatever  cost ;  and  should 
the  Church  of  their  fathers  be  rent  asunder,  the  responsibility 
must  rest  where  it  belongs.  It  is  not  necessarily  the  withdraw- 
ing party  which  contracts  the  guilt  of  schism.  A  very  great 
evil  it  certainly  is,  that  the  body  of  Christ  should  be  divided. 
Those  who  separate  from  a  Christian  Church  should  be  able  to 
give  a  suiScient  reason  for  it.  And  what  constitutes  a  "suffi- 
cient reason?"  The  I^ejjeiiory  slvAl  answer:  ""We  venture  to 
say  that  no  man  is  at  liberty  to  labor  for  a  division  of  the  Church 
to  which  he  belongs,  unless  he  and  others  are  called  upon  to 
profess  what  they  think  erroneous  [or  forbidden,  we  may  add, 
to  profess  what  they  may  think  to  be  true],  or  required  to  do 
luhat  they  think  lorong."  {Bib.  Hejy.,  Oct.  1834.)  This  statement 
of  the  law  of  schism  finds  plenary  illustration  and  vindication 
in  the  Lutheran  Reformation  and  in  the  martyrology  of  the 
Church.     It  is  accepted  by  the  members  of  the  ipso-factoed  Pres- 


88  The  General  Assembly  of  186G. 

byteries.  The  Assembly  has  enjoined  them  to  exclude  from 
their  seats  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony.  Their 
answer  is,  that  the  Assembly  herein  commands  them  "  to  do 
what  they  think  wrong.''  They  may  err  in  judgment;  but  this 
is  their  conviction,  and  whatever  happens  they  must  abide  by  it. 
It  is  hazardous  for  any  Church  to  put  a  body  of  learned,  pious, 
and  faithful  men  in  a  position  like  this.  With  such  men,  a  con- 
flict between  ecclesiastical  authority  and  conscience  can  end  only 
in  one  way;  and  then  when  the  Church  is  rent,  the  question  will 
remain  for  arbitrament  at  another  tribunal,  whether  the  sin  of 
schism  lie  at  their  door  or  with  the  Judicatory  that  issued  the 
coercive  mandate.  There  may,  peradventure,  be  something  in 
these  views  worthy  the  attention  of  the  next  General  Assembly. 
On  this  whole  subject  we  may  adopt  the  language  of  an  ad- 
mirable article  in  the  Danville  Review  for  September,  1861,  on 
the  famous  political  deliverance  of  the  Assembly  of  that  year. 
Throughout  the  article,  that  deliverance  is  treated  as  the  "un- 
constitutional" and  impotent  action  of  a  body  which  was  "  not  a 
free  Assembly."  And  the  writer  observes,  in  terms  scarcely 
less  apposite  to  1866  than  they  were  to  1861,  "The  times  are 
sadly  out  of  joint;  the  country  is  in  a  whirlwind  of  excitement; 
a  state  of  things  exists  altogether  anomalous,  unexpected,  dread- 
ful; the  ministers  and  people  of  God  have  been  most  power- 
fully, though  most  naturally,  affected  by  the  universal  furor. 
In  these  circumstances,  no  rash,  irretrievable  step  should  have 
been  taken.  Moderation,  forbearance,  a  patient  waiting  for  the 
return  of  reason  and  the  sway  of  established  principles,  might 
have  saved  the  Church.  Alas!  alas  !  our  virtue  has  not  proved 
equal  to  the  occasion.  Still,  we  will  hope  against  hope.  The 
providence  and  the  grace  of  God  may  be  better  to  ps  than  our 
fears.  He  may  restore  peace  and  unity  to  the  land ;  he  may 
restore  the  unity  of  the  Church.  The  good  day  may  come  (oh, 
that  it  may  come  soon!)  when  our  hearts  shall  be  softened,  our 
errors  realized,  our  sins  repented  .of;  when  brotherly  love  shall 
reassert  its  divine  power,  and  so  weld  us  together  again  that  our 
peace  shall  be  as  a  river  and  our  righteousness  as  the  waves  of 
the  sea." 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  89 


X. 

The  two  paths — Real  issues — Danville  Bevieio  prophesymg — A  Con- 
servative Church — Coercive  repentance — Dr.  Van  Dyke — The 
South  repelled — Israel  and  Benjamin — New-school  ^^ Platform" — 
Politico-ecclesiastical  Oracles  —  Question  of  Union  — Dr.  Mc  Cosh's 
plea  for  Freedmen — Dr.  Humj)hrey's  resolution — Co-operation 
refused — Southern  Assembly — Ciisis  with  our  Church. 

"When  the  late  General  Assembly  convened,  there  were  two 
lines  of  policy  open  to  it,  each  of  which  had  its  able  and  zealous 
advocates.  One  was  technical  and  sectarian ;  the  other,  compre- 
hensive and  catholic.  One  contemplated  chiefly  the  mainte- 
nance of  discipline  at  home;  the  other,  the  spiritual  necessities 
of  the  country.  The  inspiration  of  the  one  came  from  the  war; 
that  of  the  other,  from  the  return  of  peace.  One  savored  of  ret- 
ribution upon  wrong-doers;  the  other,  of  clemency  towards  the 
erring.  One  looked  sternly  towards  the  past;  the  other,  benignly 
towards  the  future.  I  speak  of  the  cardinal  nature  of  these  two 
policies.  Either  might  have  been  adopted  for  substance  with- 
out excluding  the  other.  Either  might  have  been  made  so  abso- 
lute and  engrossing,  as  to  leave  little  or  no  place  for  the  other. 
Which  of  the  two  paths  was  actually  taken,  and  how  tar  it  was 
pursued,  an  efl:brt  has  been  made  to  show  in  these  papers.  There 
are  some  lines  of  light  running  through  the  picture,  but  the  his- 
tory of  that  memorable  Assembly  is  summed  up  in  one  word, 
Discipline.  This  gave  complexion  to  the  whole  protracted 
session.  This  was  the  pivot  upon  which  everything  turned. 
Fellowship  with  other  Churches;  the  cause  of  education  and 
missions;  the  healing  of  our  own  breaches;  the  necessities  of  the 
Freedmen;  the  wants  of  a  suffering  land;  while  not  absolutely 
ignored,  were  all  kept  in  abeyance  to  the  enforcement  of  disci- 
pline against  certain  offending  brethren. 

It  was  not,  and  is  not  now,  one  of  the  issues  between  the 
majority  and  the  minority,  whether  "heresy"  and  insubordina- 
tion should  be  repressed.  But  the  minority  insisted  that  disci- 
pline should  be  administered  "in  the  ordinary  way  and  by  the 
ordinary  methods."  They  protested  against  the  exaggerated 
importance  ascribed  to  the  Louisville  business.    They  contended 


90  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

that  inasmucli  as  tlie  rebellion  had  been  siibdaecl  and  slavery 
dead  and  buried  for  upwards  of  a  twelve-month,  the  deliverances 
of  five  successive  Assemblies  on  "loyalty  and  freedom"  could 
gain  no  force  from  a  sixth  iteration.  And  they  strenuously 
insisted  that  our  Church  had  duties  to  discharge  to  itself  and  to 
the  country,  quite  as  indispensable  as  the  summary  visitation  of 
penalties  upon  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony. 
Time,  the  crucible  of  all  human  opinions  and  actions,  will  test 
the  validit}^  of  these  views,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  measures 
against  which  tliey  were  vainly  directed.  "By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  tliem."  That  the  seed  sown  at  St,  Louis  in  May 
last,  will  produce  an  abundant  harvest  of  some  sort,  does  not 
admit  of  a  question.  The  crop  as  yet  is  barely  above  ground. 
But  does  it  require  a  very  practised  eye  to  see  whether  the  tares 
or  the  Avheat  are  likely  to  predominate?  The  majority,  it  is 
true,  have  the  satisfiiction  of  knowing,  that  they  have  initiated 
a  policy  which  promises  to  exclude  the  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony men  and  their  cong'regations  from  our  communion,  be- 
sides administering  incidentally  a  wholesome  reproof  to  the 
Synods  of  jSTew  Jersey  and  Philadelphia,  and  various  Presby- 
teries and  pastors  throughout  the  Church,  for  presuming  to  say 
that  the  restrictive  enactments  of  '65  are  "a  dead  letter."  But 
whether  this" was  the  full  measure  of  service  demanded  of  that 
Assembly  by  the  Church  and  the  country;  whether  it  is  even 
likely  to  be  of  any  real  advantage  either  to  the  Church  or  the 
country;  remains  to  be  seen.  Let  us  look  at  this  point  a  little 
in  some  of  its  principal  aspects. 

The  Danville  Review  of  Sept.  '61,  in  the  admirable  article 
already  mentioned,  observes:  "If  the  division  of  the  Church  were 
accomplished  in  the  interim  of  the  political  struggle,  and  that 
should  end  in  the  restoration  of  national  unity,  a  little  reflection 
would  have  convinced  every  one  that  the  restoration  of  the  unity 
of  the  Church,  so  far  from  following  as  a  matter  of  course,  would 
be  well-nigh  impossible.  The  professed  ground  of  difficulty,  the 
act  protested  against  and  made  the  basis  of  divisive  measures, 
would  remain  unrepealed  after  the  political  difficulty,  out  of 
which  it  grew,  was  adjusted;  and  it  required  no  prophet's  ken 
to  tell,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  that  the  day  of 
reunion  would  be  far  distant.  The  nature  of  man,  the  history 
of  the  past,  the  many  conflicting  interests  likely  to  be  developed 
during  a  period  of  separation,  the  complicated  working  of  moral 
causes  in  the  heart,  all  gave  warning,  that  were  the  Church  once 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  91 

divided,  its  reconstruction  conld  not  reasonably  be  anticipated, 
even  if  the  States  were  brought  together  again  under  the  old 
common  paternal  government." 

This  writer  surely  borrowed  for  the  time  the  mantle  of  a 
prophet.  Were  he  writing  to-day,  he  could  not  describe  with 
greater  accuracy  what  has  taken  place,  than  he  exhibited  five 
years  ago  in  predicting  what  must  take  place.  He  had  studied 
human  nature  to  some  purpose:  and  clearly  saw%  that  when  sub- 
jected to  such  an  ordeal  as  was  preparing  for  it,  it  would  inev- 
itably fail.  And  it  has  failed.  The  "political  difficulty"  has 
been  disposed  of.  The  "national  unity"  has  been  (in  a  sort) 
restored.  But  the  Churck,  at  least  our  branch  of  the  Church, 
remains  divided,  and  the  line  of  division  was  made  broader  and 
deeper  at  St.  Louis  than  it  was  before.  With  whatever  dis- 
tinctness events  might  have  foreshadowed  this  result,  it  is  none 
the  less  to  be  deplored.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  the  conserva- 
tive ELEMENT  in  liumau  society.  In  all  its  past  history,  our  own 
Church  has  been  pre-eminently  of  this  character.  Not  conserva- 
tive in  the  spirit  of  a  supercilious  bigotry.  ISTot  conservative  in 
the  type  of  an  icy  formalism.  Not  conservative  in  the  sense  of 
an  inflexible  hostility  to  all  progress.  But  conservative,  as  gov- 
erned by  fixed  'principles,  instead  of  swaying  to  the  vagrant  tides 
of  passion,  expedienc}^  and  popularity.  Conservative,  as  a 
shield  and  sanctuary  of  God's  truth,  in  opposition  to  every  form 
of  heresy.  Conservative,  as  opposing  a  calm,  majestic  front  to 
the  turbulent  waves  of  radicalism  which  ever  and  anon  pour 
themselves  in  fury  over  the  land,  and  ingulf  the  helpless 
Churches  that  are  found  ensnared  in  the  acrid  pools  and  eddies 
of  politics.  Conservative,  as  the  steadfast  friend  of  law  and 
order  in  Church  and  State.  Conservative,  in  regarding  the 
power  received  from  its  Lord,  as  given  it  "to  edification  and  not 
to  destruction. r  Conservative,  as  at  once  the  minister  of  justice 
and  the  herald  of  mercy:  firm  but  gentle  in  the  exercise  of  pre- 
rogative; and,  like  its  Divine  Founder,  choosing  rather  to  con- 
ciliate and  win  the  erring  by  a  wise  and  patient  kindness,  than 
to  crush  them  by  sheer  authority.  Animated  by  this  spirit,  our 
Church  has  not  only  held  on  its  prosperous  way  through  storms 
which  have  convulsed  and  shattered  other  denominations;  but 
at  some  of  those  great  crises  recorded  in  our  history,  it  has  ren- 
dered the  Republic  services  which  leading  Statesmen  have  grate- 
fully pronounced  to  be  above  all  price. 

Alas,  "How  is  the  gold  become  dim  !    How  is  the  most  fine 


92  TuE  General  Assembly  of  18G6. 

gold  changed!"  Two  of  our  General  Assemblies  have  met 
since  the  termination  of  the  war.  What  have  they  done  to 
staunch  the  country's  wounds,  to  soothe  its  sorrows,  to  subdue 
its  animosities,  to  restore  a  true  and  stable  unity?  Is  not  this' 
the  august  and  beneficent  mission  of  the  Church,  to  pour  oil  on 
troubled  waters,  to  allay  vindictive  passions,  to  set  an  example 
of  forbearance  and  charity?  Conceding  all  that  can  in  reason 
be  claimed  respecting  the  sin  of  the  late  rebellion  and  the  duty 
of  testifying  against  it,  was  it  needful,  was  it  wise,  was  it  after 
the  manner  of  our  great  Exemplar,  to  do  this  in  a  way  which 
could  only  inflame  existing  resentments  and  provoke  retalia- 
tion ?  Can  any  one  detect  in  the  tleliverances  of  those  two 
Assemblies  the  Scripture  method  of  dealing  with  wrong-doers? 
Practically,  our  brethren  who  fell  in  with  the  rebellion  did  not 
reo-ard  themselves  as  wron2:-doers.  We  of  the  ISTorth  thouo:lit, 
and  still  think,  otherwise ;  and,  taking  our  own  view  of  the 
case,  could  anything  have  been  less  adapted  to  convince  them 
of  their  errors  and  bring  them  to  repentance,  than  the  tone  of 
our  official  decrees  against  them?  Is  this  the  Divine  method  of 
dealing  with  sinners?  Is  it  the  regimen  which  melts  us  into 
contrition  when  we  have  wronged  either  God  or  man?  I  am 
not  impugning  motives.  It  was  no  doubt  an  honest  zeal  for  the 
purity  of  the  Church  which  prompted  the  measures  referred  to. 
But,  as  Bishop  Jewel  says,  "wise  clemency  will  do  more  good 
than  rigid  severity." 

"Earthly  power  doth  then  show  likcst  God's, 
When  Mercy  seasons  Justice." 

Had  the  Church,  instead  of  turning  this  frowning  visage 
upon  her  alienated  children,  held  out  the  olive-branch  and  in- 
vited them  back  to  their  home,  peradventure  she  might  have 
been  somewhat  nearer  the  end  she  was  aiming  at  than  she  is  to- 
day. And  since  the  good  Providence  of  God  had  smiled  upon 
our  cause  and  re-established  the  supremacy  of  the  national  gov- 
ernment, was  it  not  meet  that  the  Northern  Church  should  in- 
augurate a  policy  of  oblivion  and  conciliation?  Or,  since  our 
gallant  Army  and  Navy  had  plucked  this  honor  from  her  hand, 
could  she  wot  follow  in  their  steps?*  True  courage  and  mag- 
nanimity are  twin  virtues,  and,  like  all  other  virtues,  of  noblest 

*  The  writer  has  yet  to  meet  or  hear  of  the  first  Naval  officer  or  West  Point 
man,  who  is  not  in  favor  of  a  liberal  and  conciliatory  policy  toward  the  South. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  93 

growth  when  found  near  the  Cross,  It  is  only  a  mutilated  Chris- 
tianity that  ever  discards  them.  At  the  first  whisper  of  peace, 
the  hrave  men  who  fought  our  battles,  had  hastened  down  from 
Ebal,  and  were  now,  from  the  green  crest  of  Gerizim,  invoking 
benedictions  upon  the  hosts  they  met  but  yesterday  in  mortal 
strife.  Was  it  to  be  expected  that  the  Church  w^ould  still  linger 
on  Ebal?  Did  not  all  Europe  look  to  see  her  go  up  and  stand 
side  by  side  with  our  worn  and  wounded  soldiers  in  the  Mount 
of  Blessing?  Was  there  no  guerdon  worth  her  seeking  in  that 
triple  benediction:  "Blessed  are  the  meek" — "Blessed  are  the 
merciful" — "Blessed  are  the  peace-makers"?  Had  not  the 
country  a  right  to  look  to  its  Christian  men  and  women  for  an 
example  of  these  Christ-like  tempers?  Our  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence says  even  of  Great  Britain:  "We  must  hold  them 
as  we  hold  all  other  nations,  as  enemies  in  war;  in  peace, 
FRIENDS."  Must  the  Presbyterian  Church  go  to  Thomas  Jefer- 
son  for  a  lesson  of  generosity  and  charity?  In  a  time  of  pro- 
found "peace,"  are  we  to  refuse  to  treat  as  "friends"  a  great 
body  of  ministers  and  people,  entirely  at  one  with  us  in  doctrine 
and  order,  and  constituting,  up  to  the  time  of  the  war,  the  most 
conservative  and  reliable  portion  of  our  Church  in  all  its  con- 
tests with  theological  error  and  pseudo-schemes  of  moral  and 
social  reform  ? 

It  is  no  reply  to  this,  to  allege  that  the  last  Assembly  mollified 
the  harsh  terms  of  the  deliverance  of  'Q^,  and  opened  the  door 
of  return  a  little  wider.  This  statement  is  based  upon  two  papers 
offered  respectively  by  Dr.  Schenck  and  Dr.  Gurley.  Unfor- 
tunate!}'the  foundation  will  not  sustain  the  superstructure.  For 
Dr.  Gurley's  paper  .utters  solemn  warning  against  disobeying 
or  disparaging  the  testimonies  of  the  General  Assembly  on  loy- 
alty and  freedom :  and  Dr.  Schenck's  notifies  men  who  were 
engaged  in  the  rebellion,  that  they  "will  be  received  back  when- 
ever they  shall  have  comjMed  with  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the 
last  General  Asscmbl}'."  That  is  to  say,  all  the  rigorous  enact- 
ments of  '65  are  in  full  force,  as  Dr.  Stanton  has  shown  in  his 
late  elaborate  article  in  the  Church  newspapers.  Whoever  will, 
may  heed  these  monitions  against  countenancing  the  "  dead-let- 
ter theory."  Practically,  the  Church  has  paid  no  respect  to 
those  memorable  decrees.  But  in  form  they  are  neither  repealed, 
nor  essentially  mitigated.  Nor  are  we  left  in  any  doubt  as  to 
the  purposes  of  the  brethren  .who  shaped  the  St.  Louis  measures. 
When  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  a  minute, 


94  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

expressing  the  ''fraternal  aiFection"  of  the  Assembly  for  the 
"other  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Clmrch,"  exhorting  our 
ministers  and  people  to  "cultivate  fraternal  intercourse"  with 
them,  and  proposing  a  joint  committee  of  inquiry  touching  a 
union  of  the  two  bodies,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Van  Dyke  moved  that 
"the  report  be  so  amended  as  to  include  the  eight  liundred  and 
fifty  Ministers  in  the  Southern  States."  The  mover  enforced 
his  amendment  in  a  brief  and  eloquent  speech,,  in  the  course  of 
whicli  he  said : 

"T  confess  I  woukl  like  to  hear  an  amendment  to  that  report,  so  that  we 
might  include  another  body  of  Presbyterians.  There  are  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  Presbyterian  ministers  in  the  Southern  States — a  body  of  men  as  large  as 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  a  body  whose  soundness  in  the  Faith  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly  has  heartily  endorsed  within  six  years.  I  confess  it  struck  my 
mind  painfully  that  amid  all  these  interchanges  of  fraternal  affection,  while  we 
are  stretching  out  our  hands  across  the  ocean  to  those  brethren  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  to  our  brethren  in  Ireland,  and  to  our  brethren  of  the  New 
School  Assembly,  and  while  we  are  talking  about  a  marriage  union  with  them, 
there  has  not  been  said  on  this  floor  a  single  word  of  kindness  or  affection  for 
our  own  brethren  with  whom  we  took  sweet  counsel  and  went  to  the  House  of 
God  in  company  until  five  years  ago — not  a  single  word,  except  those  precious 
words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  a  stranger  coming  among  you  from  a  Dutch 
Church. 

"  In  regard  to  this  question  of  the  Freedmen,  a  representative  from  the  Church 
of  Scotland  has  well  declared  this  to  be  an  unsolved  question.  You  have  put 
your  endorsement  upon  the  record  in  regard  to  the  zeal  and  faith  of  these  South- 
ern brethren  in  a  way  which  you  can  never  blot  out.  In  that  record  you  give  a 
description  of  the  labors  of  the  brethren  in  the  Southern  States  in  behalf  of  the 
negro  population  of  those  States.  You  declare  in  that  Deliverance  that  pro- 
vision, ample  and  extraordinary,  is  made  in  all  their  churches  that  the  colored 
man  may  hear  the  pure  Gospel.  You  declare  further  that  men  are  engaged  in 
preaching  to  these  colored  men,  not  of  inferior  talents,  but  the  first  men  in  the 
Church.  And  now  .when  we  are  here  in  a  grand  Love  Feast,  and  propose  to 
marry  ourselves  with  another  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — in  the  midst 
of  this  exercise  of  Christian  charity,  there  is  no  man  to  say  one  word  for  these 
850  men  down  South,  who,  in  the  midst  of  poverty  and  suffering,  are  grappling 
with  this  great  question;  and  the  only  report  we  have  from  them  in  regard  to 
their  connection  with  this  great  problem,  is  what  you  will  find  in  the  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Freedmen." 

It  would  be  superfluous  to  state  that  the  usual  motion  was 
promptly  made  and  carried  (made  in  this  instance  by  Dr.  West) 
to  lay  the  amendment  on  the  table.  The  Inminous  and  con- 
vincing Protest  of  Dr.  Van  Dyke  and  others  against  this  dispo- 
sition of  the  matter,  was  prudently  left  without  an  attempted 
answer.  [Miimies,  General  Assembly,  p.  51.)  The  proceeding- 
could  not  be  misinterpreted.     The  wall  of  separation  between 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  95 

ourselves  and  the  Presbyterians  of  the  South,  was  to  be  made 
stroiiger  and  higher.  No  step  was  to  be  taken  on  our  part, 
which  might  savor  of  conciliation.  All  manner  of  fraternal 
things  might  be  said,  and,  for  the  most  part,  properly  said,  re- 
specting a  body  we  had  severed  from  our  communion  chiefly  on 
the  ground  of  grave  docirival  errors.  But  another  portion  of  our 
household,  of  admitted  soundness  in  the  faith,  swept  from  us  by 
the  events  of  a  terrific  war,  are  removed  from  us  so  much  farther 
than  our.  New  School  brethren,  that  we  cannot  even  appoint  a 
committee  of  inquiry  to  ascertain  whether  the  way  be  open  to 
resume  friendly  relations  with  them.  So  offensive  is  the  sub- 
ject to  the  Assembly,  that  in  the  course  of  a  very  short  speech 
introducing  it  to  the  House,  a  brother  is  interrupted  or  called 
to  order  by  five  different  members,  Dr.  McLean,  Mr.  Reinboth, 
Mr.  Ilines,  Mr.  Heckman,  and  Dr.  West;  the  fitting  prelude  to 
the  tabling  of  his  resolution.  What  serious  harm  could  result 
from  such  an  inquiry,  is  not  quite  so  apparent  as  is  the  fact  that 
it  might,  possibly,  have  contributed  to  allay  resentments,  and 
foster  peace  and  good-will  not  only  within,  but  beyond,  the 
sphere  of  these  two  Churches.  That  an  organic  re-union  would 
be  practicable  at  present,  is  not  asserted.  We  have  no  evidence 
that  the  Southern  Church  is  prepared  for  it.  Ample  proof  there 
is,  that  that  Church  is  enjoying  a  rare  degree  of  harmon}^;  that 
it  is  addressing  itself  to  its  very  arduous  work  with  alacrity  and 
energy;  and  that  many  of  its  parched  fields  have  been  refreshed 
with  the  gentle  dews  of  Divine  grace.  We  are  assured,  also,  by 
their  Supreme  Judicatory,  that  they  earnestly  desire  to  establish 
and  maintain 'Christian  fellowship  with  all  evangelical  denomi- 
nations. That  their  prevalent  feeling  towards  our  own  Church 
is  not  precisely  what  has  been  attributed  to  them  by  partizan 
writers,  may  be  inferred  from  the  circumstance  (ofiicially  stated) 
that  "during  the  entire  sessions  of  their  General  Assembly  at- 
Memphis  in  November  last,  the  Assembly  of  the  Northern 
Church  was  not  once  named,  nor  even  alluded  to."  This  does 
not  prove  that  they  are  read}'  for  a  formal  re-union  with  us. 
But  it  shows  that  the  hinderances  to  the  renewal  of  fraternal 
relations  between  the  Churches,  are  not  on  their  side.  And 
since  any  initiatory  steps  looking  to  this  result,  must  of  neces- 
sity proceed  from  us,  it  is  for  our  Church  to  decide  how  long 
the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  and  the  welfare  of  our  country 
will  permit  the  present  entire  isolation  of  the  two  bodies  to  con- 
tinue. 


96  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

That  it  cannot  be  permanent,  may  be  assumed  witli  absolute 
confidence.  These  two  great  Churches  have  too  much  in  com- 
mon, too  much  pertaining  to  God's  truth  and  to  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  too  many  hallowed  memories,  to  be  kept  asunder 
by  any  political  differences,  or  any  antipathies  engendered  by  the 
war.  Those  who  imagine  that  the  Southern  Presbyterians  are 
never  to  resume  their  friendly  intercourse  with  us  unless  they 
come  and  ask  it  on  their  hands  and  knees,  have  not  yet  emerged 
from  the  lurid  atmosphere  of  the  battle-field.  Time  is  against 
them.  The  deep  forces  of  society  are  against  them.  The 
omnipotence  of  Christian  love  is  against  them.  With  the 
energy  of  a  revived  Christianity,  these  Churches  will  by  and  by 
gravitate  towards  each  other  with  a  momentum  which  will  grind 
to  powder  the  disgusts  and  aversions  of  past  confiicts.  It  may 
even  occur  in  the  course  of  five  or  ten  years,  that  the  graphic 
and  touching  spectacle  of  Judges  xxi.  2,  3,  will  be  repeated  on 
our  own  soil.  .  That  warlike  Benjamin,  forever  "raveniug  like  a 
wolf,"  after  perpetrating  a  flagitious  crime  and  then  drenching 
themselves  in  the  blood  of  their  brethren,  had  been  almost  anni- 
hilated by  the  allied  arm3^  Twenty-five  thousand  were  slain. 
Six  hundred  only  survived.  The  slaughter  was  barely  over, 
when  the  other  tribes  held  a  General  Assembly,  the  minutes  of 
which  have  come  down  to  us.  Those  who  may  be  curious  to 
see  the  stern,  retributive  measures  which  patriotism  and  piety 
extorted  from  the  victors,  will  find  the  key  to  them  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage: — "And  the  people  came  to  the  house  of  God, 
and  abode  there  till  even  before  God,  and  lifted  up  their  voices 
and  we2')t  sore;  and  said,  0  Lord  God  of  Israel,  why  is  this  come 
to  pass  in  Israel,  that  there  should  be  to-dai)  one  tribe  lacking  in  Israel?'' 
It  does  not  appear  that  this  princely  display  of  magnanimitj^  and 
tenderness  towards  an  erring  tribe  (which,  by  the  way,  had  as 
yet  "given  no  evidence  of  repentance"),  was  either  displeasing 
to  their  covenant  God,  or  damaging  to  the  interests  of  "religion 
and  loyalty."  True,  that  transaction  occurred  under  the  "  minis- 
tration of  death:"  and  are  we  who  enjoy  the  light  and  liberty  of 
the  "ministration  of  the  Spirit,"  to  ask  counsel  of  a  generation 
ofLevites?  "Dost  thou  teach  ms. a"'  Perhaps  not.  Yet  there 
are  some  things  in  the  Old  Testament  "written  for  our  admo- 
nition." And  who  knows  but  this  may  be  one  of  them?  In 
the  bosom  of  every  man  who  has  tasted  the  Divine  mercy,  there 
is  an  under-current  of  sympathy  which  must  fall  in  with  the 
^  '     tone  of  the  scene  here  depicted.     A  marvellous  scene  it  was. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  97 

Far  more  strange  than  it  would  be  for  a  Christian  Church  to  "go 
and  do  likewise."  Peradventure  the  day  may  come,  when  our 
Church  will  feel  that  it  is  neither  compromising  its  own  dig- 
nity, nor  jeoparding  the  cause  of  righteous  discipline,  to  go 
even  to  Mizpeh  for  a  lesson  of  forgiveness  and  clemency. 
When  that  time  arrives,  there  will  no  longer  be  "a  tribe  lack- 
ing in  Israel." 

But  we  must  return  from  the  General  Assembly  of  Mizpeh 
to  that  of  St.  Louis.  "While  the  South  was  repelled,  the  E'ew- 
echool  branch  of  the  Church  was  saluted  with  the  cordiality  and 
warmth  of  an  early  attachment.  Of  the  various  things  which 
were  said  and  done  between  the  two  Assemblies,  no  notice  can 
be  taken  here.  But  there  is  a  single  feature  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  New-school  Assembly,  which  will  probably  make  many 
an  one  in  our  Church  draw  back,  who  had  contemplated  a  pos- 
sible reunion  of  the  two  bodies,  with  no  special  repugnance,  if 
not  with  satisfaction,  I  refer  to  its  famous  minute  on  the  state 
of  the  country — a  paper  regarded  by  many  excellent  men  in 
that  communion  with  marked  regret  and  disapprobation.  The 
prime  topics  of  this  minute,  are,  the  "Freedman's  Bureau:" 
the  "Civil  Right's  Bill:"  "the  right  of  suffrage  for  the 
colored  man:"  "the  constitutional  basis  of  representation:" 
and  "the  punishment  of  traitors:" — a  deliverance  which  reads 
precisely  like  the  "Platform"  of  a  political  Convention.  And 
this  from  a  Court  of  Jesus  Christ!  Our  Church,  I  take  it,  is 
hardly  ready  for  these  banns  yet.  Our  people  have  not  quite 
forgotten  that  "there  is  another  King,  One  Jesus."  They  still 
retain  something  of  the  antiquated  prejudice,  that  it  is  not  ex- 
actly the  prerogative  of  a  Church  Judicatory  to  instruct  them 
what  political  party  they  are  to  act  with.  If  this  necessity 
were  laid  upon  them,  considering  the  proverbial  inaptitude  of 
clergymen  to  deal  with  political  issues,  they  would  doubtless 
prefer  the  dictation  of  a  Session  made  up  of  one  minister  and 
from  two  to  ten  laymen,  to  that  of  a  General  Assembly  com- 
posed (usually)  of  two  ministers  to  one  layman.  To  this  it  may 
be  added,  that  as  Congress  frequently  matures  and  passes  its 
most  important  measures  on  the  eve  of  its  final  adjournment, 
several  months  would  elapse  (in  alternate  years)  before  the 
General  Assembly  could  pronounce  upon  them  and  issue  the 
proper  instructions :  whereas  a  Session  can  be  convened  on  an 
hour's  notice.  At  this  moment,  e.g.  we  could  readily  learn 
from  our  Sessions,  whether  we  ought  to  favor  or  oppose  the 


98  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

"Impeachment,"  the  Bankrupt  Act,  and  the  Bills  for  adjusting 
the  functions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  for  reducing  the  currency, 
for  defining  the  tenure  of  oftice,  and  for  regulating  the  street 
railroads  in  Washington.  These  are  questions  of  moment  ahout 
which  our  people,  "having  no  guide,  overseer,  or  ruler,'-'  are 
sadly  divided.  And  as  things  are,  they  can  get  no  infallihle  cue 
from  the  Church  before  next  May.  Whereas  if  each  congrega- 
tion had  its  own  official  Oracle,  it  would  be  every  one's  fault  if 
he  failed  to  put  himself  on  the  right  side.  In  any  event,  before 
the  union  is  consummated,  let  it  be  settled  by  a  constitutional 
provision  where  this  prerogative  shall  be  lodged;  that  our  com- 
municants may  waste  no  time,  as  the  elections  approach,  in 
ascertaining  from  the  proper  ecclesiastical  tribunal,  what  ticket 
they  are  to  vote,  and  what  Congressional  enactments  are  to  be 
deemed  canonical.  There  are,  possibly,  some  few  Chapters  of 
our  Confession  and  Government,  which  may  require  to  be  modi- 
fied as  the  Church  assumes  its  new  political  functions;  but  this 
can  be  arranged  hereafter. 

Turning  to  another  phase  of  the  question,  this  whole  move- 
ment about  a  consolidation  of  the  two  Churches,  unless  managed 
with  the  utmost  prudence,  may  be  prolific  of  mischief.  In  so 
far  as  the  public  are  advised,  it  has  not  thus  far  been  in  the 
hands  of  that  class  of  men  in  either  Church,  who  are  usually 
looked  to  for  counsel;  nor  has  it,  except  to  a  limited  extent, 
received  their  sanction.  Bishop  Reynolds  says,  "A  single  grass- 
hopper will  make  more  noise  than  twelve  fat  oxen  feeding  in  a 
field  of  clover."  It  were  neither  courteous  nor  quite  true,  to  say 
that  we  have  as  yet  heard  only  from  the  "grasshoppers."  But  the 
leading  men  in  our  Sister  Church  know  very  well,  that  there  is 
a  theology  more  or  less  prevalent  among  them,  which  would 
not  be  acceptable  to  our  people;  and  that  their  Committee  of 
Publication  issues  books  and  tracts,  which,  if  sent  forth  by  our 
Board,  would  bring  down  upon  it  the  instant  censure  of  the 
General  Assembly.  They  wisely  stand  aloof,  therefore,  from 
these  transports  of  afl!ection.  Further — the  movement  involves 
the  hazard  of  relinquishing  a  present  and  cardinal  good,  for  one 
that  is  not  simply  contingent,  but,  possibly,  no  good  at  all.  The 
existing  relations  between  the  Churches,  are  of  the  most  friendly 
character.  They  have  their  peculiarities.  We  have  ours.  But 
there  is  neither  collision  nor  controversy — not  even  envy  or 
jealousy.  We  are  working  in  union,  without  an  organic  unity. 
They  certainly  have  our  sympathies  and  prayers  in  all   their 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  99 

labors  and  sacrifices  in  aid  of  the  common  salvation:  we  cannot 
doubt  that  we  have  theirs.  In  purpose,  plan,  and  feeling,  we 
are  much  nearer  together  than  we  formerly  were.  In  time,  we 
may  grow  to  be  one.  But  it  must  be  a  fusion:  not  a  mechanical 
fonjunction.  Nature  must  effect  it;  not  legislation.  A  prema- 
ture coupling,  with  no  better  sutures  than  ecclesiastical  enact- 
ments, will  defeat  its  end.  Two  ships  may  be  sailing  prosper- 
ously side  by  side:  what  would  happen  should  their  inexpert 
pilots,  with  a  view  of  promoting  their  speed  and  safety,  lash 
them  together?  And  if  these  Churches  were  lashed  together, 
how  long  could  they  stand  the  inevitable  friction?  We  neither 
of  us  want  another  controversy.  We  have  other  and  better  work 
on  hand.  Let  our  impatient  brethren  beware  lest,  in  their 
eager  pursuit  of  "union,"  they  renew  the  fable  of  the  mastiff 
swimming  the  stream,  who  dropped  his  meat  to  snatch  at  its 
shadow. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  the  St.  Louis  measures  scarcely 
recognized  as  yet  in  the  discussions  they  have  occasioned,  to 
wit :  their  bearing  upon  the  cause  of  the  Freedmen.  One  of  the 
correspondents  of  the  Preshyterian  sent  to  that  paper  for  publi- 
cation, not  long  since,  an  interesting  passage  from  the  Address 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCosh,  to  the  General  Assembly.  There  was 
another  passage  in  his  address  still  more  worthy  of  being  re- 
peated and  circulated.  The  two  subjects  which  weighed  upon 
the  mind  of  our  distinguished  visitor,  and  formed  the  burden 
as  well  of  his  private  conversation  as  of  his  official  addresses, 
were,  the  union  of  Evangelical  Churches,  and  the  elevation  of 
the  Freedmen.  These  topics  are  aptly  blended  in  the  following 
extract : 

"I  cannot  believe  that  the  white  man  is  to  prosper  and  the  black  man  is  to 
fade  away  little  by  little  until  he  is  extinguished.  My  hope  in  God  is  that  you, 
with  an  energy  that  characterizes  all  your  efforts,  will  settle  that  question,  ar>d 
that  the  Churches  of  Christ  may  meet  in  harmony  and  union  for  that  purpose. 
I  am  not  speaking  of  politics  on  this  question,  but  I  am  speaking  of  what  steps 
you  are  to  take  to  train  these  people  to  industry;  to  increase  their  intelligence 
and  make  them,  in  some  measure,  equal  to  you,  not  merely  in  civil  matters,  but 
equal  to  you  in  general  advancement.  Your  State  must  take  such  a  course ; 
but  the  State  cannot  do  it  alone.  It  must  be  done  by  your  Churches.  And  I 
confess  I  have  been  looking  to  you — to  the  old  Presbyterian  Church — as  taking 
the  initiative  in  this  matter.     You  have  an  influence,  and  ought  to  have. 

"I  must  say  I  would  like  excessively  to  see  the  North  and  the  South  closely 
united  in  this  work ;  for  the  North  to  say  we  have  spent  all  this  for  the  sake  of 
the  black  man;  and  let  the  South  say  we  are  friends  of  the  black  man.  And  I 
would  like  to  see  this  union  consummated  between  Christian  men  North  and 


100  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

South,  for  then  I  believe  you  would  be  brought  more  closely  together  in  the  work 
to  which  I  trust  you  will  devote  yourselves,  and  you  will  have  the  best  wishes  of 
the  best  men  in  Europe." 

These  counsels,  so  wise  and  seasonable,  were  addressed  to  a 
body  of  men  keenly  alive,  it  might  have  been  presumed,  to  the 
claims  of  the  colored  race.  There  had  been  no  lack  of  speeches 
throughout  the  Judicatories  of  the  Church,  nor  of  deliverances 
on  the  part  of  successive  G-eueral  Assemblies,  congratulating 
the  country  on  the  overthrow  of  Slavery,  and  welcoming  the 
bondmen  to  their  new  franchises.  Those  Assemblies  had 
promptly  and  properly  recognized  the  duty  of  the  Church  to 
provide  for  the  education  and  religious  culture  of  these  people. 
In  the  inscrutable  providence  of  God,  they  had  been  suddenly 
thrown  upon  the  hands  of  the  nation  as  its  wards.  Never  was 
a  more  sacred  trust  committed  to  a  Christian  Church,  than  that 
which  the  acts  of  emancipation  devolved  upon  our  Church,  in 
common  with  others;  but  by  pre-eminence  upon  our  Church, 
by  reason  of  the  general  prevalence  of  Presbyterianism  at  the 
South.  In  fuliiUnent  of  this  trust,  we  had  appointed  a  "  Freed- 
men's  Committee,"  and  put  a  few  thousand  dollars  in  its  treas- 
ury. But  it  had  become  clear  to  demonstration,  that  there  was 
but  one  avenue  through  which  the  masses  of  this  helpless  race 
could  be  reached.  The  Assembly  were  told  by  their  Committee 
(Report,  p.  19),  that  with  all  the  (Northern)  agencies  combined, 
"not  more  than  80,000  out  of  the  4,000,000  of  Freedmen  had 
been  gathered  into  schools."  The  "millions"  were  (and  are)  ac- 
cessible only  to  the  Southern  Christians  among  whom  they  live.  Fif- 
teen consecutive  Assemblies,  up  to  1861,  had  commended  these 
Christians  for  their  faithful  attention  to  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  blacks.  There  is  cumulative  evidence  to  show"  that  they 
continue  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in  their  spiritual  welfare.  But 
the  Southern  Church  is  impoverished.  They  have  not  the 
requisite  means  for  sustaining  schools  and  missionaries  among 
them.  We  could  help  them  in  this  work.  Dr.  McCosh  natu- 
rally enough  supposed  we  were  willing  and  anxious  to  help 
them;  that  our  "old  Presbyterian  Church  would  take  the  initia- 
tive in  this  matter."  And  he  longed  to  see  "a  union  consum- 
mated between  Christian  men  North  and  South,"  in  order  that  they 
might  devote  themselves  more  effectively  to  this  work.  It  was 
an  appeal  worthy  of  its  source.  But  it  made  no  impression.  It 
called  forth  no  response.  The  Moderator,  in  his  reply,  made 
not  the  remotest  allusion  to  it.     The  unwelcome  suggestion  fell 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  101 

as  a  pebble  falls  and  buries  itself  in  the  sand,  without  a  trace 
and  without  a  sound.  The  great  metaphysician  is  accustomed 
to  deep  soundings:  but  there  were  depths  around  him  at  St. 
Louis  which  even  his  plummet  could  not  fathom. 

There  were  men,  however,  in  that  Asse^ibly  who  could  not 
go  to  their  homes  without  making  one  more  effort  on  behalf  of 
Christian  union  and  the  Freedmen.  Accordingly  on  Saturday, 
June  2d,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tion :  ' 

"Besolved,  That  this  General  Assembly,  deferring  to  what  appear  to  be  the 
manifest  indications  of  the  will  of  Providence  in  the  matter,  assure  the  Southern 
Churches  and  ministers  lately  in  connection  with  us,  of  our  desire  to  assist  and 
co-operate  with  them  in  any  judicious  measures  for  the  spiritual  good  of  their 
colored  population." 

N'othing  could  be  more  moderate,  nothing  more  cautious 
than  the  wording  of  this  paper.  The  mover  sustained  it  by 
a  brief  speech,  conceived  in  the  benevolent  spii'it  of  the  reso- 
lution itself,  which  he  closed  by  saying — "No  field  of  labor  now 
open  to  the  General  Assembly  is  more  important;  none  where 
the  cry  comes  up  with  such  piteous  wailings  and  accents,  as 
from  these  four  millions  of  people."  His  resolution  was  op- 
posed by  the  E,ev.  James  Allison,  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Heckman,  and 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas,  who  wound  up  an  impassioned  speech  on 
the  subject  by  the  customary  motion  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the 
table.  This  motion  "was  carried  by  an  Aye  so  loud  and  vehe- 
ment that  it  fairl}^  rang  through  the  church,"  so  the  writer  (con- 
fined to  his  bed  by  sickness  during  the  closing  days  of  the  Ses- 
sion) was  informed  the  morning  after,  by  one  of  the  most  calm, 
judicious,  and  influential  members  of  the  body.  So  the  Assem- 
bly decided  against  helping  the  Southern  Church  to  give  the 
Gospel  to  these  four  millions  of  people. 

Keeping  in  view  the  fact,  that  the  masses  of  that  race  at  the 
South  are  practically  inaccessible  to  the  Gospel  from  any  foreign 
source  whatever,  can  it  be  that  this  vote  represents  the  real  sen- 
timent of  our  Church  ?  Whatever  the  errors  of  our  Southern 
brethren,  is  the  breach  between  us  so  broad  and  deep  that  we 
cannot  lend  them  our  aid  even  in  saving  the  souls  of  the  very 
race  delivered  from  bondage  by  our  arms  ?  Are  we  to  suspend 
our  Christian  oflaces  to  the  freedmen  upon  the  conditions  of 
Church  fellowship  prescribed  for  their  late  blasters  by  the  Assem- 
bly of  '65?  Must  we  say  to  the  famishing  blacks,  "we  cannot 
assist  the  white  people  in  supplying  your  craving  for  the  bread 


102  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

of  life,  because  we  are  not  satisfied  that  they  have  truly  re- 
pented of  their  sins?"  Is  this  ground  that  we  can  stand  upon 
and  face  the  civilized  world? 

We  shall  doubtless  be  told  in  reply,  that  the  decision  here  im- 
pugned, has  been  vindicated  by  the  course  since  adopted  by  the 
Southern  Assembly  respecting  the  ecclesiastical  status  of  the 
black  man.  But  (1)  what  Dr.  Humphrey  proposed,  was,  co-oper- 
ation with  Southern  Christians  "in  anj  judicious  measures  for 
the  spiritual  good  of  their  colored  population."  If  measures 
were  devised  not  deemed  by  our  Church  "judicious,"  the  reso- 
lution was  of  no  binding  force.  (2)  Had  the  two  Churches 
agreed  to  unite  in  this  urgent  service,  the  probability  is  that 
they  would  have  discovered  some  principles  and  methods  under 
which  they  could  work  harmoniously  in  carrying  out  their  be- 
nevolent purpose.  (3)  In  reference  to  the  severe  animadversions 
upon  the  Memphis  minute  in  which  Northern  papers  have  in- 
dulged (in  some  cases  without  publishing  the  minute),  the  present 
writer  has  onl}^  to  say  [1]  that  it  was,  in  his  judgment,  unwise 
for  that  Assembly  to  put  forth  any  deliverance  on  the  subject  in 
the  present  unsettled  state  of  afiairs.  For  another  year  or  two 
the  matter  might  have  been  safely  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Pres- 
byteries. And  [2]  no  proper  allowance  has  been  made  by 
their  critics  for  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed. 
The  problem  of  the  African  race  in  the  Southern  States  has  not 
been  resolved,  but  simply  recast,  by  the  war.  Candid  and 
thoughtful  men,  who  have  not  forgotten  the  lessons  of  history, 
will  concede  the  unexampled  difficulties  involved  in  adjusting 
the  numerous  social  and  moral  questions  incident  to  the  violent 
emancipation  of  several  millions  of  Africans  in  the  bosom  of  a 
comparatively  limited  white  population.  Such  men  understand, 
that  after  a  great  earthquake  things  do  not  gravitate  in  a  day 
into  a  fixed,  normal  condition.  What  marvel  if  a  Christian 
i:)eople,  still  surrounded  with  the  debris  of  that  mighty  convul- 
sion which  has  shaken  the  continent  to  its  centre,  should  be 
embarrassed  by  the  novel  and  pregnant  issues  forced  upon  their 
attention  ?  What  marvel  if  they  should  fall  into  some  mis- 
takes ?  And  if  they  should,  is  it  too  much  to  bespeak  for  them 
the  charity  we  all  need  when  called  to  act  in  the  great  emergen- 
cies of  life  ? 

As  regards  the  specific  measures  of  the  Memphis  Assembly, 
they  view  the  condition  of  the  freedmen  as  "one  of  alarming 
spiritual  jeopard}',"  recognize  their  obligation  to  "do  all  that 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  103 

li^s  in  their  power  to  confer  on  tliem  tlie  ricli  blessings  of  the 
Gospel  of  peace;"  enjoin  it  upon  their  "Ministers  and  churches 
to  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability  to  continue  to 
give  them  the  Gospel ;"  insist  upon  the  established  usage,  of 
commingling  the  two  races  in  the  same  church  organization,  as 
being  of  the  last  importance  to  their  common  M^elfare,  and  of 
especial  moment  to  the  well-being  of  the  colored  race;  and 
should  the  freedmen  still  demand  a  separation,  the  Assembly 
provides  for  their  congregations  being  taken  under  the  careful 
oversight  and  sympathy  of  neighboring  churches,  instead  oi 
putting  them  in  the  exclusive  charge  of  colored  pastors  and 
elders,  which  they  believe  to  be  inexpedient.  It  is  this  last 
measure  which  has  been  so  sharply  censured.  On  the  face  of 
the  narration,  the  presumption  may  be  adverse  to  the  Assembly's 
decision,  which,  indeed,  was  opposed  by  some  of  their  ablest  men. 
But  it  should  be  remembered,  that  this  neither  is,  nor  claims  to 
bcj  a  full  and  final  settlement  of  this  business.  The  whole  pro- 
cedure is  initiatory  and  inchoate.  It  must  recur  again  and 
again  in  a  hundred  forms,  and  take  shape  and  substance  from 
the  teachings  of  God's  Word  and  Spirit  and  Providence.  As 
the  minute  stands,  it  has  the  sanction  of  some  eminent  and 
faithful  men,  whose  life-long  labors  in  the  service  of  the  African 
race,  have  won  for  them  a  title  to  the  gratitude  of  our  entire 
Church.  Such  men  are,  of  course,  fallible,  like  their  fellows. 
If  their  Northern  brethren  think  they  have  erred,  there  is  no 
reason  why  they  should  not  say  so,  and  try  to  convince  them  of 
it.  It  is  not  the  aim,  but  the  spirit  of  these  remonstrances  to  which 
exception  is  taken.  If  it  be  really  the  welfare  of  the  dependent 
race  we  have  at  heart,  we  shall  but  counterwork  our  own  de- 
signs by  approaching  Southern  Christians  in  a  dictatorial  or 
captious  temper.  We  ought  to  be  able  to  discuss  these  questions 
with  them,  and  they  with  us,  in  a  spirit  of  frankness,  modera- 
tion, and  mutual  confidence.  And  if  this  were  done,  it  could  not 
fail  to  result  in  some  such  plans  of  wise  and  effective  co-opera- 
tion as  were  glanced  at  in  Dr.  Humphrey's  resolution. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  disastrous  working  of  the 
Assembly's  measures  in  fomenting  discord  and  division.  Men 
who  can  think  of  nothing  but  "discipline,"  may  regard  with 
complacency  the  scenes  which  are  transpiring  in  the  S^mods  of 
Kentucky,  of  Missouri,  and  now  of  Baltimore.  They  may  extol 
the  policy  of  our  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  and  welcome  the 
fierce  invectives  which  have  deformed  some  of  its  ofificial  papers; 


104  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

but  the  whole  tendency  and  effect  must  be  to  impair  confiderfce 
in  that  Board,  to  alienate  Churches  and  individuals  hitherto  its 
generous  friends,  to  curtail  its  means  of  usefulness,  augment  the 
burdens  of  its  sufiering  Missionaries,  and  make  it  an  instrument 
of  strife  in  those  fields  which  are  unhappily  vexed  with  the 
controversies  of  the  day.  ISTot  only  within  the  purview  of  this 
Board,  but  in  various  directions,  tokens  crowd  upon  the  eye, 
that  while  several  of  the  leading  denominations  are  reuniting 
their  scattered  fragments,  and  closing  up  their  ranks,  and  cheer- 
fully accepting  the  responsibilities  devolved  upon  them  by  the 
peace,  and  preparing  to  enter  in  and  till  the  fresh  fields  opened 
to  their  enterprise,  we  are  in  danger  of  wasting  our  powers  in  in- 
ternal dissensions,  and  losing  some  scores,  if  not  some  hundreds, 
of  valuable  Ministers  and  congregations.  The  contrast  is  sad 
enough.  Peradventure  it  may  not  be  too  late  to  retrieve  the 
errors  of  the  past.  Upon  the  next  General  Assembly  it  will 
very  largely  depend  whether  we  are  to  be  a  diminished,  provin- 
cial sect,  or,  by  God's  blessing,  to  resume  our  hereditary  posi- 
tion as  a  great  national  Church;  and  go  forward  in  peace  and 
unity,  in  faith  and  love,  to  the  evangelizing  of  the  countrj'^  and 
the  world.    May  the  Pillar  of  Cloud  and  of  Fire  guide  our  way ! 


POSTSCEIPT.— "R.  J.  B." 

After  these  sheets  were  ready  for  the  press,  there  appeared 
in  several  newspapers  a  characteristic  article  from  the  pen  of 
"R.  J.  B.,"  entitled  "J.  Plea  for  another  Faithful  Assembly." 
As  the  Church  was  no  doubt  looking  for  some  strategic  move- 
ment of  this'  sort,  it  has  produced  less  of  a  sensation  than 
might  otherwise  have  been  anticipated.  Its  inspiration  is 
drawn  from  an  ill-dissembled  fear,  that  the  next  General  As- 
sembly may  fail  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  last.  This  fear, 
again,  has  been  nourished  by  the  effects,  real  or  imaginary,  in- 
stant or  prospective,  which  Dr.  Breckinridge  connects  with  the 
writings  of  three  prime  delinquents,  "Drs.  George  Junkin, 
Samuel  J.  Baird,  and  H.  A.  Boardman."  It  is  one  of  the  very 
few  encouraging  signs  of  the  times,  that  one  so  sagacious  as 
himself  in  detecting  the  tides  of  public  sentiment,  should  have 
discovered  such  tokens  of  a  healthful  reaction  of  feeling  in  some 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  105 

portions  of  tlie  Church,  as  to  call  for  a  demonstration  of  this 
kind.  In  substance  and  aim,  the  paper  is  simply  an  Election- 
eering Manifesto  or  "Campaign  Document."  It  assures  the 
Presbyteries  that  all  will  be  well  if  they  do  their  duty  and  send 
only  men  of  the  right  stamp  to  the  next  Assembly ;  and,  as  it 
emanates  from  the  source  and  is  designed  for  the  same  end,  so 
it  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  kindred  circular  which,  a  year  ago, 
invited  a  "  Convention  "  (now  become  somewhat  famous)  to  meet 
in  May  last  at  St.  Louis.  In  the  course  of  an  extravagant  tirade 
against  the  views  set  forth  by  "those  three  men,"  the  only 
approach  to  an  argument  is  (if  the  solecism  may  be  pardoned) 
the  sneer  contained  in  the  following  sentence : 

"  If  they  liad  but  known  what  a  good  cause  they  had,  and  what  a  bad  one  the 
Church  had,  it  is  possible  they  might  not  have  considered  it  necessary  to  con- 
found the  distinction  between  mere  citation  to  answer,  and  final  condemnation; 
nor  broken  the  Church  to  pieces,  merely  for  an  alleged  incivility  !" 
\ 
The  wish  is  father  to  the  thought.  But  it  will  not  do.  "  Those 
three  men"  have  not  written  their  "elaborate  and  protracted 
commentaries"  on  the  Constitution,  by  way  of  Combatting  a 
man  of  straw.  Nor  are  those  "  commentaries"  to  be  overthrown 
by  a  sarcasm,  which  lacks  the  only  element  that  can  prevent  a 
sarcasm  from  recoiling  upon  its  author.  What  the  next  Assem- 
bly may  do,  is  one  thing.  What  the  last  Assembly  did,  is 
another.  Our  concern  is  with  the  latter.  And  it  is  of  this 
action  Dr.  Breckinridge  says,  it  was  "  simply  a  citation  of  the 
Declaration  and  Testimony  men  to  answe?-;"  and  jeers  at  those 
who  "confound"  it  with  anything  more  serious.  Let  us  go  to 
the  record.  The  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimonj:-  are 
'•'■summoned  to  appear  and  answer  for  their  conduct  before  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  the  body  against  whom  they  have  oflended,  and 
the  o?ily  body  which  in  the  present  circumstances  of  the  Church, 
can  properly  and  without  embarrassment  consider  and  adjudi^ 
GATE  THE  CASE."  Further,  it  is  one  of  the  specific  reasons 
assigned  for  this  order,  that  "the  General  Assembly  has  the 
power  of  dealmg  direcily  with  the  persons  or  parties  who  are  en- 
gaged in  such  contentions."  Does  this  mean  "mere  citation  to 
answer,"  or  citation  to  a  trial?  "Adjudicate,"  is  a  familiar 
law  term.  According  to  Worcester,  it  means,  "to  sentence:  to 
adjudge:  to  pass  judgment."  Webster:  "to  adjudge:  to  try 
and  determine  upon  as  a  court :  to  try  and  determine  upon 
judicially."     How  pointless  and  how  puerile  to  say,  with  this 


106  The  General  Assembly  of  1866, 

minute  before  him,  that  the  writers  he  is  attempting  to  criti- 
cise, would  "  break  the  Church  in  pieces  merely  for  an  alleged 
incivility!"  The  "incivility"  in  the  case,  is  that  of  summon- 
ing   ONE    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTY    MINISTERS    AND     ELDERS    BEFORE 

THE  NEXT  Assembly  for  judicial  trial!  And  the  mere  sum- 
mons carries  with  it  a  rescript  which  strips  them,  for  the  time,  * 

of  THREE-FOURTHS  OF  THEIR  ECCLESIASTICAL  FRANCHISES!      While 

the  terms  specifically  considered,  establish  this  interpretation, 
the  entire  complexion  of  the  proceedings  from  beginning  to  end 
demands  it,  Not  onl}^  is  the  prerogative  of  "adjudicating  the 
case"  challenged  for  the  Assembly,  but  it  is,  pro  hac  vice,  denied 
to  the  inferior  courts.  The  Assembly  is  "the  only  body"  which 
in  existing  circumstances  "m?i  properly  adjudicate"  it:  or  "deal 
directly  with  the  persons"  arraigned.  It  is  trifling  with  the  intel- 
ligence of  people,  it  is  "  disrespectful"  to  the  Assembly  itself,  to 
allege  that  nothing  was  intended  here  but  a  "  citation  to  answer." 
The  leaders  of  that  Assembly  have  son^  rather  grave  indiscre- 
tions laid  at  their  door;  but  no  one  has  yet  reproached  them 
with  making  war  upon  their  mother  tongue.  They  said  what 
they  meant,  and  meant  what  they  said.  Any  suggestion  as  to 
their  not  conceding  the  authority  of  the  next  Assembly  to  "try 
and  sentence"  these  men,  vanishes  before  the  claim  persistently 
asserted  by  Dr.  Thomas  and  others,  that  they  were  actually  "on 
trial"  at  St.  Louis;  and  is  incompatible  with  the  sentence  visited 
upon  them  there.  Whatever  the  fatal  bearing  of  their  decrees 
upon  the  question  of  religious  liberty,  the  bill  cannot  now  be 
amended,  nor  the  true  issue  eluded.  That  Assembly  must  be 
held  to  the  responsibility  not  of  an  "incivility,"  but  of  handing 
over  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  men  to  the  coming  Assem- 
bly for  formal  trial. 

This  point  being  proved  beyond  the  reach  of  cavil,  the  mind 
goes  forward  intuitively  to  the  City  of  Cincinnati  in  the  pleasant 
month  of  May,  1867.  In  one  of  his  late  Essays.  [North  Western 
Presbyterian),  Dr.  Junkin  has  with  capital  effect  described  the 
anticipated  investigation.  Not  to  copy  his  prophetic  photo- 
graph, one  does  not  exactly  see  how  the  Assembly  is  going  to 
manage  this  affair.  Cited  Synods  or  Presbyteries  might  have 
appeared  by  their  officers  and  records.  But  the  summons  is  to 
individuals.  They  must  report  in  person.  Not  to  appear  would 
be  a  contempt  of  court.  When  congregated  at  the  bar,  each  one 
of  the  hundred  and  fifty  respondents,  w^ill  be  entitled  to  a  copy 
of  the  charges,  and  a  list  of  witnesses.    Each  may  claim  the  right 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  107 

of  a  separate  defence.  In  "adjudicating  the  case,"  i.e.  "trying 
and  determining  upon  it  judicially,"  the  Court  could  not  think 
of  passing  judgment  upon  a  single  individual  of  the  company, 
without  allowing  him  a  patient  hearing ; — the  more  so,  as  the  last 
Assembly  has  extinguished,  as  to  every  one  of  this  great  body 
of  office-bearers  in  the  Church,  all  right  or  opportunity  of  "ap- 
peal." The  very  stones  would  cry  out  against  it.  A  very  little 
arithmetic  will  suffice  to  show  how  many  hours  a  hundred  and 
fifty  Aynerican  speeches  2^'>'o.,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  con,  would 
consume.  The  self-evident  thing  about  it,  is,  that  the  churches 
of  Cincinnati  might  count  upon  good  "supplies"  for  at  least  a 
twelve-month;  and  the  hospitality  of  the  city  would  be  tolerably 
well  tested,  especially  as  the  worthy  commissioners  would  require 
to  send  for  their  wives  and  children.  The  brethren  who  are 
courting  an  election  to  that  Assembly,  have  a  cheerful  prospect 
before  them.  It  may  assist  them  in  settling  their  affairs  before 
leaving  home,  to  be  reminded,  that  the  trial  of  Warren  Hastings 
occupied  one  hundred  and  forty  nine  days,  and  ran  through 
seven  years.  But  the  "Queen  City"  will  furnish  better  accom- 
modations than  the  House  of  Lords  found  in  Westminster  Hall 
in  those  days. 

Is  "this  badinage  out  of  place?"  ISTot  so  much  so  as  the  order 
of  the  Assembly  which  has  given  occasion  to  it.  For  no  man 
can  prove  that  the  consequences  just  depicted  may  not,  nay, 
must  not  legitimately  follow,  should  all  the  accused  brethren 
heed  the  "  summons"  addressed  to  them,  and  the  next  Assembly 
literally  adhere  to  the  policy  prescribed  for  it  by  the  last.  ISTo 
court,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  should  put  itself  in  so  apocryphal 
a  position.  It  will  generally  be  found  safe  to  abide  by  Consti- 
tutional principles  and  established  methods. 

Returning  now  to  our  Circular,  the  following  paragraph  may 
serve  to  illustrate  the  candor  and  amenity  which  pervade  it: 

"  In  the  second  place,  the  reader  will  observe,  that  no  matter  how  much  the 
theories  may  seem  to  differ  as  put  forth  by  these  three  men,  now  assailing  the 
cause  of  peace,  truth,  and  righteousness,  as  set  forth  by  the  Assembly ;  they 
all  agree  in  condemning  the  Assembly — and  in  trying  to  defeat  her  attempts  to 
bring  to  trial,  an  intolerable  body  of  alleged  offenders,  now  in  open  contempt 
and  defiance  of  her.  If  any  one  of  them  is  right — the  wicked  escape  censure — 
the  Assembly  is  virtually  disgraced — the  Church  is  impotent  for  the  defence  of 
truth,  or  the  protection  of  itself — and  heresy  and  immorality  are  protected  by 
the  very  anarchy  they  create  !" 

In  the  preceding  context  the  writer  says  of  two  of  the  brethren 


108  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

defamed  here:  "No  one  lias  been  bettei'  known,  and  few  more 
favorably,  than  Dr.  George  Junkin,  for  forty  years  past.  No 
one  has  performed  a  nobler  work  for  the  Church  in  this  age, 
than  Dr.  Baird,  the  author  of  her  grand  Digest."  Yet  these 
men  (in  common  with  the  author  of  this  pamphlet)  "are  assail- 
ing the  cause  of  peace,  truth,  and  righteousness:"  are  pleading 
for  the  impunity  of  "an  intolerable  body  of  alleged  offenders:" 
are  advocating  principles  which  will  allow  the  wicked  to  go 
free,  disgrace  the  Assembly,  reduce  the  Church  to  impotency, 
and  provide  a  shield  for  heresy  and  immorality!  It  was  an  apt 
saying  of  that  great  scholar  and  humble  Christian,  Joseph  Mede, 
"A  man  that  hath  once  drawn  blood  in  controversy,  is  seldom 
known  ever  perfectly  to  recover  his  own  good  temper  after- 
wards." However  that  may  be,  this  paragraph  represents  a  style 
of  discourse  which  has  very  little  to  recommend  it.  Our  Church 
has,  at  one  time  and  another,  listened  to  a  good  deal  of  it  from 
various  sources :  but  it  never  harmed  any  one  except  its  authors, 
and  never  will.  And  what  is  the  pretext  for  it  in  the  present 
instance?  Simply  this.  The  men  thus  assailed,  believe  that 
the  last  Assembly  did  divers  things  in  derogation  of  the  prescrip- 
tions of  our  Constitution,  and  of  the  sacred  rights  of  individuals. 
They  have  said  this.  They  have  tried  to  prove  it.  They  have 
done  what  they  could  by  reason  and  argument  to  convince  the 
Church  of  it.  They  have  720/*  resisted  the  trial  of  alleged  offenders: 
they  have  only  maintained  that  they  ought  to  be  tried  according 
to  the  Constitution  and  the  settled  usages  of  the  Church.  In 
all  this,  they  have  exercised  that  libert}^  of  opinion  and  of  dis-' 
cussion,  which  it  cost  the  fathers  centuries  of  conflict  and  seas 
of  blood  to  conquer;  which  is  dearer  to  them  than  life;  and 
which  they  mean  to  assert  as  against  all  gainsayers  whether  of 
the  State  or  of  the  Church. 
For  the  rest, 

"  See  what  a  ready  tongue  suspicion  hath." 

Because  a  few  men  born  and  brought  up  in  the  Church  and 
devoted  to  its  faith  and  order,  come  forward  at  a  moment  of 
peril  to  defend  its  Constitution,  Dr.  Breckinridge  scents  at 
once  a  foul  conspiracy  between  themselves  and  the  "malcon- 
tents" of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  to  secure  the  control 
of  the  next  General  Assembly.  "Does  any  one  suppose  (he 
asks)  a  line  of  action  by  the  malcontents,  and  a  line  of  argu- 
mentation   by  the  champions,   so   singularly  fitting  into   each 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  109 

other,  so  peculiar  in  itself,  and  so  empty  of  everything  but  mis- 
chief, arose  without  a  jj/fm — without  concert?  God  help  us,*  if 
our  next  Assembly  should  have  a  majority  of  members  capable 
of  being  carried  away  by  a  few  such  as  I  have  described,  under 
some  temporary  delusion  about  peace,  fraternity,  forgiveness, 
private  judgment,  liberality,  and  the  like."  But  this  calamity 
will  "undoubtedly"  be  averted,  "if  care  is  taken  to  keep  the 
Church  duly  informed,  and  to  keep  unsound  and  unreliable 
commissioners  out  of  the  next  Assembly." 

It  is  a  sad  idiosyncrasy,  this  propensity  to  surmise  plots  and 
cabals.  It  has  been  the  bane  of  many  eminent  historical  char- 
acters— not  always  quite  innocent  of  strategy  themselves.  It  is 
in  fact  a  sort  of  spontaneous  growth  in  the  fields  of  politics  and 
diplomacy;  and  the  pestilent  weed,  it  is  said,  has  even  been 
found  within  the  sacred  enclosure  of  the  Church.  The  discom- 
fort it  produces,  makes  it  a  duty,  in  the  interest  of  common  hu- 
manity, to  avert  its  noxious  consequences  wherever  we  can.  In 
the  present  case,  if  the  author  of  this  pamphlet  be  half  so  much 
implicated  in  the  pending  "mischief"  as  is  charged,  his  word 
ought  to  have  some  eftect  in  laying  this  phantom.  He  is  happy, 
then,  to  be  able  to  say,  that  if  there  be  a  "plan"  he  has  not 
heard  of  it.  If  there  has  been,  or  is  to  be  any,  "concert"  of 
action  among  the  opj^osers  of  the  St.  Louis  proceedings,  it  has 
been  carefully  concealed  from  him.  In  so  far  as  his  informa- 
tion goes,  the  Conservative  men  of  the  Church  have  no  more 
thought  of  getting  up  a  Convention  to  operate  upon  the  next 
Assembly,  than  they  have  of  drumming  up  an  armed  Crusade 
against  that  body.  Should  they  hereafter  decide  upon  a  Con- 
vention, it  ^vill  not  sit  with  closed  doors.  The  names  of  the 
delegates  and  their  respective  constituencies  will  not  be  with- 
held from  the  public  eye.  The  General  Assembly  will  not  be 
kept  in  the  dark  as  to  the  plans  and  pledges  concerted  for 
influencing  its  deliberations.  We  hold  w^ith  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckin- 
ridge ("Bait.  Lit.  and  Eel.  Mag.,"  1836),  that  "the  world  has  a 
right  to  know  what  all  associated  bodies  of  men  are  doing. 
Christianity  is  entitled  to  speak  openly  in  every  possible  form 
to  men.  And  truth  and  justice  require  that  in  the  'present  heated 
state  of  religious  contest,  and  the  alarming  disregard  to  fairness  and 
accuracy  which  so  many  Journals,  jpretending  to  be  religious,  habitu- 
ally manifest,  the  most  authentic  and  undeniable  evidences  of  all 

*  "In  God's  name,"  says  the  German  proverb,  "all  mischief  begins." 


110  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

important  occurrences  should  be  placed  in  reach  of  all  who  read 
at  all."  The  methods  indicated  above  are  not  our  methods. 
"We  have  no  aims  which  require  or  admit  of  such  tactics.  If  it 
be  allowable  to  speak  for  others  without  consulting  them,  it  is 
not  proposed  to  approach  a  single  Presbytery  with  any  demon- 
stration designed  to  aii'ect  its  choice  of  commissioners.  It  is 
certain  that  no  one  of  the  three  men  arraigned  by  "R.  J.  B." 
can  have  the  remotest  expectation  of  going  to  that  Assembly. 
I^Tor  is  it  probable  that  it  will  include  more  than  a  dozen  mem- 
bers, who  are  in  sympathy  with  their  views.  Further  "  Pleas 
for  another  Faithful  Assembly,"  will  be  issued.  The  tocsin  is 
already  rung  again  throughout  the  Church;  and  we  have  two  or 
three  ofhcial  bell-ringers  west  of  the  Alleghenies,  who  will  like 
nothing  better  than  to  keep  it  ringing  till  next  May.  It  were 
very  strange  if  all  these  expedients  should  miscarry.  We  do 
not  believe  thej^  will.  There  will  be  "another  Faithful  Assem- 
bly." And  there  may  still  be  another,  and  another, — we  know 
not  how  many  more. 

Incongruous  as  it  may  appear  for  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel  of 
peace  to  deride  the  invocation  of  such  topics  as  '■^ peace,  frater- 
nity ^  forgiveness,  private  judgment,  liberality,  and  the  like,"  in  a  con- 
troversy of  this  sort,  it  is  our  firm  conviction  that  there  is  nothing 
to  be  feared  from  this  quarter.  The  counsel  tendered  to  the 
Church  is,  "Non  tali  auxilio."  And  this  is  every  way  consist- 
ent. If  it  is  to  be  the  prime  business  of  the  next  Assembly  "to 
have  the  proceedings  of  the  last  Assembly,  in  condemnation  of 
the  Declaration  and  Testimony  principles  and  rules,  faithfully 
carried  out,"  the  less  that  is  said  about  those  topics,  or  any 
others  drawn  from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, .the  better. 
From  our  point  of  view,  there  are  interests  suffering  irretriev- 
ably from  the  neglect  of  the  Church,  in  comparison  with  which 
this  case  of  discipline  (confessedly  important  in  its  place)  is  as 
the  small  dust  of  the  balance.  But  we  do  not  expect  to  see 
those  interests  properly  cared  for  at  present.  The  country  is 
passing  through  a  cycle  which  precludes  that  hope.  It  was  de- 
scribed by  a  popular  pen  twenty  years  ago;  and  being  semper 
eadem,  the  sketch  is  equally  good  for  the  times  that  are  passing 
over  us.  This  sketch  occurs  in  a  "Circular  Letter"  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1837  {Minutes,  p.  507),  which  was  pre- 
pared by  Br.  B,  J,  Breckinridge.  A  sentence  or  two  will 
reveal  its  quality. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1866.  Ill 

"  One  of  the  most  formidable  evils  of  the  present  crisis  is  the  wide-spread  and 
ever-restless  spirit  of  radicalism,  manifest  both  in  the  Church  and  in  the  State. 
Its  leading  principle  everywhere  seems  to  be  to  level  all  order  to  the  dust. 
Mighty  only  ia  the  power  to  destroy,  it  has  driven  its  deep  agitations  through 
the  bosom  of  our  beloved  Church,  Amid  the  multiplied  and  revolting  forms  in 
which  it  has  appeared,  it  is  always  animated  by  one  principle.  It  is  ever  the 
same  levelling  revolutionary  spirit,  and  tends  to  the  same  ruinous  results." 

Can  any  one  look  around  in  this  year  of  grace  '67,  without 
recognizing  the  original  of  this  portrait, — this  "ever  the  same 
levelling,  revolutionary  spirit  ?"  Restless  and  disorganizing,  it 
is  neither  to  be  bribed  nor  reasoned  with.  "Every  kind  of 
beasts  and  of  birds  and  of  serpents  and  of  things  in  the  sea,  is 
tamed,  and  hath  been  tamed  of  mankind,  but  this"  spirit  "can 
no  man  tame;  it  is  an  unruly  evil,  full  of  deadly  poison."  Es- 
pecially is  this  the  case  at  its  periods  of  high  exacerbation — 
such  as  were  referred  to  by  the  same  eloquent  speaker,  in  a  noble 
argument  before  the  Assembly  of  '58,  on  the  fanaticism  of  the 
day,  in  the  course  of  which  he  observed,  that  "the  world  has 
periodical  turns  of  madness ;  and  the  religious  world  is  not  ex- 
empt from  the  charge."  Nor  was  it  with  less  justice  he  added: 
"In  our  character  of  a  Church,  the  world  can  look  to  us  for 

NOTHING  BUT  WHAT  STRICTLY  BELONGS  TO  THE  WAY  OF  SALVATION." 

If  it  be  so  that  one  of  these  cycles  is  upon  us,  we  have  a  key 
to  many  of  the  phenomena  which  invite  our  attention;  and 
among  the  rest,  to  the  ready  countenance  accorded  by  good  men 
to  violent  attacks,  not  only  upon  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony,  but  upon  all  who  venture  to  speak  a  word  on 
their  behalf.  These  assaults  upon  a  set  of  tabooed  men,  fall  in 
with  prevailing  currents  of  exasperated  feeling,  and  elicit  not 
merely  sympathy,  but  applause.  But  it  is  always  an  ephemeral 
chaplet  which  is  won  by  such  triumphs: — to-day  it  is;  and  to- 
morrow the  very  hands  that  bound  it  upon  the  temples,  will  tear 
it  off"  and  cast,  it  into  the  fire.  For,  perverse  as  human  nature 
is,  its  instincts  are  right.  A  thousand  influences,  public  and 
private,  personal  and  social,  may  warp  them  from  their  bearing, 
but  when  the  perturbing  causes  are  annulled,  they  come  trem- 
blingly back,  like  the  errant  needle,  to  their  poise. 

The  popular  verdict  of  the  Church  now  justifies  the  strange 
proceedings  we  have  been  reviewing.  But  let  us  "  have  faith 
in  God."  The  latent  forces  of  Christianity  are  not  yet  brought 
into  play.  Whenever  they  are  liberated,  this  paroxysm  will  be 
subdued.     The  turbulent  freshet  of  the  "world  spirit,"  which 


112  The  General  Assembly  of  1866. 

has  been  swelling  and  swellino;  until  many  a  stately  street  and 
hallowed  temple  of  the  "City  of  the  G-reat  King,"  has  been 
slimed  with  its  muddy  waters,  will  subside  into  its  ancient  chan- 
nels, and  leave  the  Church  bnce  more  to  resume  its  proper 
course  without  molestation.  IIow  much  it  will,  meanwhile, 
have  suffered;  what  mutilations,  what  losses,  what  outward  col- 
lisions, what  internal  paralyses,  what  public  disrepute;  it  is  im- 
possible to  predict.  Enough,  that  sooner  or  later,  there  must  be 
an  end.  And  then  it  will  be  found,  that  those  members  of  the 
last  Assembly  who  frankly  admitted  (in  private)  that  they  went 
with  the  majority  purely  because  of  the  violent  political  antipa- 
thies prevalent  in  and  around  their  congregations,  represented  a 
large  number  of  excellent  but  timid  men  in  every  part  of  the 
country,  who  waited  for  the  tornado  to  spend  its  force  before 
they  could  venture  to  avow  themselves.  Till  that  day  comes, 
Conservative  men  can  do  little  but  watch  the  progress  of  affairs 
and  submissively  await  the  developments  of  God's  providence 
concerning  the  Church  of  their  fathers.  In  the  events  now 
transpiring,  we  desire  humbly  to  recognize  the  rod  of  His  chas- 
tisement. We  believe  that  He  is  rebuking  us,  not  for  the  sins 
of  this  or  that  party,  of  this  or  that  section,  but  because  we  are 
all  verily  guilty  before  Him.  But  we  do  not  believe  He  will 
finally  abandon  this  vine  of  His  own  planting.  ^^Iwill  not  con- 
tend forever,  7ieither  will  I  be  always  wroth."  '■'-For  a  small  moment 
have  I  forsaken  thee  ;  hut  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee." 


PART  SECOND. 
DOOXJlMBlSrTS 


Letter  op  the  Disfranchised  Commissioners. 

To  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  now  in- 
Session  at  St.  Louis. 

The  undersigned  commissioners  from  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  deem  it 
both  respectful  to  the  Assembly  and  demanded  by  the  interests  of  truth  and 
righteousness,  to  lay  before  the  body,  through  you,  in  this  formal  and  official 
manner,  for  record  on  the  Minutes,  their  views  and  purposes  in  regard  to  the 
resolution  passed  yesterday  under  the  operation  of  the  previous  question,  to 
this  effect :    . 

That,  "  Whereas  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  have  'openly  defied  the  Assem- 
bly' and  declared  publicly  their  intention  not  to  enforce  the  orders  of  the  two 
last  Assemblies  on  slavery  and  loyalty,  etc.,  and  have,  in  act,  disregarded  them 
in  sending  a  commissioner  here  who,  by  a  faithful  execution  of  these  acts,  would 
probably  have  been  suspended  from  the  functions  of  his  office  ;  therefore 

^'Resolved,  That  until  the  Assembly  shall  have  examined  and  decided  upon 
the  conduct  of  said  Presbytery,  the  commissioners  shall  not  be  entitled  to  seats 
in  this  body." 

We  respectfully  suggest,  not  indeed  as  vital  to  the  case,  but  as  illustrating 
simply  the  evil  of  such  action,  under  the  operation  of  the  previous  question, 
cutting  off  all  explanation,  that  both  the  premises  of  the  Assembly's  resolution 
contain  grave  mistakes  of  fact.  The  Presbytery  of  Louisville  have  indeed  pub- 
lished a  Declaration  and  Testimony,  against  the  acts  of  the  five  preceding  As- 
semblies, in  which  many  Ministers  and  Elders  outside  the  Presbytery,  formally, 
and  many  more  in  spirit  and  act  have  concurred.  But  the  Presbytery  of  Louis- 
ville have  not  "openly  defied  the  Assembly,"  as  might  have  been  seen  by  refer- 
ence to  the  whole  tenor  of  the  paper  from  which  a  single  passage  is  quoted. 
Nor  have  the  Presbytery  sent  any  commissioner  here  who,  even  under  the  act 
of  1865,  in  relart-ion  to  ministers  who  have  gone  into  the  Confederacy  or  fled  or 
been  banished  into  foreign  countries,  could  have  been  suspended  from  the  min- 
istry; since  the  only  one  of  their  commissioners  who  has  been  absent  from  the 
country  during  the  past  three  years,  was  neither  in  the  Confederacy,  nor  fled, 
nor  was  banished;  but  being  absent  on  a  vacation  tour  by  arrangements  made 
months  before,  at  the  inauguration  of  an  unlimited  military  power  under  the 
control  of  his  bitter  ecclesiastical  enemies,  prolonged  that  absence,  with  the 
advice  and  concurrence  of  the  Church  Session  and  of  prudent  friends  of  all 
parties. 

Aside,  however,  from  these  mistakes  of  fact  in  the  premises,  a  far  more  im- 
portant matter,  in  our  judgment,  is  the  dangerous  error  in  principle  involved  in 
such  action,  even  were  the  facts  as  charged.  On  this  view  of  the  case,  we  beg 
leave  with  all  respect  and  deference  to  suggest : 

1.  It  will  be  manifest  on  due  reflection,  and  would  have  been  shown  but  for 
the  call  for  the  previous  question,  that  the  assumption  of  the  right  to  take  such 

8  (113) 


114  Documents. 

action  under  the  general  power  of  any  deliberative  body  to  judge  of  the  qualifi- 
cations of  its  own  members,  arises  from  a  failure  to  see  the  want  of  analogy  be- 
tween the  case  of  the  General  Assembly  and  that  of  legislative  and  other  similar 
bodies  in  the  secular  sphere.  The  right  to  appoint  commissioners  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  those  commissioners,  is  in- 
herent in  the  Presbytery,  whose  members  are  a  constituent  part  of  the  Assembly 
itself  Nor  can  they  be  divested  of  that  right  save  by  sentence  of  deposition 
from  ofBce  as  Presbyters,  reached  through  the  forms  so  carefully  prescribed  in 
the  Constitution.  The  claim  of  any  particular  Assembly  to  judge  of  the  quali- 
fications of  its  own  members  must  be  limited,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  to  the 
question  whether  the  credentials  are  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
Book.  But,  in  fact  the  Assembly  in  this  instance  does  not  pretend  to  be  passing 
judgment  upon  the  qualifications  of  its  own  members  at  all,  but  upon  the  con-- 
stituency  which  sent  them.  This  is  manifest  not  only  from  the  terms  of  the 
action,  but  also  from  the  fact,  that  one  of  the  commissioners  excluded,  was  no 
party  to  the  Declaration  and  Testimony;  neither  could  he  be  possibly  objected 
to  on  the  score  of  disqualification  or  of  defective  commission. 

2.  This  therefore  makes  manifest  what  was  confessed  on  the  floor  of  the  As- 
sembly by  some  who  voted  for  this  resolution,  that  the  action  was  in  its  nature 
judicial ;  and  it  is  therefore  in  effect  a  judicial  sentence  pronounced  and  executed 
not  only  in  disregard  of  all  the  provisions  for  a  fair  trial  so  carefully  ordained 
in  our  Constitution,  but,  under  the  operation  of  the  previous  question,  excluding 
the  parties  charged  from  a  word  of  explanation,  defence,  or  protest. 

3.  And  it  adds  to  the  aggravation  of  the  wrong  done  in  this  action,  that, 
even  had  the  Assembly  the  right  thus  to  act,  and  were  its  action  according  to 
the  forms  of  law  and  the  sentence  given  after  a  fair  hearing,  it  is  a  sentence  of 
disgrace  as  if  inflicted  for  crime  committed :  whereas  what  was  done  by  the  Pres- 
bytery, could  at  most  be  regarded  as  only  the  mistaken  exercise  of  the  right  of 
protest  against  what  was  conceived  to  be  an  act  of  usurpation  by  the  As- 
sembly. 

4.  A  further  aggravation 'of  this  wrong,  is  the  manifest  partiality  evinced,  in 
thus  singling  out  for  condemnation  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  while  noto- 
riously a  large  number  if  not  a  majority  of  the  churches  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  also  several  Presbyteries  represented  in  the  Assembly,  have  done 
precisely  the  thing  which  the  Louisville  Presbytery  is  condemned  for  asserting 
its  purpose  to  do. 

5.  But  a  still  more  important  and  dangerous  principle  involved  in  this  action, 
is,  that  it  takes  away  from  minorities  and  even  individual  members  of  the  body, 
all  those  safeguards  provided  for  their  protection  against  the  violence  and  par- 
tisan feeling  of  a  casual  majority  of  members  in  all  times  of  excitement  and 
passion.  The  principle  of  this  action,  if  admitted,  would  inevitably  and  speedily 
change  the  Assembly  from  an  ecclesia  organized,  restrained  and  governed  by 
the  well  established  laws  of  Christ's  House,  into  a  mere  ecclesiastical  gathering 
under  the  unlimited  control  of  the  majority  of  numbers,  "  the  most  part  knowing 
not  wherefore  they  have  come  together." 

6.  It  but  evinces  more  clearly,  and  aggravates  the  wrong  done  in  this  case, 
that  the  Assembly  resolves  not  absolutely  and  finally  to  exclude  us,  but  only  to 
exclude  us  until  the  Assembly  ''shall  have  examined  and  decidmd."  The  right 
to  examine  and  decide  under  such  a  resolution ;  the  right  to  exclude  us,  even 
for  an  hour,  pending  such  examination;  the  right  to  exclude  us  after  such  ex- 
amination is  had;  and  the  right  absolutely  and  finally  to  exclude  us;  are  all 
equally  groundless.  'J'he  injury  inflicted  upon  the  good  name  of  the  Presbytery 
among  the  churches,  from  a  temporary  exclusion,  as  though  probably  guilty  of 
high  crime,  is  scarcely  less  than  ihe  injury  from  a  sentence  of  final  exclusion. 
Besides,  even  though  it  were  consistent  with  our  proper  self-respect  and  with 
the  honor  of  the  Presbytery,  for  us  to  await  the  result  of  the  Assembly's  inquisi- 
tion, thereby  recognizing  the  Assembly's  right  thus  "  to  examine  and  decide," 
we  are  cut  off,  by  the  sentence  of  exclusion,  from  the  exercise  of  any  right  of 
defence, — all  of  which  makes  it  still  more  palpably  manifest  that  the  action  of 
the  Assepbly  is,  in  etfect,  the  prououuciug  and  executing  of  sentence,  and  after- 
ward proceeding  "to  examine  and  decide." 

With  profound  respect  for  the  Assembly  as  the  highest  Court  of  the  Church, 


Documents.  115 

and  with  unfeigned  sorrow  that  we  are  constrained  in  fidelity  to  our  trust  thus  to 
speak,  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  say  to  the  Assembly,  that — Regarding  this  action 
as  of  the  nature  of  a  judgment  upon  the  Presbytery  and  its  commissioners,  and 
this  judgment  a  sentence  of  exclusion  without  trial  or  a  hearing  in  any  form  in 
explanation  or  defence;  regarding  this  action  as  not  only  unjust,  injurious,  and 
cruel,  but  as  subversive  of  the  foundations  of  all  justice,  destructive  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Church,  and  revolutionary  in  its  nature ;  regarding  it  as  setting 
a  precedent  for  the  exercise  of  a  partisan  power  in  the  Courts  of  Christ's  King- 
dom, which  leaves  all  the  rights  and  immunities  of  his  people  at  the  mercy  of 
any  faction  that  may  casually  be  in  the  ascendency — we  should  be  untrue  to  the 
Presbytery  whose  commission  we  bear,  faithless  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  Chris- 
tian freedom,  false  to  our  Lord  and  King,  should  we  silently  acquiesce  in  such 
procedure  or  in  any  way  recognize  its  legality.  We  must  regard  this  action  in 
its  effect  so  far  as  it  relates  to  us  as  commissioners  and  this  present  Assembly, 
as  final  in  the  case. 

With  these  views  and  convictions  there  is  but  one  course  left  open  to  us, 
viz.:  To  take  an  appeal  at  once  upon  the  issue  as  it  has  been  made  for  us  and 
forced  upon  us,  from  this  General  Assembly  to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  in 
particular,  in  so  far  as  it  concerns  ourselves  and  that  body,  and  to  the  Whole 
Church  in  so  far  as  it  is  an  issue  involving  the  great  principles  of  her  Constitu- 
tion, and,  indeed,  her  continued  existence  as  a  free  Christian  Commonwealth  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  franchises  and  immunities  conferred  upon  her  by  her 
Adorable  Head. 

We  therefore  respectfully  inform  the  Assemljly  that  we  shall  not  attend  fur- 
ther upon  its  Sessions. 

Stuart  Robinson, 
Saml.  R.  Wilson, 
Mark  Hardin, 

St.  Louis,  May  19,  1866.  C.  A.  Wickliffe. 


II 

The  Rejected  PaoTEST. 

There  was  an  understanding  among  a  portion  of  the  "  Minority-men," 
that  our  able  and  esteemed  co-adjutor.  Dr.  Humphrey,  who  had  rendered 
our  cause  such  efficient  aid,  was  to  prepare  a  Protest  in  which  we  could 
all  unite.  The  author  of  this  pamphlet  was  taken  sick  on  Friday  after- 
noon, June  1,  and  did  not  return  to  the  Assembly  at  all.  On  Saturday 
morning,  learning  that  Dr.  Humphrey  had  not  been  able  to  perform  the 
service  expected  of  him,  and  not  advised  of  the  other  Protests,  he  left 
his  bed  and  liurriedly  wrote  a  Protest,  and  despatched  it  to  the  Assem- 
bly, which,  it  was  then  supposed,  would  adjourn  that  evening.  The 
friend  in  whose  hands  it  was  placed,  could  get  no  opportunity  of  present- 
ing it  until  Monday  night,  just  before  the  final  "dissolution;"  a  circum- 
stance which  may  account  for  the  small  number  of  signatures.  Its  fate 
is  disclosed  in  the  following  extract  from  the  Minutes :  "  Resolved,  that 
it  be  the  sense  of  this  General  Assembly,  that  the  Protest  of  Dr.  Board- 
man  and  others  is  not  respectful  in  language,  and  that  it  be  returned  to 
the  author"  (p.  104). 

As  the  writer  was  ill  at  the  time,  and  the  newspapers  failed  to  re- 
port the  debate,  he  is  left  to  conjecture  wherein  this  Protest  so  deeply 
wounded  the  dignitv  of  the  Assembly.     The  facts  it  comprises,  will 


116  Documents. 

speak  for  themselves.    Of  the  languao-e,  men  will  judge  according  to  their 
training  and  position'.     The  following  is  the  document,  verbatim: 

The  undersigned,  for  themselves  and  others,  respectfully  protest  against  the 
entire  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  concerning  the  Louisville  Preshy. 
tery,  and  the  signers  of  the  "  Declaration  and  Testimony." 

1.  The  summary  exclusion  /'rom  this  house  of  the  commissioners  of  the  Louis- 
ville Presbytery,  under  the  operation  of  the  Previous  Question,  without  allowing 
them  or  their  friends  one  word  of  defence  or  explanation,  was,  in  our  judgment, 
a  usurpation  of  powers  not  belonging  to  the  General  Assembly,  a  gross  invasion 
of  the  rights  of  the  Presbytery,  an  act  of  oppression  towards  the  commissioners 
themselves,  and  a  violation  of  those  principles  of  justice  and  equity  which  every 
deliberative  Assembly,  and  especially  a  Court  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  bound  to  hold 
inviolate.  For  a  proper  analysis  of  this  procedure,  we  refer  to  a  Protest  of  cer- 
tain members  of  this  body,  to  be  found  in  the  minutes  of  the  22d  ult.,  and  in 
most  of  the  reasons  of  which,- the  undersigned  concur. 

We  lay  the  utmost  stress  upon  this  point,  because  everything  that  followed 
pertaining  to  this  business,  must  be  judged  in  the  light  of  the  fact,  that  the  As- 
sembly was  passing  upon  the  conduct  of  men  who,  by  its  act,  not  their  own, 
were  not  present  to  defend  themselves.  The  allegation  that  the  Assembly 
offered  to  hear  them  when  a  report  was  introduced  proposing  to  visit  upon  them 
the  severest  penalties,  can  be  of  no  avail.  For  in  the  I'esolution  of  expulsion,  it 
was  their  Presbytery  which  was  arraigned,  and  they  could  not  properly  return  to 
their  seats  without  counselling  with  their  Presbytery.  Nor  is  it  believed  that  there 
was  a  single  member  of  the  Assembly,  who  expected  them  to  plead  at  the  bar  of 
a  court  which  had  opened  their  case  by  ejecting  them  from  their  seats  unheard, 
and  three  days  after,  voted  down  a  resolution  to  re-admit  them  to  their  seats 
until  their  case  should  be  disposed  of. 

2.  Throughout  the  entire  course  of  these  proceedings,  and  pervading  the  elabo- 
rate arguments  of  the  majority,  it  was  maintained  that  this  was  a  "judicial  case," 
and  that  these  brethren  were  "on  trial"  before  the  Assembly.  Whereas,  the 
notorious  fact  is,  that  they  had  never  been  arraigned  and  tried;  that  neither  in 
Presbytery  nor  Synod  had  there  been  any  mention  of  formal  charges,  of  citations, 
witnesses,  or  any  of  the  steps  essential,  under  our  Constitution,  to  a  judicial  pro- 
cess. The  Form  of  Government  and  the  Digest  show  that  it  is  not  competent  to 
a  judicatory  to  take  up  a  case  judicially  on  "Review  and  Control."  And  this 
plea  is  further  barred  by  the  fact  that  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville 
were  not  before  the  Assembly.  As  the  General  Assembly  has  no  original  juris- 
diction in  cases  of  "offence,"  the  whole  proceeding,  in  so  far  as  the  case  was 
treated  judicially,  was,  in  our  judgment,  irregular  and  unconstitutional. 

3.  The  case  was  biased  by  the  action  of  a  Convention,  called  together  to  con- 
sider these  matters  on  the  eve  of  the  Assembly's  meeting,  and  sitting,  it  was 
currently  reported,  with  closed  doorg.  The  inflammatory  Memorial  sent  to  the 
Assembly  by  this  Convention  (some  of  them  members  of  the  Assembly)  discloses 
a  state  of  mind  on  the  part  of  its  authors,  ill-suited  to  calm  and  impartial  delib- 
eration upon  such  questions  as  were  involved  in  this  case. 

4.  The  severity  of  the  judgment  visited  upon  these  brethren,  was  greatly  dis- 
proportioned  to  their  offence.  No  one  has  charged  them  with  heresy  or  with 
immorality.  The  principles  affirmed  in  their  pamphlet,  are  substantially  the 
principles  incorporated  in  our  Confession  of  Faith  and  held  by  our  whole  Church. 
They  believed  that  several  General  Assemblies  had  violated  these  principles,  and 
especially  that  the  Assembly  of  1865  had  undertaken  to  impose  certain  laws 
upon  the  Clnirch  in  derogation  of  the  plain  provisions  of  our  Constitution.  In 
this  belief  they  are  sustained  by  the  Synods  of  New  Jersey  and  Philadelphia,  by 
several  Presbyteries,  and  by  numerous  ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Church. 
Their  error  lay  in  the  measures  by  which  they  sought  to  redress  these  evils.  We 
do  not  justify  them  in  these  measures.  We  condemn  them.  But  we  insist  that 
they  should  have  been  allowed  to  plead  their  own  case,  without  its  being  pre- 
judged, as  it  was,  by  their  instant  exclusion  from  their  seats  on  the  second  day  of 
our  session.  We  insist  that  they  should  have  been  allowed  time  to  review  their 
proceedings,  and  cancel  (if  so  disposed)  the  offensive  terms  they  have  applied  to 
the  General  Assemblies  of  the  Church.    We  do  not  object  to  their  being  required 


Documents.  117 

to  do  this,  and  to  answer  to  their  Presbyteries  and  Synods  and  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  as  to  what  they  may  have  done  in  the  premises ;  but  we  regard 
the  spirit  and  terms  of  their  exclusion  from  all  the  Church  judicatories  (the  Ses- 
sion excepted)  until  the  next  Assembly,  and  the  contingent  dissolution  of  Pres- 
byteries, as  needlessly  harsh  measures,  pregnant  with  evil  to  the  Church.  And 
we  fortify  this  conclusion  by  the  fact,  fully  established  in  debate  and  contro- 
verted by  no  one,  that  one  of  the  Presbyteries  now  represented  in  this  House, 
and  even  one  or  more  of  the  members  of  this  very  Assembly,  had  used  language 
and  performed  acts  quite  as  pregnant  with  rebellion  towards  the  Assembly, 
without  being  subjected  to  the  slightest  censure. 

5.  We  protest  against  these  measures  because  they  will  inevitably  tend,  as  we 
believe,  to  foment  strife  and  alienation.  The  Church  needs  repose.  Rent  asun- 
der by  the  war,  and  agitated  with  conflicting  passions,  it  requires  to  be  soothed 
and  cemented  and  comforted.  The  final  action  of  the  Assembly,  as  connected 
with  the  previous  measures  and  debates  (for  the  whole  must  be  taken  together), 
can  hardly  fail  to  bring  about  another  secession  or  separation ;  to  divide  congre- 
gations ;  to  instigate  lawsuits  ;  to  diffuse  and  prolong  a  bitter  but  hitherto  local 
controversy;  to  create  wide-spread  dissatisfaction  with  the  deliverances  of  the 
Assembly,  and  to  alienate  many  of  the  best  friends  of  our  institutions.  With 
one  accord,  our  several  Boards  have  appeared  before  us,  deploring  the  falling  off 
in  their  receipts,  and  the  decay  of  sympathy  in  their  operations.  We  greatly 
fear  that  the  measures  against  which  we  protest,  will  aggravate  these  evils. 

6.  We  believe  that  the  interests  of  the  Church  and  of  the  country  are  identi- 
fied, and  thus  believing,  we  protest  against  these  proceedings  as  adapted  to  im- 
pair the  capacity  of  the  Church  for  its  legitimate  and  beneficent  work,  and  to 
increase  and  perpetuate  the  jealousies  and  animosities  which  still  vex  the  land. 

7.  And,  finally,  we  protest  against  these  ordinances  because  they  are  likely 
to  defer,  if  not  prevent,  that  Christian  co-operation  between  the  Presbyterian 
Churches  North  and  South  which  is  so  needful  to  the  evangelizing  of  our  people, 
and  especially  to  the  religious  instruction  of  four  millions  of  freedmen,  most  of 
them  now  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd. 

In  General  Assembly  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  2,  1866. 

Henry  A.  Boardman, 
J.  S.  McClellan, 
J.  B.  Spilman, 
Chas.  a.  Marshall. 


Remarks. 

The  resolution  of  the  Assembly  stigmatiziug  this  paper  as  "  disre- 
spectful," has  been  received  with  a  general  impression,  that  the  discour- 
tesj  lies  not  so  much  in  the  "language"  of  the  document  as  in  its  facts, ■ 
and  for  these  the  signers  decline  to  be  held  responsible.  The  transac- 
tion is  too  grave,  however,  to  be  allowed  to  pass  without  notice.  The 
Protesters  have  something  to  say  on  the  subject. 

In  the  first  place,  this  closing  act  of  the  Assembly  was  in  keeping 
with  the  general  tenor  of  its  proceedings.  It  has  been  shown  in  this 
pamphlet,  and  by  various  writers  in  the  public  journals,  how  largely  the 
(Constitution  of  the  Church  was  treated  at  St.  Louis  as  a  "dead  letter." 
What  more  appropriate  than  that  such  a  session  should  end  with  a  thrust 
at  the  constitutional  right  of  Protest  ? 

In  the  second  place,  the  two  recognized  "  leaders"  of  this  Assembly 
were  the  Rev.  D.  V.  McLean,  D.D.,  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  Rev. 
Thomas  E.  Thomas,  D.D.,  of  Ohio.  Without  stopping  to  gather  up 
the  comments  elicited  in  every  quarter,  by  the  conspicuous  solicitude  of 
the  former  of  these  gentlemen  for  the  purity  of  the  Assembly,  the  rela- 
tions of  the  latter  to  this  question  of  judicial  dignity,  may  be  gathered 
from  a  passage  in  Dr.  Brookes'  impressive  speech  before  the  Assembly. 


118  Documents. 

But  let  me  go  to  older  records  to  show  you  how  the  Assembly  was  in  the 
habit  of  dealing  with  judicatories  and  ministers  who  defied  its  authority  and  de- 
spised its  institutions.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  Mr.  Moderator,  that  the  Presby- 
tery of  Chillicothe,  which  has  the  honor  of  having  furnished  this  Assembly  its 
presiding  officer,  refused  to  send  commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly  on 
account  of  the  excluding  acts  of  1837,  and  afterwards  because  the  Assembly 
declined  to  make  slaveholding  a  term  of  membership.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact 
that  the  same  Presbytery  so  prominently  represented  here,  passed  the  following 
resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery  cannot  hold  fellowship  with  any  Presbytery, 
Synod,  or  other  ecclesiastical  body,  while  it  tolerates  under  its  jurisdiction  either 
the  sin  of  slaveholding  or  the  justification  of  the  sin  of  slaveholding;  and  es- 
pecially the  justification  of  it  by  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  which,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  this  Presbytery,  is  blasphemy  of  Almighty  God,  and  a  shocking  pros- 
titution of  His  word." 

I  have  never  heard  that  the  General  Assembly,  and  particularly  the  gentleman 
from  Ohio  (Mr.  Thomas),  summoned  "the  red-hot  thunderbolts  from  hell"  to 
smite  the  Presbytery  of  Chillicothe  for  pronouncing  the  action  of  our  venerable 
Court  "blasphemy  of  Almighty  God,  and  a  shocking  prostitution  of  His  word." 
But  then  we  must  remember  that  circumstances  alter  cases,  and  it  is  the  Presby- 
tery of  Louisville  arraigned  here  for  the  use  of  terms  which,  all  must  admit,  are 
far  less  reprehensible  than  those  employed  and  never  retracted,  according  to  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Chillicothe. 

But,  I  find  still  stronger  language,  if  this  were  possible,  in  regard  to  the  action 
of  1845,  and  commend  it  to  the  attention  of  the  Assembly.  It  is  extracted  from 
the  leading  article  of  the  Christian's  Monthly  Magazine,  Vol.  i.  No.  6,  Sept. 
1845,  and  edited  by  one  Thomas  E.  Thomas,  who  at  that  time  resided  in  Hamil- 
ton, Ohio.  If  he  did  not  write  it,  he  at  least  gave  it  his  hearty  approval,  and  I 
trust  the  brethren  who  are  so  sensitive  about  the  dignity  of  the  Assembly  will 
listen  to  it:  "  That  homely  maxim — he  that  steals  will  lie — is  sound  Bible  the- 
ology. The  amount  of  it  is,  that  the  man  who  wilfully  violates  one  of  God's 
commands,  will  not  hesitate  to  defend  himself  by  the  violation  of  some  other 
command  ;  and  frequently  he  will  do  it  undistui-bed  by  the  consciousness  that  he 
is  adding  sin  to  sin.  A  richer  document,  in  both  proof  and  illustration  of  this 
we  have  rarely  seen,  than  the  report  on  the  subject  of  slavery  adopted  by  the  last 
General  Assembly.  It  clearly  proves  the  declaration  of  the  advocates  of  uni- 
versal liberty  many  years  ago,  that  the  united  wisdom  of  the  highest  judicatory 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  cannot  defend  slaveholding  or  any  gross  violation 
of  God's  law,  without  uttering  nonsense,  or  falsehood,  or  heresy,  or  blasphemy. 
Is  it  true  that  the  highest  court  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  stands  on  the  con- 
cession that  slaveholders  are  not  to  be  disciplined  ?  Our  object  in  this  inquiry  is 
not  to  convict  the  last  Assembly  of  a  breach  of  the  ninth  commandment.  But 
we  wish  to  expose  a  slander,  *  ""  *  and  to  call  particular  attention  to  the 
falsehood,  absurdity,  and  moral  filth,  always  and  necessarily  embodied  in  an 
apology  for  the  sin  of  slavery,  even  when  it  is  carefully  prepared  by  a  body  com- 
posed of  chosen  delegates  from  every  section  of  a  large  denomination."  "A 
little  stealing  makes  a  Presbyterian  a  thief — but  stealing  largely  makes  him  a 
saint." 

There,  Sir,  this  man  could  call  the  Assembly  of  1845  a  thief  and  a  liar; 
could  charge  it  with  uttering  nonsense,  falsehood,  heresy,  and  blasphemy; 
could  pronounce  its  action  full  of  absurdity  and  moral  filth  ;  and  as  his  re- 
ward, is  exalted  to  be  the  recognized  champion  and  leader  of  the  Assembly  of 
1866 :  while  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  party,  for  trying  by  a  firm  but  tem- 
perate course  to  bring  back  the  Church  to  her  forsaken  and  dishonored  Stand- 
ards, are  to  be  driven  from  the  visible  fold  of  Christ. 

Whether  the  member  whose  name  is  associated  with  these  corroding 
reminiscences,  took  any  active  part  in  procuring  the  rejection  of  the 
Protest,  is  not  known.  No  one,  it  is  certain,  was  more  sensitive  to  the 
affront  put  upon  the  majesty  of  the  Assembly,  by  the  Louisville  men  : 
nor  more  intolerant  in  demanding  their  instant  punishment.     There 


Documents.  119 

were  not  many  lips  in  that  House,  that  could  have  uttered  the  following 
sentences  : 

T  come  to  consider  the  method  by  which  the  Assembly  shall  reach  the  ends 
of  justice.  It  is  indeed  a  summary  method  ;  yet  sometimes  short  roads  are  the 
best.  It  was  a  very  short  method  by  which  Pharaoh  and  his  hosts  were  put  out 
of  the  house,  when  God  moved  upon  the  sea;  a  very  summary  process  by  which 
the  lightning,  fire,  and  brimstone,  came  down  from  heaven  upon  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah ;  and  if  you  think  these  cases  too  far  fetched,  then  it  was  a  very  sum- 
mary process  by  which,  in  the  presence  of  a  Church  Court  in  Jerusalem,  Ananias 
and  Sapphira  were  sent  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  heaven,  to  answer  for  their 
crimes.     The  speediest  remedies  are  commonly  the  best. 

Did  ever  rebellion  attain  such  a  sublime  audacity  of  impudence  ?  Sir,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  this  Assembly  enjoys  the  high  privilege  of  forever  establish- 
ing the  fact  that  government  in  the  Church  means  something;  that  it,  too,  is  an 
ordinance  of  Heaven  ;  that  it  is  the  delegated  authority  of  Him  who  holds  in  his 
right  hand  the  red-hot  thunderbolts  of  hell. 

There  are  some  things  which  ought  not  to  be  done  at  all.  And  there 
are  some  things  which  some  men  ought  not  to  do,  even  though  it  be 
allowed  some  other  men  to  do  them.  The  horrible  language  just  qiioted, 
was  used  in  support  of  the  Committee's  Report — of  which  the  orator 
was  reputed  to  be  the  chief  author.  High-minded  men,  on  comparing 
the  Report  itself  and  the  tone  of  its  chief  advocate,  with  the  extracts 
from  Dr.  Brookes'  speech,  will  be  apt  to  feel,  that  if  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  men  had  laid  themselves  open  to  a  Bill  of  Attainder,  it 
should  have  been  drawn  up  by  some  other  hand  and  enforced  in  a  dif- 
ferent spirit.  Nor  will  they  readily  detect  what  the  philosophers  call 
the  "eternal  fitness  of  things,"  in  the  rejection  of  the  above  Pi'otest  as 
"disrespectful,"  by  a  body  implicitly  deferring  to  a  "leadership"  like 
this. 

But  the  worst  is  not  yet  told.  Of  the  four  Protests  concerning  the 
Louisville  business,  all  covering  the  same  ground,  three  were  admitted 
to  record  without  demur.  {Minutes,  pp,  91,  100,  104.)  Of  these  three, 
two  were  received  on  the  last  evening  of  the  session,  one  before,  the 
other  immediately  after,  the  rejected  Protest.  The  reader  is  requested 
to  run  bis  eye  again  over  the  foregoing  Protest,  and  then  to  note  the 
following  phrases  and  sentences  from  the  accepted  Protests.  Of  the  ' 
proceedings  in  the  Louisville  case,  it  is  said  :  they  are  "unconstitutional 
and  revolutionary :''''  "  a  judicial  condemnation  without  trial:''''  "an  un- 
warranted and  alarming  usurpation  of  power :''''  "forty  ministers  and 
eighty  elders  branded  as  slanderers  and  schismatics,  without  tr'ial'  or 
jurisdiction :^'  "null  and  void,  and  prolific  of  strife  and  confusion:^' 
"the  Assembly  has  violated  the  fundamental  principles  of  its  oiun 
organization,  and  vitiated  its  own  integrity:''^  " a  manifest  usurpation, 
which,  if  admitted ,  will  completely  revolutionize  our  Presbyterial  sys- 
tem, overthrow  our  ecclesiastical  liberty,  and  resolve  the  Assembly  into 
a  spiritual  despotism:^'  "measures,  cruel  and  unjust,  which  will  bring 
upon  our  denomination  the  reproaches  of  the  world;  drive  through 
many  of  our  Churches  and  Presbyteries  the  ploughshare  of  division  ; 
fearfully  distract  more  and  more  our  beloved  Zion ;  and  in  every  way 
promote  schismatical  strifes  and  contentions.''^ 

Will  it  be  credited  that  all  this  is  copied  from  Protests  received  and 
recorded  by  the  Assembly?  and  that  the  most  pungent  of  these  censures 
occur  in  a  Protest  which  was  accepted  five  minutes  after  the  rejection 
of  that  copied  above  ?     A  cursory  examination  will  sliow  that,  as  a 


120  Documents. 

whole,  the  proscribed  Protest  is  much  the  most  temperate  of  the  four. 
Why,  then,  was  it  "proscribed"?  The  only  reason  assigned  is,  that  it 
was  "not  respectful  in  language."  Then,  how  w^ere  the  others  re- 
corded ? 

The  signers  of  that  paper  desire  always  to  manifest  a  becoming  respect 
for  the  Supreme  Judicatory  of  the  Church.  But  there  is  a  still  "  higher 
law"  than  this,  and  a  condition  precedent :  if  the  Assembly  wishes  to  be 
respected,  it  must  respect  itself  We  know  of  no  law  of  ethics  or  religion, 
which  bids  us  submit  in  silence  to  an  exercise  of  arbitrary  power  like  this. 
Rather,  our  duty  to  the  Church  demands  that  we  expose  and  protest 
against  it.  Justice  required  that  all  the  Protests  should  be  admitted  to 
record.  Consistency  required  that  if  the  one  of  mildest  tone  were  rejected, 
the  more  energetic  ones  should  share  its  fate.  Before  the  whole  Church, 
we  charge  this  Assembly  with  perpetrating  a  great  wrong.  The  allegation 
we  file  against  it,  is,  that  in  its  official  Minutes,  which  are  to  go  down  to 
our  children  and  successors,  it  has  imputed  to  us  the  indecorum  of  offering 
to  its  consideration  a  paper  so  "  disrespectful"  that  it  could  not  be  enter- 
tained ;  while  the  same  Minutes  contain  three  similar  papers,  as  to  which 
any  child  can  see,  that  if  the  rejected  paper  be  "disrespectful,"  the  others 
are  far  more  so ;  but,  the  A-ssembly  itself  being  judge,  these  others  contain, 
even  in  their  strongest  epithets,  nothing  too  strong  to  be  covered  by  the 
sacred  right  of  Protest.  The  slender  apology,  that  the  obnoxious  paper 
"  was  brought  into  the  House  too  near  the  hour  of  the  final  adjournment  to 
admit  of  the  prepai'ation  of  an  answer,"  is  confuted  by  the  untoward  fact, 
that  Mr.  Forman's  Protest  was  presented  and  accepted  after  the  other 
was  cast  out.  If  there  be  any  explanation  of  this  proceeding  which  will 
bring  it  within  the  scope  of  those  principles  of  truth  and  righteousness 
upon  which  every  Court  of  Jesus  Christ  is  presumed  to  act,  it  were  well 
to  produce  it.  Meanwhile,  we  have  no  misgivings  as  to  the  judgment 
which  upright  men  of  all  names  and  parties  will  pronounce  uporf  the 
transaction  here  related.  There  are  things  which  no  tribunal,  civil  or 
spiritual,  can  do  with  impunity. 


III. 

Letter  of  the  Hon.  W.  B.  Kinkead. 

The  author  of  the  following  Letter  is  a  Ruling  Elder  in  one  of  our 
Churches  in  Kentucky,  an  eminent  Jurist,  and  a  citizen  held  in  universal 
e.steem.  He  has  brought  all  the  resources  of  his  cultivated  judicial  mind 
to  the  discussion  of  the  fundamental  principles  which  underlie  this  con- 
troversy. Many  will  probably  regard  this  as  one  of  the  ablest  argu- 
ments they  have  met  with,  against  the  popular  view  concerning  the 
jurisdiction  of  ecclesiastical  courts.  The  whole  Letter  will  command 
the  respectful  attention  of  all  into  whose  hands  it  may  fall. 

To  THE  Rev.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  D.D. 
1  have  read  with  care  your  address  before  the  Louisville  Presbytery,  deliv- 
iM'od  in  Louisville  on  the  12th  of  July,  1866.     I  have,  as  far  as  I  could,  divested 


Documents.  121 

my  mind  of  all  prejudice  in  the  matters  presented  by  you,  and  have  attempted, 
with  fairness  and  candor,  to  weigh  all  the  facts  and  arguments,  in  the  sincere 
desire  to  find  out  where  the  truth  lay  in  this  great  controversy  which  so  agitates 
the  Church,  especially  in  Kentucky.  I  must  say  that  this  address,  however  able 
and  eloquent,  has  not  brought  conviction  nor  satisfaction  to  my  mind. 

It  may  be  viewed  as  presumption  in  a  layman  to  venture  any  views  or  opin- 
ions upon  matters  which  the  clergy  may  regard  as  peculiarly  in  their  province. 
1  readily  admit  that  such  subjects  are  too  high  for  me,  who  have  not  had  the 
training  nor  bestowed  on  them  the  reflection  to  prepare  one  for  such  a  discus- 
sion ;  I  shall  not,  therefore,  attempt  it.  But  I  may  venture  to  propound  the 
difficulties  which  have  not  been  removed  from  my  mind  by  this  address,  and  to 
work,  as  I  may  for  myself,  a  way  through  what  it  leaves  obscure  and  unsatisfac- 
tory, to  what  seem  to  me  to  be  the  true  principles  which  underlie  these  matters  ; 
that  I  as  well  as  others  who  may  accept  my  views,  when  called  upon  to  act  in 
reference  to  them,  may  not  be  left  afloat  on  vague  and  indefinite  opinions,  but 
may  have  a  fixed  and  stable  foundation  upon  which  to  plant  ourselves. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  then,  to  undertake  a  review  of  your  address.  All  I  pro- 
pose is  to  give  my  views  upon  such  propositions  as  I  cannot  accept,  and  this 
I  do  with  great  deference  for  your  opinions,  though  my  mind  upon  the  reflec- 
tion I  have  bestowed  thereon  has  come  to  a  different  conclusion  from  yours. 
And  upon  other  matters  I  wish,  if  possible,  to  get  clear  and  distinct  responses 
to  certain  propositions  which  are  either  passed  over  or  stated  but  vaguely  in  your 
address. 

You  state  three  radical  principles.  The  first  all  accept:  "The  Church  and 
State  are  both  of  them  ordinances  of  God."  The  second  will  not  be  disputed. 
"The  object  and  ends  of  the  Church  are  to  make  men  Christians  here  and  prepare 
them  for  heaven  hereafter.  It  is  a  spiritual  kingdom  of  which  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  Head.  We  should  ever  bear  in  mind  those  solemn  words  of  his,  '  My 
Kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.'  His  saints  on  earth  and  in  heaven  constitute 
one  host  under  his  command. 

The  purposes  of  civil  government  are  wholly  different.  It  was  ordained  for 
men  in  a  state  of  civil  society,  and  looks  to  the  preservation  of  their  lives,  their 
reputation  and  their  property." 

As  to  the  third  '•  radical  principle,"  you  state  it  substantially  as  follows :  "  Sub- 
jects wTiich  are  purely  secular  in  their  nature  belong  exclusively  to  the  State, 
such  as  tariff's,  banks,  etc.,  and  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Church  to  deter- 
mine them  ought  to  be  resisted ;  so  also  subjects  which  are  purely  spiritual  be- 
long exclusively  to  the  Church,  such  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  the  Atone- 
ment," etc.  But  then  you  say,  "  There  are  subjects  which  may  be  called  mixed, 
being  in  some  of  their  aspects  secular  and  in  other  aspects  religious."  "  Here," 
you  say,  "  the  rule  is  obvious.  In  mixed  cases,  all  those  aspects  which  are  sec- 
ular belong  to  the  State,  aud  must  be  determined  by  a  civil  tribunal ;  all  those 
aspects  which  are  spiritual,  to  the  Church,  and  must  be  turned  over  to  the  eccle- 
siastical courts." 

Now,  let  us  examine  the  application  of  this  doctrine,  and  see  if  it  be  founded 
on  the  true  principle.  For  if  it  shall  be  found  that  the  Church  in  adopting  it 
transcended  her  province,  and  thus  went  beyond  the  teachings  of  Scripture  and 
the  Standards  of  the  Church,  then,  indeed,  it  was  a  grievous  error,  and  to  it  may 
possibly  be  traced  all  the  woes  which  now  afflict  her. 

You  say  of  the  late  rebellion,  "  It  was  a  mixed  case.  In  its  secular  aspects 
it  belonged  to  the  Government,"  etc.  But  you  say,  "The  rebellion  presented 
aspects  .purely  moral  and  religious."  You  quote  the  scriptural  injunction,  so 
often  quoted,  so  full  of  wisdom,  but  in  my  opinion  so  often  misunderstood : 
"  Obey  the  powers  that  be,  they  aTe  ordained  of  God."  "  Submit  to  lawful  and 
constitutional  authority."  And  then  you  lay  down  the  duty  of  Christians  not 
to  obstruct  or  hinder  the  magistrate,  but  to  aid  and  assist  him  in  his  high  office. 
You  contend  that  it  was  ia  this  moral  aspect  of  the  question,  the  Church  was 
called  upon  to  speak  out. 

Now,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  you  have  not  been  quite  broad  enough  with  this 
moral  aspect  of  political  questions,  in  applying  it  only  to  what  are  called  by  you 
mixed  cases,  such  as  rebellion,  etc.  I  would  ask,  is  there  not  a  moral  and  re- 
ligious aspect  in  every  political  matter  affecting  the  good  order  of  society  or  the 


122  Documents. 

property  or  happiness  of  men  in  a  civil  state  ?  Will  not  a  Christian  man  be 
careful  in  forming  his  political  opinions  and  regulating  his  civil  conduct,  even 
touching  snch  matters  as  tariffs,  etc.,  lest  by  his  wrongful  act  or  opinions,  wrong 
or  oppression  may  be  suffered  by  some  portion  of  the  community  ?  He  will  give 
his  aid  that  such  laws  may  be  made,  that  vice  shall  be  punished,  and  good  men 
made  safe  and  secure. 

Now,  I  would  ask,  is  not  every  man  morally  and  religiously  bound  to  be  care- 
ful that  no  improper  motives,  no  selfishness,  no  malice,  no  ambition,  shall  con- 
trol him  in  forming  his  judgment  and  taking  his  stand  on  such  questions  ?  And 
is  he  not  guilty  of  a  great  immorality  and  sin  before  God,  if  he,  from  corrupt 
or  improper  motives,  in  such  purely  civil  matters  adopts  wrong  principles  and 
aids  in  putting  them  into  practical  effect  ? 

Here  is  clearly  a  high,  moral,  and  religious  duty.  But  I  know  you  would  be 
shocked  to  see  the  Church  come  down  to  soil  her  garments  in  such  pai'ty  con- 
flicts as  arise  upon  such  questions  as  these.  Each  Christian  man  is  left,  under 
his  responsibility  to  God  and  his  country,  upon  his  own  conscience  to  choose  his 
part  and  act  for  himself.  If  from  improper  motives  he  chooses  and  acts  wrong, 
he  sins  against  God,  and  God  alone  will  judge  him. 

Nor  can  the  Church  undertake  to  decide  upon  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  settle  the  question,  under  that  instrument,  of  the  right  of  a  State  to 
secede  from  the  Union.  This,  in  my  judgment,  is  a  great  political  heresy,  and 
he  who  attempts  to  put  it  into  practical  effect,  may  be  guilty  of  a  great  moral 
and  religious  wrong.  But  there  are  good  men  who  have  believed  the  doctrine. 
It  is  not  vouchsafed  the  Chtirch  to  construe  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  settle  this  political  matter  between  us. 

Then  as  to  the  moral  aspect  of  this  mixed  question  of  the  rebellion ;  Let  us 
for  a  moment  examine  the  principle  you  lay  down  and  see  where  it  will  lead  us. 
You  say:  "So  long  as  no  moral  questions  were  involved  in  the  contest,  the 
Church  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  but  the  moment  that  questions  of  right  and 
wrong — of  obedience  to  God — of  immutable  and  eternal  morality,  emerged  from 
the  crash  of  arms,  then  instantly  the  Church  was  called  to  speak  out."  Yoa 
continue  :  "  Our  Church  considered  the  rebellion  wrong  in  point  of  morals,  a  sin 
against  God,  and  for  that  reason  it  took  jurisdiction  of  the  case  in  that  aspect 
of  it." 

Now  I,  too,  thought  the  rebellion  wrong.  All  who  know  me  know  how  strong 
and  fixed  were  my  convictions  on  this  subject.  But  I  cannot  believe  it  was  in 
the  province  of  the  Church,  as  a  body,  to  pronounce  whether  the  rebellion  was 
wrong  or  right. 

All  admit  that  rebellions  are  sometimes  right.  The  glorious  revolution  in 
England,  which  overthrew  the  bigoted  and  tyrannical  James,  and  established  for 
that  people  Constitutional  liberty  under  the  arreat  Prince  of  the  house  of  Nas- 
sau, was  surely  a  justifiable  rebellion ;  nor  will  any  one  now  deny  that  our  Revo- 
lutionary Fathers  were  justified  in  their  revolt  from  the  oppressions  of  the 
mother  country. 

In  the  revolution  of  1688,  in  England,  Lord  Macaulay  tells  us  that  "the 
greatest  Anglican  doctors  of  that  age  had  maintained  that  no  breach  of  law  or 
contract,  no  excess  of  cruelty,  rapacity,  or  licentiousness  on  the  part  of  the 
rightful  King,  could  justify  his  people  in  withstanding  him  by  force."  But  my 
learned  friend,  1  know,  does  not  subscribe  to  this  doctrine  of  "passive  obedi- 
ence." Had  he  lived  at  that  time,  he  would  have  been  ranged  on  the  side  of 
Baxter,  and  Howe,  and  Bunyan,  and  William  Kiffin ;  for  his  heart  swells  within 
him,  as  he  refers  to  his  own  revolutionary  fathers  of  the  Presbyterian  .Church. 
With  what  eloquent  and  glowing  language  does  he  exhibit  the  action  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  on  the  Stamp  Act  in  176G,  and  how,  in 
1775,  the  Synod,  under  the  leadership  of  John  Witherspoon,  took  the  side  of 
the  country  against  the  King.  We  listen  as  to  the  stirring  sound  of  a  trumpet 
vibrating  upon  our  ears  the  names  of  Witherspoon,  and  Allison,  and  Tennent, 
and  Miller,  and  Duffield,  and  James  Waddell,  and  John  Blair  Smith,  all  of  whom 
by  words,  and  many  of  them  by  deeds,  took  their  part  in  the  great  struggle  in 
which  their  country  was  then  involved. 

Thus  it  is  conceded  that  rebellion  is  sometimes  right.  Now  I  will  ask  you,  who 
is  to  settle  the  question?     Is  the  Church  authorized  to  fix  the  precise  point  at 


^     Documents.  123 

which  the  oppression  and  tyranny  of  her  government  are  so  great,  the  griev- 
ances so  oppressive,  that  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  people  to  resort  to  the  ter- 
rible remedy  of  revolution  ?  Can  she  say,  "  the  grievances  are  not  yet  sufficient 
— you  must  submit"?  Then  again,  "the  grievances  are  novp  sufficient — gird  on 
your  swords  and  lift  up  the  standard  of  revolt"? 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  Church,  as  a  court  of  Jesus  Christ,  can  settle  no  such 
question.  She  will  pronounce  the  general  scriptural  injunction  of  obedience  to 
the  powers  that  be ;  "  obey  the  laws  as  good  citizens."  But  she  has  no  warrant 
to  pronounce  when  the  time  arises  that  resistance  is  justifiable.  This,  each 
member  of  her  communion  must,  upon  his  own  responsibility  before  God,  determ- 
ine for  himself.  I  would  not  be  understood  as  attempting  to  lessen  the  guilt  of 
those  who.  without  all-sufficient  grounds,  rush  headlong  into  rebellion.  It  is  a 
fearful  thing;  and  upon  a  Christian  man  a  terrible  responsibility.  But  it  is  a 
question  the  Church  cannot  settle.     He  must  determine  it  for  himself. 

Thus  much  then  upon  this  general  proposition. 

It  was  scarcely  to  have  been  expected  that,  during  the  existence  of  the  great 
civil  war,  the  deliverances  of  the  courts  of  the  Churches  North  or  South,  should 
commend  themselves  to  the  sober  judgment  of  mankind.  But  now  is  the  time 
these  questions  should  be  properly  settled.  It  does  seem  to  me  that  many  of  our 
present  troubles  are  the  result  of  the  wrong  view  the  Assembly  took  on  these 
subjects.  What  strength  and  consideration  has  the  Episcopal  Church  acquired 
before  the  country  for  her  course  in  reference  to  these  matters?  And  what  a 
glorious  spectacle  should  we  have  had  in  the  Old  School  Presbytei'ian  Church, 
now  that  peace  blesses  the  land,  of  brethren  coming  from  the  North  and  from 
the  South,  embracing  each  other  in  cordial  affection  after  these  terrible  years  of 
separation,  had  the  General  Assembly  during  these  years  abstained  from  utter- 
ing her  voice  upon  these  most  agitating  questions  ;  and  in  the  spirit  of  charity 
in  all  her  deliverances,  drawn  together  the  hearts  of  her  people  throughout  this 
broad  land,  by  sending  words  of  kindness  and  of  love,  teaching  all  her  children 
that  they  were  bound  to  each  other  by  a  higher  and  holier  tie  than  that  which 
unites  men  in  a  civil  state :  and  that  though  severed  for  a  season  by  causes  be- 
yond their  control,  their  hearts  should  be  linked  and  united  together  as  by  a 
golden  chain,  vibrating  from  heart  to  heart,  and  reaching  up  to  the  throne  of 
Jehovah. 

It  is  clear,  however,  to  me,  that  it  is  not  upon  such  questions  as  these  that  the 
Church  should  divide;  nor  even  upon  the  orders  and  deliverances  of  186.5.  The 
Synod  of  Kentucky  has  pronounced  some  of  them  to  be,  in  its  judgment,  un- 
scriptural  and  unconstitutional.  It  is  said  that  many  of  the  friends  of  the 
Assembly  have  not  only  expressed  their  purpose  to  disregard  those  acts,  but 
have  actually  refused  to  obey  them.  Now,  I  ask  you,  is  not  this  clearly  rebel- 
lion against  the  Assembly  ?  Is  it  not  defiance  on  the  part  of  these  brethren 
against  its  authority?  Is  it  not,  in  short,  nullification  itself?  In  the  language 
quoted  by  yourself,  "  who  made  these  men  a  judge  or  divider  over  the  Assembly  ?" 

But  the  Assembly  seems  to  pass  over  this  disobedience  slightly,  while  it  utters 
fearful  thunders  against  those  who  shall  disobey  them  in  the  matter  of  its  action 
at  St.  Louis,  in  reference  to  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony.  I 
was  not  in  the  Assembly  at  St.  Louis.  I  will  not  then  attempt  to  ascertain  the 
influences  which  prompted  that  august  body  to  the  course  they  adopted  in  refer- 
ence to  the  signers  of  that  paper. 

Upon  these  questions  of  Church  government  I  form  my  opinions  with  much 
hesitancy — and  while  I  have  strong  convictions,  I  would  gladly  hear  you,  and  if 
I  am  wrong,  be  put  right  by  you.     Your  speech  does  not  satisfy  me. 

Tell  me  if  in  your  judgment  the  Assembly  has  the  constitutional  power  to 
cite  these  men  before  them  for  trial  as  an  original  case  ?  Is  not  the  Assembly's 
power  in  such  cases  altogether  revisory  ?  Your  speech  might  indicate  that  in 
your  judgment  the  Assembly  had  original  jurisdiction  in  such  cases.  Can  this 
be  your  opinion  ?  Ought  not,  must  not  the  charges  against  these  men  be  tried 
first  in  the  Presbytery,  and  then  go  up  to  the  higher  courts  by  appeal  ?  I  can 
make  nothing  else  out  of  our  Book.  I  need  not  cite  the  page — you  are  familiar 
with  it.  Tell  me  how  you  construe  it  ?  It  seems  to  me  it  would  not  be  more 
extraordinary  for  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Kentucky  to  assume  original  juris- 
dictoon  and  try  a  man  for  murder. 


124  Documents. 

If  I  am  right  in  this,  then  the  act  citing  these  men  being  unconstitutional,  is 
absolutely  null  and  void,  for  you  know  an  unconstitutional  act  is  of  no  binding 
force.     It  is  no  act  at  all. 

But  you  may  tell  me  that  though  you  and  I  may  regard  it  as  unconstitutional, 
still  we  are  not  to  judge  upon  an  act  of  the  Assembly.  Suppose  a  Presbytery 
believe  it  unconstitutional,  and  hence  not  binding,  are  they  to  execute  it  in  a 
matter  against  their  conscience?  What  would  be  their  duty  in  such  a  case? 
Take  for  instance  the  Transylvania  Presbytery.  Suppose  Brother  Barnes,  a 
signer  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  asks  for  a  seat  in  that  Presbytery. 
He  is,  on  all  hands,  considered  a  man  of  unexceptionable  character,  lovely,  and 
amiable.  The  act  citing  him  to  appear  before  the  Assembly  for  trial,  you  con- 
scientiously believe  to  be  unconstitutional,  null,  and  void.  That  act  directs  you, 
on  pain  of  the  dissolution  of  your  Presbytery,  not  to  admit  him  to  a  seat.  He 
has  never  been  tried,  and  the  citation  is  unconstitutional  in  your  judgment.  In 
your  judgment  he  has  done  nothing  to  call  for  such  harsh  usage.  What  should 
a  Presbyter  believing  these  things  do  ?  You  answer,  still  obey  the  Assembly. 
That  I  may  have  more  light  in  this  great  strait,  I  ask  you  what  this  means  (see 
Confession  of  Faith,  page  113),  "  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath 
left  it  free  from  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything 
contrary  to  his  word,  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  or  worship,  so  that  to  be- 
lieve such  doctrines  or  to  obey  such  commands  out  of  conscience,  is  to  destroy 
true  liberty  of  conscience;  and  the  requiring  an  implicit  faith  and  an  absolute 
and  blind  obedience,  is  to  destroy  liberty  of  conscience  and  reason  also." 
Ought  not  the  same  liberty  of  conscience  to  be  allowed  in  the  construction  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  Church  as  of  the  word  of  God  ?  I  ask  you,  in  view  of  all 
this,  what  ought  Presbyters  to  do  upon  the  application  of  such  a  brother 
to  a  seat  in  their  Presbytery  ? 

Again  I  ask  you  if,  in  your  judgment,  the  attempt  of  the  Assembly  to  make 
the  act  execute  itself  can  possibly  be  efficacious  ?  It  seems  to  me,  as  well  might 
the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  attempt  to  pass  a  law  that  he  who  committed  mur- 
der should  forfeit  all  his  estate,  and  direct  the  sheriff,  upon  the  killing,  to  take 
possession  of  his  property,  and  he  should  proceed  to  do  it  before  a  court  and 
jury  had  passed  upon  the  case  to  determine  if  indeed  murder  had  been  com- 
mitted. Must  there  then  not  be  a  judgment  pronounced  upon  the  act  of  the 
Presbytery,  before  a  dissolution  is  eflected  ? 

And  now,  my  dear  Sir,  I  have  sought  for  light  to  guide  me  in  the  way  of  duty 
in  the  trying  ordeal  through  which  the  Assembly  is  forcing  the  Church  in  Ken- 
tucky to  pass.  From  the  high  personal  regard  I  entertain  for  you,  and  my  esti- 
mate of  your  ability  and  attainments,  I  shall  always  give  to  your  opinions  great 
consideration.  Unused  as  I  am  to  such  investigations,  I  propound  none  of 
these  views  with  a  dogmatic  confidence,  and  shall  surely  renounce  them  when  I 
find  they  are  wrong. 

W.  B.  Kl.NKEAD. 


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